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The Eighth Air Force Historical Society
Virginia Chapter Notes from other Chapters |
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 “Milk
Run”
Oregon Chapter 8th
Air Force Historical Society News Update
October 2011
History News à Readers, where’s your story?
8th AFHS Oregon Chapter News
and how to share history with others on the last
page.
The Fate of Rosalie Ann(s) of the 452 Bombardment Group (Heavy)
From the daughter of Frederick Popielski I
got an email request on finding out about the
aircraft named Rosalie Ann. In about an hour of
searching (Web plus using Fold3.com, which used
to be called Footnote.com) to find the MACRs I
came up with this info on the two a/c.
Rosalie Ann: A joint name honoring two of the
crew members’ wives. The lead navigator was
Marvin Byer whose wife's name was Rosalie. The
pilot was Ed Hartman whose wife's name was Ann.
B-17 F #42-38145.
42-38145 collided with a B-17 of 288th BG and
crashed at New Buckenham May 19, 1944. 2 of the
crew were killed, 8 bailed out. The other B-17
landed safely.
Another plane was now named Rosalie Ann II, in
the 452nd 729 Sqd which was a B-17G
#44-8201.
It was shot down on 2 Jan 1945.
One of the crew was killed, the rest became
POWs.
From the MACR:
Shortly after bombs away (1114 hrs) A/C 201
received a direct flak hit between #3 and #4
engines, setting the #3 engine on fire
eventually. The A/C went into a spiral and as it
neared the ground it leveled off and crashed
into woods at approximately 4950N-0650E, setting
the woods on fire. 5 to 9 chutes were reported
as seen to open at 10 – 12,000 feet.
POW:
1st Lt Vise, Richard George
Capt Martin, Ralph Hiller
2nd Lt Kamas, Lewis M
1st Lt Baghner, joseph
1st Lt Kordatzky, Howard Walter
T/Sgt Achenbach, Donald A
S/Sgt Richardson, Clyde E
1st Lt McDougall, William Robert
KIA:
T/Sgt Martinek, Albin C. Jr.
In Page 7 of the MACR it stated that he reported he was hit over the intercom before he bailed out. Boeing’s Virtual Walk-around of the Boeing 737Eaker Cups Update
Sir, Per your article in the Milk Run newsletter
of September 2010 on General Eaker and the
silver cups. Currently the “Eaker Bowl” display
– consisting of the engraved silver punch bowl,
ladle, and five of the nine cups – are on
display at Headquarters, Eighth Air Force at
Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. Together this
display constitutes our heraldic device and
provides today’s Eighth Air Force a physical
link to its storied past, heritage, achievements
and sacrifices.
Once a year the entire display is carefully
packed and shipped to CORONA where the senior
Air Force leadership and commanders meet and
where the Eaker Bowl is displayed at the formal
CORONA banquet.
Beyond this exception, the Eaker Bowl is
respectively displayed in its own cabinet in the
Command Section where dignitaries and VIPs
visiting the Eighth view it and where the
Eighth’s top leaders pass by it when beginning
their duty day. Next to the cabinet is a
picture of General Ira C. Eaker and the picture
of the entire nine cup set (attached).
Attached also is a picture of the current
five-cup display of the Eaker Bowl out of its
cabinet.
Lane Callaway, Historian, Eighth Air Force (Air
Forces Strategic)
Training plane used by Tuskegee Airmen given to SmithsonianRoss W. Young - 15th AF BombardierBuck Tape
What was the original use of duct tape?
Seal ammunition boxes
Permacel, formerly a division of Johnson &
Johnson, originally developed duct tape in 1942
during World War II as a rubber-based adhesive
tape with a durable fabric backing that resisted
water for use as sealing tape on ammunition
cases. J&J plant managers simply took their
existing cloth medical adhesive tape, added a
waterproof plastic layer with a more aggressive
adhesive, and produced it in olive drab (OD)
green to match the ammunition cans. Because of
these properties, it was also used to repair
military equipment quickly, including jeeps,
firearms, and aircraft. The slang name "duck
tape" was created by the military personnel due
to its ability to repel moisture like water off
a duck's back.
There is a picture of a Navy F4U Corsair with
white outlines around the cowl and for years
they thought it was a paint job – not! It is
“duck tape” on the cowl to keep the oil from the
radial engine from getting onto the canopy. The
dyes used in the OD tape quickly faded in the
tropical sun and thus it LOOKED white to the
camera due to the fading. Early camouflaged
uniforms of the Marines also quickly faded from
green to lightened green color after a few
months and they stopped using them till that
problem was fixed - you do not want a bright
light green / tan uniform in a green jungle!
