A Point in Time, A Point in Space: In the Cockpit of a B-17 Over Europe

Photographs of military aircraft taken during aerial missions are legion, having existed in all forms of print media since the First World War.  With the advent of the internet, such images can now be found as instantaneously as they are created. 

The commonality of such pictures, regardless of the conflict, country, or activity, is that by their nature the great majority of such images – especially those from the early and mid-twentieth century – capture action and events occurring outside of the aircraft or platform from which the photographer is situated.  That aspect of aerial photography is so natural and taken-for-granted that it hardly bears mentioning. 

That is, until one comes across the opposite:  A picture of activity within a military airplane during a combat mission. 

Such an image is the subject of this discussion.

In an earlier blog post, photographic images were presented of a P-51D Mustang fighter (“Chicago’s Own”, of the 354th Fighter Group) which was crash-landed near Niederkirchen, Germany, on December 1, 1944 by Captain Gordon T. McEachron.  These images are found in German Luftgaukommado Report “J 2525”, at the United States National Archives, in College Park, Maryland. 

That post included two “Meldung über den Abschuss eines US-amerikanischen Flugzeuges” (Notification About the Shooting Down of a U.S. Aircraft) forms, showing how the German armed forces recorded information about downed American military aircraft, and, their crews.  One of the two forms, in J 2525, is an example of how single-seat fighter aircraft were documented.

The other from, from Luftgaukommando Report KU 3493 (KU being an acronym for Kampfflugzeug Unterlagen – “combat aircraft documentation”) covers a B-17G Flying Fortress, and shows how multi-crew aircraft were documented.  The crew list in KU 3493 appears below, and will bring us to the photograph that is the topic of this post.

43-38215-crew-list-ku-3493-360Crew list in “original” KU Report

a40-macr-11368-crew-list

Crew list in translated KU Report, as seen in MACR 11368

KU 3493 was filed for B-17G Flying Fortress 42-97215 (erroneously listed in MACR 11368 as “43-97215”), “BG * J“, of the 334th Bomb Squadron, 95th Bomb Group, which was piloted by 2 Lt. Stewart D. Reed, and shot down during a mission to Hamburg on December 31, 1944.     

MACR 11368 notes that there were no direct witnesses to the plane’s loss, but presents the following account, derived from S-2 files, for the incident:  “B-17G 43-97215 [sic] piloted by 2 Lt. Reed was seen to be hit by enemy fighters from 6 to 8 minutes after “bombs away”.  The attack was made from 5 to 7 o’clock high and out of the sun.  The aircraft was hit on the first pass on the #3 engine causing it to catch fire.  The pilot endeavored to put out the fire but failed to do so.  The aircraft went in a slow spiral under fairly good control.  One chute was seen before the aircraft was lost from sight at 53-20 N, 09-30 E at 1153 hours.”

KU 3493 gives no information specifying where the individual crewmen were actually captured or recovered.  However, the document gives four place names – all generally similar – denoting the area where the plane crash-landed, and, the general locality of all events relevant to the loss of 42-97215.  These are “Lauenbrueck near Hanover”, “Lauenbrueck 15 km [from] Rothenburg”, “Lauenbrueck-Hollege-Vahlde bei Rotenburg”, and “Lauenbruch (Lauen bridge) on Reichstrasse, Hamburg / Bremen”.

map-hamburg-bremen-regionGoogle map of Hamburg, Rotenburg, and nearby localities.

map-lauenbruckGoogle map of Lauenbrück

Besides Lt. Reed, the other eight men in the plane’s crew were:

Co-Pilot:                                            2 Lt. Harold Joseph Rensch
Navigator:                                         F/O Anthony A. Marnik, Jr.
Nose Gunner (Togglier?):             Sgt. Charles Oscar Doughty
Flight Engineer:                               S/Sgt. William Andrew Raab
Radio Operator:                               Sgt. George LeRoy Carrier
Ball Turret Gunner:                         Sgt. Morgan Joseph Heafey
Waist Gunner:                                  Sgt. Richard G. Saalfeld
Tail Gunner:                                      Sgt. Hyrum Lamar Spencer

Four of these men – Heafey, Marnik, Saalfeld, and Spencer – did not survive the mission.  The others were captured and imprisoned, returning to the United States after the war’s end.

A review of postwar accounts by the survivors reveals that Carrier, Doughty, Marnik, Raab (wounded in the arm by flak), Rensch, and Saafeld bailed out, while Lt. Reed crash-landed the plane with Heafey and Spencer still aboard. 

Heafey was instantly killed by a direct hit on the ball turret.  Spencer, severely wounded, died shortly after landing.  Carrier suggested that he could have been saved had he received immediate medical attention. 

The fates of Marnik and Saalfeld present a mystery.    

Saalfeld, after bailing out, was seen alive, in mid-air, by Rensch.  His name (along with those of Heafey and Spencer, and the surviving crew members) does appear in the crew list recorded in KU 3493.  Rensch suggested that he, “May have been captured by radical civilians & slain”.

Marnik was not seen after the crew bailed out, and his fate was still under investigation in August of 1945, indicated in a statement filed by Doughty with the Adjutant General’s Office.  Therein, Doughty reported, “Plane hit by fighters.  The plane immediately went into a flat spin.  I saw Marnik jump from the plane.  After he jumped he was never heard of again.  I believe that Marnik might have become unconscious from lack of oxygen after he bailed out at over 22,000 ft and there by not open [sic] his chute.  He has not been heard of since.” 

Document “131615” within KU 3493 states that Marnik was “recovered dead” at Burg / Sittensen – almost six north-northwest of Lauenbrueck – on December 31, at 12:15, about twenty minutes after 42-97215 was shot down.  Though this document gives his serial number and name, neither his rank nor any other information is listed.  Oddly, his date of burial – at Gross-Sittensen – is noted as having occurred nearly two weeks later: On February 12, 1945.  This explains the absence of Marnik’s name from KU 3493, which was filed on January 18, 1945.

map-lauenbruck-sittensenGoogle map of area of Sittensen, Lauenbrück, and nearby localities.

Given the limited and cryptic information in the MACR, more information about what actually befell Saalfeld and Marnik might be found in the IDPFs (Individual Deceased Personnel Files) for these men.  If possible war crimes had been investigated, then Case Files for these men may exist within the records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (NARA Records Group 153).

But about the men of 42-97215… 

Like many (but certainly not all) MACRs filed for crews of multi-place aircraft, MACR 11368 gives the names and addresses of the crew’s next of kin.  These are:

Those, Who Survived

Pilot: 2 Lt. Stewart Dean Reed (POW, Stalag Luft I)
Born October 11, 1921
Margaret C. Reed (wife), 1402 Dodson St., San Pedro, Ca.
Dr. Claude L. and Mildred Reed (parents), Wakefield, Ks.
Stewart Reed died on July 12, 2009, as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle of July 15 of that year.

Co-Pilot: 2 Lt. Harold Joseph Rensch (POW, Stalag Luft III)
Elizabeth D. Rensch (mother), Makoti, N.D.

Nose Gunner (Togglier?):
Sgt. Charles Oscar Doughty (POW, Stalag Luft III)
Agnes M. Doughty (mother), 30 Baker St., Norwalk, Oh.

Flight Engineer:
S/Sgt. William Andrew Raab (POW, Stalag Luft III)
William L. and Catherine Raab (parents), 59 Seyle Terrace, Rochester, N.Y.
Sgt. William Raab in the Rochester Times Union, May 29, 1945.

raab-william-a-rochester-times-union-1945-05-29-2_edited-1Sgt. William Raab in the Rochester Times Union, May 29, 1945.

Radio Operator: Sgt. George LeRoy Carrier (POW, camp unknown)
Lola M. Carrier (wife), 806 North Gordy St., Eldorado, Ks.

Those, Who Gave All

Navigator: F/O Anthony A. Marnik, Jr. (Born 8/18/20)
Anton and Sophie (Eltman) Marnik (parents), Jean and Raymond (sister and brother)
4138 North Lavergne Ave., Chicago, Il.            
Place of Burial: Saint Adalbert Catholic Cemetery, Niles, Il.; Section 52, Block A, Lot 3.
Buried September 7, 1949, as reported in Chicago Tribune of September 1.

marnik-anthony-a-cropped_edited-2Anthony A. Marnik, Jr., in the DePaulian (De Paul University yearbook) for Class of 1938. 

____________________

Ball Turret Gunner: Sgt. Morgan Joseph Heafey (Born 8/23/22)        
John C. and Helen Cecelia (Gillespie) Heafey (parents)
3825 South 25th St., Omaha, Ne.
John C. Heafey, Helen C. (Heafey) Kinnear, Thomas E. Heafey (brothers and sister)
Place of Burial: Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Omaha, Ne.

heafey-morgan-j-portrait____________________

Waist Gunner: Sgt. Richard G. Saalfeld (Born 5/3/24)
Herman H. and Lillian F. Saalfeld (parents), Harold C. and Herman A. Saalfeld (brothers)
2302 G St., Ohama, Ne.
Place of Burial: Saint Mary’s Cemetery, Omaha, Ne.

saalfeld-richard-g-article-2____________________

Tail Gunner: Sgt. Hyrum Lamar Spencer (Born 10/28/19)
Glenda (Winget) Spencer [later Smith] (wife), Ronald H. Spencer (1941-1943) and Kenneth Austin Spencer (sons)
Box 157, Monroe, Ut.
Austin Jabez and Hannah Elizabeth (Price) Spencer (parents); Nine siblings (four sisters and six brothers)
Place of Burial: Aurora Cemetery, Aurora, Ut.; Block 7, Grave 5; Buried June, 1949

spencer-hyrum-l-portrait-2____________________

A Captured Moment, Captured

Now, the subject of this post:  One photograph.

The image is rather small: about two by three inches.

It’s not entirely in focus.

It’s overexposed.

There is no information recorded upon it – whether on the print itself, or its reverse side.  It’s “anonymous”. 

There is no information about it within KU 3493.  It’s simply present among the documents contained in the report.

But, precisely because it’s not a “professional” image, it has an aura of mystery (well, a small mystery) that evoke questions about its origins:  Who was the photographer?  When was it taken?  What kind of camera was used? 

Some observations:

The picture was taken by someone immediately behind the pilot and co-pilot, probably situated in the space between the B-17’s dorsal turret and pilots’ seats.

The pilot’s right hand rests on the throttles.  His head slightly is turned to the right, while the co-pilot’s head is slightly turned to the left.  Details of the top of the instrument panel, the ceiling mounted instruments, ceiling light, and wiring between the upper windows, are clearly visible.     

Both men are wearing external radio headsets over their flight helmets; especially evident for the pilot.   

From the pattern of light and shadow on the pilot’s left arm, and especially the glare upon the right windshield and obscuring the co-pilot’s face, it seems that the plane is flying towards the sun.    

Given that the picture is entirely undamaged and unmarked, I assume that it was confiscated by the Germans from Lt. Reed himself, Rensch, Doughty, Raab, or Carrier, after their capture.  If I were to venture a guess, I would suggest it was taken by Sgt. Charles O. Doughty.  (But, that is only a guess.)

42-92215-ku-3493-macr-11368-photo-2b-600-cropped-working_edited-1-bwSomewhere over Europe, seventy-two years ago.

This photo is strikingly reminiscent of a depiction of a B-17 pilot at the controls of his bomber that appeared in John Muirhead’s 1986 book Those Who Fall.

those-who-fallThe book (cover by Eric Joyner) is a memoir of Muirhead’s experiences as a Flying Fortress in the 32nd Bomb Squadron of the 301st Bomb Group, a Bomb Group assigned to the 15th Air Force’s 5th Bomb Wing.  It encompasses the time from his arrival at the 301st’s base at Lucera, Italy, in February of 1944, through June 23, 1944, when his plane and crew were shot down on a mission to Ploesti (covered in MACR 16203), and concludes with his liberation from Bulgarian captivity in September of that year.

Published by Random House in 1986, his book merits very high praise.  The quality of writing is excellent, equaled by the depth of the author’s observations about the complexities of human nature; relationships between and among his crewmen, comrades, commanders, and Italian civilians; the seeming randomness of human fate during war; history, human nature, and “life” in general. 

