AAF Air Warning Service AWS Volunteer Observer Celluloid Button Pin

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Here you have a World War II Army Air Forces Air Warning Service Observer Celluloid Button Pin in excellent condition. The AWS Volunteer Observer’s Button is the first I have ever located and offered. The button features an early wartime pin mount on the reverse. The AWS was a system for Air Defense that included civilian AWS Aircraft Observers. The AWS was supervised by the Army Air Forces. The AWS had a series of blockhouses designed like the British spotter/plotter bunkers used during the Blitz, the Battle of Britain. AWS observers in the States monitored the skies for signs of enemy aircraft. On Oahu, the blockhouse system for the AWS had just been completed prior to December 1941 but the program had not gone fully operational. Spotting Aircraft and enemy vessels was not that far fetched here in North America. Early in the war, Japanese Subs shelled the Santa Monica refineries and a Coast Artillery Fort on the Washington Coast. Japanese Submarines Launched floatplanes that dropped incendiary bombs over the American Northwest (unfortunately for them during the rainy season). A Japanese floatplane photographed the harbors of Prince Rupert British Columbia. The Japanese had intended to attack our West Coast and Texas by long range seaplanes. Those that survived would rendezvous with German Submarines to resupply and refuel, then continue to attack the US mainland until all were destroyed or disabled. The Germans entertained a similar idea, with long-range bombers hitting the Panama Canal or the East Coast, and the crews picked up by Submarines after ditching their bombers in the Atlantic. Late in the war the Japanese launched a balloon attack against the US using trade winds to carry thousands of balloon bombs across the Pacific Ocean armed with high explosives and incendiary bombs. One bomb killed a group of children and a couple of adults on a church picnic outing on the West Coast. They were the only Americans to die on American (mainland) soil due to enemy action. Finally, the Japanese had planned to launch float planes from long ranged subs in mid-September 1945 armed with dirty bombs and biological disease bombs to hit our major Naval bases (and Pacific war staging areas) at San Diego and San Francisco in an attempt to force a negotiated peace but inflicting hundreds of thousands of casualties. The atomic bombs brought about the end of the war and this potential grievous strike on the mainland United States. (The Japanese subs with aircraft and dirty bombs were actually at sea and poised to strike when the surrender came.) The celluloid button pin is in both our patriotic colors and the colors of the Army Air Force. It depicts a twin engine bomber in the center of the pin. Around the circumference are the words, Aircraft Warning Service, Volunteer Observer. The button measures 1.25 inches in diameter. It is thick and there is an early wartime pin back mechanism with cradle and needle pin. The button does have some scratches to the face; however, the colors are vibrant. The AWS played a major role in the original homeland defense during WWII. This unique Volunteer Observer’s Button Pin cuts across several genres of collecting including the AAF, American Theatre and Civil Defense. It is just the piece to complete your WWII US Home Front presentation. The button would look terrific worn or displayed in a shadow box. The buyer can opt for First Class Postage with a Padded Bag and tracking slip. This pin back WWII AAF Air Warning Service Volunteer Observer Celluloid Button Pin in excellent condition would make a fabulous addition, upgrade and/or a completion to an AAF or WWII Home Front collection. The AWS Observer Pin would be perfect to add to your re-enactor's outfit, and would look terrific in your display, museums, and for educational and theatrical presentations. I am listing a number of caps, uniform items, field gear, insignia, ribbons, home front pieces, etc, this week. Please do a seller-search using my username: martinolij to check it out. Thank ... read more

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