Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 231:
Description
Named China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater Fighter Pilot Grouping of 1st Lt. John G. Eckhoff – Numbered Republic of China Air Force Pilot Wings No. 431, P-40 Warhawk Gunnery Logs, 1945 Loping Instrument Flight Certificate, and Personal Wartime Effects This is a rich and personally documented China-Burma-India Theater grouping named to 1st Lt. John G. Eckhoff (1921-1977), a USAAF fighter pilot who trained and flew in the Pacific and CBI Theaters during the closing year of World War II. At its center is Eckhoff’s numbered Republic of China Air Force pilot breast badge – the enameled "Blue Sky with a White Sun" wing pinned to the notebook it accompanied, its reverse struck with Chinese Air Force Headquarters characters and the issue number 431, of the type awarded to American airmen flying alongside Chinese forces in the CBI. No separate published biography of Eckhoff has been located; his service story survives here directly in his own paperwork, penciled flight logs, and personal wartime keepsakes. Eckhoff’s surviving A.A.F. Form No. 8 places him at APO 278, Loping, China, where on 11 September 1945 – days after the Japanese surrender – he passed his Instrument Flight Test under Maj. Stanley C. Birkhold, with 1st Lt. Edmund J. Howe as check pilot, confirming his active flying status in China at the very close of the war. His pocket notebooks, signed "A/C Eckhoff, John G., " record aerial gunnery details from June 1944 in P-40K-15CU, P-40N-5CU, and P-40N-20CU Warhawks and an RA-24B, logging rounds fired and hits scored, alongside handwritten instructional notes on spins, traffic patterns, and landing technique – the working shorthand of a pilot refining his fighter skills. A pencil sketch labeled "Craig Field" diagrams the runways, tower height, and parking apron of his stateside training base in Alabama. A wartime photograph shows Eckhoff standing beside a pair of ornate ceramic urns, likely encountered during his China posting. The grouping is anchored by the numbered Chinese pilot wing, which retains its enamel sunburst and reverse mounting posts with expected light brass patina. The A.A.F. Form No. 8 instrument certificate is complete and legible with period ink signatures, showing toning and a water stain to one corner. Two pocket notebooks – a "Fighting Man’s Note Book" and a "Commander" pocket notebook – hold dense pencil entries on gunnery and flight training. A brass pilot’s whistle on its original split ring, a blue felt Army Air Forces patch, and a gold-embossed brown leather wallet stamped "JOHN G. ECKHOFF" with celluloid photo sleeves complete the personal effects. Also included are a War Department Basic Field Manual/Soldier’s Handbook, a period snapshot of Eckhoff, a photocopied newspaper obituary confirming his 1977 death in a Civil Air Patrol search-mission crash in Colorado, and a run of wartime greeting cards – Christmas, Valentine, birthday, and "Season’s Greetings" designs decorated with P-40s and bombers, including one Christmas card inscribed "From Dad" wishing him "Happy Landings." Condition throughout is very good for the period, with mild edge wear, handling creases, and toning to the paper items consistent with wartime use and decades of private keeping; the wallet shows slight surface creasing and the notebooks expected spine and cover wear. A compact but evocative named CBI fighter pilot archive whose numbered Chinese wing, dated Loping instrument certificate, and penciled Warhawk gunnery logs together preserve one American airman’s service on the ground and in the air at the very end of the war in China.
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