Some of the names in the book may be pseudonyms, some characters may be “composites” of different personalities, and the accounts of some combat missions may be based on a combination of memory, anecdote, and personal impressions, along with historical records.  No matter.  These qualities do not detract from the book’s literary and historical worth. 

Fifteen sketches by Susan Coons, in pencil or charcoal, are interspersed throughout the book, and depict personalities, combat, and life at 301st’s Italian base at Lucera.  These have no captions, the reader being left to infer such from nearby or related text.   

One sketch image is particularly compelling, and is a fitting counterpart to KU 3493’s anonymous photo: It depicts a B-17 pilot, right hand resting on the throttles of his aircraft, as sunlight reflects off his windshield. those-who-fall-john-muirhead-1986-p-127-susan-coonsLike the pilots in the photo – seen at an unknown time and unknown place somewhere over Europe (or perhaps even earlier, over the continental United States?) – the pilot in Susan Coons’ sketch is piloting his aircraft into the sun, towards an unknown destination. 

Like the crew of aircraft B-17G #215, he is flying into history. 

As are we all – whether earthbound, airborne, or between – each in our own quiet way.

References

Books

Freeman, Roger A., and Osborne, David, The B-17 Flying Fortress Story, Arms & Armour Press, London, England, 1998.

Muirhead, John, Those Who Fall, Random House, 1986, New York, NY.

Rust, Ken C., Fifteenth Air Force Story, 1976, Historical Aviation Album, Temple City, Ca.

Biographical Information

Heafey, Morgan J., biographical information by Loren Bender, at http://www.findagrave.com/.

Marnik, Anthony A., Jr., information and photograph from DePaulian 1938 (De Paul University Yearbook), accessed through Ancestry.com.

Marnik, Anthony A., Jr., biographical information by “Russ C.”; photograph of tombstone by Mary Arvidson, at http://www.findagrave.com/.

Raab, Sgt. William A., Rochester Times Union, May 29, 1945, accessed via Fulton History website, at http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html.

Reed, Stewart D., obituary and biographical material at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?n=stewart-dean-reed&pid=129752191

Saalfeld, Richard G., biographical information by Loren Bender and “SRGF”, at http://www.findagrave.com/.

Spencer, Hyrum L., biographical information and photographs by his son, Kenneth Austin Spencer, at http://www.findagrave.com/.

Archival Documents

KU (Kampfflugzeug Unterlagen) Report 3493

United States National Archives – Collection of Foreign Record Seized – Record Group 242: “Records of Luftgaukommandos: German Reports of Downed Allied Fighters and Other Aircraft

Report KU 3493: (At) Records Group 242, Entry 1022, Shelf Location 190 / 14 / 9-12 / 1-5 (Box 306)

Also see: https://research.archives.gov/id/64379

Five Pilots in December: Photographic Portraits of American Fighter Pilots Who Lost Their Lives at Pearl Harbor

I once lived in a model world. 

How could I not?

Growing up in a small suburban community in the Pennsylvania of the 1960s and 70s, the Second World War formed a historical and cultural backdrop for the world around me.  The son of a veteran of World War Two and the Korean War, every adult male I knew – or so it then seemed – participated in the struggle against either Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, or, Imperial Japan. 

For my parent’s generation, the war seemed to have been a foundational experience that generated a cultural commonality that resonated – for a little while, at least – through the immediate postwar decades.  At family gatherings, or, when I quietly observed even most random, fleeting, casual interactions between adults, reminiscences of the war – sometimes humorous; occasionally grim; oftimes profound – were mentioned in a way that could briefly transcend differences in politics, or even economic and social status. 

At least it then seemed as such, from my perspective. 

Like many boys of my generation, I built plastic model kits of warplanes, military vehicles, naval ships, and a variety of other subjects, like Revell’s 1/48 Mercury / Gemini spacecraft.  For me, building models wasn’t simply a hobby.  It was my way of identifying with, if not indirectly becoming, part of the past.  So, admiring my elders; with a sense of accomplishment from assembling a set of injection-molded plastic pieces into “a fighter plane!”, “an aircraft carrier!”, or “a tank!” (or a spacecraft, like Monogram Models’ beautifully produced 1/48 Lunar Module) and maybe patriotism too (though I built many kits of German and Japanese warplanes!), if I couldn’t participate in history, I would model history. 

If I couldn’t command a battle tank against Panzer IVs in the hedgerows of Normandy, I could put one together.  (Revell’s 1/40 M-4 Sherman)  If I couldn’t launch torpedoes from a PT-boat against a Japanese destroyer as dusk quietly descended over the Solomon Islands, I could assemble one.  (Revell’s 1/72 PT-109)  If I couldn’t pilot a fighter plane against Me-262 jet fighters over Berlin, I could construct one.  (Monogram’s 1/48 P-51B Mustang)

Then, I learned more.  In fourth grade, I received a copy of William Green’s Famous Fighters of the Second World War from my uncle, who served as a Flight Surgeon in a 9th Air Force Fighter Squadron. 

One day, I asked him to show me his album of wartime pictures.   

He sat next to me, and, placing the album before him, began to leaf through the photographs he’d accumulated or taken during his military service.  There were pictures of airfields in England and Continental Europe, with the usual array of improvised, nondescript buildings, shacks and tents associated with most any flying field.  But, the majority of the images were of pilots: fighter pilots.  The men were wearing flight helmets, attached to which were flying goggles (late-war style, with one-piece lenses), with the hoses of oxygen masks draped nonchalantly over their shoulders.  They were seated in the cockpits of their planes – birdcage and bubbletop P-47 Thunderbolts – or, standing casually at unnamed airfields. 

Whether shyly, confidently, or both, many were smiling. 

My uncle flipped through the album, page by page, momentarily lingering over each image as if in silent tribute, and he continued on until the last photograph had been reached.  Then, he closed the album.  Upon seeing each picture, he quietly, quickly, and matter-of-factly said words to the effect of: “He’s dead.”  Or, “He got killed.”  Or, he would point at a picture and softly say, “Dead”.  That was true for all the images, and that was all he said.

How many photographs?  I don’t remember.  Certainly more than ten; certainly less than thirty.  Certainly enough. 

Then, he returned the album to the bookshelf in his library, and walking away, said no more.

Other books were very different.

Famous Fighters of the Second World War became my favorite reading material throughout my latter years of elementary school.  Even if I didn’t understand (or have much interest in) the technical development of World War Two fighter planes (I liked the “birdcage” P-51B far more than the bubble-top D version of the aircraft; still do) the many profile line drawings in Green’s book were the templates from which I created innumerable aerial battles on sheets of tracing paper.  A host of other works in the same genre followed, such as Gene Gurney’s Five Down and Glory, Quentin Reynolds’ 70,000 to One, J.R.D. Braham’s Night Fighter, Walter Lord’s At Dawn We Slept, and a, plethora of paperback books published by Ballantine Books. 

Then, in 1970, I discovered Scale Modeler magazine.  A close-up photograph of Revell’s newly released 1/32 P-38J Lightning graced the cover.  Another discovery:  Al Kropff and Sydney P. Chivers’ The Art of Plastic Modelling.  And then, Joseph V. Mizrahi’s duo of Wings and Airpower aviation magazines.

I was, frankly, amazed that other people – adults?- what? – who? – how?! – shared the same interests as I. 

Came the autumn of 1970.  History was re-created; history had become real, for the 20th Century Fox Corporation had released the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!, a cinematic depiction of Japan’s strike against America’s Pacific Fleet from both the American and Japanese viewpoints, portraying – as best as late-1960s technology and special effects would allow – the weaponry and events of the actual attack.  I had to see this movie.   I wanted to see P-40 Warhawks and A6M2 “Zeroes” and Nakajima B5N2 “Kates” and Aichi D3A “Vals” and the Akagi, Hiryu, and the other Japanese aircraft carriers, and of course, the battleship Pennsylvania.  And at the center of everything, the USS Arizona.  Or, more accurately, its demise.

(By that time, I’d known “about” Pearl Harbor.  Not from family lore; not from books; not from newspapers, but from television.  Namely, from “The Day The Sky Fell In”, an episode of Irwin Allen’s science-fiction series The Time Tunnel, which was broadcast by the ABC Television Network on September 30, 1966.  Popular culture, it would seem, had as much potency in 1966 as in 2016…)

So, with family members, I saw the film at a theater in a small northeastern Pennsylvania town. 

We arrived by car.  The parking lot was jammed.

I was bored, at first.  Very bored.  “Why are they talking about papers and plans and diplomats and codes and cables and translations and why all the talking?!  Gee, where are the ships?!  When are they gonna’ show the planes?” 

I was riveted, not long after.  The movie brought history to life in a way that didn’t supplant Day of Infamy, but enhanced it, and prompted me to read Lord’s book anew. 

In the hindsight of forty-six years, three memories remain. 

The line. 

The queue of theater-goers extended several hundred feet from the ticket-counter, to very the entrance of the parking lot.  Perhaps it was my age, but, I’d never seen so many movie-goers waiting for a film with such anticipation and patience; with what in retrospect was a kind of deliberation.  This was different.  This was important.  Well, it seemed so.

The silence. 

We knew about the Arizona.  I assumed everyone knew about the Arizona.  The destruction of the battleship and the massive loss of life among her crew, singularized, epitomized, and symbolized the suddenness and devastation of the attack. 

The silence in the theater is complete.  Val dive-bombers fly overhead.  The scene changes to the interior of one of the planes aircraft.  The film’s perspective pans toward a photograph of the Arizona, coincidentally attached to the interior of dive-bomber’s cockpit (with the caption in English underneath) a visual cue to the audience about what was coming. 

The ship, struck by a bomb, explodes.  A quiet, collective “oomph” emerges from the crowd; their spirit deflates. 

The cheers.

From Walter Lord’s book, I knew of the bravery and dedication of Second Lieutenants Kenneth M. Taylor and George Welch, and several other Army Air Corps pilots, in attempting to defend the naval base and its complex of army airfields from the Japanese attackers.  I knew they had shot down several enemy planes.  I knew that some of these army pilots were killed, on the ground and in the air. 

And with every Japanese aircraft shot down – by Taylor and Welch; by US Navy gunners; by an Air Corps mechanic manning a heavy machine gun (casualties and devastation all around him) – a cheer; clapping; a collective “yeeaaaah!” arose from the audience.  Loudly.  Clearly.  Distinctly.  Lengthily.  As if the audience was primed, wanting this to happen, waiting for this to happen. 

Considering the scope of the attack, though the number of aerial victories they achieved was few, the nominal fact that the American pilots were able to “fight back” created a small beacon of pride amidst a day of unrelieved disaster – in 1969.  Though the scale of their efforts was minor in comparison to the magnitude of the events of December 7, the fact that they were able to resist, was enough. 

The response of the audience to the film, rather than the film itself, is my strongest memory of seeing Tora! Tora! Tora!

The film inevitably and understandably simplified complexity, location, and the specific events involved in the aerial defense of Pearl Harbor by depicting Taylor and Welch’s attacks against their opponents in a nicely filmed three-minute aerial combat sequence, using a combination of aerial footage of actual P-40s, and, AT-6s and BT-13s modified to represent Zero fighters and Kate torpedo-bombers.  This is interspersed with studio footage of the actors playing Taylor (Carl Reindel) and Welch (Rick Cooper) seated in mock-ups of P-40 cockpits, behind whom a sky background is projected.  (A precursor to the use of a “green-screen”, which featured in the filming of Jude Law and Gwyenth Paltrow in a P-40 cockpit, in Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow!)

Only years later did I learn that the film received indifferent reviews and under-performed financially, partially attributable to the expenditures for ensuring realism and technical accuracy through the use of actual aircraft.   

The aerial combat sequence from Tora! Tora! Tora!, posted by “Combo Breaker 96” in July of 2015, can be found at:

Tora! Tora! Tora! P-40s versus Zeroes Scene

Well, that is how I remember the world of 1970.

