Nice Grouping Russ! Thanks for posting.
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love the flag...
never saw one quite like that before.
RobertComment
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Many thanks for the comments gents. I've been waiting for this group for quite awhile now and I'm thrilled with it. Unfortunately the NZ veteran has passed on now but I would like to try and find out if the American vet is still alive - I would love to send him a copy of the pic and record his memories from this time. What would be the best way to try and locate him?
Regards
RussComment
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Originally posted by RussellM View Post
www.ancestry.com is very helpful. Hope you get a hit. That is really a great find. To have a period pic of it! WOW! Thanks for posting it.
ScottComment
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No doubt the flag in the photo is the one you have. The owner of the flag appears to have been a civil servant assigned to a remote government outpost office in the southern tip of Taiwan, who got drafted and received this flag from his colleagues at the office there.
The outlines around the writing were not added by a Japanese. It must have been the vet or his family that did it to try to keep the fading from making the signatures totally illegible.
The metal plate says "munitions storage".Comment
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Items from Nissan Island
Russell-
This is a very nice grouping. The photograph of the soldiers with the flag make it a rare and historic group. The image labeled #2 has the name and unit information from the veteran written across the top in black ink pen. Comparing image numbers 2 and 3, you can see that the Japanese characters/ideograms have probably been outlined by the same pen. I agree with Nick that the veteran did this for whatever reason. I have never seen the characters outlined like this on any other hinomaru yosegaki. mikebComment
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Nick, many thanks for taking the time to offer some translation of the flag and the metal plate - very much appreciated. I agree with the assessment from yourself and Mike that it was likely done by the veteran as the pen used does appear to be the same, and possibly some of the characters may now appear incorrect. The previous owner never had any translation carried out and he will be interested in what you have provided, so I will let him know.
Thanks to all for the positive comments - this is the first grouping I have that includes a period photo of a flag with the veteran, and being a part of NZ's military history in the Pacific makes it very special to me. Our War Memorial museum has a small section dedicated to Nissan Island.
Scott, thanks for the link - there are quire a few 'Lee Bryants' listed under the WW2 draft card section so I am hopeful to be able to make a connection. Before I can get any further info, I need to subscribe to the site.
Regards
RussComment
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Nick, is it possible to decipher this cap band? The left side is a little over-exposed and blurry, but this is the best I could do to try and make it clearer.
Regards
RussComment
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The fuzziest leftmost two characters represent the ship's name. The left character is hopelessly illegible, but the right one is most surely "Ao". The only ship's name starting with Ao is "Aoba(green leaves)" and here it is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Aoba
600 shown behind the sailor, may be the year of re-commissioning of the Aoba, 1940 or the year 2600 on the Imperial calendar.Comment
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Many thanks for your efforts with the translations and research Nick - very much appreciated. The ship does appear to have spent time in the right location.
Regards
RussComment
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The previous owner has just sent me some more pics which he thinks belongs to this grouping. No doubt about this first one, which is described as the 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 35th Battalion 2nd NZEF - same flag, rifles and background as the first pic.Comment
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This one shows a Naval cap, bugle and one or two Naval flags.Comment
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Portrait of an Army soldier.Comment
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Some writing on the reverse of the portrait.Comment
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Photo of another Japanese soldier, no writing on the reverse of this one.Comment
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