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LOT 1443
Patch for the 414th Night Fighter Squadron and Photographs for the Same, Attributed to a Pilot of the 414th - The grouping includes a bullion patch for the 414th Night Fighter Squadron (depicting a black panther pouncing through a night sky), and a number of photographs. Among the photos are shots of unidentified aircraft/
unit insignia, shots of the P-61 “Black Widow” night fighter, and pictures of American aviators and ground crew, three of which are labeled as men/officers of the 414th. Two of the 414th pictures (one of a single officer and a group shot in the Officer’s Club with notations) and the patch are noted to a “Lieutenant Frank Northcutt”; online records confirm a Grover Frank Northcutt of McFarlan, North Carolina as a pilot and officer
with the 414th and three time recipient of the Air Medal. A college instructor, business manager and talented singer in civilian life, Northcutt was with the 414th when they earned the Presidential Unit Citation for action over the Anzio Beachhead, and returned to service for Korea as an instructor for night fighters.
CONDITION: Very good overall.
Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection.
Estimate: 5,000 - 7,500
324
LOT 1444
Grouping of Women Airforce Service Pilot Memorabilia, Including a Training Yearbook and Leather Patch - The grouping includes a leather-bound yearbook from the 318th Army Air Force Flight Training Detachment in Sweetwater, Texas, class W-2, a
5 3/8 inches wide painted leather patch, two enamel lapel pins, and a set of silver flight wings with “318th” in a banner above the shield and “W6” on the shield. The yearbook, patch and lapel pins prominently feature “Fifinella”, a character originally designed
for a Walt Disney film of the Roald Dahl book “The Gremlins”; while the film never got off the ground due to complications caused by Dahl’s status as an active member of the Royal Air Force and uncertainty about the original creator of the ‘gremlin’ legend,
the character was adopted by the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) as a unit insignia. Established during WWII, the WASPs performed non-combat aviation in support of the war effort, ferrying aircraft, test-flying repaired planes, and towing targets for aerial gunnery practice. WASPs handled about half of the US Army’s ferrying duties during the war and were called upon to fly the majority of the planes in America’s inventory. A note attached to the back of the patch attributes it and the yearbook as being from the same WASP, as well as an included photograph, but the note does not name the pilot.
CONDITION: Very good, with mild wear and handling marks overall.
Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection.
Estimate: 4,000 - 6,000