* * * * * * * * * *

Some decades later, while researching images pertaining to the World War Two Army Air Force at the United States National Archives, in College Park, Maryland, I discovered the Archives’ collection of “Photographic Prints of Air Cadets and Officers, Air Crew, and Notables in the History of Aviation”.  This remarkable trove of photographic portraits and other images comprises 105 boxes (heavy, archival storage boxes, that is) containing several thousand – the exact number unknown – images of aviators, the overwhelming majority taken during the very late 1930s, and early 1940s; with a very small number from WW I and the twenties.  A few civilian flyers (like Amelia Earhart and Anthony Fokker) are also present, along with a few images of famous German WW I aviators.    

Most of the portraits are of Flying Cadets, or, men who had just graduated as Second Lieutenants and received their “wings” from Army Air Force pilot, bombardier, and navigator schools.  The majority of images seem to have been taken from 1941 through 1943, with some taken in 1944, and very few thereafter. 

Some pictures were taken outdoors, along an airfield flight-line, apparent from background scenery.  Some, with photographic back-drops of aircraft, clouds, or other aviation-related images, were obviously taken in studios.  Other were taken in very simple, unadorned, indoor settings.  Some images are printed upon 8 ½” x 11” black & white glossy finish photographic paper, while others, of smaller dimensions, are mounted upon (glued to) heavy 8 ½” x 11” stock.  Typically, information such the date of the photograph, name and rank of subject, and the aviation school where the image was taken is recorded with the images; sometimes on the image itself.     

Inevitably, given the coincidence between the timing of their graduation and the time-frame of the Second World War, many of these men were killed in action, while others lost their lives in training or operational accidents.  Similarly, it is notable that there are no photographs of aircrews; only individuals.  Notably, this collection of photographs comprises a limited number of the tens of thousands Army Air Force pilots, bombardiers, navigators who were Aviation Cadets, or were commissioned, during World War Two.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was the discovery of these pictures that has led to this post.

Within the photo collection, there are images of Aviation Cadets Samuel W. Bishop (later 1st Lt., 44th Pursuit Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group), Hans C. Christiansen (later 2nd Lt., 44th Pursuit Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group), John L. Dains (later 2nd Lt., 47th Pursuit Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group), Gordon H. Sterling, Jr. (later 2nd Lt., 46th Pursuit Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group), and, George A. Whitman (later 2nd Lt., 44th Pursuit Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group).  All four except Sterling were photographed at (then) Kelly Field, in San Antonio; Bishop and Christiansen in 1940, and Dains a year later. 

On December of 1941, these five men were stationed at Pearl Harbor. 

The only one still alive on December 8 was Samuel Bishop. 

Bishop, Christiansen, and Whiteman, were stationed at Bellows Field.  The events there are described in 7 December 1941 – The Air Force Story, as follows:

Personnel of the 44th Pursuit Squadron rushed out to disperse, fuel, and arm their twelve P-40 Warhawks, which were lined up on the edge of the runway.  Only four of the squadron’s officers were at Bellows that morning, and three were pilots.  They wanted to get into the air immediately, despite the fact that their aircraft were not completely armed, but Lieutenant Phillips, the armament officer, insisted that all six .50. caliber guns be fully loaded before any aircraft took off.  As 2d Lt. Hans C. Christiansen started to get into the cockpit of his plane, he was struck in the back by enemy fire and fell at the feet of his mechanic, Cpl. Elmer L. Rund, who was standing by the lower right wing.  Blood gushed out from a large hole in the life jacket of the fatally wounded pilot.  Rund and his crew chief, Joe Ray, then had to quickly duck under the aircraft for protection from the strafing attack by the Japanese planes, which seemed to come at them from all directions. (27)

The third pilot at Bellows was 1st Lt. Samuel W. Bishop, who taxied into position, turned his plane toward the ocean, and began his takeoff roll directly behind Whiteman.  He saw Whiteman’s plane go down after a burst of gunfire went right into the cockpit.  The only emotion he felt was deep rage as he got airborne, holding the trigger down all the while, as Japanese planes swarmed around him.  He retracted his landing gear and hugged the water, trying to gain speed, but the Zeros clung tenaciously to him and shot him down in the ocean about half a mile offshore.  Despite a bullet wound in his leg, Bishop managed to get out of his plane and, with his Mae West keeping him afloat, swam to shore. (29)

5-bishop-samuel-w-44-rtd-400Flying Cadet Samuel W. Bishop.  Photographed on May 16, 1940.

6-christiansen-hans-47-kia-c-400Flying Cadet Hans C. Christiansen.  Photographed on December 26, 1940.9-whiteman-george-a-44-kia-400Flying Cadet George A. Whiteman.  Picture taken on September 5, 1940.

Biographical information for Christiansen can be found at his FindAGrave on-line memorial, as can that for Whiteman, after whose name the formerly inactivated Sedalia Army Airfield – reactivated in October of 1952 as Sedalia Air Force Base – was renamed in 1955. 

Sterling was killed in what would be his first and only dogfight.  As recounted in John W. Lambert’s The Long Campaign – The History of the 15th Fighter Group in World War II,

“The pilots mounted their planes, fired up their engines, and prepared for the first sortie from Wheeler.  At the last minute, leaving his engine running, Norris climbed out of his cockpit and ran to get a better fitting parachute.  Seeing the rest of the formation beginning to taxi out, 2nd I.t. Gordon H. Sterling, who had been standing by hoping to get into the fight, bounded into the empty cockpit of the fourth P-36.  He handed his wrist watch to an astonished mechanic, and said. “See that my mother gets this.  I won’t be coming back,” slammed the canopy and gunned the plane down the field.

“It was about 0850 when Sanders’ flight cleared Wheeler, entered a cloud base at 2.000 feet and headed southeast.  As they broke out of the clouds at 28,500 feet Sanders advised the fighter control center of his position and availability.  The fighter director reported many bogeys over Kaneohe and Bellows Fields.  Sanders acknowledged, increased his climb at full throttle to 11,000 feet, and turned north.

“By this time the first wave of the Japanese attack force was streaming back to their carriers.  Fuchida, cruising at 15,000 feet over Pearl Harbor, was surveying his handiwork and directing the next wave.  This force, led by Lt. Commander Shigekazu Shimazaki of the Zuikaku, had been launched at 0715.  It consisted of 167 Kates. Vals, and escorting Zekes.  About 0850 they began to deploy for the attack run on their targets off the East Coast of Oahu.

“Shimazaki’s units struck Kaneohe and Bellows airfields and renewed the attacks on Hickam and the badly wounded fleet at Pearl Harbor.  These Vals with Zekes flying top cover were the bogeys identified by fighter control who had directed the 46th Squadron’s P-36s to rendezvous.  Lew Sanders relates the action:

“In a slight dive at near maximum throttle, we sighted a formation of 11 enemy planes at about 6,000 feet.  I rocked my wings and the formation tightened up around me.  As I began to give hand signals to my flight I saw that Sterling had some- how taken over Norris’ plane.  It was quite a shock to discover this youngster in formation under such dire circumstances.  However, there was no alternative but to signal him to take my right wing position.  Then I directed the left element pilots to take aggressive action.

 “We dived, coming in on the enemy formation at an overtaking speed, from about level flight.  I fired at the leader, watched tracers enter the fuselage, saw him pull up slightly, and then fall off the right, smoking.  I made a fast 360 degree turn to clear my tail and, at a very short distance ahead, saw a P-36 I thought to be my wingman.  Sterling was shooting at a burning enemy plane in a near vertical dive.  An instant later another enemy fighter split S-ed on Sterling’s tail.  I pushed over on the three planes below me and began firing at the one on Sterling.  Soon the P-36 ahead of me was on fire and spiraling slowly out of control.  The Japanese fighter in my sights was in a dive, trailing white smoke.

8-sterling-gordon-h-jr-46-kia-600Flying Cadet Gordon H. Sterling, Jr.  Date unknown.

Lt. Sterling, whose body has never been found, is memorialized both at the Honolulu Memorial, and Arlington National Cemetery

John Dains may have been the first American “friendly fire” fatality of the Second World War.  Shot down over Schofield Barracks, his fate is described by Leatrice R. Arakaki and John R. Kuborn, John R., and also in James R. Jones’ best-selling novel, From Here to Eternity

According to 7 December 1941 – The Air Force Story,

 “While this [the attempted take-off at Bellows field by Bishop, Christiansen, and Whiteman] was going on, Haleiwa launched aircraft as fast as pilots showed up.  Lts. John Dains and John Webster both got off at different times in P-40s, while Lts. Harry Brown and Robert Rogers each took off in P -36s.  From Wheeler Field, Lts. Malcolm Moore and Othneil Norris entered the fight, also flying P-36s.  Brown and Rogers headed out to Kahuku Point, where they engaged the enemy without any confirmed kills, but Rogers damaged one enemy aircraft. From there they joined up with Moore and Webster and headed west.  At Kaena Point, Webster damaged one aircraft, but could not confirm a kill.  Rogers was cornered by two Japanese; and Brown plowed into the fight, shooting down one attacker.  As the action started to wind down, Moore opened up on one retreating Japanese aircraft but failed to down it.  Brown spotted the smoking ship and also fired but, like Moore, could not hit a vital spot, and the aircraft got away.  Rogers started to run low on fuel, so he returned to Haleiwa where he took off on his second mission in a P-36.  Dains also returned to Haleiwa and got off on a second mission in a P-40.

“By this time the Japanese had completed their attack and were returning to their carriers as fast as they could.  Wheeler Field and Haleiwa kept launching aircraft for the next hour with little coordination or direction for the pilots.  No additional combat with the Japanese occurred.  One mystery still remains concerning the action that occurred in the air that Sunday morning.  Radar operators at the station at Kaaawa watched a P-40 shoot down a Japanese Zero during the height of the battle.  The operators were positive the American aircraft was a P- 40, and they identified it both from its distinctive silhouette and the sound of its engine.  None of the pilots that survived that morning’s action remembered flying in the Kaawa area.  The only pilot whose action was unaccounted for was Lt. John Dains, who flew two missions that morning in a P-40.  Both times he was separated from the other American fighters and fought by himself.  After landing the second time, he switched to a P-36 and joined up with George Welch for a third mission.  Neither pilot spotted anything because by that time the Japanese had cleared the area, so they decided to return to Wheeler Field.  On the return flight, antiaircraft guns at Schofield Barracks opened up on the two aircraft, killing Dains.  There were three plausible explanations.  First, the radar operators could have been mistaken in what they saw; second, some other P-40 pilot downed the Japanese plane and was unaware where the action occurred; or third, we suspect that Dains did get the enemy plane as the ground personnel observed and just never got the chance to tell his story.

The account of Dains’ death occupies a brief passage in Jones’ lengthy and superb 1951 novel, the clarity of the description therein suggesting that Jones witnessed the event firsthand, or, learned about the story from fellow soldiers.  Certainly this would be consistent with Jones’ presence at Schofield Barracks that December morning.  As penned by Jones,  

Lt. Ross dived under the porch for the supplyroom as another single [aircraft] came blasting in from the southeast and the roaring umbrella of fire rose from the roofs to engulf it.  It seemed impossible that he could fly right through it and come out untouched.  But he did.

Right behind him, but flying due north along Waianae Avenue and the Hq Building, came another plane; and the umbrella swung that way without even letting go of its triggers.

The plane’s gastank exploded immediately into flames that engulfed the whole cockpit and the plane veered off down on the right wing, still going at top speed.  As the belly and left under-wing came up into view, the blue circle with the white star in it showed plainly in the bright sunlight.  Then it was gone, off down through some trees that sheared off the wings, and the fuselage, still going at top speed, exploded into some unlucky married officer’s house quarters with everyone watching it.

“That was one of ours!” Reedy Treadwell said in a small still voice.  “That was an American plane!”

“Tough,” Warden said, without stopping firing at the new double coming in from the northeast.  “The son of a bitch dint have no business there.”

After the Jap double had flashed past, unscathed, Warden turned back and made another circuit up and down the roof, his eyes screwed up into that strained look of having been slapped in the face that he sometimes got, and that made a man not want to look at him. 

“Be careful, you guys,” he said.  Up the roof.  Down the roof.  “That last one was one of ours.”  Try and be careful.  Try and get a good look at them before you shoot.  Them stupid bastards from Wheeler liable to fly right over here.  So try and be careful after this.”  Up the roof.  Down the roof.  The same strained squint was in his voice as was in his eyes.

