Rite of Passage Book Review

Recently finished a great book about WWII bomber crews entitled Rite of Passage: A Teenager's Chronicle of Combat and Captivity in Nazi Germany, and highly recommend it to readers with an interest in WWII bomber crews and the Prisoner of War experience. Click on the hyperlinked book title for more information. Readers can get a signed copy for the same price as a traditional trade paperback in a bookstore. Would make a great birthday, Christmas or Chanukah gift for the WWII aviation buff on your list. My review follows:

"Many books have been written about bomber crew experiences in the skies over Europe in World War Two. And many have been written about the Prisoner of War experiences of those crewmen who were shot from the skies. What makes Ray Matheny's book stand out is the meticulous attention to detail and his eye for description. Matheny's book was originally popular in Germany in translation, and only recently has it become available to the American reading public. Matheny was a top turret gunner/flight engineer aboard the B-17 'Deacon's Sinners' of the Eighth Air Force's 384th Bomb Group. Graced with dollops of mechanical and technical aptitude, he is so trusted by his pilot and copilot that he becomes, in essence, a third pilot on the crew, flying the plane for hours while the pilots catch up on their sleep. He describes the interpersonal dynamics of his crew in great detail, and I found this to be fascinating. The pilot, a frustrated fighter pilot wannabe, who takes unnecessary risks with the airplane. The copilot, perhaps justly feeling that he is more qualified and at times resenting Matheny's flying time. Each man on the crew is fleshed out so that the reader can identify with him. This becomes a double-edged sword when the crew is shot down, killing most of the men. And that is where Matheny's adventure takes on a completely new twist, as a prisoner of war in Nazi Germany. Matheny gives the reader an intimate glimpse of POW life, and of the long march near the end of the war that the emaciated POWs make to stay ahead of the advancing Russian Army.

The book, filled with three-dimensional, carefully drawn characters and situations, stands out in the many books I've read over the years in this genre. I cannot recommend it highly enough. A major addition to military aviation history"

Link: Ray Matheny's Wikipedia Biography

2nd Visit with Louey

Items belonging to "Louey", my friend at the nursing home. Louey is not his real name. Louey was a P-51 fighter pilot in England during WWII and had two kills. I picked up this historic stuff at an estate sale, then tracked him down.

339th Fighter Group Mustangs on the flight line in England, 1944. This was Louey's outfit.

I visited my new friend Louey again today for a couple hours at the nursing home. I brought him a set of padded headphones to jack into his TV because he was concerned he was going to disturb his roommate when he watched TV at night, as well as a framed photo of a P-51 Mustang to put under his TV table, and a book about fighters in WWII.

We had a good visit, with some good laughs. Louey told me he really has no interest in WWII fighters any more. "I got out of that plane and never looked back." I said, okay, no problem, what do you like? He enjoys travel and nature books, so that's what I'll bring in the future.

A P-51.

My next visit, in a couple days, I will bring him a reading light to mount on his headboard, because he can't read in bed and he would like to. Got it okayed with the director of the nursing home. Also, Louey and I talked about how we are both losing our memories--me because of concussions, Louey because of Alzheimers. When I first showed up, Louey didn't remember me from the first visit, but remembered me later. We laughed, and I said if we have to start from scratch every visit, it doesn't matter.

This was actually Louey's plane, according to my research. It has been restored and belongs to a man in England.

Outstanding Website Shows British Air Bases--Must See

I recently got in touch with Richard Flagg of Hoxne, England, a World War Two aviation history researcher who has built an incredible site that catalogs many of the air bases in East Anglia from World War Two. This website is a real gem, and I urge everybody with an interest in the air war and the air bases to check it out. It's extensive, well-researched, and chock-full of excellent photos.

By way of introduction, Richard writes on his site:
"Hello and welcome to my collection of Airfield & Aviation Memorial photographs. Please enjoy looking at the photographs I have taken and please leave any comments by using the button below the photograph. Feel free to rate the photographs as well (out of 10) and if you feel the urge to write to me then please do so by clicking here.

