Original Items: Only One Group Available. This is a very interesting and unique grouping. It seems to be your average pilot / air crew survival kit, but after closer inspection it’s not. The cloth “bandolier” looking item is in fact an ammunition bandolier! Private Lamb wanted to make sure that while flying missions in the Pacific Theater of War, he was prepared for the worst case scenario, getting shot down in enemy waters.
 
This Grouping Consists of the Following:
- M1 Garand Cloth Ammunition Bandolier repurposed to survival belt: The bandolier was repurposed as his very own and personal survival kit. The way that it is set up, it would appear that it was intended to be either worn as a belt of sorts, he wanted to be prepared at all times while in the air. The items featured are the general survival items, fishing kit, bandages, insect repellent, matches etc.

- Army Air Corps Survival Kit Flask with Contents: Most of the contents that would be found in this kit are in the homemade bandolier kit. This kit still has the sharpening stone, iodine swabs, leader kit and tape

- 23rd Altitude Training Unit Card: A altitude training certification card from Buckingham Army Air Field in Fort Myers, Florida. Ralph M. Lamb is named on it and had certified on September 12, 1944

- 5th Air Force Patch and US Army Air Corps Patch

- 1944 Elgin A-11 A. F. U.S. Army Watch: Watch is 100% original and in working condition. Serial Number AF 44-29536

-5th Air Force Christmas Card: “From____ OF THE 38th BOMB GROUP IN TOKYO”

- Training Manual Dated 1942: “PRACTICAL ELECTRICITY for Bendix TURRETS”. It appears to be a “how to” manual for fixing electrical issues on the famous Bendix Ball Turrets.

- Silk Cloth Chart Survival Map For Eastern Asia and Keijo, Japan

- Japanese “First Class” Travel Ticket in Protective Sleeve

- 2x Japanese Data Plates: One is for the Japanese Type B Cipher Machine, an encryption machine used by the Japanese Foreign Office from 1939 - the end of the war. The other data plate is for some sort of Nissan produced vehicle.
 
This is truly a wonderful attributed grouping to a member of the 5th Air Force who flew combat operations during WW2 in the Pacific! Comes ready to display and research!
 
5th Air Force
Fourteen Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses that survived the Battle of the Philippines left Mindanao for Darwin, Australia, between 17 and 20 December 1941, the only aircraft of the Far East Air Force to escape. After its evacuation from the Philippines on 24 December 1941, FEAF headquarters moved to Australia and was reorganized and redesignated 5 Air Force on 5 February 1942, with most of its combat aircraft based on fields on Java. It seemed at the time that the Japanese were advancing just about everywhere. The remaining heavy bombers of the 19th Bombardment Group, based at Malang on Java, flew missions against the Japanese in an attempt to stop their advance. They were joined in January and February, two or three at a time, by 37 B-17Es and 12 LB-30s of the 7th Bombardment Group. The small force of bombers, never numbering more than 20 operational at any time, could do little to prevent the invasion of the Netherlands East Indies, launching valiant but futile attacks against the masses of Japanese shipping, with six lost in combat, six in accidents, and 26 destroyed on the ground.
 
The 7th Bombardment Group was withdrawn to India in March 1942, leaving the 19th to carry on as the only B-17 Fortress-equipped group in the South Pacific. About this time it was decided that replacement B-17s would not be sent to the southwest Pacific, but be sent exclusively to the Eighth Air Force which was building up in England. By May, Fifth Air Force's surviving personnel and aircraft were detached to other commands and the headquarters remained unmanned for several months, but elements played a small part in the Battle of the Coral Sea (7–8 May 1942) when the 435th Bomb Squadron of the 19th Bomb Group saw the Japanese fleet gathering in Rabaul area nearly two weeks before the battle actually took place. Because of the reconnaissance activity of the 435th Bomb Squadron, the US Navy was prepared to cope adequately with the situation. The squadron was commended by the US Navy for its valuable assistance not only for its excellent reconnaissance work but for the part played in the battle.
 
Headquarters Fifth Air Force was re-staffed at Brisbane, Australia on 18 September 1942 and placed under the command of Major General George Kenney. United States Army Air Forces units in Australia, including Fifth Air Force, were eventually reinforced and re-organised following their initial defeats in the Philippines and the East Indies. At the time that Kenney had arrived, Fifth Air Force was equipped with three fighter groups and five bombardment groups.
 
38th Bombardment Group
The 38th Bombardment Group is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. It was most recently assigned as the operational (flying) component of the 38th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Laon-Couvron Air Base, France, where it was inactivated on 8 December 1957.
 
During World War II the 38th Bomb Group was a medium bombardment group operating in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) as a B-25 Mitchell unit assigned to Fifth Air Force. It was one of the first combat organizations of the United States Army Air Forces to be deployed to the Pacific Theater when elements took part in the June 1942, Battle of Midway using the Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber. Operating in separated echelons until February 1943, the group was re-organized in April 1943 into a standardized B-25 unit. At the conclusion of World War II, the group converted to the A-26 (later B-26) Invader medium bomber.
 
The 38th Bomb Group was awarded four Distinguished Unit Citations for its combat service in Papua (Buna and Gona, 23 July 1942 to 23 January 1943); New Britain (Cape Gloucester, 24–26 December 43); New Guinea (Jefman-Samate-Sorong, 16–17 June 1944); and Leyte (Ormoc Bay, 10 November 1944). It also received recognition from the government of the Philippines with an award of the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
 
During the early years of the Cold War, the unit operated in France as a NATO tactical bombardment group flying Martin B-57B Canberras. The group formed the "Black Knights" aerial demonstration team that performed at several air shows in Western Europe, including the 1957 Paris Air Show. The Black Knights were the only tactical bomber show team in the world.