The thickest secrets of World War II weren’t carried by soldiers storming a beachhead—they were carried on paper, stamped and guarded, meant for only a few eyes. Next month in McHenry County, those artifacts of planning and peril will share the same room with the weapons and keepsakes that followed the plans into chaos.

On Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, Donley Auctions will host “The John Bannister Collection: Rare D-Day Relics and Militaria” at 10 a.m. at 8512 S. Union Rd., Union. The preview is scheduled for noon to 7 p.m. Friday, with doors opening at 8 a.m. on auction day.

Framed as a sweep across “every theater of World War II,” the event pairs the Bannister collection’s documents and firearms with a broader run of general militaria—an approach the auction announcement describes as a timeline “from the planning room to the battlefield,” including what it calls the war’s “Intellectual Architecture.”

From the map room to the surf line

The headline draw in the Bannister lots is a set of “BIGOT” classified documents tied to Operation Neptune and Utah Beach—material the auction announcement describes as requiring a clearance level higher than Top Secret. In the militaria world, those kinds of documents can embody an uneasy duality: they are clean, quiet objects that nonetheless belong to violent days.

Veterans’ recollections of the Normandy landings underscore what such documents set in motion. Charles Maupin, a World War II radio operator, reflected on the human cost and resolve behind D-Day, saying, “The Soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day showed courage and determination that you can't imagine.” Charles Maupin said. U.S. Army

Maupin also captured the scale and sensory overload that followed the planning and secrecy, saying, “It was the most dramatic moment of my life. … The whole operation was so overwhelming that it was hard to absorb everything that was going on.” Charles Maupin said. U.S. Army

Another veteran account puts the landing’s confusion into plain terms. “With the Air Force overheard, the Navy shelling [enemy positions], the enemy firing at you and we're firing at them, it was just total chaos.” Arnald Gabriel said. U.S. Department of Defense

And then there were the basic physical realities—water and fear—stacking the odds. “The water, believe it or not, in June was awfully cold, and that with the combination of fear, it was quite an experience.” Arnald Gabriel said. U.S. Department of Defense

Against those recollections, the Bannister collection’s D-Day materials read not as abstract strategy but as an entry point into lived experience.

Firearms that tell a different kind of story

The auction’s featured firearms span the war’s improvisation and its industrial output.

Among the most distinctive is the FP-45 “Liberator” pistol, described in the auction announcement as a crude, clandestine single-shot weapon dropped to resistance fighters behind enemy lines. Its collector appeal isn’t only mechanical; it’s tied to what the item represents—small, portable defiance meant to be used under extreme risk.

Other highlighted lots include:

  • Inland M1A1 Paratrooper Carbine, a folding-stock carbine associated in popular memory with airborne forces
  • Mauser G41(M), described in the auction announcement as a “Super Rare” early German semi-automatic
  • Johnson 1941 .30-06 Rifle, billed as a standout piece of American small-arms history
  • Japanese Naval “Special” Type 99 Rifle, described as incredibly rare and distinct for its anchor stamp and unique 3-inch cleaning rod

Together, they form the auction’s “pen meets the sword” theme—an event built to attract both the collectors who chase rarities and the history-minded buyers who are drawn to objects that carry specific wartime functions.

Trench art and the daily reality of war

Beyond documents and firearms, the sale also promises trench art and other militaria that, as the auction announcement puts it, captures “the daily reality of the soldier.” In a room filled with weapons and paperwork, these pieces often supply the most intimate reminders—objects made, altered or kept close not for firepower or command advantage, but for coping, memory, or identity.

The auction listing also notes that additional items are still being added, keeping the broader catalog fluid in the weeks before the gavel falls.

Why Union—and why now—matters

Staging a major militaria sale in Union adds a local dimension to what can feel like distant history. The village is small—about 753 people, according to Data USA—but it is also relatively affluent, with a median household income of $100,104, as reported by Data USA.

That purchasing power is reinforced by other indicators. Census Reporter puts Union’s poverty rate at about 4.3% and notes the community’s median household income is about 25% higher than the Illinois median.

Those figures help explain why a specialized auction—one that mixes high-end collectible firearms with rare paper linked to D-Day planning—can find a home in a village setting. The likely audience stretches beyond the immediate ZIP code: dedicated militaria collectors, regional buyers with an interest in antique arms, and local history enthusiasts looking to see tangible links to a global conflict.

An auction built on contrasts

The Bannister collection’s draw is the way it pulls together opposites: secrecy and noise, maps and surf, strategy and shock. A “BIGOT” document speaks to a world where information was weaponized and compartmentalized; a Liberator pistol suggests how that war also relied on the simplest tools in the most desperate circumstances.

In Union on Feb. 7, those contrasts will sit side by side—paper and steel, official and improvised—inviting bidders and onlookers alike to reckon with the strange durability of wartime objects. The generation that carried them is fading, but their words still illuminate what the artifacts can’t say on their own: that behind every plan and every piece of gear was a moment that felt, in Maupin’s memory, like something “you can't imagine,” and in Gabriel’s, like “total chaos.”

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