Other slang names for it are now “100 Mile an
Hour tape”, MacGyvver tape, and likely others.
Author of “Through Hell For Hitler” Dead at 88
Captain Gaje Ghale, VC
British Military Maneuvers Before WW I
A book published in Towcester covers the 1913
military maneuvers that were held in
Northamptonshire which allowed the British to
fight a maneuver war that they had trained for
in the opening months of the First World War.
Unlike desk games which only tested command and
control, this put real forces on the move in the
field – like what we did in 1941 in the
Louisiana maneuvers.
Two Wars, Two Sons, Two Deaths
One was killed in August of 1918, then a
grandson was killed over Burma in 1944. Both
named George.
Germany’s WW I Battle Plan – Never Really a Plan
A new book out “The Real German War Plan,
1904-1914” delves into the history of the famous
“Schlieffen Plan” that never was. Terence
Zuber, a retired US Army Officer, wrote this
book.
Part of German change in strategy was due to the
French “75” quick firing field gun – and the
German’s lack of an equivalent. In the open
terrain of France a battery of these could
annihilate a German Division when caught in the
open without any artillery support in a mobile
battle.
Stroud, Gloucester/Charleston, SC.: The History
Press, 2011. Pp. ii, 190. Maps, notes, index.
$19.95 paper. ISBN: 0752456644.
Capturing Doodlebugs in World War II
As part of the British Signal Corps working with
the artillery and sending out dispatch riders to
other units, Bill Merritt captured a few of
these in the Netherlands.
New book about the siege of Leningrad in WW II
Anna Reid has written a 491 page book detailing
the 900 days that Leningrad was under “siege”.
The full title is Leningrad: The Epic Siege Of
World War II and how it unfolded, and how the
Soviet Government reacted to it.
“And there is the matter of cannibalism. Soviet
authorities made a nice distinction between
corpse-eating, which was frowned upon, and
murder for food, which was viewed like any other
murder. By December 1942, about 2,015 people had
been arrested on cannibalism charges.”
Photos from the siege:
http://www.businessinsider.com/siege-of-leningrad-russia-2011-09?op=1
(Due to Lake Lakota there never was a FULL siege
of the city – supplies got across the lake
throughout the battle.)
Russian WW II Epic – Burnt by the Sun 2: Citadel
Not released outside of Russia part two of an
epic has been selected to be nominated to be the
Best Foreign Film category for the Oscars.
Between Hitler and a Hard Place
A new book written by a Russian Front veteran
Rolf Panny, who served at the front from
mid-1943 until he was wounded in early 1944, as
an signal corps / infantryman with the 30th
Division, Regiment 26, near Staraya Russia.
 To the Bitter End – Why Germany fought On To Total Defeat
Ian Kershaw new book covers the last 10 months
of the war in Europe and explains why the German
Army and people fought on even when they knew
that they were going to lose.
A Beer Stein Returns
Bought for a pittance after the war by a
veteran, the stein was just something on the
mantle for many years till curiosity got the WW
II veteran’s son into finding out more about it.
WW II Wreck Worth $200 Million
Sunk by a U-Boat in February of 1941, the SS
Gairsoppa, which might have been carrying up to
7 million ounces of silver, was discovered by
Odyssey Marine exploration around 300 miles off
the coast of Ireland.
SAS WW II Operational Log / Diary to Be Published
A member of the SAS created and kept a 500 page+
diary of the SAS during WW II – and then kept it
in his house for over 50 years before donating
it to the regiment history collection – then it
was also unknown for many years thereafter.
The BBC will now be publishing a copy of it.
Bengal Famine 1943:-1945 - When More People live there than Food
During WW II shipping losses from 1939 thru 1945
stopped the worldwide movement of food and
required that military goods often had a higher
priority than moving food around. Add a growing
India population who did not grow enough food on
their own to this and you get a famine.
Unlike the deliberate Japanese caused one in
Vietnam, this was caused by shipping shortages
and allowing local governments in India to
manage their own affairs.
Note: a very biased article.
Staff Sgt. Meceslaus T. Miaskiewicz – KIA May 1944 – Returned Home 2011
Shot down over Yugoslavia in their B-17 “Daisy
Mae” of the 347 Bomb Squadron was hit by flak
with three bailing out and the rest killed when
the plane hit the ground. 7 crew members were
removed in 1947 – but likely a language barriers
with the 1947 recovery team did not realize that
another member of the crew was buried elsewhere.
“Bombs Away” – Coffee Table Book Published
Written by John R Bruning is primarily a 250+
photographic book about the Allied bombing
campaign against Germany in World War Two.