From Here to Eternity

James R. Jones

(1951) 1954

New American Library (Signet Books; paperback edition), pp. 720-721

The defense of Schofield Barracks occurs three-minutes into this snippet from the full film.    

It’s entertaining and well-acted, and, akin to the dogfight scene from Tora! Tora! Tora!, shows the near-inevitable, natural simplification of characters and events that occurs when a story – any story; any text (this action comprising 14 pages in the paperback edition); fiction or fact – is transformed from text to the moving image. 

It’s notable that stock footage of SBD Dauntless dive bombers was used to represent Japanese bombers and torpedo plane, while AT-6 trainers – “Japanese” by virtue of the hinomarus painted on their wings and fuselages! – represent strafing Zero fighters.  This was in 1953, only eight years after the war’s end, when certainly much of the viewing audience – inevitably including many recent veterans – would have recognized these incongruities. 

I remember how shocked I felt when I read the above passage in Jones’ novel.  I suppose it’s understandable that in the context of 1953, John Dain’s loss was not incorporated into the film.  Well, at least one thing was consistent:  In the film as in the Jones’ novel, the soldiers of Schofield Barracks do shoot down a Zero.     

Well, no matter.  Vastly different in concept, creation, and scope from Tora! Tora! Tora!, this was a film that was driven, and extremely well driven, by character, plot, and setting.  The aerial attack on Schofield Barracks in From Here to Eternity (spliced from video version posted by Trena Sorman), can be viewed at:

Japanese Attack on Schofield Barracks as portrayed in From Here to Eternity (1953)

Dains is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Honolulu.

7-dains-john-l-44-kia-600-cFlying Cadet John L. Dains.  Picture taken on June 4, 1941.

* * * * * * * * * *

Should you visit the National Archives to search for an image of an aviator, I’ve created a finding aid, adapted from the original document at the National Archives, which alphabetically lists the number of the box where his photograph might be found, based on and correlated to an alphabetical list of surnames.  The document can be found at:

Photographic Prints of Air Cadets and Officers, Air Crew, and Notables in the History of Aviation – NARA RG 18-PU (Finding Aid)

May the search for your flyer be successful.

References

Arakaki, Leatrice R. and Kuborn, John R., 7 December 1941 – The Air Force Story, 1991, Pacific Air Forces Office of History, Hickam Air Force Base, Hi. 

Clausen, Christopher, Living Memory, The Wilson Quarterly, Autumn, 2004, at http://archive.wilsonquarterly.com/essays/living-memory

Howard, Clive and Whitley, Joe, One Damned Island After Another, 1946, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC.

Jones, James R., From Here to Eternity, (1951), 1954, The New American Library (Signet Books), New York, N.Y.

Lambert, John W., The Long Campaign – The History of the 15th Fighter Group in World War II, 1982, Sunflower University Press, Manhattan, Ks.

Maurer, Maurer, Combat Squadron of the Air Force – World War II, 1982, Albert F. Simpson Historical Research Center and Office of Air Force History, Headquarters, USAF.

From Here to Eternity, posted by Trena Sorman on January 7, 2016, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekH3j4yh0Xg.

George Welch, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Welch_(pilot).

History of Whiteman Air Force Base, at http://www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/Whiteman_AFB.htm

Kenneth M. Taylor, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_M._Taylor.

The Time Tunnel, episode directory, at http://www.tv.com/shows/the-time-tunnel/the-day-the-sky-fell-in-112761/

Tora! Tora! Tora!, Internet Movie Database entry, at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066473

A Helldiver From the Deep: A Crashed SB2C Dive-Bomber Retrieved From the Coastal Waters of Japan

The Army Air Force’s institution of Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs) to track Army Air Force personnel and aircraft lost on operational missions was an impressive way of collating and organizing a variety of information – from a range of sources – towards the central goal of resolving the fate of its missing aircraft and personnel.  These documents were certainly effective in their immediate and direct mission, both during and after the war.  However, what was almost certainly neither anticipated nor appreciated at the time – how could it have been? – was the usefulness of MACRs in the future.  Commencing with the declassification of these documents in the early 1980s, families of servicemen, veterans themselves, and aviation and military historians were able to use them to research historical events and solve aviation mysteries from four decades prior.

In that sense, the documents proved their worth for two generations. 

When I first began researching MACRs, I assumed that the WW II Navy generated similar documents, to track its own missing aviation personnel.  As I quickly learned, no such system of documents was created.  Instead, information about missing WW II Naval aviators is found in the Navy’s Casualty Files.  As described in the National Archives’ finding aid for these documents, they,

“Contain lists, radio messages, and correspondence relating to casualties (both combat and accidental), sustained by particular naval organizations or during particular actions or events.  The records include notification received by BUPERS (Bureau of Personnel) that an officer or sailor is a casualty, preliminary reports on the status (confirmed casualty or missing), ultimate disposition of the case (sometimes a finding a year or more after the event of presumptive death), and indication of notification of next-of-kin.  Some cases include considerable detail about the events surrounding the casualty and the efforts made to locate or determine the status of the individual involved.  Other cases simply include lists, such as names of the crews, of those casualties sustained by major combat vessels, or other naval units.”

The fundamental difference being, with MACRs, a researcher works with a single document on microfiche, or digitally, via Fold3.com.  With Navy Casualty Files (well, a least at the United States National Archives!), a researcher can work with the original document.  And because of that, sometimes – ironically – you can find something as startling as it is unexpected.

Case in point, this posting. 

As part of a project to identify WW II Allied POWs of the Japanese who – as members of the USAAF, USN, USMC, RAAF, RNZAF, and RAF – were captured after their aircraft were shot down during operational missions in the Pacific Theater – and who had the good fortune to return home at the war’s end – I discovered the photographs which appear in this post.

They are of a US Navy SB2C Helldiver dive-bomber of VB-82, of the USS Bennington, which was recovered intact (albeit in separate parts! – airframe and engine) from the coastal waters of Japan, as part of the postwar investigation into the fate of the aircraft’s crew.  Happily; fortunately, both the pilot and radio-operator / gunner survived ditching and captivity, and returned to America after their liberation from the POW Camp at Ofuna (Shinjku), Japan.

Their aircraft was an SB2C-4E, Bureau Number 20593, number “26”.  The plane was shot down during an attack against warships in Hiroshima Bay on March 19, 1945. 

As described in the War Diary of the USS Bennington for that date,

Receiving word that units of the Japanese Fleet were at anchor at Hiroshima Bay and Kure Harbor, STRIKE ONE BAKER was launched, amid a grand scramble among pilots to decide who should be the lucky ones to make the flight.  Thirty-eight (38) aircraft from the BENNINGTON joined with an equal number from the HORNET plus smaller groups from the BELLEAU WOOD and SAN JACINTO.  The flight proceeded to Hiroshima Bay in search of the elusive enemy and sighted two or three BBs, one CL, a number of DDs, and various ships of the train.  Attacks were made on one “Yamato” class BB, several DDs and cargo types.

DAMAGE INFLICTED

  • One (1) battleship “Yamato” class, four (4) destroyers, one (1) Sugar Able Love, and one (1) Sugar Able Baker were damaged.
  • Two (2) radar stations and one (1) coastal defense position on Otada Shima were damaged in strafing attacks.
  • On the west coast of Shikoku Island, two (2) trains were strafed and the engines hauling both were destroyed.

LOSSES

  • Lieutenant Donald Doris WORDEN, (A1), USNR, File No. 125994 of 16-18 138 Street, Flushing, L.I., New York, and his radio gunner BROWN, Clifford A., ARM 3c, USNR, 826 27 71, of 44 Mercer Street, Hamilton Square, New Jersey, were last seen in their rubber life raft in Hiroshima Bay after making a water landing as a result of damage to their airplane, SB2C-4E, Bureau No. 20593, by AA fire while making a dive bombing attack on a Jap battleship. Lieutenant WORDEN and BROWN have been declared “missing in action.”

Oddly, the serial given for Donald Worden is incorrect.  It should be 0-130061.

And, in the Bennington’s Action Reports covering March 14 through April 30, 1945 (“Operations against Southern Kyushu Area, Kure Area (Honshu) and Nansei Shoto area in support of the Invasion and Occupation of Okinawa Gunto”):

19 March 1945

     1 Baker (15 VF, 11 VB, 12 VT), 0647-0941, together with flights from other carriers and task groups was assigned the mission of attacking the main Japanese battle fleet at its home base.  The BENNINGTON Group in the face of severe AA fire attacked a YAMATO Class battleship, four destroyers and a large tanker all underway in HIRSOSHIMA BAY.  Three hits with 1000 lb. SAP bombs were scored on the battleship – one being confirmed by photographs, three destroyers were damaged by near misses with bombs, rockets and strafing, and three hits and a miss with 500 kb. Bombs were scored on the tanker.  One VB was severely damaged by AA and made a water landing South of the Bay.  The pilot, Lt. D.D. WORDEN, USNR, and aircrewman C.A. BROWN ARM2c are listed as missing in action.

Due to my unfamiliarity with Japanese geographic terms or the Japanese language in general (!) I’m unable to actually identify – using on-line maps – the location where Lt. Worden ditched 20593.  However, knowing that the aircraft landed some-where in Hiroshima Bay, I’ve included a Google Map as a general guide to that locale.   

mapThe above is the account of the loss of the SB2C from the American side.  What is particularly noteworthy in the Casualty File is its coverage of this incident from the vantage point of five Japanese witnesses, the hiring and interaction with the Japanese salvage team, technical details of the Helldiver based on a description of the salvaged wreckage, and above all, the four photographs of the plane that were – and are still – included with the report.  (Unfortunately, the plane’s identification plate was not found in the Casualty File!)  A transcribed version of the Casualty File is available, below:

Report of Investigation of Unidentified SB2C Helldiver by Legal Section GHQ, SCAP (SB2C-4E crewed by Lt. Donald D. Worden and ARM 3C Clifford A. Brown)

The four photographs appear below.  All were scanned at 600 dpi to ensure high resolution.  Though the staples (1947 vintage staples, at that!) in the last two images are rather obvious, I’ve decided not to “crop” them out of the scans, so viewers can get a complete impression of the “character” of the original photos – and thus the landscape in the images.

sb2c-4e-20593-vb-82-1a-600-w_edited-2

A view of 20593 from the front.  Captain Hacker is presumably standing in the cockpit.  Note that ARM Brown’s opened parachute, still intact after two year’s submersion, laying upon the right wing;   Seaweed has become attached to the underside of the wings and elevators, the fabric of the latter, and also the rudder, shows damage to fabric incurred from combat, or, when Lt. Worden ditched the plane.

sb2c-4e-20593-vb-82-1b-600-w_edited-2

And, a nice view of 20593 from the rear.  Damage to the tailplane is clearly visible.  Note that the radio-operator / gunner’s twin thirty-caliber machine guns, pointing to the left rear, are still present.  The white arrow denoting VC-20 can be seen on the starboard aileron.

sb2c-4e-20593-vb-82-2a-600-w

Captain Hacker holding the Helldiver’s cowling, while the plane’s Wright R-2600-20 Cyclone sits forlornly nearby.  The propeller was not found during recovery.

The “back-seater’s” canopy is missing (probably having been jettisoned prior to ditching), while the rear-canopy sections of the turtleback are partially folded.  Note that the number on the cowling is “89”, while that on the tail is “26”. 

sb2c-4e-20593-vb-82-2b-600-w_edited-2

An overall view of 20593.  Not quite in focus, but still quite interesting.  ARM Brown’s parachute was first found in the rear cockpit, and then placed upon the starboard wing.

* * * * * * * * * *

The fate of the wreckage of 20593 is unaddressed in the VB-82 Casualty File.  The aircraft and its engine may have served as raw material for tools, household furnishings, or workplace implements for nearby inhabitants.  Or, the wreckage may eventually been sold for scrap.  Ironically, precisely because it was intact when recovered, there are likely now – seventy-one years later – no traces of the plane still remaining at the site of its recovery.  Like the overwhelming majority of military aircraft of all nations, once the machine served its purpose, it passed out of existence.

Well, machines can be replaced.  The men who fly them cannot be. 

