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    11th Bomb Group (H): The Grey Geese
    11th Bomb Group (H): The Grey Geese
    11th Bomb Group (H): The Grey Geese
    Ebook813 pages5 hours

    11th Bomb Group (H): The Grey Geese

    By Turner Publishing

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    About this ebook

    The exciting role of the "Grey Geese" who flew B-17 and B-24 bombers in the Pacific during World War II is featured in this outstanding book. Includes personal stories of missions, bombing runs, and events at Hickam Field during the Pearl Harbor attack. Hundreds of action photos of planes and crew, mission listing, biographies of the 11th Bomb Group veterans, and roster of the 11th Bomb Group Association members are included, as well as memorable nose art photos.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTurner Publishing Company
    Release dateJun 15, 1996
    ISBN9781618587138
    11th Bomb Group (H): The Grey Geese

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      Book preview

      11th Bomb Group (H) - Turner Publishing

      e9781618587138_cover.jpge9781618587138_i0001.jpge9781618587138_i0002.jpg

      Muroc, July -August 1944. Charles Crooks-ball turret; Warren Heinzman-tail turret; and Gerald Sutton-navigator. (Courtesy of Gerald Sutton.) On the Front Cover: Aztec’s Curse. (Courtesy of P. Gudenschwager.) On the Back Cover: Lil Audrey. (Courtesy of Clinton M. Rutherford.)

      e9781618587138_i0003.jpg

      Daniel Mead works to make bomb trailers serviceable after a Japanese bombing raid. 431 st Bomb Squadron, Funifuti, (Courtesy of Daniel Mead.)

      e9781618587138_i0004.jpg

      TURNER PUBLISHING COMPANY

      412 Broadway, P.O. Box 3101

      Paducah, KY 42002-3101

      Phone: (502) 443-0121

      Turner Publishing Company Staff:

      Publishing Consultant: Keith R. Steele

      Publishing Coordinator: Pam Wood

      Designer: Herbert C. Banks II

      Copyright © 1996 Turner Publishing Company.

      All Rights Reserved. Limited Edition.

      Additional copies may be purchased directly from Turner Publishing Company.

      Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 95-062449

      9781618587138

      This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced without the written consent of Turner Publishing Company. This publication was produced using available material. The publisher regrets it cannot assume liability for errors or omissions.

      Table of Contents

      Title Page

      Copyright Page

      INTRODUCTION

      PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

      11TH BOMB GROUP HISTORY

      11TH BOMB GROUP WAR STORIES

      11TH BOMB GROUP VETERANS

      11TH BOMB GROUP ROSTER

      11TH BOMB GROUP ROLL OF HONOR

      INDEX

      e9781618587138_i0005.jpg

      Charles Winter peers through one of the 11th Bomb Group’s damaged planes. (Courtesy of Charles Winter.)

      e9781618587138_i0006.jpg

      Hamilton Air Force Base, March 1945 leaving for overseas. Standing, from left: Robert Schrock, Richard King, Lionel Reid, Jack Graham. Kneeling, from left: Johnny Aymar, Robert Thomas, Ervin Molzar, Clydel Wilkinson, Raymond Friese and Winston Dukose. (Courtesy of Ervin Molzar.)

      INTRODUCTION

      e9781618587138_i0007.jpg

      Robert E. May

      When the 11th Bomb Group (H) Association was first formed I had no idea what was involved nor did I realize how long it would exist. We are now in our 38th year of holding a reunion with each year bringing us to a new location around the United States to celebrate. The membership quickly made a decision to meet every fifth year in the Hawaii Islands beginning as far back as 1965.

      We have met in 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, and 1991. The 1991 was also the year that everyone played a part in producing our Solid Bronze Memorial Tablet and the dedication of it as it rests near the flag pole on Hickam Air Force Base. We hold a re-dedication ceremony of this Memorial Tablet each December 7. Due to the length of travel time to and from the Hawaiian Islands, 1996 will probably be the last full trip to Hickam Air Force Base as the 11th Bomb Group Association.

      As we look back on the impact our Association has made over the years, there have been many members who remained active with some of them going on to be Trustees or Officers. During the past 38 years, our Association has been graced with an illustrious group of presidents. Serving our membership, they are: Robert E. May 1961 and 1962, Hiram L. Jenkins 1963 and 1988, Everest W. Capra 1964, *Spencer L. Davis 1966, *Richard A. Scully 1967, John W. Krey 1968, Ed Swinney 1969 and 1976, James A. Burrows 1971, Neal Siebenbruner 1972, Kenneth M. Merrill 1973. *James M. Street 1974, Fred B. W. Tan 1975, William M. Cleveland 1977, *Oren S. Armstrong 1978, Robert E. Baird 1979, H. F. Kollmeyer, Jr. 1980, Jack Worrel, 1981, Thomas C. Sparks 1982, *Thomas H. Harris 1983, Frank S. Walker, Jr. 1984, Doyle V. Ebel 1985, Barney L. Glenn 1986, Arthur O. Eldridge 1987, Dale A. Henderson 1989, Leonard D. Ellis 1990, Richard A. David 1991, Allan D. Davis 1992, Tillman A. Jurgens 1993, Robert H. Lounsberry 1994, Noble H. Clarke 1995, Robert J. Markovitch 1996, Lucian J. Trudel 1997, Fred R. Fluhr 1998. Those presidents with an * preceding their name are deceased as of this printing.

