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Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:23 am
From Volume 2 of "Remembering The Canadian Yanks", due out later this year.
CLYDE EAST - MUSTANG RECONNAISSANCE ACE
Clyde Bennett East was born in the hamlet of Sheva in Pittsylvania County, Virginia on July 19, 1921. He was the fifth of nine children of James and Mary East. Clyde was raised on a dirt poor tobacco farm and from the time he was first able to read, his favourite stories were those that centered around the Aviators of World War I. In August, 1925, when he was four, the family home was destroyed by fire. The East's proceeded to construct a new house, but found themselves literally snuggling under blankets of snow on Christmas morning because the roof had not yet been built.
On Independence Day in 1937, during his third year of high school, East rode in an airplane for the first time. After that experience, his desire to become a pilot grew even stronger. Graduating from Chatham Virginia High School in 1938, Clyde was disappointed to learn that he would need a minimum of two years of College before he could apply to join the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) pilot training program.
In June, 1941, with ten dollars in his pocket, the nineteen year old Virginian thumbed his way to Niagara Falls, New York. There he crossed the United States/Canadian border into Niagara Falls, Ontario. His destination was the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in Hamilton, Ontario some 60 miles distant. Just a few miles outside the Falls, East had the good fortune to hitch a ride with an Instructor from No. 33 Air Navigation School (ANS) at Mount Hope, Ontario. The Officer not only drove Clyde to his destination, No. 10 Recruiting Centre, but briefed him during the trip on his future Air Force career. Processed into the RCAF as an Aircraftsman 2nd Class (AC2) Airman, Clyde spent the next several weeks at No. 1 Manning Depot (MD) in Toronto, Ontario. It was there where he picked up the nickname "Stonewall". East mentioned to someone that he and American Civil War Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson were born in the same rural area of Virginia.
East attended No. 1 Initial Training School (ITS) in Toronto and graduated at the beginning of October. One of Clyde's barrack mates was from Hamilton and one weekend when the two were given leave, he took Clyde home to meet his family. Introduced to the man's sister, Clyde East had no way of knowing that he had just met his future wife Margaret Ann.
Promoted from AC2 to Leading Aircraftsman (LAC), Stonewall was posted to No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) at Windsor Mills, Quebec where he flew yellow Fleet Finch biplane Trainers. He was doing well on the Course until an Instructor caught him and another student indulging in a game of unauthorized aerial horseplay. East then failed a 50 hour check ride the Instructor sprung on him which effectively washed him out as a pilot trainee. For the next four months Clyde languished at the Re-Selection Center at RCAF Air Station Trenton, Ontario. This essentially was a recycling depot for washouts from every type and every stage of RCAF aircrew training. The Center is where one tried to salvage one's Air Force career by remustering to another trade. Clyde spent his time there telling anyone who would listen that he was not ready for the test and for that reason he should be given another chance. To his complete surprise the ploy finally worked. Clyde East was a very lucky young man as only 1 out of 100 were ever sent back by the Re-Selection Board to resume flight training. In March, 1942, Stonewall had to start from the very beginning, but this time he was careful not to break any rules or regulations along the way. Later in life he candidly admitted that he probably made it because he was a volunteer from the United States; he doubts that the authorities would have gone to so much trouble for a Canadian in similar circumstances.
While all of this was going on, Clyde was dating and corresponding with Margaret Ann.
In November, 1942, Clyde East won his RCAF Wings flying single-engined Harvard and Yale Trainers at No. 6 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at Dunnville, Ontario. He graduated in the top 10% of his class and was Commissioned as a Pilot Officer (PO). He sailed in January, 1943, from Pier 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia, on a troop ship headed for England. Assigned to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre (PRC) at Bournemouth, East had to wait two months before going to an Operational Training Unit (OTU). At the end of March, Clyde began conversion training onto Mustang Mk. I's at Royal Air Force (RAF) No. 41 OTU, Hawarden in Flintshire. No. 41's function was to train Tactical Reconnaissance (TR) Pilots for the RAF Army Co-operation Squadrons. Graduating from this Course at the end of April, Stonewall was posted to RCAF No. 414 "Black Knight" Squadron who were flying the Allison F3R-engined North American Aviation (NAA) Mustang Mk. I's from RAF Dunsfold. In July the Squadron moved to Gatwick in South-eastern England and in August to Ashford in Kent. In October, they operated from airfields at Woodchurch and Redhill. On November 3, they moved back to Gatwick and settled down in winter quarters for a long stay. "Ranger" operations over France and the Low Countries were continued for a few days with considerable success. That month, East was promoted from PO to Flying Officer (FO).