What of the two airmen who crewed 20593?

Among SB2C aircrews shot down in combat during the Second World War, there were eight other instances where both crewmen of this two-seat dive-bomber – pilot, and, radio-operator / gunner – survived capture and captivity.  They are:

June 15, 1944

VB-2, SB2C-1C, Bureau Number 261

Lt. Daniel T. Galvin (California), and ARM 2C Oscar D. Long (Greenville, S.C.)

POWs at Ofuna

February 16, 1945

VB-12, SB2C-4E, Bureau Number 20308

Ensign Charles H. Brown (Kingwood, W.V.), and ARM 3C Donald J. Richards (Fort Lauderdale, Fl.)

POWs at Ofuna

March 18, 1945

VB-82, SB2C-4E, Bureau Number 20555

Lt. Carlyle Newton (Connecticut), and ARM 1C Edward G. Curtin (Washington, D.C.)

Newton: POW at Ofuna; Curtin: POW at Omori

March 19, 1945

 VB-10, SB2C-4E, Bureau Number 20971

Ensign Robert Brinick (Detroit, Michigan), and ARM 3C Crawford H. Burnette (Douglasville, Ga.)

POWs at Ofuna

VB-82 (Worden and Brown – in this post)

VB-83, SB2C-4E, Bureau Number 20702

Lt. Eugene J. Tougas (Jacksonville, Fl.), and ARM 1C Charles J. Richardson (?)

POWs at Ofuna

July 18, 1945

VB-83, SB2C-4E, Bureau Number 20684

Ensign Ernest W. Baker (Richmond, Va.), and ARM 3C Walter L. Owens (Chicago, Il.)

POWs at Ofuna

July 28, 1945

VB-86, SB2C-5, Bureau Number 83246

Lt. JG Joseph D. Brown (Baltimore, Md.), and ARM 2C Frederick C. Lockett (Ardsley, Pa.)

POWs at Ofuna

VB-94, SB2C-4E, Bureau Number 20946

Lt. Joseph G. Costigan (?), and ARM 3C Warren E. Collins (Essex County, N.Y.)

POWs at Ofuna

 

The names of Donald Worden and Clifford Brown appear (as do those of seven other airmen) in the list of returned prisoners in the USS Bennington’s Cruise Book.  Both were imprisoned at Ofuna (Shinjku) POW Camp, in Tokyo.

uss-bennington-cruise-book-1945Presently, my information about Brown is limited to the entry for him in Combat Connected Naval Casualties of World War Two, which lists his wartime next-of-kin as his father, Mr. Amos Stanley Brown, of 44 Mercer St., Hamilton Square (Mercer County), New Jersey.

More information is available about Donald Worden.  Navy Muster Rolls list him as having been stationed – in December of 1941 and February of 1942 – at the Naval Reserve Aviation Base at Kansas City, respectively.  By March of 1942, he is listed at the Reserve Naval Aviation Base in New Orleans.

Notably, he was the recipient of the Navy Cross.  His award citation, dated 9 July 1945 and available at Military Times, states,

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Donald Doris Worden (NSN: 0-130061), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Bomber and Division Leader of four planes in Bombing Squadron EIGHTY-TWO (VB-82), attached to the U.S.S. BENNINGTON (CV-20), on 19 March 1945.  On that date, Lieutenant Worden engaged in an eleven plane attack against a new enemy battleship and its destroyer-cruiser screen near the Naval Base at Kure, Japan.  He dove his aircraft and maneuvered his division with skill and aggressiveness in a closely coordinated dive bombing attack on this force, his determination and able airmanship contributing vitally to the damage scored on the battleship by repeated direct hits and near misses.  His attack was driven home in the face of extremely intense and accurate anti-aircraft fire from the battleship, its nine screening destroyers and cruisers and from surrounding shore batteries, and in spite of his own plane being struck before his dive.  His courage and daring were at all times in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Combat Connected Naval Casualties of World War Two lists his next-of-kin as his wife, Evelyn Louise Worden, her wartime address being 1860 Southwest 10th Street, in Miami, Florida.

Further information is available about Lt. Worden, but it reveals a future – post-1945 – that one wishes had been far different.

After surviving being shot down and captured by the Japanese – a fate from which many Allied airmen did not return – and spending the next half-year as a POW, Lt. Worden remained in the Navy, rising by the early 1950s to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. 

He was killed in an aviation accident only eight years later.

As reported by the Kansas City Times in that newspaper’s issue of December, 1953:

FLIER DOWN IN PACIFIC NAVY PLANE WITH TEN ABOARD IS LONG OVERDUE

Lieut. Milton Kay Walsh, Son of Mrs. E. L. Walsh. 2 East Sixty-Second, Is a Crew Member

Kansas City Times

December 22, 1953

     The navy announced yesterday that a Kansas City man was aboard an R4D transport plane which disappeared Sunday in the Guam area of the Western Pacific while on a flight looking for another plane, lost since Wednesday.  He is Lieut. Milton Kay Walsh, 30, husband of Mrs. Betty Kerr Walsh, Palo Alto, Calif., formerly of Kansas City.  His mother, Mrs. Edward L. Walsh, lives at 2 East Sixty-second street.  Ten crew members were on the plane, which has not been heard from since it went out to look for the other craft.  Lieutenant Walsh attended Southwest high school and Junior college before he enlisted in the navy in World War II.  He has been in the service eleven years.  In World War II he was a flier based at Attu in the Aleutians.  He has a 5-year- old daughter, Peggy Jean Walsh, Palo Alto.  A sister of the lieutenant, Mrs. E. Albert Aisenstadt, lives at 1204 West Sixty-seventh street.  His wife’s parents are Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Kerr, 1120 East Seventy-fifth street terrace.  Others listed as being on board the transport: Lieut. Comdr. Donald D. Worden, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Ralph Worden of Stewartsville, Mo.; Kenneth John Schmitz, chief aviation machinist’s mate, son of Mrs. Mary Helen Schmitz. San Diego.; Thomas Theodore Lillie, chief aviation electronicsman, son of Mr. Ernest Lillie of El Reno, Ok.; William Boykin Jenkins, aviation machinist’s mate, first class, son of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Jenkins, Atlanta.; Hollis Mimhell Burks, parachute rigger, first class, son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Mitchell Burks, Huntsville. Ala.; Edward Frank Geis, aviation elecronicsman second class, son of Mr. and Mrs. John E. Geis, Dos Palos, Calif.; Marion Leon Carpenter, aviation machinist’s mate, third class, son of Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Gordon Carpenter. Bessemer City, N. C.; Billie Edward Hall, aviation machinist’s mate, third class, son of Mrs. Everett Hall, Amarillo, Tex.; Douglas Anthony Anderlini, airman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Louis Anderlini, St. Louis.

This story was also reported in the Lewiston Tribune in its December 27 issue (found at the Google News Archive):

Navy Plane Found in Volcano Crater

Lewiston Tribune

December 27, 1953

     GUAM (AP) – A search team Saturday found the wreckage of a big Navy plane that disappeared last Sunday while looking for another lost Navy plane.  They said there were no survivors of the 10 crewmen aboard.

The wreckage of the R4D8 was found in the crater of an extinct volcano on tiny Agrahan Island 380 miles north of here.

The searchers said it apparently had crashed into the cloud capped 3,166-foot cone without warning.

The search for the first missing weather plane was called off by the Navy at noon Saturday.

A very detailed account of the incident appears at the website of VJ-1 / VW-3.

R4D8, Bureau Number 17179, was assigned to Naval Air Station Guam, and was lost while searching for PB4Y-2S 59716 of VJ-1 (Weather Squadron One), which went missing on a, “low level typhoon penetration on Typhoon ‘Doris’ on 16 December 1953.”

A comprehensive account by Max Crow concerning the loss of 57916 and her nine crewmen (who were never found) as well as Skytrain 17179, is available at the Weatherplane Down website.  The website includes a list of the Privateer’s crewmen and an aerial photograph of Agrihan Island

Remarkably, a photograph of R4D8 17179, via Cheryl Davis, is present at the Aviation Safety Network website, and is shown below.

19531220-1-p-1Lieutenant Commander Worden, born in 1921, is buried at Stewartsville Cemetery, in DeKalb, Missouri.  Though FindaGrave denotes his date of death as December 20, 1983, viewing a “full-size” image of his military grave marker shows that the marker is indeed correctly engraved as 1953.

* * * * * * * * * *

And so, a very brief tale of one airplane and two men, the fate of one reminiscent of the epigraph to John O’Hara’s 1934 novel, Appointment in Samara, itself based on an ancient Babylonian Tale

They have passed into history – as do all men and all things  – but perhaps this brief account is enough to remember them, at least for a time.

References

Doll, Thomas E., Jackson, Berkley R., and Riley, William A., Navy Air Colors – United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Aircraft Camouflage and Markings, Vol. 1911-1945, 1983, Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., Carrollton, Tx.

Stern, Robert, SB2C Helldiver in Action, 1982, Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., Carrollton, Tx.

Swanborough, Gordon, and Bowers, Peter M., United States Navy Aircraft since 1911, 1968, Funk and Wagnalls, New York, N.Y.

Combat Connected Naval Casualties, World War II, by States: U. S. Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, 1946, Government Printing Office, Washington, District of Columbia.

Finding Aid, for “Casualty Branch / Casualty Assistance Branch of the Personal Affairs Division – United States Navy” – “Ship, Stations, Units and Incidents Casualty Information Files, 1941-45 and 1950-60” (MLR Entry 1024) (Records Group 24), from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland. 

Casualty File for VB-82 at United States National Archives.  Location:  Records Group 24, Entry 1024, Stack Area 470, Row 55, Compartment 6, Shelf 7.

Aviation Safety Network Data File for R4D8 17179, at

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19531220-1&lang=de

Aviation Safety Network Photograph of R4D8 17179, at

http://aviation-safety.net/photos/displayphoto.php?id=19531220-1&vnr=1&kind=PC

Bureau Numbers for SB2Cs for Baker, Charles H. Brown, Joseph D. Brown, and Costigan, from Aviation Archeology.com, at

http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/

Donald D. Worden biography at FindAGrave.com, at

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=worden&GSfn=donald&GSmn=d&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=111220523&df=all&

“Flier Down in Pacific Navy Plane with Ten Aboard is Long Overdue”, in Kanas City Star for December 22, 1953, at website of Newspapers.com, at

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/58954007/

Navy Cross Citation for Donald Doris Worden, at

http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=27391

“Search Plane Crashes into Agrihan Crater”, in The Daily News (Guam), for December 23, 1953, contributed by Mike Iverson, at

http://www.de634.org/0_vj1_RD4_agana-news-storya.htm

VJ-1 / VW-3 home page, at

http://www.de634.org/vj1-home.htm

Fortune and Courage: The Survival, Evasion, and Return of Two Fighter Pilots from Occupied Greece

Steve Blake and John Stanaway’s book Adorimini is a comprehensive, detailed, well-written, and beautifully produced history of the 82nd Fighter Group.  The 82nd, equipped with Lockheed’s P-38 Lightning, served under the 12th and 15th Air Forces in the Mediterranean Theater of War, and was credited with 548 enemy planes destroyed, 88 probably destroyed, and 227 damaged.  In terms of the Group’s losses, Adorimini lists the names of 267 casualties, comprising men who were killed in action, missing in action, prisoners of war, or who lost their lives from other causes.  As mentioned in the book’s appendix, these figures indicate that 41% of the Group’s pilots became casualties.

Among the 267 are nine men who evaded capture.  These include 2 Lt. Earl T. Green, 2 Lt. Clayton A. Bennett, 2 Lt. Stephen A. Plutt, 2 Lt. Edwin R. English, Jr., 2 Lt. Walter T. Leslie, 2 Lt. John N. Girling, 2 Lt. Elwood L. Howard, Capt. Charles King, and 2 Lt. Lawrence W. Zellman. 

Certainly all of these men had a “story”, but, as in “life” – “in general”, for all people – not all stories are recorded.  Not all stories that have been recorded are known.  And, not all stories that are known, are remembered.  But, at least two such stories of men mentioned in Adorimini – stories of survival upon the thinnest margins of probability and luck; stories of endurance and fortitude; stories of courage – are known, and are here presented.