      One of the features of this book is a mission listing that includes the B-24 era which is from mid 1943-1945.

      One Damned Island After Another Plaque was compiled by Harry B. Girdler and shows all the islands, squadrons, and both air forces, the 7th and 13th. We have placed the following plaques at: 1. Hickam AFB 2. Wright-Patterson AFB, 3. The Garden of the Missing in Colorado Springs, CO, 4. Henderson Field, Solomon Islands, 5. Hickam AFB, Hawaii. The last one is placed in an historical site on Hickam AFB.

      Probably the greatest thing that has happened to the 11th Bomb Group (H) Association is the great honor that was bestowed upon us by having the 11th Bomb Group (H) named as an Historical Unit, the Unit is also permanently activated historically and will never be deactivated. This unit is at Bolling AFB, Washington D.C. the location where we will hold part of our 1998 National Reunion.

      We had two unit citations presented to us, the first one the Distinguished Unit Citation, South Pacific, July-November 1942 the next Presidential Unit Citation (Navy) South Pacific August 7 to September 9, 1942. We are very proud of them both.

      I would also like to acknowledge all the wives who played such an integral part in supporting their husbands to allow them to take part as a trustee or the presidents job or any other job in the association. I would especially like to acknowledge my wife, Donna, in her 38 years of continous support to me.

      Sincerely,

      e9781618587138_i0008.jpg

      Robert E. May

      Secretary-Treasurer

      Executive Director

      PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

      e9781618587138_i0009.jpg

      Dave Turner

      The 11th Bomb Group served as an important power throughout the air war in the Pacific Theater during World War II. After its activation on February 1, 1940 at Hickam Field, the 11th Bomb Group survived the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 and chased the Japanese forces across the Pacific, ending up on the front doorstep of Japan.

      Flying the B-17, B-18, and B24, the 11th Bomb Group was made up of the Headquarters Squadron, the 14th, 26th, 42nd, 98th, 50th, and 431 st Squadrons. We recognize the team effort that was required to be a part of the Grey Geese, and we salute both the flight crews and ground crews who performed equally well toward the success of each mission.

      This volume is dedicated to the veterans of the 11th Bomb Group. You took on every dangerous mission with strength, vigor and bravery. You provided, for the rest of us, models of heroism as you risked your lives in the dangerous skies of the Pacific. For you, places like Guadalcanal, Northern Solomons, Eastern Mandates, and the Rukyus were not just words on a map. They were places where your lives hung in the balance-the places where you fought and often sacrificed your lives. What follows is your story; told in your own words and seen through your own eyes. I would like to thank all of you who participated towards the success of this great volume.

      I would like to personally thank Mr. Bob May, Mr. Bud Parker, and Mr Phil Gudenschwager of the 11th Bomb Group Association. Their efforts are greatly appreciated in creating this history. Finally, I would like to acknowledge Mr. Keith Steele, Publishing Consultant, whose dedication to publishing military aviation history helped make this volume possible.

      e9781618587138_i0010.jpg

      Dave Turner

      President

      Turner Publishing Company

      e9781618587138_i0011.jpg

      Claude Murphy, October 1944 at Muroc Army Airfield, CA. 98th Bomb Squadron. (Courtesy of Claude Murphy.)

      Homesick Angel flies through flak while dropping bombs on enemy terrirory. (Courtesy of Bud Parker, 11th BG Archives.)

      e9781618587138_i0012.jpge9781618587138_i0013.jpg

      11TH BOMB GROUP HISTORY

      e9781618587138_i0014.jpg

      Bomb burst blanket shops, hangars and plane parking areas of Moen’s Strip No. 2 as Madame Pele, veteran 7th Air Force B-24, leaves its target. Madame Pele was bought with the proceeds of war bonds purchased by Honolulu school children, named by them for the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire. (Courtesy of Bud Parker, 11th BG Archives.)

      How can I live among this gentle,

      Obsolescent creed of heroes, and not weep?

      Unicorns, almost,

      For they are fading into two legends

      In which their stupidity and chivalry

      Are celebrated. Each, fool and hero, will be immortal.

