Pen, Fountain

Black fountain pen with vertical stripes of black and white marble, engraved with the text 'L L MOSELEY'. A metal clip is fitted to the cap, and around the base of the cap is a metal band.

This fountain pen was carried by 2nd Lieutenant Lonnie LeRoy Moseley of the 84th Fighter Squadron on the morning of 4 July 1944, when he took off from Duxford airfield in his P-47D Thunderbolt (42-25529). At around 8:15 AM, Moseley was forced to bail out after experiencing engine trouble during an attack on targets of opportunity near Rouen, France. Almost immediately after hitting the ground near the town of Routot, Moseley was met by a local farmer named Lucien Lestang who helped him hide his parachute and took him into his home. Moseley spent the next two months with the Lestangs, and it is possible that he used this pen to write the diary covering his first two weeks as an evader (see Documents.26440). Returned to Moseley after the war along with other items that were hidden by the Lestangs, Moseley later gave this pen to the granddaughter of Lucien and Nellie Lestang.

L L MOSELEY

W.A. SHEAFFER PEN CO. FORT MADISON, IOWA, U.S.A. PATENTED IN U.S.A.