Militaria, Vintage Clothing, Collectibles
Lot 157:
Description
An extraordinary and comprehensive World War II Prisoner of War archive belonging to Technical Sergeant **George Foster (ASN 34 674 350)** of Lexington, North Carolina, who served as an in-flight mechanic and aerial gunner with the **15th Air Force, 460th Bomb Group, 762nd Squadron**. Foster was shot down twice in 1944?first surviving an August 27th incident without capture, and later on **October 17, 1944**, when his B-24 went down over Yugoslavia. Wounded and captured, he endured the remainder of the war in captivity, ultimately held at **Stalag Luft I** after being transferred through **Stalag Luft III and Stalag Luft IV**, before liberation in May 1945. This remarkable grouping includes his **ultra-rare collection of nine prisoner-made Kriegie wings**, mounted on the front of his fabric-covered photo album. The insignia, crafted by POWs from lead salvaged from corned beef tins, represent a unique cross-Allied collection: American Pilot, British Paratrooper (with POW in center), Royal Air Force Pilot, French Pilot, Polish Air Gunner, Czechoslovakian Air Gunner, Polish Pilot, Soviet Pilot, and Polish Parachute Badge. Such POW-made insignia were highly prized within the camps and often traded for tobacco, chocolate, or other necessities, and complete collections such as this are exceedingly rare. Additional highlights include Foster’s **Stalag Luft I dog tag**, his original **U.S. Army dog tags**, and his **YMCA POW notebook**, which he used to record camp recipes. His grouping also preserves **original Kriegie correspondence** letters sent home, as well as one received while in captivity, plus a **small color poster produced in the camp to celebrate the end of the war**, issued just before liberation. Two camp publications are present: *A Sad Story*, produced in Stalag Luft I, and *The Yankee Kriegies*, authored by Lt. Ted Lawson Greening of Doolittle Raid fame. Numerous original military documents and records further document his service and captivity. Foster was decorated with the **Silver Star, Purple Heart (for wounds sustained on October 17, 1944, in Southern Austria), the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Prisoner of War Medal.** His Purple Heart, issued in the field, is present and unengraved, while his Air Medal may also have been awarded in the field. Also included are original U.S. insignia, wings, and patches. This grouping represents not only the heroic service of a twice-shot-down airman but also the extraordinary ingenuity and resilience of Allied prisoners of war. The mounted POW wings collection alone stands as one of the most evocative and desirable pieces of prisoner-made memorabilia from World War II, closely paralleling examples published in Art and Lee Beltrone’s *A Wartime Log*. A truly **museum-grade archive** rarely offered and highly significant.
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