DAVID W. POHL - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH - HFSID 189575
Price: $220.00
DAVID POHL
Photograph of the Doolittle Raiders Crew #8 signed by the engineer
gunner, David Pohl.
Photograph signed: "David Pohl", in black ink. B/w, 10x8. On
April 18, 1942, four months after Pearl Harbor, Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle and 79
other fighter pilots ("Doolittle's Raiders") bombed Tokyo, the first air attack
on the Japanese capital, scoring a huge victory for United States morale at a
time when Japan's position in the Pacific seemed impregnable. Doolittle piloted
Airplane #1. After bombing their assigned targets the crew of plane #8,
including engineer gunner David William Pohl (1921-1999), was forced
to crash land in Russia when their aircraft ran out of fuel. The 5 crew
members were captured and held captive for 13 months by the Russians who were
not yet at war with Japan. Starving with meager meals of black bread and
cabbage, Pohl and his crew members resolved to plan an escape. With the help
of a sympathetic Soviet officer and $250 won in a poker game, Plane #8's crew
was successfully smuggled into Iran where they found a British Embassy. British
Diplomats led them to India where they took a flight home to the United States.
Pohl received the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Chinese Army, Navy, and
Air Corps Medal, Class A, 1st Grade. Ink note (unknown hand) on verso.
Fine condition.
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