Boeing’s Plant #2 Gone
The last big piece of Plant #2, where 6,981 B-17
Flying Fortresses were produced, was taken down
on September 24, 2011.
“Naughty But Nice” Crew buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Shot down in 1943 over New Guinea, only 1
crewman bailed out and survived being a POW of
the Japanese. After he found parts of the plane
in 1985, more remains were recovered in 2001 but
could not be further identified – so all the
four that were identified in 2001 were buried in
the same casket. Some had previously been buried
as “Unknown” in Hawaii and were positively
identified via DNA.
“Gionet, 68, who lives in Portland, Ore., said
it was about a year ago that he learned his
father’s remains had been recovered. Somewhat
amazingly, he said he received a knock on the
door from an Army colonel and sergeant just
after he had finished watching a movie called
“The Messenger” where the main character is an
officer assigned to notify family members when
their loved ones have been killed in action.”
A POW Tail
William "Bill" Giambrone was shot down over
Romania on his 25th mission and
captured. When Romania switched sides they told
all the POWs to leave.
Fred Fiske and the Castle Mission of 27 September 1944
Fred is a radio commentator in Washington at
station WAMU – and in 1944 he was a radio
operator in a B-24. In 6 minutes 31 of 34 B-24s
in his combat group were shot down by Fw-190s.
Last Reunion of the 780 BG (H)
Two members of the 780th get together
for the last reunion in Abilene. The 780th
flew out of Italy as part of the 15th
Air Force.
39th FS Reunion in Bellingham
Stationed in Bellingham at the start of WW II to
patrol the West Coast , later on members were
assigned to various units throughout the
military as time wore on and the unit itself was
sent to the 5th Air Force in the
South Pacific flying P-38s.
B-29 Missions over Japan – At night
Chuck Chauncey flew a B-29 named "Goin' Jessie"
out of Tinian for 35 missions. Plane # 704.
Pratt & Whitney Donates Engine to WW II Museum
A P&W Twin Wasp R-1830-90D will be donated to
the National WW II Museum in New Orleans. It
will eventually end up in a Chance-Vought F4U
Corsair.
USS Nevada Ships’ Bell again Owned by Nevada
It was given to the local Kiwanis Club of Las
Vegas by Senator Pat McCarran in 1950.
It will be placed into the Nevada State Museum
in Carson City. [Likely never to be rung or
touched ever again. Editor]
A Destroyer Named “Spruance”
On October 1, 2011 the US Navy will commission
DDG 111, an Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile
Cruiser, The USS Spruance.
Rebuilding a C-47 “Gooney Bird” in Florida
At Zephyrhills Municipal Airport they are
starting to rebuild a C-47 transport (British
name “Dakota”) they have the large assemblies of
the C-47 and are working to assemble it into a
complete machine – but major pieces are missing:
doors, propellers, engines and flaps.
Weather Missions and the Bombing Campaign in Europe
Weather forecasting was precarious during WW II
– limited data and lots of guessing was the rule
in deciding what target would be attacked the
next day.
One of the ways to solve that was to have a
dedicated weather scouting force recon the route
and report back the weather conditions on the
day of the mission.
Spirit of Flight Center air museum, located at
the Erie, CO Municipal airport, honored Capt.
Bill Getz with a ceremony and induction of a
giant ¼ scale P-51 Mustang which is painted in
the colors of his P-51 Mustang : “Saucy
Shirley”.
C-47 Arrives in Portland – Tennessee
Flown to Portland, the wings were removed and it
was hauled through the city to its new home:
Days Gone By Tractor and Antique Museum.
"You don't see a DC-3 coming down Highway 52
everyday that is for sure," Portland resident
Terry Durham said.
A Ferry Pilot Then a Transport Pilot
Robert Haswell started out in the Navy, then an
aircraft mechanic, then a pilot. He ended up
flying “The Hump” in the CBI (China, Burma,
India) Theater.
New Aces of Aces for Canada
Billy Bishop (72 planes shot down) is about to
share the top spot with
Colonel William G. Barker, VC. Barker is
credited with 50 enemy planes shot down.
In WW I in order to confirm a
plane was shot down it normally had to be seen
by ground forces on found on the Allied side of
the lines.
1991 Gulf War POW Stories
This is a reprint article from before the
2003 Iraqi War.
22 Americans were captured in the First Gulf
War, 20 by being shot down and two on the
ground.
The Star salutes our Women of Steel: The girls who kept the foundry fires burning
A book about the women working in the steel
works in Yorkshire, UK during the war.
