George M. Boswell, Jr. Collection

Collection

Identifier: 000011

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The George M. Boswell, Jr. Collection comprises various materials related to George M. Boswell, Jr.'s military career, including photographs, operational records, training materials, and maps. Notable items in the collection are those connected to Operation Torch, the USS Henry T. Allen, the USS Sibley, and the USS John R. Brooke. Navigational training materials are also available in the collection.

The collection mainly consists of materials related to the USS Henry T. Allen, USS Sibley, and Operation Torch. It includes various items such as drawings, operational records, and notebooks. The Operation Torch series contains military documents in French and maps of Mehedia, Port Lyautey, and Africa.

Another significant section of the collection contains photographs of Navy officers, the commissioning ceremony of the USS Sibley, the Naval Station Treasure Island Barracks, various vessels, the Hotel del Coronado, and the USS General J.R. Brooke. Also included in the collection is a video of the commissioning ceremony of the USS Sibley and a video of vessels at sea.

The collection includes training material related to George M. Boswell, Jr.'s time spent at the United States Naval Reserve Midshipman's Naval School and the Operational Training School in the Twelfth Naval District, Treasure Island, California. The training material relates explicitly to navigation, including position plotting sheets, an air navigation notebook, and other assorted items.

Lastly, the collection has several notable items, such as a map of Iwo Jima created shortly before the Battle of Iwo Jima, a watercolor painting of an F4U Corsair, a graphite sketch of an abandoned artillery emplacement, and multiple pamphlets depicting locations such as Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, and others.

Dates

Creation: 1942 - 1947

Creator

Boswell, George M., Jr. , 1920-2011 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection in any form must be obtained from the National Museum of the Pacific War, Center for Pacific War Studies.

Biographical / Historical

George M. Boswell, Jr., born in 1920, was a Lieutenant in the Amphibious War Division in the United States Naval Reserve and served as a volunteer chaplain and photographer aboard the USS Henry T. Allen (APA-15), USS John R. Brooke (APA-132), and USS Sibley (APA-206).

Boswell began his military career when he joined the United States Navy in 1941. He was present in Honolulu during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Boswell attended the United States Naval Reserve Midshipman's Naval School in 1942 and the Operational Training School in the Twelfth Naval District, Treasure Island, California, in 1943. He likely served in a variety of locations, including New Zealand, Australia, Caledonia, Morocco, the Republic of Panama, and Iwo Jima, as evidenced by the material within his collection.

After World War II, Boswell returned to Dallas and became a doctor. George M. Boswell, Jr. died in 2011.