WWII photo album, Philippines, Papua New Guinea 1945

Item #1344

20 leaves/40 pages, faded black; 84 photos, most quite small, all captioned with the names of the fellow soldiers or descriptions of the sights, in white ink; plus a small 3-photo album tucked in, with deckled-edged photos; plus the following ephemera: an army-base newsletter, mimeographed, dated 30 June 1945, 8 leaves/16 pages; an article clipped from a newspaper: “Yanks Went Mad, Tried Suicide in Nichols Prison”, largely anti-Japanese propaganda; 3 different whiskey-bottle labels; and five bills of currency issued by “The Japanese Government” and captioned “Invasion Money”, in the following denominations: two 50-centavos bills, one 1-peso bill, one 5-peso bill, and one 10-peso bill. (Three bills in other currencies have been torn out, perhaps because they held some postwar value).

Only the obverse of each leaf is utilized, and the final two are blank. One photo has come loose, and half a dozen are missing, otherwise all are intact, undamaged and well-pasted in.

This album begins around V-J Day. Soon after the war is over, our unnamed hero, likely a Marine, is transferred from his naval base on the central Philippine island of Leyte to an air base on Papua New Guinea. Or else, he was shipped home soon after the Japanese surrender, and placed the photos out of order in his album after his return home; it is unclear, as the photos lack dates.

The olive-drab-colored album has survived in good condition, all pages are intact and without frayed edges, still bound by the lace.
It measures 8 7/8” x 11 7/8” x 1/2”, portrait orientation.

Price: $450.00