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LOT 1441
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.
"The Navy can lose us the war, but only the Air Force can win it. The fighters are our salvation, but the bombers alone provide the means of victory."
- Winston Churchill
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CLARK FIELD DURING WORLD WAR II