The American Red Cross Chess, Checkers, and TIC-TAC-TOE Pocket Set

This pocket chess set was owned by Staff Sergeant Arthur D. Williams, whose Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was shot down on October 5, 1944. After being captured by German forces, Williams was taken to Stalag Luft IV, a POW camp in what is now Poland, which became infamous for its poor conditions, harsh treatment of prisoners, and an 86-day forced march after Soviet forces approached the position of the camp in 1945. At the beginning of the march, soldiers subsisted on the contents of the remaining Red Cross parcels at the camp, which they carried with them. Williams survived the war along with the set, and his daughter later donated it to the World Chess Hall of Fame.