From The Bellfast Telegraph
When Eagles from the USA landed over at Eglinton base
By Norman Hamill
07 June 2006
Later this year, a small band of ace wartime fighter pilots will gather in California for their last ever reunion.
They are the famous Eagles - all American volunteers who joined the RAF when fighter pilots were desperately needed early in the war and some of them were based here at Eglinton.
After the attack on Pearl Harbour when their own country officially joined the conflict late in 1942, they served with great distinction in their own US Air Force.
Eglinton man and life-long aviation enthusiast, Nat McGlinchey, has kept in touch with Eagle veterans and was extremely proud several years ago when they made him an associate member of their Eagle Squadron Association.
Now Nat has received a letter from the association's president, Bill Edwards, telling him of their poignant last ever reunion.
"As you know several Eagles passed away during the year and so we decided to have a reunion in San Diego in October. It will have been two years since we were together and I fear it will be the last time many of us will be able to travel," wrote Bill.
Bill and his wife Barbara have visited Nat several times during nostalgic trips back to Derry.
"Bill is in his 80s and although he is very fit, over the past couple of years the number of Eagles passing away has accelerated and now there are just too few left to carry on," says Nat.
"It is very sad that such a link with living history here in the North West is about to end," he says.
The Eagles were first recruited and organised by a charismatic and wealthy American, Charles Sweeny, a leading international golfer and friend of most of the aristocracy of Europe between the wars. 243 pilots joined and almost half of them were killed in action.
One of the three Eagle squadrons was sent to the recently finished aerodrome at Eglinton early in 1941 to complete their training, protect Derry from air attack and fly convoy patrols over the Atlantic.
But their journey here was nothing short of a disaster.
On October 8, 15 aircraft took off from Cambridgeshire bound for Eglinton with a refuelling stop scheduled for the Isle of Man. In dreadful weather with dangerously low cloud, two of the 15 Hurricane pilots turned back. Of those who continued, four lost their lives when their aircraft crashed into mountains on the Isle of Man.
One of them was Andy Mamedoff who had just become the first Eagle to marry an English girl, beautiful Penny Craven of the famous cigarette manufacturing company.
Pilot Officer William White's Hurricane was never found nor his body ever recovered. Just nine surviving pilots and their aeroplanes arrived safely at Eglinton.
"They were greeted by clouds, rain, snow, cold temperatures and six inches of mud," recorded their historian Phil Caine.
The climate here came as a terrible shock to men from sunny California as were their cold, draughty barracks with small coal stoves and baths a mile away with a marginal supply of hot water.
"On the bright side were the black market steaks, ham, eggs and butter, friendly pubs and hospitable citizens of Londonderry to which the squadron became attached," Caine says.
Local families kept the Eagles well supplied such as the late John Kelly's family at Ballygudden Road who used to fatten cockerels on corn supplied by the airmen. Of course, with over 20,000 sailors in Derry competition for female company was fierce, but apparently one seldom saw an Eagle alone.
But their life was harsh and desperately dangerous. They were regularly scrambled to intercept possible bombing raids on the city and within two weeks of their arrival, two more pilots had been killed.
George Bruce died when his aircraft spun out of control after clipping a tree at Ballygudden Road as he was coming in to land. He lies buried at nearby Faughanvale Presbyterian Church.
A few days later another Eagle, Gene Coxetter, was killed when his Hurricane crashed at Rasharkin in County Antrim.
Bud Wolfe from Nebraska bailed out over Gleneely on Inishowen in November after he ran out of fuel as he was returning from a convoy protection patrol.
Bud landed safely, but found himself interned at the Curragh, south of Dublin.
He "escaped" which was really more a case of breaking parole and the British promptly handed him back to the Irish Government as it was considered ungentlemanly to break parole.
Clearly the Eagles had many colourful characters. At their Christmas party in their rather cold Eglinton mess, one of the pilots chopped up the Christmas tree, soaked it in aviation fuel and put it on the fire. The fire brigades from Derry and Limavady couldn't save the mess which was burned to the ground in the ensuing conflagration.
Whilst at Eglinton the Eagles were re-equipped with Spitfires, but they returned to Cambridgeshire on the last day of 1941 when they were replaced by the RAF. They went on to serve heroically with great skill and determination for the rest of the war.
They lost 108 men during the war, but the passing years have taken an even greater toll. Now Bill Edwards has written to explain the situation to Nat.
Slightly understating the sad circumstances with a note of stoical resignation, Bill wrote: "Nat, hope this finds you doing real well. Looks like we will close the door on the association - too bad! Just too few to carry on. Cheers. Bill."
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Brave men, long ago & far away. Lets not forget them.
Robbie
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