      (from Bomber Command by Keith Douglas)

      11TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP (H) CREATION

      The Japanese-American war in the Pacific was, in some ways, unique in history. Never before had the world seen great armies transported across thousands of miles of ocean to land on heavily defended shores with only the support of ships and planes. It was monumental as a naval war; more warships were sunk in its sea battles than in all other 20th century naval engagements combined. Yet it was air power that proved to be the key and conclusive element in the Pacific war, from Japan’s stunning raid on Pearl Harbor to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many different organizations and units contributed to the projection of American power by air in the war. This is the story of one of them: the Army Air Forces’ 11th Bombardment Group (H).

      The history of the 11th Bombardment Group can be traced back to 1915 when Raynol C. Bolling of U.S. Steel and James E. Miller of the Columbia Trust Company organized the First Aero Company of the New York National Guard. Many young men interested in aviation as a sport were attracted to the unit. Much interest was shown in organizing the unit to government requirements, and in 1916, when the Chief Signal Officer of the Army was called upon to establish reserve air squadrons, Major Bolling’s unit was the first to become federally recognized. In 1917 the unit was sent to France to fight in the First World War. Here the unit became known as the 26th Aero Squadron. In September 1930, the 26th Squadron was sent to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii as the 26th Attack Squadron. In December 1939, it became officially known as the 26th Bombardment Squadron (H), one of the four heavy bombardment squadrons of the 11th group. America’s first ace, Lt. Douglas Campbell, was a member of this squadron.

      The 431st Squadron of the 11th Group was originally known as the 50th Aero Squadron at its activation at Kelley Field, Texas in 1917. The squadron participated in battles over St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne. Lts. Goettler and Bleckley received the Medal of Honor. It was reactivated in November 1930 and in February 1938 it became the 50th Reconnaissance Squadron. In February 1940, it became part of the 11th Bomb Group, and in April 1942 it became the 431st Bombardment Squadron.

      The 42nd Bombardment Squadron was activated in February 1940 as part of the 11th Group, and the 98th Bombardment Squadron was organized as a part of the 11th Group in December 1941 at Hickam Field.

      The 11th Bomb Group itself was activated on February 1, 1940 at Hickam Field, Hawaii as part of the 18th Wing of the Hawaiian Air Force. At its inception, it comprised Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, the 14th Bombardment Squadron, the 26th Bombardment Squadron, the 42nd Bombardment Squadron, and the 50th Reconnaissance Squadron. The first Commanding Officer was Lt. Colonel Walter Kraus. On the 17th of February 1940, the newly activated group was formally presented its National Colors by Wing Commander Brigadier General Walter Frank. The emblem of the 11th Group was a shield with three gray geese, crested by a flying goose, hence the nickname the Grey Geese. Lt. Col. St. Clair Streett assumed command in June 1940. He was replaced by Lt. Col. Albert Hegenberger in April 1941.

      In April 1941, the first B-17s destined for service with the 11th arrived at Hickam Field. This Boeing-built aircraft was the world’s most advanced heavy bomber at the time and richly earned its name: The Flying Fortress. It had a total of eleven machine guns and featured two turrets, including a retractable ball turret in the belly. The B-17 had self-sealing fuel tanks and extensive armor. Due to the unusually low wing loading of the design, the bomber could frequently get its crew back home despite heavy combat damage. Twelve thousand of them were built, and they saw duty throughout World War II in all theaters of action.

      In June 1940, the 11th Group, with its combination of B-17s and older Douglas B-18s, was placed on alert and assigned routine patrol duties.

      ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR

      By the 1930s, Japanese militarists had resolved to embark on a campaign of conquest in Asia. Expansion was seen as the only solution to Japan’s economic and social woes. Japan’s move into Manchuria culminated in all-out war with China in 1937 and greatly strained relations with the Western powers. The need for the oil and rubber of the East Indies to keep the growing Japanese war machine in operation made a direct clash with Britain, France, and the Netherlands almost unavoidable. America, the other great Pacific power, had also long been seen as a menace to Japanese imperial aspirations despite the warnings of some high-ranking Japanese military officers that a protracted conflict with the United States could only end in defeat.

      Japan’s chance to begin its takeover of Southeast Asia and the Indies came in June 1940 when France, Belgium, and the Netherlands were suddenly defeated by Germany, and Britain was forced into a desperate struggle for its survival. The Japanese wasted no time pressuring the enfeebled French government to allow them to establish army and air bases in Indochina and to funnel troops through Indochina for the war with China. Japan now stood within easy striking distance of the East Indies and the Philippines. The Japanese government also decided at this time to join the Axis powers in a pact to create a new world order. In response, the United States began to cut off the export of strategic supplies to Japan, such as arms and scrap metal. In June 1941, President Roosevelt signed an executive order which also cut off vital American supplies of gas and oil to Japan, thus accelerating the confrontation between the two countries.

