Lot 328

Description

Japan, WWII, flag (approx 68x68cm), taken from a Japanese POW recovered from the sinking of the heavy cruiser 'Atago'. Very fine.

Together with photos and an original newspaper article from 2013 and a laminated page of the same article.
As the article explains, this flag was taken from a Japanese POW, one of the survivors of the sinking of the Japanese heavy cruiser, the Atago, that was sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf by the US submarine, USS Darter on 23 October 1944. When the POWs arrived in New Guinea an Australian soldier, Private Alwyn Harrip (VX97985, 22 Aust Infy Bn) found the flag when searching one of the POWs and kept it as a souvenir.