ENLISTMENT & TRAINING

 

Enlistment 

In February 1942, I drove to Baer Field at Ft Wayne, Indiana to take the qualifying test for Air Cadets. I passed the test and was sworn in as a buck private, unassigned in March of 1942. I was immediately sent home because there was no place for me to go. Huge training camps were springing up all over the country, but the influx of men was greater than they could handle at the time. I was finally called to active duty on August 13, 1942 and was assigned to aviation pre flight training in Santa Ana, California. I was very nervous about what the future held for me, yet, at the same time, it was an incredibly exciting time, and I looked forward to experiencing the events as they unfolded. 

After looking over the materials at Santa Anna, I decided to become a navigator. I thought that this route would give me an education that was more applicable to peacetime. I knew that I would have to work my way through college, so it was important that I be able to apply my army experience. At that time, however, the Army Air Corps was very concerned about a shortage of pilots, so I was assigned to attend pilot training. In November 1942, I was sent to Primary Pilot Training School at Fort Stockton, Texas. Although I did well in aviation theory, the actual flying didn't come naturally to me, especially when it came to landing the plane. With practice, and a lot of patience from my instructor, I finally soloed and completed my primary training.

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The next step was basic training at Pecos, Texas, west of Fort Stockton. Here we flew bigger trainers that had twice the power of the planes I had been flying. I did just fine flying around in the air, but at lower altitudes, when I attempted to get into the landing pattern, all hell broke loose. I had trouble trying to coordinate the flaps and air speed well enough to properly land the airplane. Finally, after 11 hours of flight time, I was washed out and sent back to Santa Anna for navigator training. I ended up at Mather Field Navigation School in Sacramento, California, in March 1943. Normally, Aviation Cadet Training was offered only to enlistees with 2 years of college. Fortunately, I excelled in math and passed the test.

 

The training was intensive and covered 2 years of peacetime schooling in 18 weeks. There wasn't much time for anything else. I wrote a couple letters to Mary Beth, but we still weren't romantically involved with each other. During the day, we flew training missions over a large part of the Western United States, flying as far north as Crater Lake in Oregon, east to Salt Lake City, Utah and South to the Sultan Sea near Los Angeles, California. We were so busy that we really didn't spend too much time thinking about what was happening overseas. It was September of 1943, and the U.S. was sending troops to battle Rommel in the African Desert when I finally completed training and received my wings as an Aerial Navigator, Celestial. Following graduation, I was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. There was an 11-day delay before I had to report to my next assignment in Clovis, New Mexico, so I decided to take the 3-day trip by train home to see the family.

 

Meeting the Crew 

At Clovis, New Mexico, I was assigned to a B24 Bomber Group and met the crew with whom I would be flying. Our pilot was Bill Lafferty, with Jack Reed as our Co-pilot. Phil Miller, who I remained very close with until his passing a few years ago, was our Bombadier. Bernell Keller was our Flight Engineer, Herman Schmidt was the Radio Operator, Elber Ninesling was in the Ball Turret, Lyndon Lawrence in the Tail Turret, with Jim Stuebgen and Marvin Alford as the Waist Gunners.

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The first flight on a B24 was an awe-inspiring experience. They looked huge, and I wondered how they could ever get off the ground. The engines filled the plane with a deafening roar as the plane shook down the runway. Finally, we lifted off and headed into the sky. I was amazed that this gigantic piece of noisy machinery really could fly.

 

The interior of the plane was very loud and not filled with any plush comforts. This plane was built to carry bombs not passengers. The cabin was not pressurized. It was cold and cramped, but I was too excited to really notice at the time. 

We spent a couple days at Clovis before flying out to an air base in Alamogordo, New Mexico to fly practice bombing runs over the White Sands area. Little did I know that the U.S. would use this area to develop the nuclear bomb that would finally bring World War II to an end. While I was stationed at Clovis, mom, dad, and Mary Beth came down to see me. During their stay, we decided to get married. Unfortunately, military pay was only about $90 per month, and I had to wait until my next paycheck to buy an engagement ring. I then picked out the best one I could afford and mailed it to Mishawaka. It couldn't have been more romantic. 

On December 5th, 1943, we flew to Lincoln, Nebraska to get the new plane that we would take into battle. The plane was just completed at a plant in Willow Run. The next few days were spent flying the new plane around the area to correct the compasses. We would fly in a known heading and then adjust the compasses to give us the correct reading. After truing the compasses, we flew to West Palm Beach, Florida to receive an array of shots for our trip overseas. Then, very early in the morning on December 24, 1943, my twenty-first birthday, we headed down the runway and lifted off the American soil bound for Puerto Rico. I was nervous, excited, scared, and very introspective as we flew off into the night. I prayed that God would return me home safely to my family and to Mary Beth. It would be two years and one incredible adventure before I would step foot on American soil once again.

 

The First Overseas Flight 

The B24 could only fly about 13 hours before refueling, so we got a lot of practice on take-off and landings. We flew to Puerto Rico and then on to Atkinson Field in British Guinea. On December 26th, we flew to Bellum, Brazil and then to Natel, Brazil's most eastern city, the next day. We stayed at Natel for 10 days. 

It was January 26th, 1944 when we finally landed in Africa. Dakar was in French West Africa just north of the equator. After landing we noticed a strong smell of gasoline and found that there was a major leak in one of our fuel lines. We radioed for parts and set about trying to figure out how to pass the time in this hot, sticky climate. After three weeks of waiting, we were at the end of our rope. Fortunately, our mechanic found an old abandoned B24 and cannibalized the parts we needed off of it. Finally, we were on our way again, this time to Marakesh, then on to Dali, in Whales, and finally landing in England at Watson. We were later moved to Northern Ireland for additional training on how to make quick landings.

 

England 

On March 11th of 1944, we received our assignment to the 703rd Squadron, 445th Bomber Group of the 8th Air Force based in Tibenham, England. We flew 4 or 5 training flights over Great Britain learning to use some new navigational equipment that had just been developed by the British.

 

On one training mission, our squadron CO, Jimmy Stewart (yes, THAT Jimmy Stewart), joined us. We were flying two planes, and the navigators were taking turns finding the current location. Unfortunately, we became lost. Over the radio, Jimmy said, "You better find out where we are because over England they shoot you down first and then ask questions later.” After a while, I told our CO that I thought I knew where we were. Stewart asked me how I figured it out, and I said, "Because there's only one place in England that has that many buildings.” He asked for a heading, and I told him that I would get it as soon as we reached the River Thames.

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