      Without American oil, the oil of the East Indies took on supreme importance for the Japanese. Japanese strategists, though, worried about the American response, were they to proceed with a take-over of the East Indies. They probably need not have been so concerned: the mood in America at the time was strongly isolationist and it is unlikely that America would have declared war over the issue of the Indies. Nevertheless, the Japanese finally hatched a plan to cripple American power in the Pacific at the outset and then proceed with their expansion. So fearful were they of American intervention that they embarked on the one path that would decisively end American isolation and unite the American people with a terrible resolve.

      11TH BOMB GROUP FACTS

      Hickam Field, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, was the nation’s largest air base in 1941. Sunrise on December 7, 1941 found the 11th Bombardment Group in peaceful repose at Hickam. Many of the men had just come off two weeks of maneuvers. It was a lazy Sunday morning until 0755 when explosions disturbed sleep or early breakfasts. Many assumed that the Navy was again on maneuvers.

      As the Japanese attack began, Hickam’s base commander, Colonel Farthing, was in the control tower waiting for a flight of B-17s to arrive from California. He watched what he believed were Navy planes from Ford Island circling near the harbor and then saw a group of planes diving on Pearl Harbor. He saw a black object leave one of the planes and hit with an explosion. Then he saw the rising sun insignia on its wings as it headed straight for Hickam Field. Farthing rushed down from the tower and saw the Japanese plane approaching with all its guns firing. It hit a B-17 and some B-18s, setting all the closely parked planes on fire. The plane circled around and then made another pass, firing at Farthing. The colonel hit the dirt and stayed there for the duration of the first wave of the attack.

      The first wave of planes to attack Hickam approached over Fort Kamehameha. The Hawaiian Air Depot’s engineering building was immediately destroyed and several hangers were destroyed or heavily damaged. Bombs destroyed Hanger 11, killing nearly all of the 11th Bomb Group’s armament and aircraft maintenance technicians. Many tugs and gas trucks were destroyed, but the underground gas tanks were unharmed. It was later discovered, while examining a target folder in a downed Japanese plane, that the Japanese thought the underground tanks were in the location where they were originally planned to be put, but this spot had actually been used for the baseball field. As a result, the tanks were spared while the baseball diamond was heavily bombed. The same target folder identified the base operations building as the officers’ club, so the nerve center of the base was spared.

      Hickam’s new consolidated barracks was a major target. The huge barracks was designed to house 3,200 men and was the largest single structure on any American military base. Containing two barber shops, a dispensary, laundry, tailor shop, post exchange, day rooms, and an enormous central mess hall that could feed 2,000 at one sitting, the barracks was virtually a self-contained town. The first bomb hit the barracks kitchen, killing 35 men eating breakfast. Chaos ensued. Amid the deafening roar of more bombs, the screams of the wounded, and shouts to evacuate the barracks, some men broke into the supply room to arm themselves with Colt .45 automatics and bolt-action Springfield rifles which they used heroically but futilely to shoot back at the attacking Japanese planes. The barracks was reported to be the most heavily bombed building on Oahu. Many of those who evacuated the building, though, were killed by strafing or bomb fragments. A first lieutenant ordered all the troops to assemble on the parade ground in the direct line of fire. Men, he announced ominously, we are at war. To punctuate his announcement, a Japanese plane immediately strafed the parade ground, killing a number of the men as they scattered for their lives.

      Some managed to overcome their panic and confusion and organized others in a more effective response. MSgt Olef Jensen of the 72nd Squadron directed the emplacement of machine guns, and one of his crews claimed credit for downing a Japanese plane. TSgt Wilbur Hunt set up twelve .50 caliber machine guns in bomb craters near the barracks, then puzzled over where to find twelve gun crews. He was soon helped by a Japanese bomb which blew a corner off the guardhouse, releasing all the prisoners who ran over and manned the guns. A PFC who was an orderly room clerk climbed into a B-18 and mounted a .30 caliber machine gun in the nose. He braced it against his shoulder and fired steadily at the attacking aircraft. A plane hit the B-18 on a strafing pass with incendiary bullets, setting it on fire. There was no way for him to escape, but he kept up a steady stream of fire without even trying. After the fire engulfed the nose of the aircraft, spectators could hear his screams as tracer bullets from his gun continued to streak upward.

      e9781618587138_i0016.jpg

      The B-17 Flying Fortress was used by the 11th Bomb Group from 1941-1943. It was followed by the B-24 Liberators. (Courtesy of Bud Parker, 11th BG Archives.)

      e9781618587138_i0017.jpg

      Bombers of the 11th Bomb Group fly over Diamond Head and Honolulu. (Courtesy of Bud Parker, 11th BG Archives.)

      Scores of men rushed around on the flight line, dispersing planes that had not yet been hit. Some even managed to taxi crippled planes to relative safety. While fire department personnel fought flames on some planes, daring crew members jumped on the wings, disconnected the valuable and expensive engines, and pulled them to safety.