Ground Broken For Memorial of a 1952 Crash Near Larson Air Base
In 1952 a C-124A Globemaster crashed after
taking off from Larson Air Base (Moses Lake)
killing 87 servicemen. Now a memorial is being
built upon the site.
Finback Crewman who helped save George H W Bush in 1944
Alerted to a plane being shot down the USS
Finback rescued LT JG Bush near Japanese held
islands. After becoming president Christmas
cards started to arrive.
“His proudest possession was a large certificate
signed by Bush and honoring him and his
crewmates on Bush's inauguration day in January
1989. It said: "With Grateful Appreciation,
Vernon Marvin Barrington, 10th War Patrol, Crew
of USS Finback SS230." “
Bolt Buyer of the Boeing Bee
Velva Maye was a purchasing agent for Boeing
starting in 1942 and the B-17F Flying Fortress
“Boeing Bee”, now completely restored, rolled
out of the factory on February 13, 1943. So the
bolts she bought are in there somewhere.
Andy Rooney Retires – Flew as a War Correspondent in the 8th AF
Long known for his commentary on 60 Minutes,
he was one of the few newspaper people
authorized to fly combat missions in the early
part of the war. All of them also went to
gunnery training on the waist guns before going
on a mission.
He was one of six correspondents flew on the
first 8th AF B-17 bombing mission
into Germany on 27 January 1943 to Wilhelmshaven
navy base. This was 8th AF Mission 31
which dispatched 64 B-17s and 27 B-24s. 1 B-17
and 2 B-24s are shot down. The only war
correspondent who flew with the B-24s was killed
when the B-24 he was in was shot down.
Stars and Stripes Celebrates 150 years of publication
The annual reunions first started in 1989 and
are held in various locations.
http://www.semissourian.com/story/1766717.html
A memorial plaque was placed where it is thought
the very first one was produced.
http://www.dailystatesman.com/story/1767514.html
Calling in Artillery onto Yourself
Major Tony Eeles was in a precarious situation:
the enemy had infiltrated the lines around his
position at the Salerno beachhead – so he called
in artillery onto his own position.
“He saw action in Greece towards the end of the
war and subsequently trained as a pilot, flying
Austers. A report noted that he was
“over-confident to a dangerous degree” and he
was encouraged to employ his talents elsewhere.”
Soviet Storm - WW2 in The East
Is a TV show that is being shown in the UK. It
uses Russian archival film to show the war in
the USSR from their perspective. Unknown if it
will be shown in the USA or elsewhere.
War And Peace – the Soviet made movie of the 1812 Invasion
Made by Sergei Bondarchuk for around $100
million (in the 1950s) it had a cast of around
100,000.
Find the DVD with Russian dialog with English
subtitles – and a weekend. It is over 6 hours
long.
449 BG (H) Reunion Held in Reno in September
Likely for the last time this Bomb Group which
was part of the 15th Air Force based
in Italy held a reunion. 41 combat veterans
attended.
The 449th is in the process of doing
a video history and has completed video
interviews with 65 members of the unit so far.
Copies have been sent to the Smithsonian Oral
History Project.
The Sandborn Brothers – Stan and Glenn
Stan was drafted in 1944 and reported to Fort
Snelling. “Stan and his fellow soldiers lined up
and, one by one, were told where they would be
sent. It was a regular rotation — Army, Navy,
Air Corps, Marine, Coast Guard and then back to
Army.” He was then selected to be put into the
Army Air Forces and spent months training to
repair aircraft.
A Short History of the 11 BG (H) – “Grey Geese”
This was the unit that was stationed at Hickam
Field on December 7, 1941. The famous picture of
a burned out B-17 is one of theirs.
Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame
14 Comanche “Code Talkers”, B-17 Pilot 1st
Lt Donald J Gott (MOH), Major Fed A Hancock (C
Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd
PIR, 101 Airborne) and others were inducted into
the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame in September
of 2011.
No one knows where the Hall of Fame is really
located since none of the news articles or
reporters mentioned the location – only where it
took place and who was inducted.
Six into the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame
A P-51, B-25, two Helicopter pilots, a space
shuttle crew member and an instructor were put
onto this honor roll.
Like the above HOF in Oklahoma, no one knows
where the Hall Of Fame is located when writing
the article but there is a web site for the
Delaware version:
http://www.dahf.org/ - but web site has no
idea where it is located either.
Only 1 Off
George William Cannon, Jr. died in September in
Florida. You would have heard of him more if he
had been assigned a different boat. He commanded
PT-108 in the South Pacific.
Other PT Boat Veterans who died recently can be
found at:
A Nurse in The South Pacific – and lots of other Places
Min Coburn decorates her place in McMinnville
Oregon with items she has collected from around
the world and especially items from The South
Pacific.
