Description:

RUFUS BRATTON JAPAN ARCHIVE
Rare relic grouping from the archive of Colonel Rufus Bratton, the Army infantry and intelligence officer whose work as Far East Section Chief of Military Intelligence and actions during the Pearl Harbor attack were fictionalized in the movie Tora Tora Tora: an extensive and comprehensive collection of photographs and written material from Bratton's years (1922, 1925-26, 1930-33) as a military attache and intelligence officer in Japan. Not only did Bratton learn the Japanese language and culture during his Japan period, but he held a front-row seat to the Imperial Army's military development and plans-- leaving him in a unique position on the eve of Pearl Harbor. The grouping contains over 100 photographs of varying sizes, b/w, capturing Bratton's home and social life at embassy and private parties (50), the United States military (16), mixed military functions (13), and the Japanese military demonstrating their field capabilities and hosting events (23). Additionally, Bratton's scrapbook contains 38 letters addressed to Bratton from Japanese government and military officials, as well as private Japanese citizens (in both English and Japanese kanji). Highlights include but are not limited to: official invitations from general and war criminal Sadao Araki, future general Masafumi Yamauchi, future colonel and Washington attache Shohei Washizu, the fabulously wealthy Maquis Mayada; invitations with maps to the Emperor's 1932 and 1933 Spring and Fall Garden parties; relics from the sobetsu kai thrown for Bratton by Japanese colleagues; original military photos of Japanese field tactics; original photos of Japanese officers (high command and future); much more for any collector of Japanese postal or military history. The collection also contains several personal items Bratton kept, that are also of historical interest: 1922 passport for Bratton's wife, signed by CHARLES EVAN HUGHES and stamped in Japan; August 8, 1945 original copy of the Allgemeine Zeitung [General Newspaper] published by the American Army while Bratton was stationed in Berlin-- with a front-page article declaring Hiroshima atom bombed; original photographs of Bratton's Pearl Harbor testimony; and finally, sadly, news clippings Bratton kept detailing officers' careers who had been promoted above him, even though they had not performed as well during the Pearl Harbor crisis. In all, a unique and important historical collection.

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January 21, 2010 10:00 AM EST
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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