Comes with hand signed C.O.A.

This incredible museum-grade WWII artifact was the personal wartime typewriter of German Luftwaffe fighter ace Hans Philipp. One of the most famous and highly decorated Luftwaffe pilots of the war. Hans Philipp served as the Commander of I/JG-54 (1st group of the 54th Fighter Squadron) Luftwaffe Squadron and was known for flying a Messerschmitt Bf-109F-4. In 500 sorties, Hans Philip, nicknamed “Phipps”, scored 206 air victories, 178 of which were on the Eastern Front and 29 against the Western allies. Philip was killed on October 8, 1943, his plane was shot down by an American P-47 fighter (pilot Robert S. Johnson).

After volunteering for military service in the Wehrmacht in1936 this 1937 Olympia typewriter was carried by Hans Philipp throughout WWII and his service with the Luftwaffe before being killed in action in 1943. This typewriter was one of the most important items of Hans Philipp as it served not only as his personal letter typewriter to his family, friends, and military comrades, but also as a military service typewriter for after-action reports. This typewriter was used to document some of the most famous operations and battles of WWII. Just to this of this typewriter being used by Hans Philipp to record and recount all of his aerial victories is almost unreal.

This typewriter was transported to numerous Luftwaffe camps as Hans Philipp participated in the invasion of Poland and as a Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) in the Battle of France. His unit was reformed as II./Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing) in June 1940. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 22 October 1940 during the Battle of Britain. He then fought in the aerial battles of the Balkans Campaign and Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves after 62 aerial victories on 24 August 1941 and the Swords (Schwerter) to his Knight's Cross on 12 March 1942, his score now at 86 aerial victories. He claimed his 100th victory on 31 March 1942, the fourth fighter pilot to achieve this mark, and his 150th aerial victory on 14 January 1943. Philipp claimed four aircraft shot down on 17 March 1943 taking his total to 203 aerial victories. He thus surpassed Hermann Graf as the leading German fighter pilot at the time, and six months after Graf, became the second pilot to claim more than 200 victories. Philipp was promoted to Major (major) and given command as the Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1—1st Fighter Wing) on 1 April 1943, conducting Defense of the Reich operations against the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). He was promoted to Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) on 1 October 1943 and was killed in action a week later on 8 October during an attack on Bremen. It is believed that he was shot down by the P-47 Thunderbolt pilot Robert S. Johnson. Philipp managed to bail out but his parachute failed to open.

This typewriter was just obtained from a private investment group museum located in Toronto, Canada where it was stored and preserved for decades after their initial retrieval of this rare WWII artifact. The typewriter of Hans Philipp was logged and archived in their records and still as the original museum label tags adhered to the front. The typewriter is in fully operational condition and has not been altered or touched up in any way.

Upon purchase of this relic our team will directly message you regarding the shipping of this rare WWII artifact. This artifact will be 100% insured up to its FULL value on all domestic and international orders. Full tracking numbers and a hand signed shipping confirmation delivery will be selected to make sure the artifact arrives to you in the safest way possible.