      Many survivors of the attack were impressed by the skill of the Japanese pilots and the incredibly low altitudes at which they flew. Second Lieutenant Vernon H. Reeves saw a Japanese plane flying by his window with its wingtip almost touching the ground. It appeared to him to be targeting the door of the officers’ club. This guy is awful good to be able to do that. I couldn’t do it. I don’t know anyone who could do it, he thought. One Japanese pilot skimmed along the parking ramp so low that his propeller tips flicked the asphalt. Radio operator Harold S. Kaye saw a Japanese plane touch down on Runway 3, hesitate there a second, then take off again. It was as if the pilot wanted to touch American soil and go back to his carrier with a good story. It was a brilliant feat of flying, Kaye said.

      Every sort of vehicle was pressed into service at Hickam to carry the wounded to the base hospital. At the parade ground, they stacked the wounded on top of each other in an ambulance. At Hickam’s small new hospital, the injured were hastily given first aid and emergency operations (even dentists joined the surgeons in performing operations that day) and then were transferred to Tripler General Hospital.

      As part of the U.S. buildup in the Pacific, 16 B-17s from the 38th and 88th Reconnaissance Squadrons were scheduled to deploy to the Philippines via Hawaii. On the evening of December 6, 12 of the aircraft finally took off from Hamilton Field in California for the flight to Hawaii. Despite the impending danger of war, the bombers carried no ammunition for their guns so that more fuel could be carried. As the planes neared Hawaii, radio station WGMB was playing Hawaiian music to help them locate the island. Japanese pilots were also enjoying Hawaiian music that morning.

      e9781618587138_i0018.jpg

      Hickam Field, Hawaii, December 7, 1941. Hickam Field hangars were badly damaged by Japanese bombs and Machine gun fire which left the buildings and aircraft burning. (Courtesy of Lee R. Embree.)

      e9781618587138_i0019.jpg

      Hangar #1 at Hickam sustained damage both inside (above) and out (below). (Courtesy of Robert Hoag.)

      e9781618587138_i0020.jpg

      Hiram Jenkins’ Personal Account

      Age: 20 Rank: PFC Squadron: 50th Recon.

      On the morning of the blitz, I was in bed. Our wing of the barracks was along the side of the kitchen. When the bomb hit the kitchen, the concussion threw me out of bed. I landed on the floor. I hadn’t much more than hit there when a piece of shrapnel ripped through my sack. I put on some clothes: pants, shirt, and shoes, but no socks. We made a mad dash for the hangar line. I know now that was the stupid thing to do, but that is where we were headed.

      Our hangar was hangar 13, which was next to the flight line, so we had to go through Hangar 11 to get there. A covered hallway separated the hangers. The hangar doors of 11 were open about six feet and I went mad-dashing through. I got to the hallway just as the Japs dropped a bomb on 11. The concussion ricocheted me through that hall, out into the middle of 13. Just then the Japs dropped a bomb on it. Fortunately, the bomb hit on the far end from me.

      Casey Jones, a buddy, got to the hangar about the same time. After the bomb hit, it took a few moments to get organized. George Mack, who was in armament, told us to run out on the line and get the guns out of a B-18 that was sitting on the apron. So out we went. We almost got to the plane when the Japs came strafing down the line. Well, everyone ran. I sure didn’t want to be in that plane when they put those tracers into the gas tanks. We turned and ran back toward the hangar. Someone had driven a tug about halfway out onto the apron. He had jumped off and left the motor running. As the Jap came down strafing, I dove under the tug. Casey Jones jumped up on it and drove it off, leaving me completely exposed. Those bullets came right down on both sides of me. It scared me out of my wits. I jumped up and ran back into the hangar.

      By the time I ran back, the guys in the hangar had gotten .50 caliber air-cooled aircraft machine guns out of armament. They had them stuck out the windows of operations and were firing away. Casey was holding one of the guns and George said, Here, get on this. I fired away until we ran out of ammunition. If anyone says he can hold a .50 caliber in his hands and fire it, he’s nuts. It burned Casey’s hands something fierce.

      Ray Story, who was in armament, came in with a .30 caliber water-cooled machine gun. He took three of us out to the end of the runway and told us to maintain the gun and stay there until he relieved us. We stayed in that hole all the rest of the day and all that night. No-one dared move that first night. You would hear a gun go off and see the tracers, and everyone would start shooting. If someone made a noise, someone else would shoot at the noise. It was scary. We were across the base from Ford Island and saw one of the Navy planes shot down that night.

      The next day we were assigned to clean the hangar. Later we were reassigned to help repair a couple of B-17s. Finally, we were relieved from duty. We went back to the barracks, which were a shambles, but I got cleaned up and, at last, got my socks.