I started taking photos of airfield memorials and old airfields a few years back and the more I research the more there is still waiting to be discovered. Memorial sites are wonderful places to find as well, some of them are in the most obscure places, some of them more obvious but all are there to remember the past and those who never returned.

Old Airfields are wonderful places to visit, each one telling its own story. The power and grace, the emotion and sadness are all there still to be felt at these places. Every airfield still has an energy and a very special atmosphere that cannot be recreated in a photograph. Every airfield I have been to so far will always remain to be an airfield, regardless how time has fared.

I am always on the lookout for new places to visit and new memorial sites to see, so if you know of any that I am yet to photograph in the areas that I have been to then drop me a line here. I hope to make a comprehensive database of memorial sites and visit as many as I can when time permits. If you do decide to go and have a walk around any airfield, be warned that some are still very active places and flying will be taking place. All of the airfields I have visited I have always had permission to be there, or I have followed a public right of way and I suggest you do the same. Make sure you have gained permission to visit any site as nearly all of them are private property. Although I have disabled the 'right-click' function on this website, use of any of these images is allowed. Contact Me with your email address and I will forward them on to you. If you want to use them for commercial publication then please contact me as well.

Richard E Flagg. Suffolk, UK. "

The website can be found by clicking here: http://airfields.fotopic.net/
Bookmark it, visit often, and drop Richard a line if you have a chance. He's done a wonderful thing here.

Thanks, Richard!

DNIF: Duties Not Involving Flying--Some Photos of the 95th BG in Horham--It took a lot of Men on the Ground to Keep 'Em Flying!!

Eighth Air Force Facts

These were sent to me by 95th Bomb Group bombardier Maurice Rockett, and come from the Eighth Air Force News.

Eighth Air Force Comparative Statistics:

At its peak, the Eighth Air Force had over 200,000 officers and men.

At its peak, it numbered 40.5 heavy bomb groups, 15 fighter groups, and 2 Photo Recon Groups operating from bases in the United Kingdom.

At this peak strength, a typical mission consisted of 1,400 heavy bombers escorted by 800 fighters, consuming 3,500,000 gallons of fuel, expending 250,000 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition, destroying 25 German aircraft in the air and on the ground for the loss of 4 United States fighters and five bombers, and dropping 3,300 tons of bombs on enemy targets while on visual missions. 40% fell within one thousand feet of assigned Mean Point of Impacts and 75% within 2,000 feet.




Behing these figures are the combat crews and fighter pilots who fought in the skies.

46,456 became casualties.
14 were awarded the Medal of Honor.
220 were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
11 were awarded Distinguished Service Medals.
207 were awarded Legions of Merit.
817 were awarded Silver Stars.
41,497 were awarded Distinguished Service Crosses.
478 were awarded Soldier's Medals.
6,845 were awarded Purple Hearts.
122,705 were awarded Air Medals.
2,972 were awarded Bronze Stars.
28,000 were awarded POW Medals.

In addition, none could have flown without the maintainence and ground personnel, who repaired 59,644 battle-damaged aircraft, loaded 732,231 tons of bombs, and linked and loaded 99,256,341 rounds of ammunition.

Incidentally, Maurice has a Purple Heart, an Air Medal, and a Distinguished Flying Cross. He lost an eye on a mission aboard a B-17. Maurice is one of my top guys for sending good information for this blog. Thanks, Maurice!


Maurice Rockett upon graduation from Bombardier school.

Emotional Video Tribute to 8th Air Force B-17 Crews

There is a fantastic tribute to 8th Air Force B-17 crews on Youtube. I only wish it were dedicated to all WWII airmen, of all Air Forces. The 15th Air Force also participated heavily in Europe, as did the 9th Tactical Air Force.



View it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLcGKnbm5BA



The painting accompanying this blog entry is by one of my new favorite aviation artists, a self-taught North Dakotan by the name of Scott Nelson. It shows Gale 'Buck' Cleven's B-17, of the 100th Bomb Group, going down. Scott's prints are excellent and affordable. All are co-signed by the subject of the painting, after careful research and dicussion with the individual. I recommend buying them now before they begin to go up in value. I am the proud owner of this particular piece.

