Here are my thoughts concerning the camera.
Matt said: "The Luke field inventory listed Kodak film and an empty Kodak camera case and included a note that it was assumed that AE had taken the camera with her after the crash. There have been posts in the forum suggesting that she carried a Brownie Model camera but I have not seen the original source for this."
Kodak made nearly 100 different models called Brownie, but none of them looked like this camera. However, there are other Kodak cameras to which it has some resemblance.
Let's start with what can be seen in the picture. It is seen from almost perfectly straight down on the top. We can't see how tall it is, but the position of AE's hands holding it suggests to me that it is 3-4 inches tall. It also appears rather narrow, suggesting a small film size. It is mostly black (in the B&W photo) with some bright spots that might be shiny metal. At the right end (all directions from the point of view of someone holding the camera) is a large bright disc, with a smaller dot next to it. Near the middle of the back edge is a rectangular bright area, and at the left end is another bright area. There are some faint lines discernable on the top as well. There is what appears to be a lens protruding from the front, with a black area close to the camera body and some bright areas at the end. The end portion appears to be larger than the section connecting it to the camera.
The most common non-professional cameras at that time used roll film with a light-proof paper backing. It was made in many different widths, of which 120 is the sole survivor today. It was possible to have different image proportions on any given film size, though not usually in the same camera. An oblong shape, with the long side along the length of the film, seems to have been the most popular. Other shapes were square (as are most 120 film cameras today) or rectangular with the long side across the width of the film. I have two of the oblong shape cameras sitting here while I write. This camera appears to be too narrow for the large oblong sizes, and those usually have a long bellows between the lens and body, so I think this is a smaller film size. The shape of the lens suggests to me a small bellows with a standard leaf shutter and lens assembly on the end of it, which is bigger than the bellows itself. Some shading that might be the bellows is faintly visible. There were many cameras like this. The bright areas on the end of the lens are consistent with a typical lens which was partially or entirely brightly plated (in nickel or chrome), with the non-bright areas painted with black enamel. This is all consistent with the 127 or 828 roll film sizes, or 135 (35mm) which was just starting to become popular at that time. In 1934, Kodak introduced the daylight-loading 35mm cassette with which many of us are familiar. Before that, 35mm cameras all used proprietary cassettes that had to be loaded in a darkroom. Kodak also introduced the first of its Retina line of 35mm cameras in 1934, and other companies soon followed.
The large disc on the right end could be a film advance knob. The smaller dot next to it could be a shutter release, but is more likely to be a release button for the film advance. Most roll-film cameras with horizontal film travel advance the film from right to left, and have their advance knob on the left. Most 35mm cameras advance it from left to right (there are exceptions) and have the film advance knob or lever on the right.
There are other things that the bright disc could be. Some cameras had an exposure guide or film reminder in that location. Light meters were not yet found on cameras, and indeed few people owned even a hand-held one -- they estimated exposure, which was good enough for slowish black and white film outdoors. The bright area on the left end could include another knob for rewinding film after it had all been exposed, if this is a 35mm camera. Roll-film cameras do not have rewind knobs. So we could be looking at an advance knob and rewind knob (35mm), or an exposure guide and advance knob (roll film).
The bellows assembly was supported by a track on a plate that folded up to be a cover when the lens was fully retracted and the camera not in use. This cover was either below the bellows or to one side of it. In this picture it is not below or on the left side, because it would show in the picture if it were. The only place for it to be is, if it is present, on the right, where it blends in with AE's trousers. Retina cameras had the cover on the right side. This seems to be an uncommon location based on my review of camera types.
The camera does look much like an early Retina, although I have not yet found an exact match for it among pictures of the Retinas that were available at that time. It looks more like some that were introduced after 1937. It may be I have not found the right pictures to match up with it. So while I won't say for certain that it is a Retina, it has some resemblance to one. I have been studying pictures of cameras looking for one that matches. I have not limited my search to Kodaks but indeed looked for anything that could match, that was available in 1937 or earlier.
Here are some of the places I've looked:
https://retinarescue.com/retinalist.htmlhttp://www.brownie-camera.com/kodakcam.shtmlhttp://kodak.3106.net/index.php?p=216http://www.nwmangum.com/Kodak/http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Main_Page (and many sub-pages)
LTM,
Don