Spring Military Aviation and Militaria Auction
Lot 323:
Description
This collection of military uniform items and documentation belonged to Colonel Harold Fowler, a notable aviator who served with the British Royal Flying Corps during World War I and the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. The group includes his ETO jacket, and service coat with matching trousers. The garments are constructed of olive drab wool. The service coat features a four-pocket design, an integral waist belt, and gilt brass buttons featuring the Great Seal of the United States. An interior sewn-in cloth label identifies the maker as Sandoz and Co. Ltd., located at 8 Savile Row, London and 4 Rue Clement-Marot, Paris, with handwritten numbers 32, 23, and 43. The ETO jacket shows minor mothing. The service uniform has moth damage in several areas.Insignia on both jackets consists of bullion-embroidered Colonel rank eagles on the shoulder loops and gilt U.S. and USAAF winged propeller collar devices. Each jacket bears a British Royal Flying Corps pilot wing embroidered in bullion on the right breast, a rare authorized wear indicating Fowler’s prior combat service with the British. The ribbon bars represent numerous high-level decorations including the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal, the Purple Heart, the British Distinguished Service Order, and the Military Cross, along with various campaign and victory medals from both World Wars. His medals were sold several years ago.The archival material includes a large-format sepia-toned studio portrait of Fowler in his World War I era Royal Flying Corps uniform. The photograph was produced by Speaight Limited, 157 New Bond Street, London, and is hand-signed and inscribed Harold Fowler 1914-18. Accompanying the photograph is a typed award summary titled Col. Harold Fowler Decorations, which lists thirteen specific awards and dates of conferral between 1914 and 1945.
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