Having served in the Pacific shortly after the
wary she went back in the late 1980s and visited
Pacific sites where American military forces had
fought during World War II. She went "the full
circle," stopping in New Zealand, Tahiti, the
Philippines, Bali, Samoa, Guadalcanal, New
Caledonia and many other islands with names from
history books.
"In the Solomons, we met a man with his own
World War II museum. When he found out we were
from America, he got down on his knees and
kissed our feet and said, 'Thank you, thank you,
thank you.' "
Recovering the Honolulu Clipper
It sank in 1945 north of Hawaii in 18,000 feet
of water – and now a firm wants to try and raise
it up.
The B-314 had 22 square feet per passenger,
compared with 6 feet per passenger in coach
seats in commercial jets today, according to the
UAS team.
Escaping Germany and Spying for Germany at the same Time
Walther Rauff left Germany at the end of World
War Two due to him being a very high ranking
NAZI SS security officer and went to South
America – where he was then recruited to work
for Germany’s version of the CIA – the BND. But
he was not a fugitive or wanted for any possible
crimes till his name came up in the trial of
Adolph Eichmann in 1962.
North Sea Battleground: The War at Sea 1914-18
A new book out about the battles fought between
England and Germany over this stretch of ocean
was published in England.
On December 16, 1914 the first German warships
started shelling Harlepool and thus began 4
years of intermittent naval surface warfare.
Published by Pen & Sword has a hardback cover
price of £19.99. ISBN 184884450-6.
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Touring France and Germany as a Foot Soldier
Drafed in July of 1942 he never got to a combat
unit until August of 1944 when “Operation Anvil”
began – which was the invasion of France along
its southern coast.
He was stationed for a few months at Fort Des
Moines: “There were 10,000 women there and 250
men. That was something.”
Max Hastings’ book “All Hell Let Loose” Published
A global look at World War II with more emphasis
on the foot soldier but also looking at the
abilities of the Generals of all sides on how
they performed given the knowledge and equipment
they had.
“While 17,000 American combat casualties lost
limbs, during the war years 100,000 workers
became amputees as a result of industrial
accidents.”
All Hell Let Loose: The World at War 1939-1945,
by Max Hastings, HarperPress, RRP £30, 748 pages
Alconbury – Only Birds will be Flying There Soon
Shut down as an airport in 1995, parts of
Alconbury will be turned into a housing and
enterprise zone.
During WW II it was known as Station 102 and was home to the 92, 93, 95, 482, and 801 Bomb Groups at one time or another. A Secret Wartime Diary by a Mid-Level German Bureaucrat
August Friedrich Kellner of Lauback Germany
started a diary on 1 September 1939 when Germany
invaded Poland. Throughout the war he made
entries into it about what he saw, what he knew
through his work, and had been told by others.
His grandson, Robert Scott Kellner was born and
raised in the USA, had known about his
grandparents lived in Germany but that was all.
After finding him while in transit from one duty
station to another in Germany, he was given the
10 volume diary before his grandparents died and
published it in July of 2011.
Oregon Chapter News, Archive Loan / Donation, and Contact InformationNext Oregon Chapter Meeting November 5, 2011Send Stories and documents to be Borrowed / Archived
If you have items that you wish to share with
others, they can be loaned to the Oregon
Chapter, scanned and catalogued and then
returned to you. You can always donate them
permanently to the chapter if you wish. Contact
Tom Philo to make arrangements for the
documents.
Items in the archive are usually be posted onto
the web site (see release form on web site) so
that everyone can learn from what others have
experienced.
Need a Ride to the Meeting?
There are many members who can no longer drive
due to age so we are trying to find out those
who are in need of transportation so that we can
find other members who live nearby who can pick
you up and then take you home afterwards.
If you would like to come to the meeting and
need a ride please contact any chapter officer
or board member and let them know.
Tom Davis, Bob Dean, Tom Philo, Sharon Campbell,
Charlie Gallagher, Wally Groce, Bob Schuberg,
Jerry Ritter, Joani Hamilton, Bert Campbell,
Warren Caldwell, or Don Bourgeois. Via e-mail
you can send the request to
secretary@8thafhsorgeon.com if you do not
have the phone numbers for the people listed
above.
Oregon Chapter 8th AFHS
If you wish to be removed from the e-mail list
please let us know.
Secretary 8th AFHS of Oregon
Tom Philo
17502 SW Kimmel Ct
Beaverton, Oregon 97007-6877
The Oregon Chapter is a registered Non-Profit
503(c) with the IRS and within the State of
Oregon.
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