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WW2 aircraft ID cards


UShistorybuff00
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UShistorybuff00

Hello everyone. I got a stack of these a while ago. Not much online about them. I’m assuming they’re identification cards about specific aircrafts. Where they used during WW2. If anyone can give me some info about them that would be great. Thanks.  

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There were numerous versions of the Aircraft Recognition or Spotter cards that were used by essentially every service. These were also used by the Civil Defense as well as Civil Air Patrol during World War Two. Some of the more restricted data about the aircraft would only have been released to the Air Corps, Navy and Army while the civilian organizations would most likely just have basic "need to know" information for recognition. 

 

I can't see the print to well, but it appears there are some distinct feature descriptions that are unique to each aircraft which aide spotters and other personnel in properly identifying the aircraft 

 

You will see decks of cards, booklets, posters and other means to help pilots, gunners, observers, anti-aircraft crews identify threat and friendly aircraft.

 

In some instances, the decks of cards would be for specific countries such as Germany, Japan, Great Britain, United States, etc. and they would only have aircraft from that country. These appear to be a mixture of Allied as well as German, possibly from sets that were broken up. 

 

I have several German and Japanese aircraft recognition cards similar to these that were printed by the Military Intelligence Office for distribution to the Air Corps. 

 

I presume the two aircraft silhouette cards on the right showing the P-39 and P-40 are what the backsides of the cards on the left are and the front of those two would show these two aircraft in similar flying scenes? 

 

I feel comfortable stating these are World War Two era cards and depending on the size of these you may want to place them in acid free card holders for preservation. As I don't know the size dimensions these may fit nicely in post card size card holders.  You can find these type of card holders at Hobby Lobby, Stamp and Coin shops that sell paper money and possibly at paper supply stores like Staples. 

 

Are these cardstock (stiffer paper) or softer paper? I would imagine these were a little sturdier like card stock if these were passed around and handled a lot..

 

See if there are any makers marks on the corners or in smaller print at the bottom of the cards. These could possibly be British made by the firm Valentines of Dundee. This firm printed aircraft recognition cards during the war but without seeing any proof, this is just a guess. The key may be in the verbiage of the description of the aircraft where "proper English" is used vs American English with some of the words...

 

These are very nice.

 

Best regards, stay safe

 

Leigh 

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UShistorybuff00
3 minutes ago, Rakkasan187 said:

There were numerous versions of the Aircraft Recognition or Spotter cards that were used by essentially every service. These were also used by the Civil Defense as well as Civil Air Patrol during World War Two. Some of the more restricted data about the aircraft would only have been released to the Air Corps, Navy and Army while the civilian organizations would most likely just have basic "need to know" information for recognition. 

 

I can't see the print to well, but it appears there are some distinct feature descriptions that are unique to each aircraft which aide spotters and other personnel in properly identifying the aircraft 

 

You will see decks of cards, booklets, posters and other means to help pilots, gunners, observers, anti-aircraft crews identify threat and friendly aircraft.

 

In some instances, the decks of cards would be for specific countries such as Germany, Japan, Great Britain, United States, etc. and they would only have aircraft from that country. These appear to be a mixture of Allied as well as German, possibly from sets that were broken up. 

 

I have several German and Japanese aircraft recognition cards similar to these that were printed by the Military Intelligence Office for distribution to the Air Corps. 

 

I presume the two aircraft silhouette cards on the right showing the P-39 and P-40 are what the backsides of the cards on the left are and the front of those two would show these two aircraft in similar flying scenes? 

 

I feel comfortable stating these are World War Two era cards and depending on the size of these you may want to place them in acid free card holders for preservation. As I don't know the size dimensions these may fit nicely in post card size card holders.  You can find these type of card holders at Hobby Lobby, Stamp and Coin shops that sell paper money and possibly at paper supply stores like Staples. 

 

Are these cardstock (stiffer paper) or softer paper? I would imagine these were a little sturdier like card stock if these were passed around and handled a lot..

 

These are very nice.

 

Best regards, stay safe

 

Leigh 

Thank you so much for this info!

yes the silhouette is of what the back sides look like on the cards. They’re a stiffer almost thin card board material. I will look into getting them in a protective card holders. And you’re right. Those are p-40 and p-39 👍

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Great looking card.

 

I see no maker marks so it might take some time to determine (if even possible) who printed the cards.

 

At any rate, these are a nice item to collect..

 

Well done

 

Leigh 

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