Beschreibung:

Absolutely fantastic photo album which was put together by John W. Engle to document his service in the US Marine Corps from 1935-1945. Mr. Engle joined the Marine Corps in Seattle, Washington. He served at the American Embassy in Peiping, China and was on the American athletic team. He also had a ring side seat to the advance of the Japanese encroachment and takeover of the China mainland. In 1938 with the withdrawal of the US 15th Inf. from China, the Marines in Peiping were split to maintain a presence in Tientsin. With war again coming in Europe, now Corporal Engle was deployed under the Anglo-American Defense Pact to Iceland. After returning, Corporal Engle was redeployed to Samoa and eventually participated in the Battles for Eniwetok and Saipan. Engle's record is quite interesting, as he was reported as AWOL and court-martialed twice and traveled all across the globe during his time in the service. He also earned a Purple Heart medal for wounds received while fighting on the Marshall islands on February 23, 1944. Engle's photo album contains incredible content that starts in 1935 with his service in China, all the way to the early World War II period. The There are 200+ photos that show marines in various uniforms, including China Marines and Iceland Marines in their iconic winter hats. There are photos of Engle and the athletic teams he was apart of, as well as ships, training, early tanks in China, wonderful group photos of marines in gear and uniforms, photos of marines firing M7 rifle grenade launchers off of their M1903 Springfield rifles, and much more. The photos take a gruesome turn, as Mr. Engle documented the violence from he onslaught of Japanese forces in China. There are many photos of dead soldiers and civilians, which is noted by Engle as he records his throughs on the pages "This is War. Women, children + whoever got in the way of a bullet was killed whether they were a combatant or not." Almost all of the photos are labeled and paging through the album is akin to reading a diary. There is also a wonderful embroidery that measures approximately 16" x 11 - 1/2" and is decorated with Engle's name along with an EGA flanked by two dragons. The album itself is falling apart, there is no more binding, and most of the pages exhibit warped edges and rips. However, despite the damage, all of the photos remain clear, and most of Mr. Engle's writing remains intact. This is a fantastic album with from an interesting time in Marine Corps history that is rich with content and is a must have for any collector who is seriously studying Pre-World War II Marines. CONDITION: Good. JLD Item Dimensions: 22" x 14" Name Value Paperwork