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MARVIN J. MILLER : 1944 - 1945 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY AND TESTAMENT TO HUMAN SURVIVAL AND ENDURANCE HANDWRITTEN BY AN AMERICAN AIRMAN SHOT OUT OF THE AIR, IMPRISONED IN GERMANY'S HARSHEST POW CAMP AND THEN NEARLY MARCHED AND STARVED TO DEATH

16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall. On offer is a sensational, original World War II manuscript relic being the 50 page handwritten diary and ephemera of American Airman Marvin J. Miller who documents his capture and time spent in Luft. D. Camp IV Stalag, [considered one of the most violent and brutal German prison camps noted for bayoneting prisoners, beating and mistreating them as a matter of routine in IV-D and after the war there were hearings on this camp] in a rough notebook he traded for cigarettes from a camp guard. [While Marvin, a devout Latter Day Saint didn't smoke he did play Pinochle and he always had a supply for barter.] The diary starts out with their ill fated mission; Marvin was in the top turret of a B-24 flying with the 464th Bomb Group, in the 776th Bomb Squadron and was shot down on 24 August, 1944 flying in "COM-BATTY" which was stationed in Pantanella Italy and was lost to enemy action on a mission to Pardubice Czechoslovakia. Marvin was on the February 6th, "Black March" also called the "Starvation March" a long and arduous forced march from the Stalag that took 86 days and nearly 600 miles until liberated on April 26th, 1945. He was very ill with dysentery and even while in the sick detachment and he names the men who died from pneumonia etc. Even amidst the horror of captivity by the Germans Marvin and his chums still have times for humor recording a few pages from letters of fellow POWs that had black humor to them. He also wrote several fine poems and thoughts on flying, German Flak, War, Love, Peace and Food! He meticulously records the contents of the various Care Packages that the Red Cross delivered: super detailed content and record of daily life in the Stalag and Liberation. Flak, smoke in the sky, enemy fighters and interrogations. Marvin does a super job with some very stirring and poetic words, as well as just plain telling it like it was. Historians and researchers will appreciate Marvin's contribution to history recording the names and addresses of many of his friends that he's made in camp and acquaintances. Listing them by Stalag Building Number and then by room. Many are local Utah internees. Included are four photos taken in Halle of wrecked German ME-109, STUKAS, an 88 and a girl on a bicycle and a letter written to Marvin while in captivity! Overall G+.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good+

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