ORIGINAL WW2 USMC PHOTO ALBUM

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View attachment 10057 Hello , the main reason I joined this forum site was to seek help in researching 2 USMC photo albums within my collection .
The first album belonged to a soldier who describes himself with his initials JPC ...one photo in the album from an officer is dedicated to John Coakley so i'm assuming this was the orginal owners name .
Its a large and interesting album,I'm happy to upload images in due course ,but would really appreciate your feedback , comments and help .
JPC is seems to have served on Munda ,Guadalcanal ,Bougainville , Okinawa ..and at Nagasaki airbase during early occupation .
The album is a mystery to me ...he is in the early half of the album a marine ..seen in combat gear ...later he is pictured in flight gear , friends with pilots and around fighters and bombers ..nice photos of captured Japanese planes in US markings .
He is pictured with the famous Raider dogs a Bougainville , photographed with celebs Ray Bolger ( the scare crow in the Wizard of Oz ( says first entertainer in combat Zone ...and photos of Bob Hope& Jerry Colonia ..bob hope & Frances Langford .
There are many graphic photos of Japanese killed in action ( well mostly blown apart ) ...Photos of USS Rawlins ablaze after a hit by Jap torpedo plane . Photos of him with rare JapPOW on Okinawa .
This man had quite a war ....I would love to know more about John Coakley if this is possible ...and have his duel role explained ...
many thanks
jim www.throughtheireyes2.co.uk

 

Third photo down is presumably post war ..any comments on umiform and rank ?
many thanks
jim

 

I think we can safely say he’s not an aviator. Looks to me like he has regular field utilities on beneath that life jacket, not a flight suit, nor is he festooned with the usual aviator paraphernalia; so maybe someone gave him a ride or, perhaps, it is just one of those “ha ha” posed photos. Then the picture as a captain in the khaki service dress, there are no aviator wings over his ribbons; were he an aviator, they would be sure to be there. Could have he been assigned to a squadron? Certainly, and probably was, but as an admin, supply, or maintenance type or, perhaps an ACIO. Non-flying duties where one could certainly cage the occasional joy-ride flight here and there, and plenty of opportunity to hang around airstrips. I'd look for fighter squadrons assigned to Yontan on Okinawa that also were awarded a couple of PUC's, one of which is clearly one of his ribbons with a second award star.

 

Thanks for the info Leonard , you may well be correct...but there are these pics . What about an air gunner on the Bomber ....I only just re noticed the gunners photo ... View attachment 10058

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View attachment 10061 but is it possible he went from marines to air gunner ?
many thanks
jim

 

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If this photo is correct he seems to have been in the thick of things ...certainly plenty of dead japanese around. View attachment 10072

 

Raider dogs ..Jpc is the tall chap . Note dog with ear damaged by bullet .... View attachment 10073

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View attachment 10077 in newsprint and photo

 

I wouldn't discount the fact that he might have been some sort of a Forward Air Controller. I have read that often times there would be a pilot with ground forces and an Infantry officer with air units to help facilitate communication between the two units.

That is the only thing I can think of that would explain why he is not wearing aircrew wings unless he was in intelligence and even then I think those guys had wings if they were part of the airgroup

Are there any better photos of his ribbons?

Brad

 

Someone elsewhere suggested he may have had a role in calling in air support during the first part of the album ...his role seems to change as album progresses .
My problem with this album is that I'm having to work out which photos are bought wartime " souvenirs " and which are soldier taken snaps ...there are lots of photos of dead Japanese ...if the majority were taken by him ,then he was certainly in the thick of it .
I'm convinced he at some period at least was front line combat ...there are photos were he is pictured at a captured Jap ammo dump ..another photo show a" Jap machine gunner ..held us up for 3 hours . Finally killed ". He talks of named Pilots as good friends ..
jim

 

In last photo ...he is in front ...its captioned USMC Armory ..he seems older and i'm guessing it was taken backin the states after the War ?? View attachment 10078

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Hello Brad ....the images below are the best I can do on his medal ribbons .
any thoughts ?
jim
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Probably not, an officer wouldn't be serving as an aerial gunner.

He was in all likelyhood a US Marine assigned to one of the Marine Airwings (there were eventually 5). He is often seen in flight gear so this is probably the type unit to which he was assigned. I haven't seen a Naval Aviator or Naval Aviation Observer Badge so I doubt he was regularly on flight status. He is in all likelyhood an Officer in charge of armorers, supply, communicators, etc.

