All About Pocket Knives

This is the knife and a few other items belonging to LT. James A. Pence, Bombardier, 777th Bomb Squadron, 15th AAF, who flew 35 missions in Italy during WWII.

That is really cool and an awesome knife! Are you related or how did you come across this?

I was on eBay and saw a set of WWII spotter cards that I bought. I contacted the seller to see if he knew who owned the cards and he did, and added that he owned several other items that he bought from LT. Pence’s estate sale. Pence died in 2019, he’d never been married, no kids, no immediate family. The seller planned to part out all of Pence’s items, several were already posted on eBay, which I bought, and he agreed to sell me the rest of his stuff. I hated to see Pence’s history get lost, so I was able to buy most of his stuff to keep it together.

Photo of Pence at Bombardier school in 1944.

That's a neat collection. Sad, in a way, that there was no family to take it.

It is sad, the guy was a hero. The reason I couldn’t let his stuff get split up. I just took a photo of a poem that was typed on onion skin paper that came with the collection. Talking about something that reflects the emotions of bomber crews during WWII:

BryanJ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 27, 2020 11:46 pm It is sad, the guy was a hero. The reason I couldn’t let his stuff get split up. I just took a photo of a poem that was typed on onion skin paper that came with the collection. Talking about something that reflects the emotions of bomber crews during WWII:

5DD28851-1AAE-4C85-95B8-55D08326DE08.jpeg

That was very good of you to keep it together.
It's a shame a seller would break it up just to make a buck.

Very nice knife. The story and complementary items and story that go with it are even
better.

Lucky find on the bay.

Bob

Very cool group. Are you sure he flew 35 missions? Bomber crews in WW2 were usually furloghed after 25 missions and very few of those who flew over Germany ever made the 25 until the introduction of the P-51 fighter escorts late in the war. Many people don't realize that we lost more air crew than ground troops during WW2. Funny about those knives, there are a lot of them out there, (I have two) yet nobody knows who made them. Some have all leather handles, some have several aluminum spacers among the leather, and some have fiber washer handles and some of those having similar aluminum spacers.

I double checked his obituary and it said he flew 34 missions, taking flack on every mission. It added that he never flew commercially after the war because he felt he had used up all his luck. You’re right about the unknown maker of that particular knife, I’ve tried to identify the maker with no luck. However, on page 187 of Michael Silvey’s WWII knife book, he’s got a photo of what looks like the same knife and sheath. The real irony of that particular photo, is that the knife in the photo is displayed with a set of Bombardier wings. I am not a knife collector and just lucked into this group, so I have a question for those of you who are. How often do sets like this turn up?

Thanks for keeping this all together and thanks for sharing this.

Lots of guys threw or gave that stuff away after the war.

World War II ended 75 years ago. I think a knife along with other personal military items from WW II is now a rare find.
James Pence was a good looking young man yet he never married and presumably lived his life alone. This seems very sad and i wonder how much his war experience might have affected him emotionally ?
It would be interesting to find out what he did after the war: what work did he do, where did he live, is there anyone alive who knew him and could tell us about him ?
Somehow this has really caught my interest, but with a feeling of sadness.
kj

kootenay joe wrote: ↑Wed Oct 28, 2020 2:55 pm World War II ended 75 years ago. I think a knife along with other personal military items from WW II is now a rare find.
James Pence was a good looking young man yet he never married and presumably lived his life alone. This seems very sad and i wonder how much his war experience might have affected him emotionally ?
It would be interesting to find out what he did after the war: what work did he do, where did he live, is there anyone alive who knew him and could tell us about him ?
Somehow this has really caught my interest, but with a feeling of sadness.
kj

I agree. Especially in these hard times in the U.S, it would be nice to know more about these men and women heroes.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to see something about this man or his squadron on the news or on a talk show?
Getting tired of the elections, riots, civil unrests, and shootings on the news. Who really cares about how the
politicians and celebrities are doing on the talk shows? TImes in the U.S. is rough with Covid-19 not helping us
stay sane.

I tried to google the 777th squadron and found a little bit about it on wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/777th_Exp ... t_Squadron
I think this is correct. My apologies if wrong.


Bob

Here’s his obituary and it’s also sort of sad. He was apparently in college studying engineering at the University of Arkansas, but must not have finished. The guy I bought the stuff from went to his house where the estate sale was held, and he told me the house was very dated, all 1960 appliances, furniture, etc. I’d have to say that he must have been deeply effected by the war. I’m sure the survival rate of a bomber crew that completed 34 missions must have been very low.

Here is a picture of him, from his obituary, in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette...

Thanks for posting James' obituary. Seems he had numerous artistic interests and some church activities. Studied architecture and then worked in a music store. I hope he found some happiness in his life after the war.
kj

Gunsil wrote: ↑Wed Oct 28, 2020 1:57 am Very cool group. Are you sure he flew 35 missions? Bomber crews in WW2 were usually furloghed after 25 missions and very few of those who flew over Germany ever made the 25 until the introduction of the P-51 fighter escorts late in the war. Many people don't realize that we lost more air crew than ground troops during WW2. Funny about those knives, there are a lot of them out there, (I have two) yet nobody knows who made them. Some have all leather handles, some have several aluminum spacers among the leather, and some have fiber washer handles and some of those having similar aluminum spacers.

While 25 missions was considered a complete tour of duty, airmen could and did volunteer for more. Additionally, that number was increased later in the war.

When we first started flying bombing missions out of England there was no limit on the number of missions. Everyone was in for the duration. The losses were terrible. The average number of flights completed before being shot down was 15. The crews were breaking down emotionally in large numbers. Finally, psychologists recommended establishing a specific number of flights which would end the airmen's combat assignments.
This policy greatly improved morale by introducing an element of hope. But the missions remained as deadly as ever.

May they all now be enjoying the peace for which they so bravely fought.

I'm a complete Civilian, but I could see how not having limits would eventually be seen as a death sentence. Not like soldiers don't have to deal with that anyway, but fly until you die had to take a toll on one's mental state.

I am grateful, supportive and appreciative of our service members.