After he had completed 26 "Rhubarb" sorties into France, Belgium and Holland, where he attacked rail, motor, and barge traffic, Stonewall transferred on January 11, 1944 from the RCAF to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) with the rank of 1st. Lieutenant. His total flight time with the RCAF amounted to 491 hours. Assigned to the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (TRS), 10th Photographic Group (PG), 9th Air Force, East logged some 200 flight hours in Supermarine Vb Spitfire's before the Squadron took delivery of NAA Rolls-Royce Merlin-engined F-6C and F-6D Photo Reconnaissance Mustangs. East commented on the Spitfire's low level flying qualities; "We flew the clipped-wing version of the 'Five B' with derated engines, which meant it was much faster and had more power at lower altitudes. However, as you climbed, it would lose power to the point that at 10,000 feet that was about as high as you could effectively operate the type before performance began to seriously erode. It was however a great airplane for low altitudes and it was the best flying I ever had".
June 6, 1944 - On D-Day, East and his Wingman bounced, at 1900 hours, four German Focke-Wulf Fw 190's who were in a landing pattern near Laval, France. Both F-6C Pilot's claimed a single victory. East later said; "We may have actually shot down a third airplane. We saw only two aircraft go down, but we left three fires burning on the ground".
December 17, 1944 - A few days before the Battle of the Bulge, Lieutenants Clyde East and Henry Lacey spotted at 1435 hours a Messerschmitt Bf 109 East of Giessen, Germany. The enemy aircraft sporting a gaudy orange and white color scheme was leisurely flying down the Autobahn at 200 feet. East pulled in behind and fired two short bursts from his four Colt Browning M-2 .50 caliber machine guns. The Luftwaffe Pilot took no evasive action. His doomed aircraft rolled up on one wing, fell to earth and exploded on impact. In a letter home, Clyde described the action; “He never knew what hit him. I made one pass, firing about 75 rounds and must have killed the pilot outright".
Noting that the Mustangs were originally painted olive drab, Clyde commented on their transition to bare metal airplanes. "One or two months into the P-51 Operations in Europe someone directed us to 'take that darn paint off' because nobody cared if the enemy pilots saw you. It did remove about 100 pounds of weight".
Returning from a month's leave of R&R at the end of December, 1944, East transitioned into the newer F-6D. He fondly recalls that variant; "It was a great airplane. It had six .50-caliber machine guns instead of four like the earlier model. The bubble canopy gave you far more visibility than in the earlier Mustang which was great for speed, but it hardly had any visibility to the rear because of the heavily metal framed canopy".
March 15, 1945 - At 1300 hours in Mustang F-6D, newly promoted Captain C. B. East downed another Bf 109, 15 miles West of Aschaffenburg.
March 24, 1945 - Stonewall became an Ace at 0945 hours by bagging his fourth and fifth kills - both Bf 109s - while on a routine recce mission from Schweinfurt to Fulda.
March 27, 1945 - At 1630 hours Clyde and his wingman, Lt. Henry Lacey, literally stumbled onto a flight of six German Stukas that were dive-bombing a convoy of U. S. 4th Armoured Division vehicles as they attempted to cross a bridge deep within enemy territory. To make matters worse, a line of Junkers Ju 87 bombers could be seen in the distance preparing for additional attacks. Immediately engaging the Stukas, East opened fire and brought down two -- one crashing after the crew bailed out and one crash-landed on a sand bar adjacent to the riverbank. Lacey claimed a third Stuka, but that kill was never confirmed.
April 4, 1945 - Captain East claimed one half of a Junkers Ju 188 Night-Fighter near Wittenburg at 0830 hours. One hour later, 15 miles South of Leipzig, he was victorious over an Fw 190.
April 8, 1945 - Between 0800 and 0910 hours 5 miles Northwest of Dresden, Clyde brought down 2 Ju 87's, one half of a Heinkel He 111 and a Siebel Fh 104 "Hallore".
Commenting on the sudden turn of events with his enemy aerial encounters, Clyde said; "We had never seen an enemy airplane before D-Day and the philosophy on air-to-air combat was generally that if we saw one we would attack it. Later on, there were many other encounters with pilots of the 15th Squadron and there really were no rules -- nobody ever said anything about not shooting them down". East continues; "By early April, 1945, we were shooting down airplanes day after day. Up to that time I had eight or nine victories and one day my Wingman and I went out and shot down six airplanes between us. The next day we received an edict from Major General Weyland, Commander of the 9th Tactical Air Force, saying; 'No more attacking of enemy aircraft - you are to fire only in your own defense!'. What got the General so upset was that we'd shot down a transport and a small twin-engined wooden liaison aircraft. From that point on, we had to focus our activities on fighters only".
