WWII USAAF 513th Bomb Group, 376th Bomb Group Liberandos Jewish Pilot Grouping

This is a circa World War II United States Army Air Forces 513th Bombardment Squadron, 376th Bombardment Group (aka "Liberandos") pilot grouping originally belonging to WWII veteran Jewish pilot Lieutenant Richard M. Schoenthal. The grouping includes a silk 376th Bomb Group patch with a small 513th Bomb Squadron patch superimposed upon it, a 376th Bomb Group patch in painted leather and an Italian-made 15th Air Force bullion shoulder patch. The silk patch has been mounted to an oval for framing purposes. Both of the larger patches read LIBERANDOS, the nickname adopted by the 376th Bomb Group after becoming the first group stationed on mainland Europe to fly B-24 Liberators. The paper items include a photo of Schoenthal, a crew photo (Schoenthal is 2nd from right, top row), two larger aircraft photos, a photo of the Commanding Officer of the 376th Bomb Group (Colonel Graff) a wartime typewritten 30 page unit history, and Schoenthal's pilot instrument certification card.

Circa World War II.

Silk patch: 8-1/8" by 6-1/8"; leather patch: 6-1/2" by 4-5/16"; bullion patch: 2-3/4" in diameter; large photos: about 8" x 10" (each); other items are various sizes.

Silk patch embroidered in cotton/silk threads (mounted upon cardboard); painted leather patch; wool felt patch embroidered in bullion and cotton/silk threads with partial mesh backing; photographs, paper.

Stapled binding on booklet.

"Capri" on back of silk patch; COL. GRAFF 376th C.O. written on back of photo at top left in grouping; A.A.F. Form No. 8 (REVISED 10-1-43) 16-37015-1 on certification card.

This is from a United States Army Air Forces collection which we will be listing more of over the next few months. TREJJX07 LBIIEX12/12 sLBGGEX2/15 HldBEJJX1/16

8- (Overall Very Fine-Excellent): The patches are in great shape with some light wear to the leather one and some light tarnish and wear to the back on the bullion one; photographs and paper shows only light aging.

As with all my artifacts, this piece is guaranteed to be original, as described.