      About 0800 hours, the B-17s from the 38th sighted the Hawaiian Islands and also saw a flight of fighter aircraft coming out to meet them. The crews were glad to have the escorts for the final miles of their long flight. Suddenly, the fighters began firing on them, and each bomber took evasive action. One pilot tried to land his B-17 at Hickam, but attacking Japanese forced him to abort the landing. He then attempted a downwind landing at Bellows Field, but came in too fast and ran off the end of the runway into a ditch where his plane was repeatedly strafed by Zeros. Another B-17 managed to land at Hickam, but a strafing Zero hit the flare box in the middle of the aircraft, causing the plane to burn in two. The four other aircraft of the 38th landed at Hickam and suffered only minor damage.

      The six aircraft of the 88th then arrived, suffering a similar fate. Two bombers landed at the small auxiliary field at Haleiwa. Another pilot gave up attempting to land at Hickam and finally landed his B-17 on the Kahuku Golf Course. Two pilots landed their bombers at Hickam by timing their landings between attacks. The sixth pilot, looking for any flat piece of land, put his bomber down on a grass field at Wheeler.

      The Air Force response that Sunday morning was impressive indeed, considering the total surprise with which the Japanese attack had begun. A number of fighters were fueled, armed, and took to the air in pursuit of the attacking planes. Army Air Forces pilots were credited with downing at least ten enemy aircraft, to a loss of four American planes. The 58th Bombardment Squadron received orders later that morning to search for and attack a Japanese carrier reported to be south of Barbers Point. Although unable to find the carrier, the flight of Douglas twin-engine bombers taking off was an inspiring sight for the haggard troops at Hickam Field. Two of the 11th Group’s Flying Fortresses also got off and joined in the search, as did a B-18 later. P-40, P-36, and O-47 aircraft also flew sorties in search of the enemy carriers. All these aircraft faced heavy antiaircraft fire on their return to Oahu.

      In less than two hours, the Japanese attack had crippled the Army’s air arm on Oahu, leaving wrecked aircraft, hangers, and other facilities strewn everywhere, and causing nearly 700 casualties. The long job of recovery, repair, training, and the buildup of forces for the ordeal of war lay ahead.

      From January to June 1942, the 11th Group was primarily occupied with endless search missions and crew training. In March, command of the 11th Group was assumed by Colonel LaVerne Blondie Saunders. During this same period, the 11th received more B-17Es and built up the 98th Bombardment Squadron. On January 16, the first enemy submarine was bombed and sunk by a plane from the 26th Squadron. This was the first damaging blow struck by the 11th in the war. The Navy confirmed the sinking when they intercepted and decoded Japanese radio messages trying unsuccessfully to contact a sub in that area.

      Some bombing missions were also flown against Wake Island, which had recently been captured by the Japanese. The bombers had to stage through Midway for the Wake missions. Just after the fall of Wake, Col. Saunders was called up to headquarters at Hawaiian Air Force. He was handed a sealed set of orders which he was told he would have been following had Wake not fallen to the Japanese. You weren’t supposed to open these until you were in the air headed for Midway. Open them up and see what they are, he was told. Saunders opened the orders. They instructed him to go to Midway, refuel, and attack two Japanese aircraft carriers ten miles south of Wake, about 1200 miles from Midway. It was a no-return mission similar to Doolittle’s Tokyo raid. Oh God, Saunders exclaimed, you were gonna sacrifice old Saunders and his boys to fish heads and rice for the rest of the war, weren’t you?

      e9781618587138_i0021.jpg

      Air Corps Technical School graduation, Hickam Field, December 1940. (Courtesy of Paul J. Marsico.)

      James Latham’s Personal Account

      Age: 22 Rank: 1st Lieutenant Squadron: 26th

      I was a B-18 pilot and the squadron instructor pilot for B-17s. When the attack came, I was just as confused as everyone else. I was staying at a friend’s apartment next to the Officer’s Club out on the point. I looked out the window over at Pearl and saw a hell of a lot of smoke. The other people there in the complex were screaming, The Japanese, the Japanese! I didn’t know what they were talking about. I put on my flying suit. I had a 16mm turret camera which I grabbed as I went outside to start taking pictures. One Japanese Zero came right over the Officers’ Club. He wasn’t strafing and I waved at the bastard as he went by. Don’t ask me why.

      Two of us decided to drive our own cars down to the flight line, which was only two blocks away. Just as we got there, the Japanese came and dropped a couple of bombs. They were trying to hit the Aqua fuel system or the supply buildings across the street. They missed both and got our cars. I got singed, but not really hurt badly. The car rolled over and the gas tank blew up. There went my car and my camera both. I had taken 300 feet of film of the raid, and for the next several weeks, Fox Movietone, MGM, and Paramount people pestered me for that film. They thought I was holding out to sell to the highest bidder.

