This is a grouping of paratrooper Volney Swift of the 11th Airborne Division from World War II. The grouping consists of his Model 1942 jump jacket, garrison cap, pocket knife, Sterling jump wings, qualification badge, 11th Division 36th Reunion coin, miniature jump wings and 11th Division patch tie tacks, 35th Reunion photo album and over 20 wartime photos of "Swifty" and his buddies. There is also a newsletter called the I Company Beacon dated September 5, 1998 included. From the photos and newsletter it would appear that Trooper Swift was a radioman with I Company, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division. Evidently he had an ink stamp made that reads Swifty in cursive and 11th AD below the name. It is stamped on the sweatband of his garrison cap and quartermaster tag of his jump jacket. The 11th Airborne was formed in January, 1943 at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. The division served in the Pacific theater and has battle streamers for the Battle of Leyte, Battle of Luzon and the Raid on Los Banos. Elements of the 511th took part in a combat jump in northern Luzon on 23 June, 1945 to seal off the Japanese retreat route. After the surrender of Japan the 511th went to japan to perform occupation duty from August, 1945 through February, 1949. Trooper Swift was with the 511th PIR from 6 march, 1943 through 11 January, 1946 when he was discharged. His M1942 jump jacket is in very good condition. The jacket is olive drab#3 in color and is made of cotton twill fabric. There is an 11th "Angels" patch sewn on the left sleeve. It doesn't look to have had any other stitching on the sleeves, reinforcing patches or rank for that matter. All the snaps on the pockets, cuffs and neck work, but have a bit of rust and oxidation on them. The black is worn off some of the outer snaps. The stitching is very strong throughout the jacket. There are no tears, rips or moth damage anywhere on the jacket. The main zipper on the front of the jacket is a Crown brand and it works, but the teeth opposite the zipper are broken about half way up. The double zippered knife pocket has two Serval zippers installed, one of the pulls is missing, but they both work. There are no markings on the inside of the jacket. The quartermaster tag is present in the lower right pocket. It is still legible and has Swifty's ink stamp on it. There is no damage to the jacket, no stains, tears , rips, loose stitching or anything else. These untouched original condition jump jackets are getting hard to come by. It still has the original belt with it, something you don't often see. Along with the jacket comes his garrison cap with 11th Division DI pinned on the right side and Parachutist patch sewn on the left side. The cap has a couple of small moth holes. The pocket knife is not an issue switch blade, but a two blade utility knife made by John Nowill of Sheffield, England. The can opener blade has the maker marks of the letter D under an astrick, beside crossed KROSSKEYS. The jump wings are standard pin back parachutist wings with the Sterling back mark. The qualification badge has the expert bar along with BAYONET, GRENADE, MACHINE GUN, AUTO RIFLE and RIFLE bars. Seems ol' Swifty was a bit of a PX hero! His 36th reunion coin is unopened, still in the plastic. These are also used as challenge coins but soldiers. If you are challenged and don't have your coin on you then you owe everybody present a round of drinks. Been there, bought that! This is a very rare grouping of an Airborne soldier that served in the Pacific theater. You just don't see many 11th Airborne items from WWII anymore.

Item # AA1520

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