Lloyd R. Lyckman Military Aviation Collection

The Lloyd R. Lyckman Military Aviation Collection relates to United States Air Force Staff Sergeant Lloyd R. Lyckman's training and service in World War II, as well as his post-war service in Japan. It is comprised of photographs, manuscripts, and other assorted ephemera.

The first series, Photographs, consists of approximately four hundred seventy-five (475) photographs, many of which Ssgt. Lyckman took himself during his time in Japan. Many of the photographs include typed and/or handwritten captions on the back which detail the time, place, and subject of the photograph. Some photographs include stamps on verso from the United States Army Air Forces.

The snapshots depict scenes around Nagoya (Japan), including city streets and people of Nagoya, and the surrounding Japanese countryside, including many aerial shots featuring Mount Fuji. There are some photographs of the Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens, featuring scenic shots of the flora, concrete dinosaur statuary, and snapshots of monkeys, elephants, and a raccoon. Other scenic shots include various Buddha statues and shrines near Nagoya, Japan.

Additionally, the photographs depict various aircraft in flight and on the ground, including the Stinson L-5 Sentinel, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, North American AT-6 Texan, and the Stearman (1927) PT-13 Kaydet (Model 75). There are snapshots of military personnel, as well as portraits, including graduation and squadron photographs. Identified people include Major General Kenneth Wolfe, Corporal Morisako, and Staff Sergeant Arthur Shaffer. Staff Sergeant Lloyd R. Lyckman is also captured in several snapshots, in both military activities and during leisure time. Military buildings, such as hangars and barracks, are also featured. One (1) image shows military personnel on Iwo Jima on Mount Suribachi. Thirty-eight (38) photographs, mostly from the early to mid-1940s, feature a few photographs from Lyckman's time at Randolph Field (Texas), where he completed his flight training during World War II. There are also images of other bases, including Keesler (Mississippi) Air Force Base and Knollwood Air Field (North Carolina). There are a few shots of unidentified aircraft carriers and other ships in the water.

At the end of the Photographs series, there are also two sets of hand-colored photographic postcards featuring Mount Fuji and Kyoto, as well as a numbered series of twelve (12) photographs of outhouses with poetry on each image.

The second series consists of a small amount of manuscript items, including printed ephemera such as a brochure for Denison, Texas, blank letterhead for the 72nd Liaison Squadron, a menu for a 1948 banquet held by the 158th Liaison Squadron, and a sheet with the lyrics to the official Army Air Corps song by Robert Crawford. There are also two (2) flight calculators and a sketch, likely by Lyckman, of an unidentified airplane. Also included is an album titled Record of L-5 Ferry Flight Muskogee (AAF) Okla. to McChord Field, Tacoma, Wash, which includes a route map and photographs, with captions, from locations along the route. There is also a binder of maps for various air fields, air ports, and cities across the United States.

Digitized Materials: The archival materials from this collection have been digitized, and a selection of photographs and documents most relevant to Lyckman's Army Air Forces career has been made available online.

Please note that materials on TMOF: Digital Collections are presented as historical objects and are unaltered and uncensored. See our Disclaimers and Policies page for more information.