The aviators in question were Bennett and English, both shot down on combat missions in 1943: Bennett on October 8, and English on December 6.  Reference to Bennett’s survival, and a compelling excerpt from an account about English’s experience are given in Adormini.  These follow below:

2 Lt. Clayton A. Bennett

Most of the missions tended to be escorts of B-25s to targets in Greece and Albania throughout the first half of October.  On the 8th the 95th and 96th Squadrons escorted the 321st BG once again, to Athens’ Eleusis Airdrome.  As the formation left the target, a dozen or so Me-109s from III and IV / JG 27 attacked the 95th from above and behind, utilizing the cloud cover to their advantage.  A running fight then ensued over the Gulf of Corinth.

Lts. Bob Muir and Stoutenborough each claimed an Me-109 destroyed and other 95th pilots claimed four more as damaged.  Two of the squadron’s P-38s were lost in return; one was seen to crash into the hills west of the target and another fell in flames into the gulf.  The latter was flown by Lt. Clayton Bennett, who miraculously survived, although badly wounded.  He was also fortunate enough to be rescued and assisted by Greek Partisans.  Bennett made it back to Italy in February and soon thereafter was on his way home.  The other pilot, Lt. Jim Shawver, was MIA.  JG 27 pilots claimed to have shot down eight (!) Lightnings for the loss of one Me-109 and its pilot plus serious damaged to another.  (p. 111)  (Lt. Bennett was flying P-38G 43-2332, which carried the squadron code “AJ“.  His loss is covered in MACR 925A.)

***

2 Lt. Edwin R. English, Jr.

The 82nd returned to Greece on December 6, escorting Liberators of the 98th and 376th Bomb Groups to Eleusis Airdrome.  Enemy fighters intervened and the 97th Sq. claimed two destroyed – an Me-109 by Lt. Bill Clark and an FW-190 by Lt. Gene Chatfield, who was on his first mission (!).  The 96th claimed 2-1-1 109s, both of the confirmed kills being credited to Lt. Leslie Anderson.  (IV / JG 27 lost two of its Messerschmitts that day.)  For Lt. C.O. Seltz of the 97th this mission was the magic #50.

The mission was #18 for Lt. Edwin English of the 96th Sq., for whom it was at least equally memorable.  He was the only 82nd pilot lost that day.  In a report filed after his eventually – and almost miraculous – return, English recalled that he didn’t see any enemy fighters until the American formation was coming off the target:

It was then that I saw 3 ME 109s coming down on the tail of the last group of bombers; I called them in to Andy, and we turned back.  To my surprise, we found at least 15 to 20 enemy fighters coming in from above us, by twos and threes.  Andy turned into two that were coming in on our left, so Dolezal and I broke off and turned into two that were coming at us from in front, leaving him and his wingman to take care of the ones from the rear. 

One of our two started down, with Dolezal after him; the other made a head-on pass at me.  My gunsight was flickering, so I turned it off, and fired steadily by my tracers as we closed.  Apparently I was hit just as we made our range, for I noticed smoke in the cockpit, but I was too busy to give a damn just then.  I started hitting him just as we got in range, with my tracers pouring in, and he pushed his nose down to dodge; I kept them on with forward pressure, and saw cannon shells explode in his engine, with pieces flying off his plane; as he passed fifty feet below me.

I could see the pilot slumped ever to the side of the cockpit.  I made a quick break to the left, and saw him start straight down, smoking heavily; I watched him fall straight down for 5,000 feet, and would have followed, but there were too many planes around.  So I broke to the right and picked up Dolezal again; we started a two ship weave back towards the bombers, when I found that I was on fire.  I noticed that on the leading edge just inside the right engine nacelle was a hole the size of my fist; a 20 mm shell must have exploded in there, and it was rapidly getting worse. 

I tried to turn off the right engine gas, but the valve was jammed; I cut the mixture control, stopped the engine and feathered the prop.  I saw I couldn’t get up under the bombers, and as there were still a number of fighters around, I decided the best thing to do was to hit the deck and get away, so I called Dolezal and said I was going down.  I peeled off and went straight down, pulling out on one engine at close to five hundred miles an hour at about 1500 feet over the plains, and heading west for the mountains pulling 40 or 45 inches on my left engine; nobody was following me. 

I thought the fire might blow itself out so I could get home on one engine, but by the time I made the mountains the fire was much worse, with the hole in the wing two feet wide and three feet long, burning fiercely; there was so much smoke in the cockpit that I couldn’t take off my mask.  I cleared the top of the mountain at tree top level end saw a nice little valley ahead of me where I thought I might be able to land. 

Someone called me, asking if I was all right; I answered that I was on the desk with one engine on fire and that I might make it; I repeated this, and someone asked my heading; I told them northwest.  But just as I cleared the mountain, my left engine started cutting out, and I stalled out in a spiral spin to the right, the piano being at a 45° list to the right, and about 45° nose down. 

I was plenty close to the ground, so I had to get out, and soon.  I called “I’m bailing out,” grabbed the emergency canopy release and started out, but forgot to release my safety belt; I unsnapped it, put both hands on the top and pulled myself up; maybe I even jumped up and out, but I’m not sure. 

I have no idea how I went through the boom, as I went straight out the top without rolling down the windows; I probably went over it.  My air speed was then about 110 or 115, just above stalling, having lost my speed in clearing the mountain top.  The wind and flame hit me at that instant, and I threw my hands up to protect my face; after I was out of the flame, I grabbed for the rip cord, missed it, and got it the second time.  I tore off my mask and helmet, which were afire, saw the around coming right up at me, end just had time to reach for the shroud lines and pull my feet up when I hit. 

Luckily, I landed on the slope of the mountain aids and broke my fall; I rolled about ten or fifteen feet down the hill, getting all tangled up.  I immediately got untangled and out of my chute, for my plane crashed and exploded about 100 yards downhill from me, pointed up hill, and the guns started to go off right in my direction.  I ran down past the plane.  My flying suit had been burned off, with my escape kit and escape purse, and I later found that the bask strap of my harness was burned nearly through and my clothes covered with the white stuff that the nylon of my chute burning left on me, so I guess that I had a mighty close shave. 

“A might close shave,” indeed!  Lt. English’s luck continued to hold, as he was assisted by some nearby shepherds, who turned him over to members of the Greek Resistance.  The latter took him to a hospital, where his burns were attended to, after which he recovered rapidly.  Later English and some other American and British evaders were escorted by foot to the east coast of Greece, where they boarded a boat for Turkey; they eventually made their way to Cairo via Syria.  He was back with the group by the middle of February and was sent home shortly thereafter.  (pp. 123-125) (Lt. English was flying P-38G 43-2531, with carried a squadron code of “B10“.  His loss is covered in MACR 1469.)

1b

The above photograph, from Adorimini, shows a group of 96th Fighter Squadron pilots prior to a combat mission.  According to the caption, the men are (left to right): Lt. Art Larkin, Lt. Jim “Never Nervous” Nuckols, squadron intelligence officer Lt. Bob Cutting, Capt. Dan “Mac” MacDonald, and – lastly – Lt. Edwin English himself.

To gain an appreciation of the nature of Lt. English’s experience, I’d like to direct the reader to the Nathaniel G. Raley collection, at the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress.  Lt. Raley, a 1st Lieutenant, was also a P-38 fighter pilot and member of the 14th Fighter Group’s 48th Fighter Squadron.  Shot down over Italy on February 10, 1944, he – too – survived a very (very) low-altitude, last-moment bailout, after his fighter has been struck by ground fire.  (P-38G 42-12962; MACR 2306)  Captured, he was imprisoned by the Germans at Stalag Luft I.  Mr. Raley’s account, which is presented in two video interviews, is detailed, moving, and enlightening, especially in terms of Mr. Raley’s experiences as a POW in Italy and his postwar reflections.  It is available in two sections

***

However – ! 

While reviewing my files, I found a document comprised of the reports given by Bennett and English to Captain David Weld, a 15th Air Force Intelligence Officer, upon their return from Greece.  (Also included is an account by Lt. Walter T. Leslie, shot down during the mission of the 1st and 82nd Fighter Groups to Ploesti, on June 10, 1944.)  This document was copied during a visit to the Albert F. Simpson Historical Research Center at Maxwell Air Force Base, in 1986.   The accounts are riveting and detailed, especially in terms of their experiences while recovering from serious injuries with limited medical resources, living with Greek Partisans and civilians, evading capture by the Germans, and returning to Allied control.

Having not seen these reports elsewhere, I thought it would be worthwhile to share them with a wider readership.  Accordingly, I’ve transcribed the accounts in a format and font style (Times New Roman) as close as possible to the original document, and have created this post to make them freely available.

Escape and Evasion Reports for Clayton A. Bennett and Edwin R. English

References –

Blake, Steve, and Stanaway, John, Adorimini (“Up and at ‘Em!”) – A History of the 82nd Fighter Group in World War II, The 82nd Fighter Group History, Marceline, Mo, The Walsworth Publishing Company, 1992.

Rob Brown’s RAF No. 112 Squadron website includes pages devoted to each Fighter Group in the USAAF’s 12th and 15th Air Forces.  The website for the 82nd FG can be found at: http://raf-112-squadron.org/82ndfghonor_roll.htm

Saved From the Sea III: Pilots Rescued – Ditching Near the Azores


Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /home3/emc2ftl3/public_html/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4365

On August 27, 1944, VC-13 lost ten aircraft (five FM-2 Wildcats and five TBM-1C Avengers) near the Azores Islands, in an event somewhat reminiscent – albeit on a smaller scale – of the group ditching of 23 VMF-422 F4U Corsairs in the Pacific Ocean on January 25, 1944. Aviation Archeological Investigation and Research’s website indicates that all ten pilots of these VC-13 aircraft survived, which hopefully implies that the TBMs’ radio operators and gunners (whose names are unknown) survived as well.

The aircraft, listed by aircraft Naval Bureau Number and pilots’ names, are given below:

FM-2s

16245 Blanks, Thomas N. Lt. JG
16008 Brown, Edward V. Lt.
16077 Brownstein, Julius R. Lt.
16255 Gregg, Donald B. Lt.
16789 Johnson, Alden V. Lt.

TBM-1Cs

46287 Carpenter, John E. Ens.
46390 Ecclefield, Vincent Lt.
46365 Hurst, Fred J. Ens.
45876 Rockett, P.M. Lt. JG
46394 Smith, Thomas Ens.

This incident, as recounted by Julius Brownstein:

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The story of Julius Brownstein’s rescue from the North Atlantic, specifically the way this event was visually captured in such thorough detail, is simultaneously dramatic and fascinating, and makes one ponder the myriad of similar events – some with equally fortunate outcomes, some with far more tragic endings – the accounts of which never became part of the photographic or historical record.  Like most aspects of human endeavor – whether in World War Two or other conflicts; in the routine of “life”, in general, the memories of these events remained – for a few brief decades – in the personal memories of their participants and observers.  Well, it would seem that this aspect of our existence – the fragile natural of the historical record, and memory, both individual and collective – has always been and will ever be a central part of the human condition.

On a more contemporary level, it’s notable that I simply, nominally learned “about” this incident purely through chance; solely by luck; only by happenstance, using a markedly “low-tech” information storage and retrieval system: 35mm celluloid microfilm, viewed through an electro-mechanical reader / printer.  While hardly negating the convenience, versatility (and economic advantages) of information storage and retrieval in a purely “digital” medium, this small discovery is a telling reminder that there is, and will continue to be value that refreshingly cannot be quantified! – in the “real”, as well as the “virtual” world.

– References –

Doll, Thomas E., Jackson, Berkley R., and Riley, William A., Navy Air Colors – United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Aircraft Camouflage and Markings, Volume 1 – 1911-1945, Squadron-Signal Publications, Carrollton, Tx., 1983.

A Navy Pilot Takes an Unscheduled Dip in the North Atlantic, The New York Times, January 27, 1944.

http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/

Saved From the Sea II: A Wildcat Ditched; A Pilot Rescued – The Story in Photographs


Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /home3/emc2ftl3/public_html/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4365

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /home3/emc2ftl3/public_html/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4365

Ditching in the North Atlantic:

Julius’ story in sound, photographs, and text.

