As the son and nephew of an Eighth Air Force flight engineer and pilot,
my interest in World War II came at an early age. Some of my earliest
memories are of running outside to look up at military airplanes flying
overhead. When I was in grade school, I read every book in the library
about the war and when the Air Power series was on TV in the 1950s, my
dad and I made a point of going over to my grandparents - we didn't
have a TV yet - to watch every episode. My dad had a couple of books
that he had picked up at the old Dyersburg Army Air Field after it
closed and I read them from cover-to-cover time and time again. One was
a 1945 Army Air Forces annual, and it was essentially a history of the
war from start to finish, and served as an excellent primer for
learning about the war in general, particularly as it involved the air
forces. After I went into the Air Force and started making my own
history, I continued to read books on the war as they came out,
particularly the pocketbook editions, which I could slip into the leg
pocket on my flight suit and pull out to read during those long, boring
flights across the Atlantic and Pacific - or across the South China
Sea. I never read much inflight in Vietnam because the legs were too
short, but I nevertheless usually had a book in my pocket or in my
flight back to read in my bunk in the barracks. Quite often I found
myself in close proximity to the places where some of the history
described in those books had been made. It was only natural that I
would develop a powerful industry in history in general, but
particularly in World War II. Over the years I have written numerous
articles for magazines, particularly World War II and WW II History
magazines. Some have been published, some haven't, at least not yet.
But I have also written a number of articles about subjects in which I
have a special interest, some of which are somewhat controversial and
are off-limits to the conventional media primarily because of political
or social implications. I plan to scan some of those articles and
publish them on the net, along with documents that are available, but
not well-known to the public, not even to World War II history
enthusiasts.
Ted's Travelling Circus:
The first heavy bomber group equipped with the Consolidated B-24 Liberator to go to Europe was the 93rd Bombardment Group. By early 1943 it was achieving quite a reputation and would fly more missions than any other Eighth Air Force heavy bomber group by war's end.
The Tuskegee Airmen:
In the 1960s at the height of the civil rights movement, it was only natural that the World War II colored fighter pilots, the so-called "Tuskegee Airmen," would be discovered by the Afro-Centrist historians of the day. Since that time the men of the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group have become the subjects of several books, a cable TV movie was made about them and they are now the subjects of an upcoming Hollywood production by noted film-maker George Lucas of Star Wars Fame. A myth has developed around the men of the 332nd Fighter Group, a myth that the young airmen overcame racial prejudice and rose to become superior fighters pilots who were so good that they never lost a bomber. But in truth, they lost a lot of bombers and their immediate superior in the 506th Fighter Wing, B/Gen. Dean Strother summed up his impressions of the group with five words - "They just weren't that good."
Operation Downfall:
Had Japan not agreed to surrender terms offered by the United States that allowed Emperor Hirihito to remain on his throne, there is no way of knowing what would have actually happened. General Douglas MacArthur's staff had drawn up plans for Operation Downfall, the invasion of Kyushu, the southern-most island in the Japanese home islands. Numerous authors have speculated about what would have happened if the invasion had gone on as planned, using that Allied casualties would have been horrendous as the Japanese waged a terrible war using thousands of Kamikaze aircraft to attack the invading fleet while it was lying offshore. Yet, interrogations of the Japanese general officers responsible for the defense of Kyushu reveal that the "thousands" of Kamikaze aircraft were non-existent, and that the Japanese were depending on fierce resistance on the beaches to prevent the invaders from landing. The report of their interrogations was classified for more than half a century - read it here.
Troop Carriers:
When I joined the Air Force in 1963, my first assignment was to the 464th Troop Carrier Wing at Pope AFB, NC, where I eventually went on flying status and became an aircrew member dropping paratroops and cargo. This gave me a natural curiosity about the mission, which was one of the most dangerous and often heroic, but under-reported missions of the war - Troop Carriers.
Women in the Army Air Forces:
Just as the role of the Negro airmen who trained at Tuskeggee has been greatly exaggerated, so has the role of the female civilian pilots who were trained and contracted by the Army to fly military airplanes. But while the WAFS and WASPS were civilians, the Army Air Forces used flight nurses and women in uniform in a variety of roles, including overseas - Women in the Army Air Forces.
Army Air Transport Command:
Another WW II organization whose role has been greatly exaggerated is the Air Transport Command, which functioned within the War Department as essentially an airline in military paint and uniform. Like the WASP, they attracted a great deal of media attention and were looked on with disdain by combat crews, particulary troop carriers, who referred to them as "Allergic To Combat."
Ted's Travelling Circus:
The first heavy bomber group equipped with the Consolidated B-24 Liberator to go to Europe was the 93rd Bombardment Group. By early 1943 it was achieving quite a reputation and would fly more missions than any other Eighth Air Force heavy bomber group by war's end.
The Tuskegee Airmen:
In the 1960s at the height of the civil rights movement, it was only natural that the World War II colored fighter pilots, the so-called "Tuskegee Airmen," would be discovered by the Afro-Centrist historians of the day. Since that time the men of the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group have become the subjects of several books, a cable TV movie was made about them and they are now the subjects of an upcoming Hollywood production by noted film-maker George Lucas of Star Wars Fame. A myth has developed around the men of the 332nd Fighter Group, a myth that the young airmen overcame racial prejudice and rose to become superior fighters pilots who were so good that they never lost a bomber. But in truth, they lost a lot of bombers and their immediate superior in the 506th Fighter Wing, B/Gen. Dean Strother summed up his impressions of the group with five words - "They just weren't that good."
Operation Downfall:
Had Japan not agreed to surrender terms offered by the United States that allowed Emperor Hirihito to remain on his throne, there is no way of knowing what would have actually happened. General Douglas MacArthur's staff had drawn up plans for Operation Downfall, the invasion of Kyushu, the southern-most island in the Japanese home islands. Numerous authors have speculated about what would have happened if the invasion had gone on as planned, using that Allied casualties would have been horrendous as the Japanese waged a terrible war using thousands of Kamikaze aircraft to attack the invading fleet while it was lying offshore. Yet, interrogations of the Japanese general officers responsible for the defense of Kyushu reveal that the "thousands" of Kamikaze aircraft were non-existent, and that the Japanese were depending on fierce resistance on the beaches to prevent the invaders from landing. The report of their interrogations was classified for more than half a century - read it here.
Troop Carriers:
When I joined the Air Force in 1963, my first assignment was to the 464th Troop Carrier Wing at Pope AFB, NC, where I eventually went on flying status and became an aircrew member dropping paratroops and cargo. This gave me a natural curiosity about the mission, which was one of the most dangerous and often heroic, but under-reported missions of the war - Troop Carriers.
Women in the Army Air Forces:
Just as the role of the Negro airmen who trained at Tuskeggee has been greatly exaggerated, so has the role of the female civilian pilots who were trained and contracted by the Army to fly military airplanes. But while the WAFS and WASPS were civilians, the Army Air Forces used flight nurses and women in uniform in a variety of roles, including overseas - Women in the Army Air Forces.
Army Air Transport Command:
Another WW II organization whose role has been greatly exaggerated is the Air Transport Command, which functioned within the War Department as essentially an airline in military paint and uniform. Like the WASP, they attracted a great deal of media attention and were looked on with disdain by combat crews, particulary troop carriers, who referred to them as "Allergic To Combat."