Check out some of Scott's other works here: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZscott-nelson

P-38 Found on Welsh Beach after 65 Years

Aerial view of the P-38 recently discovered off a Welsh beach after 65 years of being buried in the sand.

NEW YORK - Sixty-five years after an American P-38 fighter plane ran out of gas and crash-landed on a beach in Wales, the long-forgotten World War II relic has emerged from the surf and sand where it lay buried.

Beach strollers, sunbathers and swimmers often frolicked within a few yards of the aircraft, unaware of its existence until last summer, when unusual weather caused the sand to shift and erode.

The revelation of the Lockheed "Lightning" fighter, with its distinctive twin-boom design, has stirred interest in British aviation circles and among officials of the country's aircraft museums, ready to reclaim another artifact from history's greatest armed conflict.

Based on its serial number and other records, "the fighter is arguably the oldest P-38 in existence, and the oldest surviving 8th Air Force combat aircraft of any type," said Ric Gillespie, who heads a U.S.-based nonprofit group dedicated to preserving historic aircraft. "In that respect it's a major find, of exceptional interest to British and American aviation historians."
Gillespie finds romance as well as historic significance in the discovery of the aircraft, long forgotten by the U.S. government.

"It's sort of like `Brigadoon,' the mythical Scottish village that appears and disappears," he said. "Although the Welsh aren't too happy about that analogy — they have some famous legends of their own."

Gillespie's organization, the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, learned of the plane's existence in September from a British air history enthusiast and sent a team to survey the site last month. The group plans to collaborate with British museum experts in recovering the fragile but nearly intact aircraft next spring.

The Imperial War Museum Duxford and the Royal Air Force Museum are among the institutions expressing interest.

"The difficult part is to keep such a dramatic discovery secret. Looting of historic wrecks, aircraft or ships, is a major problem, in Britain as it is worldwide," Gillespie said.

British aviation publications have been circumspect about disclosing the exact location, and local Welsh authorities have agreed to keep the plane under surveillance whenever it is exposed by the tides of the Irish Sea, he said. For now, the aircraft is again buried under sand.

Officially, the U.S. Air Force considers any aircraft lost before Nov. 19, 1961 — when a fire destroyed many records — as "formally abandoned," and has an interest in such cases only if human remains are involved.

The twin-engine P-38, a radical design conceived by Lockheed design genius Clarence "Kelly" Johnson in the late 1930s, became one of the war's most successful fighter planes, serving in Europe and the Pacific. About 10,000 of the planes were built, and about 32 complete or partial airframes are believed to still exist, perhaps 10 in flying condition.

Another P-38, part of a "lost squadron" of warplanes marooned by bad weather in Greenland while being flown to Europe in 1942, was recovered and extensively restored with new parts. Dubbed "Glacier Girl," its attempt to complete the flight to Britain earlier this year was thwarted by mechanical problems.

The Wales Lightning, built in 1941, reached Britain in early 1942 and flew combat missions along the Dutch-Belgian coast.

Second Lt. Robert F. "Fred" Elliott, 24, of Rich Square, N.C., was on a gunnery practice mission on Sept. 27, 1942, when a fuel supply error forced him to make an emergency landing on the nearest suitable place — the Welsh beach.

His belly landing in shallow water sheared off a wingtip, but Elliott escaped unhurt. Less than three months later, the veteran of more than 10 combat missions was shot down over Tunisia, in North Africa. His plane and body were never found.

As the disabled P-38 could not be flown off the beach, "American officers had the guns removed, and the records say the aircraft was salvaged, but it wasn't," Gillespie said. "It was gradually covered with sand, and there it sat for 65 years. With censorship in force and British beaches closed to the public during the war, nobody knew it was there."

It was first spotted by a family enjoying a day at the beach on July 31.

The discovery was stunning news for Robert Elliott, 64, of Blountville, Tenn., the pilot's nephew and only surviving relative. He has spent nearly 30 years trying to learn more about his namesake's career and death.