The photographs in this posting comprise the four images that formed the composite photo that appeared in the Times, and, five other images in the sequence that remained – at the time – unpublished.  In the account presented here, below each picture is Julius’ own description of the events shown in that image, transcribed from his notes on the reverse side of the original photograph.  A scan of those those same notes accompanies each image.  

An excellent photograph of a restored FM-2 Wildcat in the low-visibility Atlantic Theater anti-submarine paint scheme – identical to that carried on Julius’ F4F, and carrying the insignia of VC-13 – can be found at the sim-outhouse website. 

And now, the story and the photos:

Brownstein 409 80-G-89619

Brownstein 409 80-G-89619 Caption BrownsteinNo. I

“This is a picture of death itself, only “death” was cheated.  One chance out of a hundred to survive a charging sixty degree crash into the cold waters of the North Atlantic. 

This picture shows the start of the crash in which yours truly was the pilot.  Plane is completely stalled and is falling off on right wing.  Contrary to norm spin to the left.  Right wing tank hidden in picture made from spin to the right.  Things to note in this picture –

1) Water on flight deck, caused from the proceeding pitch of ship which took water over the flight deck.  Deck in this picture is at the top of its pitch.  It was this later movement that slowed my plane down below flying speed and I knew that I was going in before I left the deck, however I never expected to spin to the left.

2) Destroyer in the back ground – notice water going over its bow.  Waves and swells in the water were about twenty-five feet.  Temperature of water a little below fifty degrees.  Freezing a person in about one to two hours.

3) Notice left wing aileron raised upwards to depress left wing.  Plane being in stall this has no effects on plane’s movements.” (Photo: NARA RG 80 G 89619 / CVE 13 / # 409)

* * * * * * * * * *

Brownstein 410 80-G-89620  Brownstein 410 80-G-89620 Caption Brownstein No. II

Plane out ahead of carrier, deck starting down.  I still had hopes that plane would get squared away before hitting water.

Note – Left aileron on full.  Flaps open.  There’s a twenty foot wave coming up in the right hand corner of this picture. (Photo: NARA RG 80 G 89620 / CVE 13 / # 410)

* * * * * * * * * *

Brownstein 411 80-G-89621 Brownstein 411 80-G-89621 Caption BrownsteinNo. III

Plane going down – carrier closing distance on plane.  In picture No. II plane is well out from ship in number three I’ve gone down more and carrier has closed some of this distance.  Normal height of deck is fifty feet.  When I left deck it was at the top of a maximum pitch – probably seventy five feet above water.  (Normal five story building.)  Note – I slacked off on left aileron and started to prepare for the ducking. (Photo: NARA RG 80 G 89621 / CVE 13 / # 411)

* * * * * * * * * *

Brownstein 412 80-G-89622 Brownstein 412 80-G-89622 Caption BrownsteinNo. IV

Just before the crash, almost underneath the bow of the ship.  I knew now that I was definitely going to crash.  Contrary to everything I ever learned I leaned as far forward as possible.  Tried to take up all the play in my shoulder harness & safety belt.  I knew that if I got socked out I was a “goner”.  Actual photos prove that my plane sank in less than eight seconds and that it only took me about three second to get out.  Those two small swells in the foreground picture are in reality pretty big fellows. (Photo: NARA RG 80 G 89622 / CVE 13 / # 412)

* * * * * * * * * *

Brownstein 413 80-G-89623Brownstein 413 80-G-89623 Caption BrownsteinNo. V

Actual crash –  Close aboard – starboard bow.  Damn near got rammed by carrier.  Plane completely under water.  Note life rafts on cat walk – One swell in the eight hand corner just past next swell coming up in background. (Photo: NARA RG 80 G 89623 / CVE 13 / # 413)

* * * * * * * * * *

Brownstein 414 80-G-89624Brownstein 414 80-G-89624b 800Brownstein 414 80-G-89624 Caption BrownsteinNo. VI

After initial hit bounced back to position you see in this picture.  Note.  Dazed expression on my face – helmet is off – bumped back of head slightly on gun sight – that’s what usually knocks most of the boys out.  They hit the gun sight with their forehead.  I had ducked below sight before landing. 

2) Position of plane – completely reversed.  Plane landed on right wing & engine forward, motion threw tail around.  This motion probably saved my life as it threw me sideways avoiding the gun sight.  Bruised my whole left side slightly – played badminton four days later, not a scratch from the whole affair.

3) Notice how I’m working to free the safety belt.  I did this without knowing it for I’m already starting to get out of plane. (Photo: NARA RG 80 G 89624 / CVE 13 / # 414; scanned at 800 dpi)

* * * * * * * * * *

Brownstein 415 80-G-89625Brownstein 415 80-G-89625 Caption Brownstein No. VII

Very good close-up.  Shows size of swell towering over tail of plane.  Plane sinking fast and I’m getting out.  Plane was sinking so fast that as I shoved away from plane I didn’t get any push.  Note gas tank floating in water. (Photo: NARA RG 80 G 89625 / CVE 13 / # 415)

* * * * * * * * * *

Brownstein 416 80-G-89626Brownstein 416 80-G-89626 Caption Brownstein No. VIII

The last of “Fox 5”.  Incidentally this was my own plane.  Had my name on it and everything.  Still slightly dazed, but had enough sense to inflate my “mae west” life jacket and swim away from tail of the plane.  Was a little afraid of getting sucked into the carrier.  Note – thumbs up by one of the men on the cat-walk.  If I must say so myself the men aboard this little baby think quite a lot of me.  (Photo: NARA RG 80 G 89626 / CVE 13 / # 416)

* * * * * * * * * *

Brownstein 417 80-G-89627 Brownstein 417 80-G-89627b 800Brownstein 417 80-G-89627 Caption BrownsteinNo. IX

All alone and amazed at the speed in which the carrier is passing me by.  Swallowed plenty of water gas & oil, but heaved all this up the first four hours aboard the tin can destroyer to amuse lesser sailors.  Had to stay aboard the destroyer for four days before we had calm enough weather to transfer me back to carrier.  (Photo: NARA RG 80 G 89627 / CVE 13 / # 417; scanned at 800 dpi)

* * * * * * * * * *

The original photos were lost…

 

Saved From the Sea I: A Wildcat Ditched; A Pilot Rescued – Introduction


Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /home3/emc2ftl3/public_html/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4365

The Past Within the Present ~ or ~ The Story of a Story

A cultural theme pervading the latter part of the twentieth century was the recognition of the accelerating scope and impact of electronic technology – manifested through networked computers – upon the availability, access, and ubiquity of “information”.  In a popular vein, examples of this were evidenced by the publication of Scientific American’s 1995 Special Issue, “The Computer in the 21st Century”; Time’s Spring, 1995 Special Issue , “Welcome to Cyberspace”, and, The New Yorker’s October 1997 “Next” issue, which covered such topics as “The NEXT Space Odyssey”, “The NEXT Big Thinker”, “The NEXT Frontier”.  In essence, the complimentary spheres of human endeavor – the intellectual and physical – whether embodied in the worlds of science, the military, economics, government, academia, and inevitably pop culture – were increasingly characterized and transformed by a transition from largely physical, “traditional” methods of information storage and retrieval, to the retention and near-instantaneous provision of text and images in electronic – “digital” – formats.   

Depending on one’s priorities about the retention and preservation of information – ease of access, storage space, speed of replication, redundancy, physical survivability, and (inevitably) cost, all of which can be measured – arguments can be posited in favor of either physical or virtual information storage.  But, maybe a there’s another factor for which – refreshingly! – metrics may be irrelevant:  Luck.  Which leads to the images in these two posts…    

In Philadelphia, during the mid-1990s, I discovered that Drexel University’s Hagerty Library possessed a full “run” of The New York Times in 35mm microfilm format, commencing with its first issue, from September of 1851.  Similarly, the University of Pennsylvania’s nearby Van Pelt Library possessed a “run” of The Philadelphia Inquirer, and, other periodicals in the same media.  Having long been interested in the history of the Second World War, I knew I was “in luck”.  Solid and profound luck, at that.  The opportunity to access the Times and Inquirer gave me ready and immediate access to a deep and expansive trove of information about that conflict.  Internationally, in terms of the breadth of military and political reporting.  Culturally, as perceived and reported from the vantage of the New York and Philadelphia Metropolitan areas.  Photographically, given the commonality and quality of images and artwork – whether news or advertisements – presented in these newspapers.   

So, I began to peruse issues of the Times and Inquirer published between 1940 through 1946, to “see what I could see”, using the microfilm reader / printer machines at both universities.  By nature and default, this was a purely visual review, done chronologically; roll by roll.  An examination entirely independent of search strings, Boolean Operators, truncation (suffix or prefix!), the quantity of “hits”, or, the number of “likes”.  These criteria were irrelevant, because, with the exception of the time period – with each microfilm storage box labeled with the time-frame of the film contained within – there was no other search criteria.    

But, what about serendipity?  What about simple, straightforward, chance?     

That’s how, while reviewing the Times for January of 1944, I discovered the composite four-photo image you see below:  A photographic sequence showing an F4F Wildcat carrier-borne fighter plane being ditched in the roiling waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, in October of 1943.  These pictures were entirely new to me.  From my earliest days of building model aircraft – particularly WW II military aircraft; especially 1/48 scale Fujimi, Hawk, Monogram, and Tamiya plastic models – my avid reading of Wings, Airpower, and occasionally Air Classics, and, all manner of books about WW II aviation – I’d never, ever seen these images before.  And, I wanted to learn more about them. 

The Times’ photo captions contained two clues: The pilot’s name – “Lieut. Julius R. Brownstein” and his wartime address – “Chicago”.  In 1997, I was fortunate to locate, contact, meet and interview him (no longer quite a Lieutenant) “in person”, 54 years after the incident.  I learned more about the ditching of his Wildcat; about his experiences as a naval aviator in VC-13; about his life in general.  He generously shared his photographs and memorabilia, images of some of which accompany these postings.  (That I located Mr. Brownstein via Switchboard.com does lend more than a little irony to this essay, but hopefully does not refute its main undercurrent! *Ahem.*)    

I eventually found both the four images that comprised the item published in The New York Times, as well as five other images in the series that had remained unpublished, in the holdings of the United States National Archives at College Park, Maryland.  These images are part of NARA’s Record Group 80 – “General Records of the Department of the Navy, 1798-1947”, and were reviewed and scanned in the Archives’ Still Picture Research Room.

Photographic portraits, the complete sequence of images of the ditching, and excerpts from an interview I conducted with Mr. Brownstein, appear in these three postings.

Brownstein, Julius R Lt JG New York Times 1944 01 27The photographs, as published in The New York Times (and beyond…)

Julius Brownstein’s account of the publication of the photographs.

Photographs of Julius Brownstein from the National Archives.

Brownstein, Julius R Lt JG 80-G-268943 600“Lt. (jg) Brownstein on flight deck of the USS Core (CVE 13)”, by PhoM Montgomery, 30 August 1943.  (NARA photo RG 80 G 268943 / CVE 13 / 358)

Brownstein, Julius R Lt JG 80-G-299447 400 crop BWJulius Brownstein, seated in an F4F Wildcat.  (NARA photo RG 80 G 299447)

brownstein-julius-r-lt-jg-usn-0-122062-10-20-43-p-122-2400-1-w-newFifty-four years later: Julius R. Brownstein, veteran and civilian: October 5, 1997

Through Enemy Eyes: A Downed P-51 Mustang in a German Luftgaukommando Report

The Army Air Force’s Missing Air Crew Reports were instituted in May of 1943 to provide a system for the documentation and organization of information covering aircraft and personnel reported missing on Army Air Force operational missions, the ultimate goal being the conclusive determination of the fate of such missing personnel. Though these documents show notable variation in style and format depending upon the immediate organization filing the report*, the “elements” of information within them remained highly consistent throughout the war.  A thorough description of the implementation and use of the MACR system is presented in the National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) Publication M1380: Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs) of the U.S. Army Air Forces, 1942-1947, available here.