      We got over to the flight line and there was a B-17D with a wheel off in our hangar, and some of the maintenance personnel were putting it on. About that time, two instantaneous fused bombs hit the ceiling. Well, we got blown all around inside the hangar. To this day, I don’t hear very good. The next seems like an eternity. We ran the hell out towards the runway, and as soon as we got out on the ramp, the Japs would come by strafing, and we would turn and run back to the hangar. I don’t know how many times it happened. Once we got two or three bombs really close by, and I ran from the ramp back to the hanger, and to this day I never really figured out why, but somehow I got into the latrine. I was down there with my arms around the crapper, hanging on for dear life.

      When the raid was over, we had lost a B-18 and a B-17 out on the ramp, but we had the B-17 in the hangar. We started loading it with 500 lb. bombs. I went up to Headquarters and told them we had a plane ready to go. Up there, Major Roger Ramey told me, We have an idea that the Jap fleet is northwest of Honolulu. I want you to go out and make a complete circle. Well, had I gone out and had I found them. I would have been the first B-17 casualty of World War II. I got a patchwork crew together: I did not have a regular assigned crew. I have heard otherwise and I have read otherwise, but that’s a bunch of malarky.

      We got aboard, and I cranked this thing up and got to the runway. I ran through my engine check, and here came a staff car, with someone waving his hands. A lieutenant got out and said, Major Ramey wants you up at Headquarters. I’m going to take this plane.

      I said, Like hell, you are, because this is my airplane and this is my crew—you ain’t going to do it.

      He said, You had better comply with what the Major said.

      Finally, I said, Okay.

      He asked, Is this airplane ready to go?

      And I said, It’s been run up; it’s ready to go.

      On a B-17 we had elevator locks. If you pull up the handle, it locked the elevators. He jumped in and I got out. He gave the needle to it, and they ran about 2000 feet down the runway. But then he grabbed the wrong lever and locked the elevators. The tail naturally came up and the nose went down and they swung off to the side in a cloud of dust. The lieutenant, who was later killed, usurped my being the first airplane off the ground. He didn’t get off either.

      I spent most of the night in trenches we dug in the coral dirt. I believe I took a B-18 out the next morning or the morning after. For about the first two weeks we got shot at just about every time we took off or came in.

      About my car—it was a Ford V-8. I bought it when I was a cadet at Randolph Field. On the morning of December 6, I wrote my check and tore out the last coupon. I had made the last damn payment, and here it was ruined. It was three or four weeks before I got back to my place downtown. I read the insurance policy: Null and void in case of war.

      THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY

      After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan embarked on an explosive expansion of her Pacific empire. The colonial possessions of Britain. France, and the Netherlands were scooped up by the rampaging Japanese as they moved into Southeast Asia and the East Indies. By early 1942. they had advanced southeastward into the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands and even the north coast of New Guinea, threatening America’s vital lines of communication with its Australian ally. One by one, America’s Pacific bastions also fell before the Japanese advance: the Philippines, Guam, Wake, and others. In less than six months, the Japanese conquered a third of the Pacific.

      Col. Doolittle’s B-25s did only slight damage to Tokyo when they made their daring carrier raid in April 1942, but the raid still had ominous historical consequences. The intense shame experienced by Japanese military and naval leaders by their failure to protect the Emperor resulted in a full commitment to expand their Pacific boundaries even further. The target chosen for their next conquest was little Midway Island, a coral atoll about 1,400 miles northwest of Hawaii.

      Admiral Yamamoto divided his forces for the attack on Midway into sixteen different groups of warships, comprising most of the Japanese navy. As at Pearl Harbor, surprise was essential. It was expected that the Americans would rush the remnants of their Pacific fleet, including their precious aircraft carriers, to Midway when they learned of the attack. If Yamamoto’s forces could ambush and destroy them, Japanese domination of the Pacific would be unchallengeable.

      Since time was short, the Japanese sent the entire operations order for the Midway attack by radio. This was the first in a series of catastrophic mistakes the Japanese would make. In Hawaii and Australia, American cryptanalysts decoded almost 90% of the message. In May reinforcements were rushed to Midway to bolster its defenses, including 19 B-17s from the 431 st and 26th Squadrons of the 11th Bomb Group, commanded by Lt. Col. Sweeney. The 11 th kept a reserve striking force of old, lightly armed B-18s at Hickam in case the Japanese won the battle, captured Midway, and steamed on toward Hawaii. (One B-18 pilot promised his crew that if that happened he would knock a wing off on the bunker as they taxied out.)

      The B-17 crews on Midway were on constant alert, requiring that they sleep alongside their planes in the revetments. Often during the next few days they scrambled in search of the huge Japanese naval forces expected to appear in those waters. They flew their searches in coordination with PBY Catalina Flying Boats. At nine o’clock in the morning on June 3, one of the flying boats spotted the transports and destroyers of the Midway Occupation Force—the landing force intended to capture Midway Island. B-17s and torpedo-carrying Catalinas attacked the force later that day, but only scored a minor hit on an oiler.

