Collections

The collection of the 460th Heavy Bombardment Group Society contains a unit history of this B-24 U.S. Army Air Corps Group, 55th Wing, 760th, 761st, 762nd, 763rd Squadrons and Group Headquarters, which served in the Italian Campaign. This collection primarily focuses on the memory of the war and those who served in the 460th. Included is a listing of the airmen who were held as prisoners of war, including their squadrons, positions on the plane (e.g. pilot, gunner), the date, mission, and what country or stalag in which they were held. Also included is a booklet, "Remembering the 460th Bomb Group (H)," which contains photographs, personnel lists, and maps, and was prepared as a gift from Duane and Betty Bohnstedt to their members. There are mission lists, target details, flight records, and crew searches. The collection includes issues of the society's veterans' association magazine, "Black Panther" from mid-1990 to their final issue, December 2005.

This collection relates to the 97th Bombardment Group which was based in England, Africa and Italy during World War II and the first operational bomb group in England in 1942. The collection contains documents (mostly photocopies) on missions, statements and statistics, three diaries, and newspaper articles. Their daily operations reports, narrative reports, and casualty reports detail their accomplishments and their losses. Included are a collection of videos, audio tapes, and microfilm. Included are copies of three personal diaries by Alex Blair, Jr., LeRoy Teschendorf, and Herman F. Lykins.

This collection relates to Abraham Lifschitz, a Polish native, who served in the U.S. Army from 1942-1945 with the 100th Infantry Division in the European Theater. This collection contains military service records, wartime publications, religious items, and brief correspondence with his niece, Roberta, who donated this collection. Additionally, this collection contains a veteran hat and handkerchief from an unknown relative who served in World War I, as well as Lifschitz's unit patch, cigarette case, marksmanship badge, bracelet of French francs, dog-tags, and a banner commemorating his unit's history.

This collection relates to Albert Fier who served in the U.S. Army as a sergeant technician with E Company of the 94th Infantry Division in the European Theater of Operation during World War II. This collection contains an oral history transcript, where Fier documents his time as a medic during the war.

The Allan McElhiney Collection contains WWII photographs documenting life in Ft. Lauderdale from 1942 to 1945. Photographs primarily contain those from servicemen's canteen. It also contains McElhiney's Navy uniform.

This collection relates to Allen H. Crawford who served in the U.S. Army Air Force as a bombardier and navigator in the 401st Bomb Group in the European Theater of Operation during World War II. This collection contains an oral history transcript where Crawford details his numerous bombing missions over Germany from late 1944 through the end of the war.

This collection mostly consists of Dutch language civil and military administrative documents from the career of André Lauwrensius van Assenderp, who was a Dutch colonial administrator in the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia) and Suriname from 1932-1946. Some documents date from WWII and its immediate aftermath 1) when André served in Suriname from November 1941 to November 1943 as the District Commissioner and Commissioner of Police in Paramaribo, the colony's capital, and 2) when he served in the Netherlands East Indies from April 1944 to November 1946 as an assistant-resident and military administrator in the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) and the Netherlands Indies Army (KNIL). Photographs include: Netherlands Indies Government Information Service (NIGIS) photos of Merauke, Dutch New Guinea (1944-1945) and the Allied invasion of Balikpapan, Dutch Borneo (July 1945), as well as personal photos of André, his American wife Carol Johnson van Assenderp, and their children. Artifacts include André's Royal Netherlands Indies Army (KNIL) officer's dress uniform with hat and ceremonial sword, a WWII Japanese sword, a sword machete, a British pith helmet, individual portrait paintings of André and Carol, and Carol's hollow chain Javanese bracelets. The collection also has André's KNIL military training booklets, Carol's written recollections of their first years in the NEI, and personal letters from family members in Holland (1940 and 1947) and the US. There are also papers from André's teaching career at the Florida State University (1949-1958).

This collection relates to Angie Croy and her father, Aviation Machinist's Mate Felder Lang Howell, who was killed in a car accident while on duty at Corry Field in Pensacola, Florida. The collection consists of two scrapbooks from World War II, one belonging to Angie Croy, the other assembled by her mother. The scrapbooks include photographs, greeting cards, newspapers, and magazine clippings. The collection also includes letters, telegrams, certificates, and military documents all pertaining to Howell and his family. Artifacts include jewelry, a gold star flag, a floral arrangement ribbon, and a medal awarded posthumously.

This collection contains a manuscript memoir of Anthony Catalino's WWII service in the U.S. Army Field Artillery and staff work at Army hospitals and supply depots in North Africa and Italy.

Photographs, correspondence, news clippings, and artifacts documenting the US Army service of Anthony Jimenez.