December 15, 2020 Edged Weapons, Armor & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/15/2020
This is a nice WWII USAAF grouping ID'D to James W. Schmied Jr. Schmied was born December 20, 1918 in Orange, New Jersey and 25 years later he enlisted in the Army Air Forces on August 20, 1943. During his training, Schmied attended Advanced Bombardier School in Albuquerque New Mexico. After his training was complete, Schmied earned his bombardier wings and was assigned to the 401st Bomb Group, 612th Bomb Squadron. Schmied was part of the Francis J. Toussaint Crew and flew 29 combat missions from April 29, 1944 to August 26, 1944. Most of his missions were flown on the B-17 "Hangover Haven" which crash landed on October 3, 1944 and was later scrapped. After the war, Schmied resided in Florida where he worked for the Florida Department of Corrections. Schmied passed away in 2002. The grouping consists of his unengraved Distinguished flying cross and Air Medal. The DFC is a crimp brooch medal that comes with its original case. The Air medal is a full wrap brooch that also has its original case. There are 3 pairs of wings and a combat medic badge. The pilot wings are hallmarked with the NS Meyer shield on the reverse, the other two wings and combat medic badge are unmarked. Schmied's discharge paper is included and details all of his service information. There is a dead reckoning navigation kit, along with a pair of goggles folded in a leather case. There are 75+ photos included in this group. Many of the photos show B-17s in flight and there are also crew shots and various photos of Schmied. Many of the photos are labeled on the back with captions such as "Mission to Keil 19 May 1944", D-Day 6 June 1944", "Berlin 21 June '44 Smoke from Hamburg", and so on. There is also a copy of the book "bomber offensive the devastation of Europe". There is a copy of a note that was written by Schmied in the book stating that his crew is pictured on the first page titled "Reaping the Whirlwind". This is a great little USAAF grouping that would make a nice display. CONDITION: All items are very good-excellent. JD
Item Dimensions: 16 - 1/2" X 12 - 1/2"