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LOT 365
Exceptionally Fine Documented 1941 Production World War
II U.S. Colt Model 1911A1 Semi-Automatic Pistol Attributed
to Col. William Patteson Thorington, a Bomber Pilot in the
Pacific Theater - Serial no. 728364, 45 ACP cal., 5 inch round bbl.,
blue finish, plastic grips. An included notarized statement with
this pistol states that it was purchased in 1998 from the daughter
of Colonel William P. Thorington, which along with the other
items in the lot was found in his footlocker and was believed to
have been there since 1945. William “Pat” Patteson Thorington
(1917-1998) attended the University of Virginia, where it appears
he was part of an ROTC like program and later attended flight
school for the U.S. Army Air Corps in Texas. Two framed photos
of these flight school classes are included, one of which pictures
him with his name listed at the bottom, and the other appearing
to picture him but is unlabeled. After flight school it appears that,
then lieutenant, Thorington was assigned to the 19th Bomber
Group (squadron unclear), which was first assigned to Hawaii and
later the 30th and 93rd squadrons assigned to the Philippines.
These squadrons along with the 14th, which later followed,
were present at Clark Field and Del Monte when the Japanese
carried out their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December
1941. Around noon on 8 December 1941, Clark Field was brutally
attacked, with all but one of the B-17s helplessly on the ground.
This attack quickly cut the 19th BG’s number of aircraft in half,
with most of those still operational being stationed at Del Monte.
Over the following days, the remaining B-17s of 19th BG, along
with their crews carried out desperate missions against the
Japanese invasion fleet in an effort to slow their advance. With
these early B-17 “Flying Fortresses” not nearly as heavily armed as
their late-war counterparts and the massed defensive formation
tactics used later in the war not dreamt up yet, these early crews
suffered staggering losses, some reports claiming two-thirds
of the 19th being killed, captured, or wounded. Eventually the
19th was forced to retreat to safer airfields, these being first in
Australia, and then Java. From there missions were continually
flown against Japanese forces, often with short-handed crews,
and insufficient supply. Between April and June of 1942 the
19th flew approximately 60 sorties, including at least 18 attacks
against the heavily defended Japanese port at Rabaul, where they
destroyed many Japanese ships, aircraft, and ground personnel.
Not long after this much of the battle weary and depleted 19th
was transferred back the United States where it was eventually
deactivated, however many of its members, including Thorington,
appear to have transferred to the 43rd Bombardment Group to
continue fighting the Japanese in the South Pacific. Newspaper
articles indicate, that around this time, Thorington was awarded
the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal,
the latter two being included with the lot.
It appears, that for the remainder of the war Thorington, who
was at some point promoted to captain, served with the 64th
Bombardment Squadron of the 34th BG. Through process of
elimination, the writer believes that Thorington may have been
the pilot of the B-17E Flying Fortress with the serial number
41-2649, which was later photographed at Patteson Field in Ohio
and identified with the nickname “My Oklahoma Gal” by the New
York Journal-American, though there is no evidence it bore this
nickname during its time in the Pacific.