December 7th Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 104:
Description
This is an extraordinarily significant and tragic World War II grouping belonging to Captain Harry L. Jarvis Jr., a U.S. Army Air Forces pilot who was Killed in Action on the legendary, low-level Operation Tidal Wave Ploesti oil refinery raid on August 1, 1943. Captain Jarvis, a 1941 West Point graduate, served as the pilot of the B-24 Liberator Here s To Ya, 329th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group, which was lost over the target, as confirmed by the original Sortie Report listing him as missing over target. The grouping includes his official, hand-engraved full-size medals: the Purple Heart and the Air Medal , both prominently engraved on the reverse with his name, CAPT. HARRY L. JARVIS JR., confirming their presentation as genuine issue pieces. The lot also features his Sterling Silver Pilot Wings, uniquely hand-engraved on the reverse with his last name JARVIS and confirmed to be made by the Orber Company. The full set of his awards includes the Distinguished Flying Cross DFC, Air Medal AM, and the Purple Heart PH, all suspended from their period ribbons, alongside an 8th Air Force patch and his West Point cadet portrait. This collection, which includes an original crew photograph , documents the ultimate sacrifice of a distinguished aviator in one of the deadliest and most famous air raids of the war.
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