All he knew of the Wales incident was a one-line entry saying Elliott had "ditched a P-38 and was uninjured."

"So this is just a monumental discovery, and a very emotional thing," said Elliott, an engineering consultant. He said he hopes to be present for the recovery.

Jimmy Stewart--B-24 Pilot and Actor, Gets a Stamp

Jimmy got his stamp last week. The price has gone up to 41 cents, but the stamp is the same.

The great James 'Jimmy' Stewart was honored with a United States postage stamp last week. Stewart is best-known and loved as a Hollywood film actor, but he was also a B-24 pilot in World War Two and flew twenty missions over Europe. His men remember him as a regular guy, humble and approachable. One of my friends, Sam Mastrogiacomo, flew in the same squadron and remembers the day Stewart was aboard to give his pilot a check ride. All the crew found a reason to work their way into the cockpit for a peek at the Hollywood legend. Sam found Stewart to be genuine and approachable to officers and enlisted men alike, and a very fine superior officer.

Stewart flew with the 445th Bomb Group, US Eighth Air Force, out of England. He was a command pilot on many of these missions, and one of his planes was 'Four Yanks and a Jerk'.

Stewart posed for this LIFE cover in the town square of his home town of Indiana, Pennsylvania.

Stewart was already a famous actor when he volunteered for duty. He ended the war as a command pilot and stayed in the Air Force Reserves until 1968, when he retired as a Brig. General. His last mission was on a B-52 Bomber.

Jimmy Stewart was a true American hero and we can honor his memory by using his stamp till it is sold out. I will use no other until then.


Jimmy Stewart's leather flight jacket is on display in Dayton, Ohio.

God bless you, Jimmy!

The Two Best 8th Air Force Websites--Fred Preller's Mighty Eighth Cross Reference and Steve Mosca's Mighty Eighth Message Board

Fred Preller's Mighty Eighth Cross Reference and Steve Mosca's Mighty Eighth Message Board are the best internet websites for World War Two research.

On the Cross Reference site, Fred has linked up all the bomb group pages with all kinds of excellent references, putting the entire history of the Eighth as close as a click of a mouse.





Drop by for a look around. You'll end up staying for hours.

Click here for a closer look: http://mighty8thaf.preller.us/index.html?page=/php/000-AllBG.html

The other must-read website is Steve Mosca's outstanding Mighty Eighth Message Board. It is a fact that I could not have researched and written 'Untold Valor' without it. This is a discussion forum open to anyone having questions or information about anything 8th Air Force. Click here to visit: http://www.com-web.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html, or at the bottom of my web page, where there is a permanent link.


I salute both these men on their contributions to research and study of the Eighth Air Force.

New 2 DVD Special Edition of 'Twelve O'Clock High' a must-have

A classic just got better!

Exciting news for 8th Air Force vets and historians. The 2 DVD special edition of the classic 1949 film starring Gregory Peck and Dean Jagger is now available. I found a brand new, sealed one online for under ten dollars, so you don't have to spend an arm and a leg to get it.

Nearly every 8th Air Force and 15th Air Force vet I've ever talked to has praised Twelve O'Clock High as the most realistic and sensitive portrayal of life in a bomb group in the perilous first year of the US air war in Europe, 1942-early 1943.

The acting is superb by all. This is first and foremost a study in leadership and secondly a war film, and it succeeds on both points. Run, don't walk, to get your Special Edition DVD of Twelve O'Clock High as soon as you can. You will not regret it.

With this 2007 Special Edition, you get the original movie, one of the greatest Hollywood films ever made and certainly the greatest WWII film ever made. Second, you have on the same disc a voice-over narration option giving facts about each scene by commentators. The second disc contains a retrospective on the making of the film, a profile on the man who was the model for Gen. Savage, a profile on the US home front, a profile on bomber crewmen in WWII, movie stills, news articles, and more. As a big fan of this film, the new edition is a treasure and renders my older version entirely obsolete.

On a scale of one to five, I give it a six.