This wonderful one-of-a-kind album was presented as a 1956 Happy New Year gift to Colonel Richard W. Mabee, U.S. Military Attaché to Finland. The album was a handmade record of the national artillery exercise held during the summer of 1955 at Rovajarvi, Finland, the largest artillery practice range in Europe.The album was a gift from Uolevi Poppius, who was at the time the Inspector of the Artillery at the Finnish Defense Command and a major force behind the development of the Rovajarvi installation. The album has 28 pages and 59 photos which are glued onto the pages. It is approximately 15″ wide by 11″ tall. All the lettering on each page is hand-drawn. Notice that the front presentation page includes Poppius’ signature. The 59 photos provide a chronological record of the military exercise with some outstanding candid shots. Contact us if you would like us to send additional photos of the pages not shown in the listing.

Colonel Mabee can be seen in the bottom right image of the 10th photo and Uolevi Poppius can be seen in the middle image of the second row in the 11th photo.This album was purchased directly from Colonel Mabee’s estate. His obituary in 2002 states:”Although Col. Mabee originally aspired to be a concert violinist, he won an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1936. After graduation in 1940, he fought in World War II in the Aleutian Islands. He then became battalion commander in the 11th Airborne Division in the Philippines. With Japan’s surrender, he took on occupation duties in Japan. Col. Mabee returned home to be an associate professor and professor of military science at the University of California, and earn his graduate degree in East Europe Studies from Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. He was then selected for military attaché duties in Finland. He retired from active duty in 1961 and settled in Atherton in 1962, where, he worked in defense electronics and as assistant director of personnel for San Mateo County.”

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