SHAEF Sign Belonging To A “Monuments Man.” – SOLD

Description

The SHAEF sign featured in this lot belonged to Lt. Colonel John Wendell Bailey, a Mississippian who at the beginning of WWII was the head of Zoology at the University of Richmond.  By the end of the first month after joining the army, Bailey was attached to the Supreme Headquarter Allied Expeditionary Forces, under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and after a refresher course at Cambridge and Oxford Universities, he was assigned as a sanitary engineer where he quickly learned the devastating effects of German “Buss Bombs” (V-1 rockets).

Landing on the Beaches of Normandy shortly after D-Day, then Major Bailey had began the work of monitoring and dealing with Typhus, and that work would take him through France, and later to German concentration camps. Liberating one of the worst in North Central Germany at Nordhausen, he would later be decorated Croix de Guerre by the French Government.

Almost immediately following his work of Typhus Control Officer, Bailey was assigned to the Information & Education Division. 9th U.S. Army, at the request of the Bureau of Entomology, US Dept. of Agriculture, to provide assistance in tracking down stolen priceless art and science collections that was actively being taken on by the Allies.  Although not mentioned in the paperwork that came with the SHEAF sign, Bailey in essence was working for the “Monuments Men.”

Due to his previous expertise, in August of 1945, Major Bailey concentrated on locating important insect collections that had been pilfered by the Nazis.  One in particular, The Wassmann Collection, stolen from the Maastricht Museum, in Holland had not surprisingly found it way to Berlin, with Bailey hot on the trail.  By September 12, after flying to nearly a dozen major German City’s he finally made his way to Berlin, where he found the 75 year old director, Prof. Dr. Bischof behind his desk at the Deutsches Entomologisches Museum. and the Wasmann Collection. With the help of several US Army QM Truck Companies., Bailey went into the Russian Sector to recover the famous ant collection. The next morning, with official papers in order, two ten-ton army trailers, carefully loaded, and a small convey proceeded to Holland. The Wassmann Collection was the biggest collection returned to the Dutch Government, but Bailey had found others as well.  In a letter from the Dutch Foreign Office, Berlin, dated 16 October, 1945, Major Bailey received this communique;

“To: HQ I & E Division, Education Branch, USFET APO 887 by care of Colonel Howley.

1, Major John W. Bailey has done “Excellent” work for the Netherlands Government in retracting two highly valued scientifical collections, the Schmitz- and Wassmann-collections. a library and personal correspondence of doctor Wassmann on scientific , matters, stolen by the German Occupational Authorities in the Netherlands in Valkenburg near Maastricht and in sorting them out, packing them and sending them back to the Netherlands.

2. Reference is made too to the services, rendered by Major Bailey in aiding in the liberation and hospitalization of Netherlands Nationals from German Labourand Concentration camps from October 1944 to June 1945.

(  C. Van Rij )

Colonel

for Vice-Admiral

Chief of Netherlands Military

Mission to A.C.C,”

 

For his efforts in returning important scientific collections, and provide assistance to the Dutch that had suffered in various German camps, Lt. Colonel John W. Bailey was awarded one of the Netherlands highest decorations, the Order of the Orange Nassau, Officer, with Swords. As previously mentioned, he had received the Croix de Guerre with Gold Star from the French Government, and a US Army Commendation.  This information is all based on the photocopied material that accompanied the sign.

The paperwork give a far better account than I have space for here, and the amount of effort expended on Bailey’s part to bring these rare and important collections back to the Netherlands is a fascinating read in itself. There is also a copy of a photo portrait of Bailey wearing some of this insignia.

The sign is made of wood, in two parts the largest section is a foot high, and the SHAEF insignia is an applied decal, the type used in WWII on vehicles. The upper section has the letters painted in gold. Picture mounting rings are used to hang the sign and keep the two sections together.  What ever was used to join the two are now missing.  Condition is fine with some scuffing to decal. Also included are a few pieces of uniform insignia; one each major and lt. colonel’s oak leaves (pin back), unassigned officer’s shirt collar insignia (clutch back), and a ribbon bar section indicating WWI Victory Medal and the European, African, Middle Eastern Campaign.  This ribbon bar was probably the first worn on his uniform once arriving in the ETO.

A nice, historic little group.

USPS Priority Mail    $15.00