US Army WWII Pocket Bible + touching message - named to Cpl of the 6th Bomb Group - B17 / B29 - Military equipment - 1941

A nice original US Army new Testament bible, with leather-like cover, named to a US Army soldier from Toledo; the bible has his name, address, and service number (''Norman, asn 35076099, corresponding with David N(orman) Mauchamer), who was born in 1916 and passed away very young in 1949 (!). An online search shows he was a Cpl and served with the 6th Bomber group, 24th squadron, who flew with B-17 and B-29's in the pacific theater of operations, including Iwo Jima. This was a gift for christmas 1944. A great original piece with am amazing patina. Would be great to further research, although I do not have time to do this.

A very nice 100% original item for your US WW2 collection!

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History of the 6th Bomb Group
As events in Europe and the Far East unfolded, the 6th Bomb Group and its units moved towards a war footing. Starting in May 1940, ground training for junior officers, newly arrived at France Field, became of major importance. Local courses on armament, use of flares and the delicate and rarely practiced fusing of bombs were made practically daily matters of practical application. Communications were also being stressed, as qualified radio operators were in short supply, while the squadrons rotated in and out of Rio Hato Army Air Base on "live" bombing practice.

On 4 June 1941, the first four-engine Boeing B-17B Flying Fortress was assigned to the Group. By November, all four of the B-17Bs had been assigned to the 7th Reconnaissance Squadron.

Many alerts and false alarms of enemy aircraft were recorded in the first three months after the Japanese Pearl Harbor Attack, although, of course, these proved to be false alarms. As the early months of the war swept by, and as VI Bomber Command struggled to apportion its scarce resources to best advantage.

In 1941 it was assigned to the new VI Bomber Command[3] of Sixth Air Force with an antisubmarine mission on both the Caribbean and Pacific approaches to the Panama Canal. By 1943, the antisubmarine mission was taken over by the United States Navy, and the group was disbanded in November 1943.[2]

Author James Rusbridger examined the records of the 6th Heavy Bomber Group operations while in Panama. The records show the sinking of a large submarine the morning of 19 February 1942. Since no German submarine was lost in the area on that date, it is assumed the large submarine was the Free-French Surcouf, which was the largest submarine in the world at the time. Rusbridger suggested that a collision reported by the American freighter Thompson Lykes on the night of 18 February, sustained damaged to the submarine's radio antenna with the stricken vessel limping towards Panama.[4]

On April 19, 1944, the 6th Bombardment Group was reactivated at Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, being formed as a B-29 Superfortress Very Heavy bombardment Group. The reactivated group was initially assigned four newly constituted bomb squadrons, the 24th, 39th, 40th and 41st as its operational components.

Due to a shortage of B-29s, the group was equipped with former II Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortresses previously used for training heavy bomber replacement personnel. In May shortages in aircraft and equipment led to the 41st Bomb Squadron being inactivated, with its personnel being consolidated into other group squadrons and the 6th becoming a three squadron group (the 41st would be reactivated a month later as part of the 501st Bombardment Group, but was inactivated a second time, finally being deployed into combat with the 448th Bombardment Group). The 6th was eventually equipped with newly manufactured B-29 Superfortresses at Grand Island Army Airfield, Nebraska, during the summer of 1944.

In November the group was deployed to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, being assigned to the XXI Bomber Command 313th Bombardment Wing, being stationed at North Field, Tinian, The group entered combat by flying navigational escort for a major attack force bound for Iwo Jima. The 6th then began engaging in very long range bombardment missions over the Japanese Home Islands, striking Tokyo and other major Japanese cities and facilities during daylight high-altitude bombing raids, with crippling, non-stop incremental raids which destroyed lines of communication, supply, and numerous kamikaze bases.

On 25 May 1945, the 6th flew a low-altitude night mission through alerted enemy defenses to drop incremental bombs on Tokyo, for which they received their first Distinguished Unit Citation. In addition to incremental raids, the 6th also participated in mining operations. By mining harbors in Japan and Korea in July 1945, the group contributed to the blockade of the Japanese Empire earning their second Distinguished Unit Citation. The 6th's final World War II mission came on 14 August 1945, with the dropping of 500-pound general-purpose bombs on the Marifu railroad yards at Iwakuni.