December 2020 Articles

• Aboard each of the thousands of B-17 Flying Fortresses that left the soil of England bound for targets in Europe were 10 young men. Outwardly, they were no different from any late-teen or early-twenties boy you’d meet anywhere in America. Same faces, same names, same youthful vigor and sense of invincibility. But on their shoulders […]

  

  Bomber Crew Chronicles – B-17 Crewmen Remember their German Missions

  Aboard each of the thousands of B-17 Flying Fortresses that left the soil of England bound for targets in Europe were 10 young men. Outwardly, they were no different from any late-teen or early-twenties boy you’d meet anywhere in America. Same faces, same names, same youthful vigor and sense of invincibility. But on their shoulders […]
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• Combat aircraft assigned to ground fighting battalions, brigades and divisions of the Army belong to pure Army aviation—not the Air Force—and trace their origins to June 6, 1942, when the first fabric-covered light planes joined artillery units. The Cessna L-19 Bird Dog, probably the Army’s most famous airplane, resulted from a 1949 decision to replace […]

  

  The Army’s L-19

  Combat aircraft assigned to ground fighting battalions, brigades and divisions of the Army belong to pure Army aviation—not the Air Force—and trace their origins to June 6, 1942, when the first fabric-covered light planes joined artillery units. The Cessna L-19 Bird Dog, probably the Army’s most famous airplane, resulted from a 1949 decision to replace […]
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• During his initial exposure to Libyan skies as a Canadian with Royal Air Force 94 Squadron on March 23, 1942, 21-year-old Lt. James Francis Edwards, a former Saskatchewan farm boy, helped escort 12 South African Air Force Douglas A-20 Havoc bombers to an Axis-held airfield marked as Martuba on intelligence charts. From this dust-blown patch […]

  

  Flying into the Lion’s Jaws

  During his initial exposure to Libyan skies as a Canadian with Royal Air Force 94 Squadron on March 23, 1942, 21-year-old Lt. James Francis Edwards, a former Saskatchewan farm boy, helped escort 12 South African Air Force Douglas A-20 Havoc bombers to an Axis-held airfield marked as Martuba on intelligence charts. From this dust-blown patch […]
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• 1942-45. It was a long time ago, but even today at 96, the events are crystal clear. It was about pilots and crews. It was about a whole generation of kids who grew up very quickly. It was about depending on people, in a way you would probably never again depend on someone, and they, […]

  

  One Lucky Bastard! Tales from an ETO Mustang Pilot

  1942-45. It was a long time ago, but even today at 96, the events are crystal clear. It was about pilots and crews. It was about a whole generation of kids who grew up very quickly. It was about depending on people, in a way you would probably never again depend on someone, and they, […]
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• The Air Combat Museum boasts an impressive and growing collection of old iron, including the P-51 Mustang “Worry Bird” featured in this story. This 1944 model saw combat service during WW II and is painted as one flown by Bob Frisch of the 339th Fighter Group based at Fowlmere, England. Pictured above: Mike George started […]

  

  Air Combat Museum—home of the Worrybird

  The Air Combat Museum boasts an impressive and growing collection of old iron, including the P-51 Mustang “Worry Bird” featured in this story. This 1944 model saw combat service during WW II and is painted as one flown by Bob Frisch of the 339th Fighter Group based at Fowlmere, England. Pictured above: Mike George started […]
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• Confined in a microworld of levers, switches, and instruments, Royal Australian Air Force Flight Sergeant James Denman Harvey slid his Curtiss P-40’s eight-piece canopy backwards and looked down. Hammered by tropical heat and skin slippery in perspiration, he studied the surface of a newly captured airstrip called “Tadji.” Harvey and fellow No. 78 Squadron pilots […]

  

  Kittyhawk Jungle Rescue

  Confined in a microworld of levers, switches, and instruments, Royal Australian Air Force Flight Sergeant James Denman Harvey slid his Curtiss P-40’s eight-piece canopy backwards and looked down. Hammered by tropical heat and skin slippery in perspiration, he studied the surface of a newly captured airstrip called “Tadji.” Harvey and fellow No. 78 Squadron pilots […]
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• George Shepard was my wingman on April 17, 1945 . We were issued the usual equipment and rode to our ships on the hood of a Jeep. The weather was fine that day. We took off about 9 a.m., formed up and headed to meet up with our assigned Bomb Group. I don’t recall any […]

  

  Lucky Bastards’ Club

  George Shepard was my wingman on April 17, 1945 . We were issued the usual equipment and rode to our ships on the hood of a Jeep. The weather was fine that day. We took off about 9 a.m., formed up and headed to meet up with our assigned Bomb Group. I don’t recall any […]
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• In June of 1941, at age 20, Joseph Paul Lynch entered the Naval Aviation Cadet program. He earned his wings and a Marine Corps commission in May of 1942. His first combat tour was in the Solomon Islands with VMF-112, flying F4F Wildcats and F4U Corsairs. Lieutenant Lynch was shot down once in the Solomons, […]

  

  The Marines’ Last Dogfight – The Corsair Was One Tough Bird

  In June of 1941, at age 20, Joseph Paul Lynch entered the Naval Aviation Cadet program. He earned his wings and a Marine Corps commission in May of 1942. His first combat tour was in the Solomon Islands with VMF-112, flying F4F Wildcats and F4U Corsairs. Lieutenant Lynch was shot down once in the Solomons, […]
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