Warbird Information Exchange

Hi Guys,

Rob's suggestion to include info about my Uncle's Mustang made me curious about something..... Does anyone else on the board have a relative who was a pilot during WWII? If so, please let us know, if you would like me to include something about them. Thanks guys.

Karen

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"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of
us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time"
- Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC

Hi rob,

That's fascinating! I had no idea. I am very glad I asked! I look forward to seeing the pictures. Are your relatives still alive? Thanks!

Karen

_________________
"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of
us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time"
- Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC

My Grandfather, Joseph Denver, was a B-17 pilot with the 96th BG 337th BS. I have a few photos of his aircraft, but I dunno how to post them, and photobucket is making me jump through too many hoops...

-Dennis S.
Greeley, Colorado

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"We must bond together and fight as brothers or we will all die as fools."

2 of my cousins were KIA in WWII. The first Capt Don c. Owen was an ace with 5 kills. He first flew F4Fs with Joe Foss in VMF-121 on Guadalcanal. His second tour was with VMF-112 on the USS Bennington flying F4U-1Ds. He is KIA in May 45 when after being launched in zero-zero weather to try and intercept a bogie he became disoriented and spun in. Another cousin Lt Dallas Books was the pilot of B-24H s/n 41-28742 "Old Glory" of the 392nd BG was KIA on March 18 ,1944 when his Liberator was shot down by FW-190s near Fredrichshafen ,Germany.

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Don't touch my junk!!

Karen-

My Dad was a B-24 pilot stationed in Italy (15 AF, 456 BG) from Aug '44 till his 35th sortie in Feb '45. His first mission was Ploesti and his mission list includes Munich, Vienna, Blechhammer, Steyer, ect. Following combat, he rotated back to the states as a B-24 instructor. He transitioned into the B-29, but with hostilites winding down, looked at the "numbers" - and got out. He never stopped flying though, and got me hooked early and taught me to fly. In 1987 we were in right place/right time and began flying the B-17 Fuddy Duddy with the fine folks at NWM in Geneseo. My dad got typed in '87 (64 y.o.) and I got typed in '90. We flew together until '96. Bomber formations, dissimilar formations, airshows up and down the east coast. It was quite a thrill and a priviledge. My Dad's still around (81 now) and pretty sharp - still flies with me whenever we can.

Sorry for rambling on, but I'm rather proud of him.

Rob Gillman

PS- My uncle was a B-17 copilot (8 AF, 390 BG) and was shot down on his 25th (last) mission an early '44. Ended up in Stalag Luft I.

Rob-
No thats not me, but I think I know who it is. PM me for answer.
Rob G

Karen et al--

Almost but not quite, in my case...I can name one relative (my dad's uncle) who flew fighters, but postwar. F/O Reginald F. Slee was his name. I never got the chance to meet him, sadly, as he was killed in a midair collision in February 1955 in Sabre 5, 23265. Someday I'm going to do a painting of Reg and the Sabre.

S.

Hi Karen,

Here's a link to some research a fellow made concerning Crew #28, 569th BS, 390th BG. My mom's cousin, Lt. Billy Pflug, flew right seat with this crew. Unfortunately most of crew #28 met their demise on April 24, 1944 over Friedrichshafen. After B-17 42-107177 had much of her port wing blown off, she inverted and blew up. 10 seconds of terror and then eternal rest. Godspeed Billy.

http://members.tripod.com/richardwhite1/id66.htm

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Had at least three relatives that flew combat during WW2.

Harry Patterson was an A/C commander in VP-74 from late 1942 to the end of the war, flying PBMs with two sub kills, including a surface gun battle with one sub.