April 13, 1945 - A Bf 109 fell to the guns of East's Mustang 5 miles South of Hof, Germany at 1500 hours.
May 8, 1945 - Captain East's 14th and last victim was a Fieseler Fi 167 Torpedo-Bomber which was brought down early in the morning of the last day of the European War.
Clyde Bennett East had flown over 200 missions which translated into 350 combat flying hours. He had shot down 14 enemy aircraft, not too shabby for a Recconaisance Pilot whose main purpose was to observe and take pictures and who was only supposed to shoot back in self defense! Captain East's assigned aircraft, an F-6D Mustang Serial Number 44-14306 coded 5M-K, was named "Lil Margaret".
After the war, Clyde remained in the service as a regular Air Force Officer. Stationed at March Air Force Base (AFB) in Riverside, California, he married Margaret Ann and it was there where the first two of their six children were born. Assigned to the 12th TRS, East transitioned into the jet age while flying the Lockheed RF-80A Shooting Star.
By April, 1949, East had logged more than 1,000 hours of jet time and was re-assigned as the Squadron Operations Officer (Ops/O) with the 161st TRS at Langley AFB, Virginia. With the outbreak of the Korean War in June, 1950, he was ordered to Itazuke, Japan to join the 8th TRS and by October 1950, he'd flown more than 60 recce combat missions over North Korea. East was appointed Ops/O of the newly-activated 45th TRS -- a specially-organized low-altitude recce unit flying brand new RF-51D Mustangs never before assigned to tactical units. "We insisted on flying beyond the bomb line in pairs of RF-51's because we were taking heavy doses of light flak at low altitudes. On almost every flight we experienced the highest loss rate of any unit in Korea", recalled Clyde. "In 1951, however, T-33's out of Taegu were also used for recce work because you could put someone in the backseat with binoculars and with that second pair of eyes you'd get twice the visibility."
By the end of his Korean tour in September, 1951, East had flown over 130 combat missions in RF-51's, RF-80's and T-33's.
Further assignments saw the East family relocate to Shaw AFB in South Carolina where two daughters were born.
In 1954, Clyde became an Air Advisor to the Italian Air Force (IAF). East explained, "I answered the call for a guy who was jet-qualified and who had photo recce experience to be an Instructor for the IAF. My job was to help them transition from the Republic F-84G Thunderjet into the new RF-84F Thunderflash". He and his family lived in Rome and Verona and he vividly recalled flying both Republic jets. "Next to the Spitfire, the F-84G was about the friendliest airplane anyone could ever fly", said East fondly. "It was a great airplane."
In Italy, the East family added to their numbers with the birth of two daughters. Later the girls relinquished their Italian birthright and became American citizens.
Returning to the U.S. in July, 1957, Major East attended the USAF Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB in Alabama. He was then assigned to Shaw AFB as the Squadron Commander of the 18th TRS. At that time, the 18th was one of only three Air Force Squadrons to receive the hot new supersonic McDonnell Douglas RF-101 Voodoo. In May, 1959, East led the "One-O-Wonders" on a mass non-stop deployment from South Carolina to Laon Air Base in France, utilizing extensive inflight refueling on the trans-oceanic flight. While there, the Squadron participated in numerous NATO combined air and ground exercises, perfecting their low-altitude navigation and recce operations.
In July, 1962, East, now a Lieutenant Colonel, was the Commander of the 20th TRS. That October, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Clyde East was engaged in hazardous missions as dangerous as any that he had flown in combat. He personally flew some of the 100 photo recce missions over Cuba, as ordered by President John F. Kennedy and his staff. Some were as low as 400' and at speeds exceeding 726 miles per hour.
In February, 1965, East was offered the position of Military Consultant at the Rand Corporation. As he puts it, "the offer was too good to pass up". Retiring from the USAF that month, he worked at Rand for more than 20 years.
East, now in his 90's and retired, lives with his wife in Oak Park, California just north of Los Angeles. He leads a busy life keeping up with six children and seven grandchildren.
During his remarkable twenty-four year Air Force career, this "Go Fast Recce Pilot" was awarded the following Military Medals; World War II - Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 37 Air Medals (AM's); Korea - 2 DFC's, 5AM's; Cuban Missile Crisis - DFC.
***
The author gratefully thanks the following who provided information for this article: "Wings For Victory" by Spencer Dunmore, "Stars & Bars" by Frank Olynyk, "The War History of No. 414 RCAF Squadron" by Wing Commander F.H. Hitchins and parts from two Star-Tribune Newspaper Articles; written by Herman E. Melton in May, 2002 and by Amanda Winstead in September, 2008.
Cheers,
Tom Walsh.