WWII Col. Alva Harvey World Record Holder Insignia Lot

WWII Col. Alva Harvey World Record Holder Insignia Lot
From the famous Harry Block Aviation Collection. For many years, Mr. Block wrote to and met with notable aviators throughout history and obtained personal items from them, typically documenting how and when he acquired items in his own handwriting. His collection was sold many years ago, and several lots have recently re-surfaced. Small group from Colonel Alva Harvey consisting of a US pin, wing and prop, and sterling Colonel eagle. Col. Harvey was a sergeant in what then was the Army Air Service when he served in a two-man crew on one of four Douglas World Cruisers produced especially for the around-the-world flight. It began in Santa Monica, Calif., in March 1924. Two of the aircraft completed the global circumnavigation on Sept. 28, 1924. Col. Harvey's plane, the lead aircraft, crashed on a mountainside near the Bering Sea in Alaska early in the flight. With the aircraft's pilot, he walked 10 days through the wilderness to safety. All participants in the effort were awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. In 1936, he was a test pilot for the B-17 "Flying Fortress" bombers. During the early months of World War II, he flew U.S. diplomats to Moscow to participate in Lend-Lease negotiations for arms and equipment for the Soviet war effort against Germany. Later, he helped oversee Boeing aircraft's construction of the B-29 bomber, and he was a bombardment group commander in the Far East. His other military decorations included a Silver Star and three Distinguished Flying Crosses.