Buddy Patterson flew with the 172nd(?) Liason Sq./ 1st Air Commandos from 1942 until the end of the war. Flew mostly L-1's and L-5's supporting Merrels' Maurauders and Gen. Wingate in Burma. Twice had to fly Wingate out on medivac missions. Won the DFC with at least 5 Oak Leaf Clusters that I can find records of. I have a considerable number of his personal records in storage right now, but If I remember correctly, he flew the astonishing number of 517 combat missions in one month. At that time, the Japanese held one end of the Burmese airfield they were on and the US held the other. Also, at that time the average mission length for them was 5 minuets or less.

Had a third family member that flew also, but I don't know what branch. Bo ended up in Japan at the end of the war and was part of getting JAL up and running. Ernie Gann's High and the Mighty is alledged to have been partially based on one of Bo's trans-Pacific flights in the late 40's at JAL.

Very interesting stories guys!...

My Aunt's father, Stanislaw Lapka, flew in 302 squadron during the Battle of Britain. He was credited with 2.5 victories. There's a color picture of him in Jan Konariek's book Polish Airforce 1939-1945 on page 36. He was a fiery fellow, with a very good sense of humor, but sadly he died before I was really old enough to ask him pertinent questions.

My grandfather's uncles both flew for the RFC during WWI. One of them was shot down and killed. We have a letter from the 1920's to his mother by Floyd Gibbon of the Chicago Tribune who was doing a book on the Richtofen. He was sure that Richtofen had shot down my grandfather's uncle, although I don't know if this was ever proven... made for a good story though, none-the-less.

Richard

My Grand-Uncle was a crew member on Stirlings and was shot down over Holland, he was with the partisans for awhile participating in raids with them. Unfortunately he was captured on his way to rendesvous with a sub to take him back to England. He then went on to escape from prision camp on numerous occasions, eventually he made it back to the UK by a very devious but inspired method. After the war he wrote a book about what he got up to during his time in "Fortress Europe" making life miserable for the Germans, its called " Boldness Be My Friend" and is well worth a read.

My grandfather was a navigator in WWII, on B-24s with the 98th BG in North Africa and on B-29s with the 468th BG in the CBI. My other grandfather was an engineer with NACA and worked on the Catalina, Mariner, and HK-1 during the war.

My father flew A-1s in Vietnam with the 1st SOS at NKP.

First I should clarify about my uncle the B-24J (F-7B) gunner - he wasn't my blood relative but one of my parents' closest friends - one of only a few that we called uncle. My dad, Jim Brame, went into the USAAF in '46 and was a weather observer - backseat rides in AT-6s and A-26s at several bases in Japan like Atami, Itazuke and Bofu, where he saw an F-80 and an F-82 having a mock dogfight! He did get shot at once by some guy on a fishing boat when they were having problems with some local Communists about the time of Mao's takeover of China. His younger brother Mike rode C-130s on ECM missions near East Germany in the mid-to-late '60s. Not the most exciting stories, but they did their part.

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Hi All,

I am SO glad I asked this question!!!! I must find a place in the book for these stories. If I get enough info this may become a book of its own! I was very pleased to see the detail, and obvious love and pride, with which you all wrote!

BTW, close friends count too! Biologically speaking, my Pap Pap Rando, was my Grandmothers second husband, but to me he is the only grandfather I ever wanted, or knew.

Thank you so much guys for sharing!

Best wishes,
Karen

_________________
"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of
us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time"
- Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC

As close as I can come is my father was a career Marine, two tours of duty in Vietnam (one tour doing counter-insurgency), wounded in combat in January, 1967. He retired in 1977 as a Captain having gone through the ranks from Private First Class.

His father (my grandfather) was in World War I aboard a freighter named the S.S. Western Spirit and his uncle (my great-uncle) was a Marine between the wars stationed in South America. I believe his Brother-In-Law (my uncle) was a civilian who worked for the USAF in the 60's.

I also had two uncles on my mother's side who served in the U.S. Army during the Korean era but I don't think either saw combat. Mrs. Buster's father was an Air Traffic Controller in the USAF during the 1950's and 60's, so I guess that is as close as I get to any pilots in the family...

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Victory By Valor (Motto of the 20th Fighter Group)