Elvin L. Lindsay World War II Collection

The Elvin L. Lindsay World War II Collection is comprised of log books, a scrapbook, and photographs documenting the career of U.S. Navy pilot Elvin L. Lindsay primarily during World War II.

The collection includes four (4) log books that document Lindsay's training flights, beginning in 1939, and his wartime flying experiences, culminating in 1945 at the end of World War II.

There is also a scrapbook that has been disassembled for preservation reasons, but retains the original order. Materials from the scrapbook include military commendation letters for actions in or near the Pacific Theater, including the Philippines; seven (7) clippings about Linday's various military promotions; a 1946 Certificate of Satisfactory Service; a 1978 invitation to the Disestablishment Ceremony for Fighter Squadron VF-191 held at Naval Air Station Miramar (California); and eleven (11) photographs, including a series of seven (7) showing the aerial bombing of a ship in open water and two (2) non-sequential aerial images of a ship being bombed in open water near Manila (Philippines). These nine (9) images have front captions providing contextual information, including location and explanations of the image.

There are also two (2) group portraits. One (1), possibly a graduation shot, circa 1940s, is black-and-white and features a large group of military personnel in front of a Grumman F6F Hellcat. One (1), possibly a reunion shot, circa 1970s, is color and features a group of men standing on tarmac in front of a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and a Grumman F6F Hellcat.

Additionally, there are eight (8) loose black-and-white photographs, two (2) of which are from the disassembled Aces shadowbox; these items are marked with this information. Most of the photographs are on matboard. Four (4) of the photographs feature military personnel, two (2) show Lt. Lindsay, both seated in the cockpit of an aircraft and leaning against the plane, and two (2) are group portraits, one (1) of which is a duplicate of the black-and-white group portrait from the scrapbook. The other portrait features a group of ten (10) servicemen wearing lifejackets. Five of the men are seated on the wing of a mostly obscured aircraft [possibly a Hellcat?] and five stand on the ground in front of the others. On the back of the image is a handwritten caption: "VF-19 USS Lexington - Top: O'mara, Seckel, Rossi, Lindsay, Winters? Bottom: Farnsworth, Prater, Williams, Masoner, Paskoski." Four (4) of the names are underlined: "O'Mara," "Winters?," "Prater", and "Masoner."

Additional images include one (1) featuring a Grumman F6F Hellcat (tail number Z 68) in flight and three (3) aerial photographs depicting Iwo Jima and Palau. The aerial images each have a number on the front lower right hand corner followed by a printed caption.

At the end of the collection is a leaflet advertisement for a World War II aviation-themed art series, "Hellcat Fury," by artist Robert Taylor.

Digitized Materials: The archival materials, except for the "Hellcat Fury" advertisement, have been digitized from this collection.

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.