Many collectors see themselves more as preservers and care takers of history, not investors, mentioning money is not honorable.   While I agree with them in many respects, I grew up around collectors who were cut throats, liars and cheats,  so they wouldn’t discuss value and ripped you off every chance they got, there are still many people like this so it’s nice to get some help.   So when people don’t want to discuss value it just a little bit reminds me of them but not all of them because there are honorable people in this hobby.   Another question, the enemy planes destroyed were they on the ground or dog fight kills?  

Very doubtful that this is a 714th BS patch.    It has popped up as a mystery patch a few times, but to the best of my knowledge has never been identified. I have one as well that came in a large signal corps collection, but the previous collector was never able to confirm an ID. 

He has listed this group on eBay for 10k.

Was he awarded the DFC for the same action in which he was killed?   Is there any paperwork about the DFC?   Any chance the family still has the Purple Heart or perhaps his squadron patch?    If the PH was there I would think this would be a $1500 group.   Many pilot groups have tons of paperwork, some even had trunks full, they seem to have had the ability to keep that stuff.   The most interesting item in the group is the engraved DFC even though it was issued after the war.

Might want to go back and get a picture together or a signed statement or something. Gotta keep that history verified ;)

While inventorying the Lloyd J. Andrews Jr. archive, I found this February 20, 1944 RAF letter preserved inside one of the family scrapbooks.   The letter was written by RAF serviceman Eric Marriott to Mrs. Cadwell regarding a missing airman named Harry following a Berlin operation. Eric notes that Harry’s aircraft failed to return and expresses hope that he may have become a POW. The letter also contains an interesting reference to Phoenix, Arizona.   I’m trying to determine whether this was simply a wartime keepsake preserved by the family or whether there may be a direct connection between the Andrews family and the individuals mentioned in the letter.   Has anyone encountered Eric Marriott, Harry Cadwell, or this particular Berlin operation in their research?

Anyone know parachute items well?

While continuing to inventory the Lloyd J. Andrews Jr. archive, I was able to connect an interesting postwar chapter of the family’s story.   The archive contains a May 31, 1945 letter written to Anne Andrews and signed simply “Jack.” In the letter, Jack describes being stationed in Austria near Berchtesgaden after the war in Europe, recovering from a hospital stay, fishing, hunting, and traveling through Germany and France.   Further research uncovered the obituary of Jack P. Wilson, which states that he married Anne E. McKee on July 18, 1946. The obituary also lists daughter Talitha McKay among the survivors.   The archive also contains a newspaper article showing Anne Andrews and daughter Talitha Ann Andrews receiving Lt. Andrews’ posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross in December 1945.   Taken together, these documents appear to trace the story from Lloyd Andrews’ death in October 1944, through Anne’s widowhood, to her marriage to fellow WWII veteran Jack Wilson in 1946. It may also help explain how the archive remained preserved intact within the family for more than 80 years.   I thought forum members might appreciate this additional piece of the story.

period original