I haven't seen any where the gear would indicate he was assigned to a line unit.

What makes you think it's postwar? If it is, he could have served during the war as enlisted as a gunner or aircrew member, that would explain the no wings. Then at sometime during the war was commissioned, this was common but unlikely, because if he stayed in, with the postwar downsizing, he would probably have been forced to revert to his enlisted rank.

The utilities would not point one way or the other, all Marines were issued them, flying or non/flying. The wearing of a flight suit/utilities would pretty much be personal preference or it could even be a supply issue, especially early war. I agree with you on the parahernalia observation.

Here again, I think you're correct in your observation.

Just because he's around dead Japanese doesn't necessarily mean he made them that way. In fact having your picture made with a bunch of dead enemy would probably indicate just the opposite. Support troops tend to have many more photos and souvenirs than actual line troops. Cameras don't fare too well in combat, the weight is better used for extra ammo and rations, line troops are usually in close proximity to the bad guys and are more concerned with staying alive than getting the souvenir snap shot. The exception to this would be a combat correspondant, now that's a possibility for your Marines billet.
The picture attached appears to be an administrative landing of personnel and not an assault landing. They appear to be in either an LCM or more likely an LCT. (at least that's what it looks like to me from what you can see) Anyway I'd guess that they're landing the ground support personnel for the squadron.
Anyway post more we'll try and figure it out.

 

He would have had wings if he were a naval aviator (a pilot), a rated naval aviation observer (a fairly rare bird in those days), or a rated aircrewman. I have seen pictures of both navy and marine officers with aircrewman wings, but they stand out because they are unusual, aircrew wings were mostly an enlisted device. A marine Air Combat Intelligence Officer (ACIO) would only wear wings if he fell into one of the above categories; there was no specialized device for ACIOs.

An aviator assigned to FAC duties would still be an aviator and would wear wings.

I wonder if he's in all these places, all varied situations, and with all these various personages, he might be something as prosaic as a public affairs officer. Probably not as gee whiz as some assignments, but they certainly had their place in the grand scheme.

 

I am thinking "intelligence". Maybe he started with the Raiders or Dogs and promoted out.

 

Hello Chaps ...I will keep uploading pics ..our man in seat in first pic ...captured jap plane ? jim View attachment 10091

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www.throughtheireyes2.co.uk

 

And don't get confused by the presence of what appear to be B-25s and B-24s. In the Navy and Marines they were know as PBJs and PB4Ys. Marines used a plenty of PBJ's, something like 15 squadrons (VMB-413, -423, -433, -443, -453, -463, -473, -483, -611, -612, -613, -614, -621, -622, and -623) and there were 3 (depending how you count and once you get past all the redesignations) PB4Y squadrons (VMD-254, -354 and -954). VMB were medium bomber squadrons; VMD were photo-recon squadrons.

 

Thanks USMCprice ...and Leonard .
I think I now know more about this man , than before I started this thread ...
IF his name is indeed John Coakley , will there be military records to look into ? ...I know with WW1 British servicemen there is usually plenty of paperwork which is researchable . In the photos to which I have described as postwar ( I dont know when they were taken ) is he a captain ?


I have an interesting USMC Generals personal photo album which I will get around to uploading ..I have a good outline of his service history , but I suppose being a higher rank makes research easier ? Is this the best thread / catorgory on forum to post this topic ? or should I start it elsewhere ?
many thanks
jim

 

Jim,
I am still looking into sources on John P Coakley. If he were assigned to the 1st Air Wing (USMC) he may have been in VMF223 or VMF224, as others suggested in an admin or support role. I suspect he was able to inspect battle sites for AAR reports, or even perhaps doing disposal work (Japanese ordnance). Some have suggest I make a visit to Wright Patterson, to pursue the archives on the ATAIU. This technology evaluation team was charged with the task of evaluating performance of Japanese aircraft. I do not think Coakley was part of the team, but he does seem to placed in locations where he could do evaluations, even bombing assessments.

 

A small note: The aircraft labeled "Jap Torpedo Plane NAEA" is actually a late war fighter called the Kawanishi N1J. The Imperial Japanese Navy used them as land based fighters, but there were never many of them and they suffered from reliability problems. Interesting plane.