Commencing with the de-classification of MACRs on September 10, 1982, historians, military aviation enthusiasts, and genealogists have been able to avail themselves of these documents, and the multi-faceted wealth of information within them.  As such, a casual perusal of books published since the mid-1980s about the WW II Army Air Force – particularly unit histories – as well as a cursory web search, will quickly reveal the importance of these documents.  They are now available in microfiche format at the National Archives and Records Center in College Park, Maryland, now digitally through Fold3.com, and in transcribed or other formats at many websites. When used with official Squadron and Group histories, they are an essential resource in the creation of accurate and comprehensive histories of combat units of the WW II Army Air Force.

Another series of documents, perhaps less widely known than Missing Air Crew Reports but complementary to them (specifically, those MACRs filed for USAAF losses in the European and Mediterranean Theaters) are the German Luftgaukommando Reports. These documents, held within NARA’s collection of Foreign Records Seized (Record Group 242), are reports on Allied aircraft lost in the European and Mediterranean Theaters of War. In terms of the information recorded with them, they are an ironic and accidental counterpart to MACRs. Though the extent of information in Luftgaukommando Reports shows very great variation, in a general sense, they include information about the nature and circumstances (flak or fighters) as to how an American aircraft was downed and recovered in German-occupied territory, the location and condition of its wreckage, technical aspects of the plane or its equipment particularly noted by German investigators, and, nominal biographical information about aircrew casualties.

A particularly notable aspect of Luftgaukommando Reports is that these documents not uncommonly contain material found in the possession of American airmen when they became casualties. The reports can include dog-tags, correspondence both to and from servicemen (V-Mail, and, typed or handwritten letters), official documents, and other items, such as navigational records or fragments of technical documents.  Luftgaukommando Reports practically never include POW information / identification cards (“Personalkarte“ – “Personal Card“) created by the Germans about captured aviators – post capture.  And, they don’t include POW identification photographs (“mug-shots”) of captured airmen typically attached to such cards.

In any event, far more than digitized, published, or secondary material, the content of Luftgaukommando Reports – documents carried by airmen – inevitably make one “pause” and reflect about the reality, nature, and impact of war.

A small fraction of the Luftgaukommando Reports include photographs of downed American aircraft.

Such material is the subject of this posting: A crash-landed P-51 Mustang of the 356th Fighter Squadron of the 354th Fighter Group, the “Pioneer Mustang Unit”.

The aircraft was piloted by Captain Gordon T. McEachron when it was downed by flak on December 1, 1944, near Niederkirchen, Germany.

Captain McEachron, from California, was originally assigned to the 380th Fighter Squadron of the 363rd Fighter Group (9th Air Force), in the service of which he scored three aerial victories in 1944 while a First Lieutenant: An Me-109 on April 30, another Me-109 on May 28, and an Me-410 on June 20.

An account of his victory of May 28 – from his Distinguished Flying Cross citation for his actions of May 28 – appeared in Steve Blake’s publication Fighter Pilots in Aerial Combat, in 1983, in a comprehensive six part series about the history of the 363rd Fighter Group.

The citation states: “Lt. McEachron was leading a Flight on a bomber escort mission when he spotted a large number of enemy aircraft overhead. He immediately ordered the Flight to drop their wing tanks and make a sharp turn to the left. By the time the Flight had completed the turn, the enemy aircraft could no longer be seen. Suddenly a break was called, and as Lt. McEachron turned, he saw more than 100 enemy planes approaching from the rear. Intercepting the group of Me-109s just as they were pressing their attack on the bombers, Lt. McEachron picked a target, closed to about 300 yards, and fired a long burst. Strikes were noted along the fuselage and wing, and the enemy aircraft rolled over and split ‘S’d’ with dense black smoke pouring from the engine.

“Suddenly an Me-410 appeared just in front of him. As the enemy turned, Lt. McEachron turned with him and fired a long burst. Strikes were observed along the fuselage of the enemy plane. Together with his wingman, Lt. McEachron went after the main group of enemy aircraft which were ahead. Another target, an Me-109, came into view. Lt. McEachron chased in on the enemy fighter and began firing from 500 yards. Pieces of the plane began to fly off as round after round went home. Suddenly black smoke began pouring from the plane and it caught on fire. The enemy pilot bailed out.”

Lt. McEachron was sent home on leave in August of 1944, and after his return to France as a Captain – at which time the 363rd Fighter Group no longer existed – was assigned to the 354th Fighter Group in November, as Assistant Operations Officer of the 353rd Fighter Squadron.

Captured and imprisoned at Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany, Captain McEachron returned to the United States at the war’s end. According to his biography at FindAGrave.com and his Wikipedia entry, he coached college football at the University of Nevada, and, Pepperdine University (near Los Angeles) between 1953 and 1958. Later, he sold insurance. He died on April 22, 1993.

And now, time for some photographs and documents…

McEachron, Gordon 1 600Captain McEachron, probably photographed while still in Stateside training, given that his flight helmet is equipped with Gosport Tubes.  (From Steve Blake’s The Pioneer Mustang Group: the 354th Fighter Group in World War II.)

* * * * * * * * * *

mceachron-gordon-t-1A portrait of then Lieutenant McEachron, from Fighter Pilots in Aerial Combat.

* * * * * * * * * *

beachcomber-ii-2Gordon McEachron seated on the wing of his personal P-51B, Beachcomber II, while serving in the 363rd Fighter Group.  He named the aircraft after a club he founded while a student at Pepperdine University.  This image is reproduced from the book Mission 376: Battle Over the Reich, May 28, 1944, by Ivo De Jong.

* * * * * * * * * *

mceachron-gordon-t-2_edited-1Additional views of Lt. McEachron in service with the 363rd Fighter Group, from Fighter Pilots in Aerial Combat.  The upper photograph is another view of Beachcomber II, while the lower photograph shows Beachcomber III (with three kill markings) a P-51D he received in July of 1944.

* * * * * * * * * *

     And now, the subject of our study. 

First, the Missing Aircrew Report (MACR 11479) filed by the 353rd Fighter Squadron after Captain McEachron failed to return to Saint Dizier, France.

fold3_page_2_missing_air_crew_reports_macrs_of_the_us_army_air_forces_194219471

fold3_page_4_missing_air_crew_reports_macrs_of_the_us_army_air_forces_194219471

Eyewitness account of loss of Captain McEachron and Chicago’s Own

Now, we come to the subject of our study:  Images from Luftgaukommando Report “J-2525” covering P-51D 44-14010, AJ * G, otherwise known as Chicago’s Own

44-14010 1 J 2525 600Right-front view of the Mustang, under an overcast but still sunny sky.  Note that the aircraft’s coolant radiator has been removed from the fuselage.

* * * * * * * * * *

44-14010 2 J 2525 600Close-up of canopy rails along left side of cockpit, with names of ground-crew (Rooney, Branch, and Smith) painted below.  (Why photographs were not taken of equipment within the cockpit itself, is a matter of conjecture!)

* * * * * * * * * *

44-14010 6 J 2525 600Starboard gun bay, providing an excellent view of the installation of the three fifty-caliber guns and firing selonoids.  Belts of .50 caliber ammunition are still laying in ammuntion trays.

* * * * * * * * * *

44-14010 7 J 2525 800A very high resolution (800 dpi) scan of the above photograph, specifically of the placard attached to the interior of the gun-bay access door, showing bore-sighting information and ammunition loading diagrams.  (This image will be of particular benefit for plastic modelers building Tamiya’s 1/32 P-51D while under the influence of AMS – “Advanced Modeler’s Syndrome”!)

* * * * * * * * * *

44-14010 3 J 2525 600View of inboard section of the port flap.  Curiously, though the photographs were taken with black & white film, the “No Step” marking appearing on the image of the flap has been colored with red ink, matching the color and shape of the marking on 44-14010.

* * * * * * * * * *

p-51d-44-14010Images of Chicago’s Own (a color profile, and an official USAAF photograph of the aircraft at Debden, England) can be found in William Hess’ book 354th Fighter Group,  The aircraft is described as having been the personal plane of Lt. Frederick J. Warner.  The above color profile of Chicago’s Own, by Chris Davey or John Weal, appears on page 41 of Hess’ book.

The USAAF photograph of 44-14040, dated October 6, 1944, can be found at the website of the American Air Museum in Britain.

* * * * * * * * * *

The “Meldung über den Abschuss eines US-amerikanischen Flugzeuges” (Notification About the Shooting Down of a U.S. Aircraft) form – commonly found in Luftgaukommando Reports – filed for Captain McEachron and Chicago’s Own.

The data fields in the form covering the aircraft comprise:

Abschusstag und Zeit:   Date and time of shooting down

Abschussort:   General location of shooting down

Flugzeugtyp:   Aircraft type

Meldende Dienstelle:   [Location of] Reporting Service

The data fields in the form covering the aviator comprise:

Name und Vornamen / Geburststag und –ort:   Name and first name / Date and place of birth

Dienstgrad:   Rank

Erk.-Marke:   Tag number

Gef: [Gefangenen]:   (prisoner? [if so]) –   Welches Lager:   Which camp

Verw: [Verwundet]:   (wounded? [if so]) –   Art d. Verwundung:   [?]

Tot: [Tot]:   (killed? [if so]) –   Grablage:   Grave Location

And, at the bottom of the form:

Bemerkungen:   Remarks

44-14010 A J 2525 400

* * * * * * * * * *

The same form was typically used in Luftgaukommando Reports to cover aircrews of multi-place aircraft. 

This is a Luftgaukommando Report (KU 3493) crew list for a multi-place aircraft.  In this case, B-17G 43-97215 (BG * J) of the 334th Bomb Squadron, 95th Bomb Group, piloted by 2 Lt. Stewart D. Reed, which was lost on December 31, 1944.  There were five survivors of the plane’s nine crewmen, covered in MACR 11368.

43-38215-crew-list-ku-3493-360

* * * * * * * * * *

I hope that readers find these images of interest.  I may be able to post similar images in the future.

*Particularly distinctive in format are MACRs filed by the 15th Air Force’s 483rd Bomb Group.

 – References –

Books

Blake, Steve, The Pioneer Mustang Group: the 354th Fighter Group in World War II, 2008, Schiffer Military History, Atglen, PA.

De Jong, Ivo, Mission 376: Battle Over the Reich, May 28, 1944, 2012 Stackpole Books, Mechanichsburg, PA.

Hess, William N., 354th Fighter Group, Osprey Publishing; 2002, Botley, Oxford, United Kingdom

USAF Historical Study No. 85, USAF Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, World War II, 1978, Albert F. Simpson Historical Research Center, Air University.

Other Publications

 National Archives and Records Administration, Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs) of the U.S. Army Air Forces, NARA Publication M1380, 1942-1947, 2005, Washington, D.C.

Missing Air Crew Reports

 https://www.fold3.com/title_95/missing_air_crew_reports_wwii#overview

http://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/missing-air-crew-reports.html

http://www.afhso.af.mil/questions/topic.asp?id=1934

https://www.archives.gov/research/microfilm/m1380.pdf

Luftgaukommando Reports (see comments by RodM) at:

 http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/06732.php

J (Jäger) Report 2525

 United States National Archives – Collection of Foreign Record Seized – Record Group 242: “Records of Luftgaukommandos: German Reports of Downed Allied Fighters and Other Aircraft – J (Jäger) Reports”

Report J-2525: (At) Records Group 242, Entry 1013, Shelf Location 190 / 14 / 9-8 / 2-1

Gordon T. McEachron

 Blake, Steve, The 363rd Fighter Group in WW II (Part II), Fighter Pilots in Aerial Combat, Number 6, Fall, 1982, pp 13-23.

Blake, Steve, The 363rd Fighter Group in WW II (Part III), Fighter Pilots in Aerial Combat, Number 7, Winter, 1983, pp 15-22.

Blake, Steve, The 363rd Fighter Group in WW II (Part IV), Fighter Pilots in Aerial Combat, Number 9, Summer, 1983, pp 22-26.

Blake, Steve, The 363rd Fighter Group in WW II (Part V), Fighter Pilots in Aerial Combat, Number 11, Winter, 1985, pp 4-15.

http://findagrave.com/ (Search for entry under Gordon Townsand McEachron)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_McEachron

P-51D 44-14010

 http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/14229

 


Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /home3/emc2ftl3/public_html/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4365