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LOT 379
Fine Grouping of Medals and Decorations
From an OSS Paratrooper Trainer - Multiple
items in this grouping are engraved or otherwise
marked for Lieutenant Colonel Lucius O. Rucker
Junior. Born in 1915, Rucker was an officer
with the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment before being tapped to join America’s Office of Strategic Services. As an OSS man, Rucker
would be called to teach his skills to allied forces and clandestine agents, both in the United States and abroad. His first major overseas
posting would be at “Massingham” a joint OSS/Special Operations Executive base in Algeria established after the Allied landings in North
Africa during Operation Torch. Massingham was a critical gateway into occupied Europe, serving as the point of departure for men and
material stepping off into France, Spain and Italy. As a parachute drop was typically the most practical way to get a man on the ground
in hostile territory, then-Major Rucker’s skills were in high demand to prepare agents to go into the field; per his Legion of Merit citation,
his parachute school would train around 2,100 students for the OSS and other friendly agencies, with Rucker himself personally testing
experimental equipment and techniques. Later in the war he would be made OSS’s chief of air operations in Kunming, supporting both
OSS’s operations and Chinese operations, in particular running another jump school
that qualified the first group of Chinese paratroopers. Articles on his career place
his personal number of jumps at around 119, and estimated total trainees at around
3,800, including around 38 OSS women; Rucker himself would note that he never
had a woman refuse to jump at the moment of truth. The grouping consists of a mix
of American, European and Chinese decorations. The American items include a set
of Lieutenant Colonel’s rank badges, a set of “U.S.” and “503” lapel pins, a set of silver
jump wings, the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star (inscribed to Rucker), and campaign
medals for Asiatic-Pacific, American Campaign/American Defense, European-African-
Middle Eastern (with 1 star), World War II and Army of Occupation (with “GERMANY”
bar)The European decorations include the Order of the British Empire, French Croix
du Guerre (with palm), a British jump wing patch and jump wing lapel pin. The
Chinese items are a pair of shoulder patches (one in the China-Burma-India style, the
other particular to the Kunming jump school), the “Special Breast Order of Yun Hui”
medal, and a pair of badges from the Kunming jump school (one for a parachute
rigger, one for members of the training cadre). Also included with the group are a
small brass fu-dog emblem, a small pair of “GQ” enamel jump wings, and a grouping
of documentation, including pictures of Rucker, copies of award citations and
notifications for some of his decorations (particular the Legion of Merit and Order of
Yun Hui), Rucker’s membership cards for the Airborne Association and the Century
Club (a group reserved for veterans of 100 airborne jumps), and articles about the OSS
that mention Rucker’s contributions to the war effort.
CONDITION: Good overall, with the items showing wear appropriate to age and use.
Some of the photos show stains, tears and creases.
Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection.
Estimate: 6,000 - 9,000
LOT 378
Scarce Grouping of World War II Special Forces/Airborne Patches, Including Examples from the Chinese Commandos and the
Special Reconnaissance Battalion of the OSS - At the center of the grouping are three patches for the 3rd Contingent Operational Group
of the Special Reconnaissance Battalion of the Office of Strategic Services; the forefather of the Army Special Forces “A Team” concept, the
Operational Groups were intended to be dropped into hostile territory to organize and train local resistance. While many OSS activities took
place in a “plain clothes” context, the OGs were uniformed soldiers first and foremost. The 3rd is particularly associated with action in the
Dalmatian Islands during World War II, where (along with a number of Tito’s Yugoslavian partisans and a detachment of British Commandos)
they used the island of Vis as a base of operations through the then-German occupied Dalmatian Islands and coast and would later relocate
to the China-Burma-India Theater. The 3rd OG group consists of two rocker-style patches bullion embroidered “SPECIAL RECON. BN.” and “3rd
Contingent OG”, with a round gold bullion patch bearing the “eagle, Thompson and anchor” Combined Operations emblem, 2 3/4 inches in
diameter. Known examples are generally custom made, some attributed as being made in India following the unit’s departure from Europe,
and the use of the Combined Ops emblem inspired by their British comrades. At top are two Airborne themed shield-style patches, one for
the First Allied Airborne Army (parent organization for all Allied airborne formations on the Western Front) and the other for U.S. Airborne
Command (parent unit for American Airborne formation, known to have been used by the 506th and 501st PIR in lieu of an individual insignia
prior to their attachment to the 101st Airborne Division). At the bottom are a pair of patches from Allied operations in China, with a silver
bullion China-Burma-India shield and a bullion on blue cloth “Chinese Commando” patch. The Chinese Commando units were an experiment
in using veteran Operational Group members from the OSS to train and fight alongside Chinese paratroopers, and while they were conceived
and created late in the war they still managed to make contact with the enemy. While no information on the original wearer of the patches
was supplied, they may have been from the same trooper; an Operational Group member could have been in Europe late enough to be
added to the First Allied Airborne Army (organized in 1944) and then moved to the CBI Theater for the formation of the Commandos in 1945,
and surviving Commando uniforms have been seen with both the Commando and U.S Airborne Command patches.
CONDITION: Very good overall, with some minor stains and wear.
Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection.
Estimate: 8,500 - 13,000