      Admiral Nagumo, commander of the carrier force that had struck Pearl Harbor, and now commander of the four big aircraft carriers in the Midway Striking Force, launched his carrier planes for an attack against Midway early the next morning. He was still unaware that an American carrier task force, comprising the Hornet, Lexington, and Yorktown, and aided by radar that the Japanese didn’t have, lay in wait for him. Soon after the launch, search planes from Midway spotted Nagumo’s carriers and also the Japanese planes headed for Midway. Midway was alerted and ready when the enemy planes appeared, but the antiquated Marine fighters which flew out to intercept them proved no match for the Japanese planes and suffered heavy losses. Nevertheless, American anti-aircraft fire was heavy and accurate: 38 Japanese planes were destroyed and 30 others severely damaged.

      By this time, Nagumo’s carriers were under attack by the first wave of Midway-based aircraft: six torpedo planes and four Army B-26s, also armed with torpedoes. Japanese fighters easily broke up the attack, shooting down seven of the ten planes. No hits were scored on the carriers. Nagumo had been informed that a second strike on Midway would be necessary, so he ordered the anti-ship torpedoes and armor-piercing bombs on his remaining planes to be switched to high-explosive bombs. In the middle of the change, ominous news was received from a scout plane: ten American ships had been spotted in the area. Nagumo ordered the munitions change halted while he asked for clarification from the scout plane as to whether the American force included any aircraft carriers.

      e9781618587138_i0022.jpg

      Navigation Class that graduated June 12, 1943, Hickam Field. Graduates: O’Connor, Ball. King, Martinson, Barrows, Buffington, Holovak, Hemmings and Zimmer. Instructors; Koebig, Amory, Sandberg, Kozon, Bright, and Schauer. (Courtesy of Louis A. Schauer.)

      While Nagumo waited for more news, his carriers were attacked by more Midway-based planes. First were 16 Marine dive-bombers. Half of them were shot down, and they scored no hits. Next, a formation of fifteen of Lt. Col. Sweeney’s B-17s attacked from high-altitude. Their formidable defensive armor protected them from being shot down by fighters, but they, too, scored no hits. Then a formation of Marine Vindicator dive-bombers was unable to penetrate the Japanese fighter screen. Again, no hits.

      At this time, Nagumo received word from the scout plane that the American fleet included an aircraft carrier. This caused near panic on the bridge, but he decided to wait for the returning Midway attack force planes to land. Then he would rearm and refuel his planes for a balanced attack on the American ships. With this decision, Admiral Nagumo condemned his carrier fleet to destruction. Meanwhile, Admiral Spruance, commanding the carrier Hornet task force, decided to act with much more haste. He launched his strike force at the Japanese as soon as he was within the maximum attack range of his aircraft, hoping to catch them while they were recovering their planes. A little later, Admiral Fletcher, who commanded the Enterprise task force, also launched his carrier attack force.

      Spruance’s torpedo bombers found the Japanese first. The entire squadron was shot down. Fletcher’s torpedo squadron then attacked and lost ten of its fourteen aircraft. Neither squadron scored any hits. But then, as the Zeros and shipboard anti-aircraft guns were completely preoccupied with the attacking torpedo planes at very low altitude, dive-bombers from the Yorktown and the Lexington came screaming down from high-altitude like a silver waterfall toward the Japanese carriers whose decks and hangars were crowded with planes, bombs, torpedoes, and aviation fuel. Two bombs exploded on the flight deck and in the hangar of the flagship Akagi, detonating bombs and torpedoes being used to rearm the Japanese planes. The aircraft carrier Kaga was hit by four bombs which set off secondary explosions among the munitions on her flight deck. The Soryu was hit by three bombs which also detonated the munitions on her flight and hangar decks. All three Japanese carriers were engulfed in raging flames and soon sank. Only the Hiryu had escaped. In two minutes, the tide of war in the Pacific was reversed.

      Soon, the Hiryu launched a strike force against the Yorktown. The Japanese aces, veterans of Pearl Harbor, hit the Yorktown with three bombs and two torpedoes, forcing the captain to order the crew to abandon ship. But by the time they returned to their mother ship, only about a dozen of the Japanese planes remained intact. Three hours later, dive-bombers from the Enterprise found the Hiryu and sank her. Never again would the Pearl Harbor aces threaten the Allies. Japan would now have to depend on pilots with less finely-honed skills.

      The next day, June 5th, dive-bombers from the two remaining American carriers sank a Japanese cruiser and severely damaged another. By this time, the Japanese fleet was in full retreat, and the American task force, short on fuel, also headed for home. The Japanese had suffered their first

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