Apr 16, 2013 - Sale 2310

Sale 2310 - Lot 298

Price Realized: $ 960
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 300 - $ 400
(WORLD WAR TWO.) Swanson, Carl. A Seabee's diary, photo album, unit history and more. Diary: 25 manuscript pages, 12mo, repaired tear on one leaf, covering 24 December 1943 to 1 November 1945 * more than 120 snapshot photographs in loose scrapbook pages, many of them captioned * the printed regimental history, "The Boom-Dozer" * 3 letters from Swanson to his wife Aileen, 1945 * and 11 other documents and ephemera from his service. Vp, 1943-45
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Additional Details

Carl Willard Swanson (1920-1959) of Stamford, CT served as a Chief Electrician's Mate in the 19th Special Naval Construction Battalion, an interracial stevedore unit. Swanson's unit arrived at San Pedro Bay in the Philippines just two days after the nearby Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle of the war. The fighting continued, though, according to his diary: "Saw plenty of bombs droped and planes shot down, both Jap and our own. The flak was the thing that raised hell with us. Had plenty of holes in the tent and sure was a funny feeling to hear it coming down with no place in the world to go, just stand there" (28 October 1944).
Most or all of the photographs are from the battalion's service in the Philippines, and depict soldiers, their camps, and the Filipinos they met. Both these photographs and the heavily illustrated unit history depict white and African-American stevedores working together.