Lot 603

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Description:

JAPANESE FLAG CAPTURED AT IWO JIMA
A fine relic of one of the bloodiest and most remembered battles of World War II, a silk Japanese flag, 37" x 27", clamp-dyed with a "meatball" national insignia at center. The flag bears numerous blue ink signatures and inscriptions, attesting to its capture by soldiers of the 5th Marine Division during the Battle of Iwo Jima. To the right of the national insignia appears a list of sixteen locations, all matching areas visited in one way or another by the 5th Marine Division from its mobilization in 1943 to the war's end and beyond. These include: Camp Matthews and Camp Pendleton in California, where the division received much of its training; Eniwetok, Saipan and Tinian, where the division was supplied and practiced amphibious landings; Iwo Jima itself; Hawaii; and Sasebo, Nagasaki, Ito and Tokyo in Japan, where the 5th was assigned to occupation duty following Japan's surrender. Each of these locales is accompanied by the year in which the division was present, with the final destination, "Stateside", being listed with a question mark, indicating that this inscription and many of the signatures were added during the occupation of Japan. The flag further bears the signatures of nineteen soldiers, including several members of the 5th Marine Division. Of these signatures, among the most significant is that of Frank D. Bloodworth, Jr. of Orlando, Florida, a member of the 5th Marine Division's 5th Service Battalion and the flag's likely captor. The flag is accompanied by a signed and notarized letter from Bloodworth's daughter, confirming that the signature on the flag is that of her father. Also present is a modern print of a photo of eight Marines posing in a ruined jungle setting with their weapons and two captured Japanese flags, one showing ink inscriptions in Japanese and the other unmarked. In her letter, Bloodworth's daughter also confirms that her father appears kneeling second from right in the first row of this photo, holding the inscribed flag. As Iwo Jima was the only combat engagement in which the 5th Marine Division took part during World War II, this photo could only have been taken there, and it is probable that the uninscribed flag present in this photo is the flag we present here, retained by Bloodworth. The flag is also signed by 5th Service battalion members Lester J. Schepperly, Theodore I. Miller, Herny A. Miller, Raymond P. Turk and Wyatt L. Reaves; Headquarters Battalion members Edwin J. Hurdle and James A. McGuigan; George W. Oliver of the 26th Regiment; and members of other Marine divisions and postings. One of these adds a date in 1967, indicating that this flag was being signed and circulated, most likely by friends and acquaintances of Bloodworth's, well after the war. The flag shows scattered soiling and a hole at the upper hoist corner, and is mounted in a wood frame. Also present are a cloth 5th Marine Division "spearhead" insignia patch, as well as a captured Japanese naval insignia patch, which may be that worn by another soldier in the aforementioned photo of the captured flags. The group is rounded out by muster rolls and military records of most of the signatories, as well as the official unit history of the 5th Marine Division during World War II, as well as the book "Iwo Jima: Legacy of Valor", by Bill D. Ross (New York: Vintage Books), 1985, 380pp. 8vo. Of the three Marine divisions involved in the Battle of Iwo Jima, the 5th suffered the highest casualties, with 2,482 men killed in action and a further 6,218 wounded. On February 23, 1945, men of the 28th Marine Regiment of the 5th Division raised two American flags at the summit of Mount Suribachi, the latter of which would be captured by photographer Joe Rosenthal, becoming the iconic image of the battle.

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July 31, 2018 10:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000