[Photo Album]: 16th Coast Artillery World War II

[Honolulu, 1940. Hardcover. Near Fine. Oblong small quarto. Measuring 11" x 7". String-tied tan leather over stiff paper boards with tooled military and island images on the front board. Contains 161 sepia toned or black and white gelatin silver photographs measuring between 1" x 1" and 5" x 7", with captions. Near fine photo album with fine photographs.

A photo album kept by a private while serving with the 16th Coast Artillery Headquarters Battery in Honolulu, Hawaii during World War II. The Coast Artillery was tasked with manning anti-aircraft guns at forts along the island in defense of the capital from threats in the Pacific. They were responsible for taking down six Japanese fighters during the attack on Pearl Harbor. This album shows the private and his fellow soldiers at their base and around the island. Many of the images are posed portraits of men in uniform near native foliage. One section of photos shows men in combat gear posed with their guns. Some photos show the men in their bunks and others are seen playing with dogs. A few larger photos show anti-aircraft lights beamed over the city. Additionally included are photos of Hawaii itself, both commercial and amateur, showing palm trees, women in hula skirts, climbing for coconuts, and the city of Honolulu. The private intersperses family photos from various leaves and photos of himself with girls as well as snapshots given to him by various girlfriends.

A nice collection of pre-wartime photographs from an interesting assignment in the Pacific.