Zippos WWII

The Zippo Manufacturing Company, of Bradford, Pennsylvania, makes Zippo cigarette lighters. In peacetime they are nickel-plated and shiny. In wartime they are black, with a rough finish. The  famous  WWII  Black  Crackle  Zippo  lighter - windproof, waterproof & trouble proof.

Red crackle – told to be produced for tank units – with the liberty coin on the front.

Green overpainted black crackle Zippo.

Leather-wrapped Zippo with personal initials.

Leather-wrapped Zippo with cigarette case, which was probably overlaid by hand in Africa.

Various Zippos custom decorated in Korea, using traditional artwork called «Nageon Chilgi», with black lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlays as decoration including personal initials/name. «Najeon» means mother-of-pearl and «Chilgi» refers to lacquerware. The Abalone shell is first carved, then applied to the case. Layers of lacquer are then applied. The artist would then hand polish the entire surface revealing the Abalone shell underneath.

Black crackle with the U.S. army shield emblem on the front.

Black crackle with the U.S. army insignia on the front.

The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known as West Point, is a four-year federal service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort that sits on strategic high ground overlooking the Hudson River. It is the oldest of the five American service academies and educates cadets for commissioning into the United States Army.

The transportation corps is a combat service support branch of the U.S. army. It is also one of three U.S. army logistics branches, the others being the quartermaster corps and the ordnance corps. The transportation corps is responsible for the movement of personnel and material by truck, rail, air, and sea. Its motto is «Spearhead of Logistics».

One of the greatest feats of the Transportation Corps, via the Military Railway Service, was the rebuilding of France's shattered railroad network after D-Day and the transportation of 1,500 locomotives and 20,000 railway cars.

The United States take over the North Atlantic air route-the shortest path between America and the European front. As way stations on this route both Greenland and Newfoundland acquired a new importance, as one of the terminal points.

Black crackle with ordnance insignia, ammunition parts and coins of Greenland and Newfoundland.

Army engineers built airfields, roads, bridges, ports, military camps, hospitals, and dozens of other facilities, including the Pentagon completed in 1942. Among the most acclaimed of the combat engineers' achievements were the Alcan Highway, the Ledo and Burma Roads and the clearing of mines and underwater obstacles. The corps of engineers supervised the Manhattan Project, the construction of the atomic bomb.

Black crackle with U.S. army corps of engineers insignia, royal air force insignia and two British coins.

ALCAN Highway also known as the Alaska Highway was constructed during WWII to connect the contiguous United States to Alaska across Canada. It begins at the junction with several Canadian highways in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and runs to Delta Junction, Alaska, via Whitehorse, Yukon. When it was completed in 1942, it was about 2,700 kilometers long.

Black crackle with different engravings. Y. T. Kelly served 1943 as a safety engineer in the corps.

United states naval construction battalions, better known as the navy Seabees, form the U.S. naval construction force. The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the first letters «C B» from the words Construction Battalion.

The Seabees had a second Logo. It was of a shirtless constructionman holding a sledge hammer with a rifle strapped across his back standing upon the words «Construimus Batuimus USN» («We build, We fight» USN).

The need for a militarized construction force became evident after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On D-Day Seabees were the first ashore as naval combat demolition units. Their task was to remove German defensive beach obstructions built to impede amphibious landings.

The 1st Cavalry Division started activities in New Guinea 1944 and after different battles the division took part in the invasion of Leyte. Later, the division invaded Luzon and fought its way as a «flying column» to Manila by 3 February 1945. After the surrender of the Japanese, the 1st Division was given responsibility for occupying the entire city of Tokyo and The 8th Cavalry occupied the 3rd Imperial Guard Regiment Barracks in Tokyo, which provided greater proximity to security missions at the American and Russian Embassies and the Imperial Palace grounds.