Posted by Vicky | Comments : (0)
Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: Admiral, Admiral William P. Leahy, Algiers, American Expeditionary Force, Amilcar, Archive Stories, Axel Munthe, Bari, Bay of Naples, Britain, C-54, Caacie, Cairo, Capri, Caruso, Caserta Palace, Chemical Warfare, Chief of Staff, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Clark, Dakar, Distinguished Service Cross, Egypt, Eisenhower, Ellen Ruthmann, Flying Fortress, Gen Carl Tooey Spaatz, Gen Mark W. Clark, Gen Walter Bedell (Beetle) Smith, Harry Hopkins, Italian POWs, Italy, Legion of Merit, London, Maj Gen Leroy H. Watson, Malta, Marrakech, Marshall, Mattie Pinette, Mediterranean, Mike Reilly, Mount Vesuvius, Naples, Nazi Europe, North-Africa, Overlord, Pacific Theater, Palestine, Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister, Prince Urnberto, Red Cross, Rome, Sarah Oliver, Sicily, Signal Corps, Sir Alan Brooke, Sir Winston Churchill, Smith, Spaatz, Sue Sarafin, Telek, Tunis, Washington, Watson, White House
Returning from Cairo to Algiers, I began digging away at the minor mountain of paper accumulated on my desk. Memories of Egypt and Palestine faded completely as I worked late each night to reduce those piles of the General’s fan mail. Like everyone else at headquarters, however, I was still busier on unofficial duties… working overtime on the old rumor that Gen Marshall, not Gen Ike, would head the new American Expeditionary Force building in Britain, and that Ike would go to Washington to become Chief of Staff.
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Posted by Snafu | Comments : (1)
Category : Army Air Forces, B-17 Bombers (41)
Tags: 2nd Bombardment Group, Alaska, Army Chief of Staff Malin Craig, B-17/299, Boeing, Boeing 247 Transport Airplane, Boeing XB-15 Bomber, Brig Gen Ira Eaker, British Bomber Command, California, Casablanca Conference, Combined Bomber Offensive, Dayton, Douglas B-18 Bolo, Douglas DB-1, E. Gifford Emery, Edward Curtis Wells, Eighth Air Force, England, Fifteenth Air Force, Flying Fortress, Focke-Wulf-Bremen, France, Gen Ira C. Eaker, GHQ-AAF, Handley Page Halifax, Hawaii, High Wycombe, Langley Field, Les Tower, Leslie Tower, Lt Curtis LeMay, Maj Gen Frank Maxwell Andrews, Maj Paul Tibbets, Maj Ployer Peter Hill, March Field, Martin 146, Martin B-10, Norden Bombsight, Ohio, Operation Pointblank, Panama, Pratt & Whitney R-1690, Regensburg, Richard Williams, Rouen, Royal Air Force, Schweinfurt, Seattle Times, Sotteville, Stirling, US Army Air Corps, US Bomber Command, Virginia, Wilhelmshaven, Wright Field, Wright R-1820-39, XB-17, Y1B-17, YB-17
On August 8 1934, the US Army Air Corps (USAAC) tendered a proposal for a multi-engined bomber to replace the Martin B-10. Requirements were that it would carry a “useful bombload” at an altitude of 10000-F (3000-M) for ten hours with a top speed of at least 200-MPH (320-KMH). They also desired, but did not require, a range of 2000-M (3200-KM) and a speed of 250-MPH (400-KMH). The Air Corps were looking for a bomber capable of reinforcing the air forces in Hawaii, Panama, and Alaska. The competition would be decided by a “fly-off” at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio.
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Posted by Snafu | Comments : (0)
Category : Luftwaffe, Walter Oesau
Tags: 7./JG51, Augsburg, Beaumont-le-Roger, Bf-109F, Curtiss, Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule, Eichenlaubtrager, Eichenlaubträger Egon Mayer, Fahnenjunker, Flying Fortress, Fw 190, Gruppenkommandeur III./JG51, Hartmann Grasser, He 51 biplane, J/88, Jafü 4, Jagdgeschwader 1 Oesau, Jagdgeschwader 132, JG1's Stabsschwarm, Kommandeur III./JG1, Kommandeur III./JG3, Kommodore JG1, Lancasters Bomber, Liberator, Luftwaffe, Major Wilhelm Balthasar, Oak Leaves, Oberst Hans Philipp, Operation Barbarossa, P-47 Thunderbolt, Paderborn, Reichsarbeitsdienst, Richthofen Geschwader, Ritterkreuz, Royal Air Force, Soviet, Spanish Civil War, Spanish Cross in Gold, Spanish Wound Badge, Stabsschwarm I./JG2, Staffelkapitan I./JG20, Swords and Diamonds, Verdun, Walter Oesau
Walter Oesau was born on June 28 1913 at Farnewinkel in the Dithmarschen region of Schleswig-Hostein. He went into the Reichsarbeitsdienst [RAD] in 1933 and then joined the Army, serving as a private in an artillery regiment. By 1934 he had become a Fahnenjunker and began flying training with the Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule. He entered the Luftwaffe at about the time it was founded and, with his flying training completed, in 1937 he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 132 ‘Richthofen’ as a Leutnant.
In April 1938, Lt Oesau volunteered for service in the Spanish Civil War and was sent to join J/88 where he flew the He 51 biplane with 3. Staffel. He claimed his first victory on 15 July, his second on the 17th and his third victory a day later.
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Posted by Snafu | Comments : (0)
Category : Archives Movies, Memphis Belle
Tags: 324th Bomber Squadron, 91st Bomber Group, Army Air Force, B-17-F, Esquire Magazine, Flying Fortress, George Petty, Lt Robert Morgan, Margaret Polk, Memphis, Memphis Belle, Tennessee
The Memphis Belle, a B-17F Flying Fortress, is one of the most famous aircraft in history. In May 1943 it became the first US Army Air Forces heavy bomber to complete 25 missions over Europe and return to the United States. The pilot, then Lt Robert Morgan, named the aircraft after his wartime girlfriend, Margaret Polk, of Memphis, Tenn. Lt Morgan chose the artwork from a 1941 George Petty illustration in Esquire magazine. Flying in the 324th Bomb Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group (Heavy), the Memphis Belle and its crew of 10 flew their first combat mission on Nov 7 1942. Until the arrival of long-range fighters later in the war, AAF heavy bombers often flew without escort for part of their missions. Faced with hordes of enemy aircraft, deadly antiaircraft fire and the lack of friendly fighters in the target area, it was highly unlikely that a bomber crew would finish their required 25 missions.
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