Noumea

Historically Significant Album with 272 Gelatin Silver Photographs documenting the service of the 11th Special Naval Construction Battalion Seabees in the Pacific Theatre of WWII Showing Okinawa in Japan Ruined Buildings Wrecked Japanese Aircraft and Ship Street Views with Cleary Visible French Signs and American & French Flags the Seabees Unloading Pontoon Structures Building Shoreline Encampments etc. Russel Islands in Solomon Islands Individual and Group Portraits of Locals Posing with Jewelries and Crosses Smoking Pipe Reading Life Magazine Holding an Abandoned Chinese Baby etc.; the Compiler and his Companions Doing Daily Activities and Nouméa in New Caledonia the American Red Cross a Local Church Wimpy’s Café the Headquarters of Company D 11th Special MCB Construction Battalion Building the U.S. Fleet Hospital etc.; with Three Pieces of Period Newsp

Best.-Nr. PE2 — Oblong Quarto album ca. 185x288 cm 7 ¼ x 11 in. 36 card stock leaves. With 272 mounted original gelatin silver photographs with one larger photo ca. 246x174 cm 9 ¾ x 6 ¾ in and the rest from ca. 102x128 cm 4 x 5 in to ca. 51x42 cm 2 x 1 ½ in. Several dozen photographs with period English captions and/or period ink stamps “Passed by Naval Censor” on the verso; with three period newspaper clippings from ca. 265x202 cm 10 ½ x 8 in to ca. 78x255 cm 3 x 10 in and one leaflet ca. 105x158 cm 4 x 5 ¼ in. Period brown faux leather album fastened with a string; with decorative strap hinges and lock plate on the front cover. Binding with worn edges mild silvering of the photos but otherwise a very good album with strong interesting photos. Historically important collection of original photographs likely compiled by an American Mess Officer of the 11th Special Naval Construction Battalion Seabees during his service in the Pacific Theater of WWII. The Battalion was commissioned in September 1943 as a specialized combat stevedoring unit. Arriving first at the Allied command hub of Nouméa New Caledonia the battalion was quickly pushed forward into the Solomon Islands spending the entirety of 1944 performing cargo operations on the Russell Islands. As the Pacific War reached its climax the unit was split into two tactical echelons and attached directly to the 1st Marine Division in the Russell Islands and the 6th Marine Division on Guadalcanal. On April 1 1945 the two halves reunited on the beaches of Okinawa on “L-Day” remaining on the Passed by naval censor until October 25 1945 The album contains 272 well-preserved amateur photographs including about eighty images of Okinawa taken in the immediate aftermath of the Allied invasion in April 1945. The operation aimed to secure the island as a staging base for the planned invasion of mainland Japan. As members of a Special Construction Battalion the compiler and his companions were apparently responsible for unloading large quantities of ammunition and heavy equipment. The most important photographs show post-battle cityscapes with ruined buildings and shrines a wrecked Imperial Japanese aircraft and scenes of wartime atrocities. About fifteen lively street scenes feature French signage reading “Postes Télégraphes Téléphones” and “Fruit ou Soldat” French and American flags flying from local buildings automobiles with visible license plates and Allied militaries flocking the streets. Especially interesting are photos of Seabees unloading pontoon structures and building shoreline encampments a vast pontoon pier under construction amid heavy equipment an aerial view of invasion ships densely assembled offshore as well as Allied aircrafts and tanks. Other photographs depict a First Marine Division cemetery in Okinawa portraits of locals and servicemen posing with Japanese civilians. The Okinawa series is supplemented with four pieces of period ephemera including a South Japan edition banner of Yank the Army Weekly; a WWII news sheet from The New Okinawan dated August 9 1945 reporting the Soviet declaration of war on Japan and analysis of the atomic bomb; Allied propaganda leaflet likely dropped over Japan in 1945 blaming Japanese militarists for the war and predicting imminent defeat; and a “Restricted Extra” issue of The New Okinawan August 15 1945 marking V-J Day and Japan’s acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. Most of the other identified photographs were apparently taken and collected by the compiler during his service in the Russel Islands in 1944. Especially interesting are the photos of locals wearing traditional jewelries and crosses posing by their huts smoking pipe reading Life magazine washing clothes building canoes etc. Some of their portraits are accompanied by the compiler’s curious captions on the verso including “a girl of about 8 years old. No matter how awful the natives are the little ones are very cute;” and “a Chinese baby. The natives say it was left by its parant when the japs got here.” The rest of the photos from the Solomon series mostly show the compiler and his companions reading Esquite magazines posing with locals washing clothes taking shower catching fish premises of the galley area outdoor movie area mess hall etc. Other photographs in the album were apparently taken during service in Nouméa New Caledonia and likely depict the American Red Cross a local church Wimpy’s Café the Headquarters of Company D 11th Special MCB Construction Battalion building the U.S. Fleet Hospital the Headquarters of the South Pacific Base Command as well as PX facilities. Overall historically important collection of original gelatin silver photographs taken and collected by the Mess Officer of the 11th Special Naval Construction Battalion Seabees during his service in the Pacific Theater of WWII. hardcover