Joseph K. Boy World War II Ephemera Collection

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 2021-05-21-A

The Joseph K. Boy World War II Ephemera Collection is a small collection of printed materials collected by Boy during his service in World War II. Boy served with Co. B, 1st Medical Squadron, 1st Cavalry, as a grade T/4 Medical Technician. He served in the Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea and Luzon, Philippines. He most likely collected the materials during his time in those locations.

The collection includes ten examples of Japanese invasion money, paper bills printed by the Japanese government in 1942 as part of their attempt to establish control over the Philippines. Denominations represented in the collection are: one centavo, ten centavos, five pesos, ten pesos (two different examples), and 100 pesos.

Thirteen pieces of small printed propaganda in the collection were presumably printed by the Japanese to encourage American soldiers to surrender, as they convey anti-U.S. military sentiments. For example, one flyer depicts the island of New Guinea with a dead soldier lying across it, holding a military order signed by General MacArthur; the poster's text appeals to soldiers' fear of being killed and places blame on the U.S. military leadership. Another shows a lady representing death embracing a U.S. soldier and suggests that surrendering is the only way to avoid death. Three small pieces, each with different illustrations, are "Tickets to Armistice" that provide instructions to U.S. soldiers on how to surrender to the Japanese Army Headquarters.

At the end of the collection is one 30x42-inch color poster depicting a Lockheed P-38 Lightning and a Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat. The poster was produced as an aide for Japanese pilots to be able to identify American aircraft.

Dates

circa 1939-1945

Creator

Boy, Joseph Kelly, 1907-1978 (Collector, Person)

Language of Materials

Most materials are in English. A few pieces of propaganda have some Japanese text. The poster is in Japanese.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research and is accessible in the Dahlberg Research Center by appointment. For more information contact us.

Conditions Governing Use

The Museum of Flight (TMOF) Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the archives and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from TMOF archives before any publication use. TMOF does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.

Extent

.02 Cubic Feet (1 letter-size folder, 1 oversize folder)

Additional Description

Biographical Note: Joseph K. Boy

Joseph Kelly Boy served with the U.S. Army in World War II in the New Guinea and the Philippines.

Boy was born in Freeman, Washington in 1907 to William Jake and Minnie Lou Boy. He worked as a pharmacist and was living in Electric City, Washington when he was drafted. Boy served with The U.S. Army's Co. B, 1st Medical Squadron, 1st Cavalry, as a grade T/4 Medical Technician. He served in the Bismark Archipeligo, New Guinea and Luzon, Philippines.

He died in 1978 in Spokane, Washington and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

Biographical note derived from donor information and records on Ancestry.com.