Eighth Air Force Historical Society - Massachusetts Chapter

Election Results

Bill Campbell was reelected to the presidency of the Massachusetts Chapter at a meeting of the Board of Directors held in September. All other officers were reelected without opposition. They are Vice President Al Ducey, Treasurer Carl Wood, Secretary Jack McKernan and Editor John Brennan.

Fabulous Fling at the Woburn Elks Club!

Why did we switch locations for the Fall Fling? We love Hanscom Air Reserve Base as veterans of military service. But it seemed appropriate to switch for the time being. Hanscom has enough problems with security without us adding to them. We have been holding our monthly meetings at the Woburn Elks Club. The Fling was wonderful! Everyone was very nice to us. The food was excellent and portions were grand. Not a Belgian carrot in the house!

The President's Message

These are trying times for most of us. Our late in life routine has been interrupted by the terrible events of a year ago. Even as I write these words to you war clouds thicken and darken on the horizon. World War Two veterans are near or beyond age 80. Most of us recall the good things about our service to America. We like to meet at places that recall the happy times of our service. Hanscom is one.

It was fun to stand outside the Officers’ Club and greet comrades who were pulling into the parking spaces. It was fun to see the oh so young officers and enlisted men going about their business. They reminded us of when we were in uniform and when we were young also. Instead of being old.
Security regulations became so strict that it was difficult to satisfy them. We appreciate that these regulations are temporary, The thought also occurred to us that we might have planned our luncheon at the O Club, sold all our tickets and an international event might have occurred that would force the government to shut down the social events at the base and where would we be? I want to thank all the members who attend our monthly meeting on third Thursdays whether at Hanscom or at the Elks and all those who attend our first Tuesday meetings at McDonald’s in Walpole. The people at the Elks and at McDonald’s could not be nicer to us.

Many veterans’ groups are dying because of the age of the members. Be on the lookout for replacements. We have some younger people on our rosters and we need to get more.
Our thanks also to Jack Messerlian and Ed Johnson for obtaining the use of our late comrade Harold Miller’s famous truck. The truck was featured in many parades and now will be again. Out thanks to Harold’s relations and to all who have been involved in giving us the use of this famous vehicle. Well, famous to us anyway! Save me a seat!

Bill Campbell

We Welcome Henry Sampson!

The Massachusetts Chapter is proud to welcome Henry T. Sampson of Stoneham, Ma. who joined just as summer was ending. Henry served with the 109th Observation Group which seemed to shift its base about England frequently. What we noticed about Henry’s service was that it began in January, 1942 and did not end until December, 1945.

Pearl Harbor must have been still smoking when Henry signed up to serve his country. He must have some interesting stories to tell. Not many of us were into the war at such an early date. Maybe we’ll have one or two in our next issue.

The Secretary's Report (abbreviated)
Woburn Lodge of Elks

June 20, 2002 Meeting
Master Chief Gunner's Mate USNR (retired), John McKernan, has made a number of excellent reports to the Board of Directors since our last publication. These are on file as written. However, due to space limitation, McKernan's reports are abbreviated when published in "Vapor Trails".

The June 20, 2002 meeting at the Woburn Lodge of Elks was mainly concerned with the whys and wherefores of the Fall Fling. It was announced that the Fling was scheduled for November 6 at the Hanscom Field Officers' club. It was noted that there is opposition to this because of what many considered to be poor quality food at the Club on that day.

Jack Messerlian suggested that the membership form a committee to investigate alternate sites. Treasurer Carol Wood said that every effort should be made to maintain a $20 a person cost for the luncheon. Henry Bengis is seeking nominations for those wishing to hold office in the chapter. The election is to be held at the September meeting.

Henry Oi has been conferring with officials in Quincy concerning our yearly boat ride which this year promises to be a "fishing trip". John Brennan reminded everyone that he is seeking material for the Fall issue of "Vapor Trails".

July 18, 2002 Meeting
President Bill Campbell called the meeting to order at the Woburn Lodge of Elks which has been our most gracious host since National Security issues coupled with some aforesaid issues made continuance at our Hanscom home awkward for the foreseeable future. Henry Bengis said he thought we could continue at Hanscom as the quality of food is improved.

Al Audette then surprised all by introducing Mary of the food service at the Elks. She made a presentation to the membership saying the Elks could provide a buffet style luncheon with a choice of two hot meals. The cost to our organization would be $12.95 plus a 15% gratuity. Alcoholic beverages would be available to those desiring them.

Dag Morse got up and stated "The Elks have been very good to us. We should give them a shot." By which most of us felt he meant a chance! It was decided to defer decisions until next month.

Bill Campbell noted that a Commonwealth of Massachusetts proclamation making the week of October 8-14 "Mighty Eighth Air Force Week" may have to be requested by the membership. This is the week when the 8th suffered its heaviest losses. Henry Oi confirmed the fishing trip date as July 24. The new coordinator of the day is Sam Miceli of Harvey's Salt Water Fishing Club.

Westover Airfield Trip
by Walter F. Brown, MD of Spring Hill, TN
MASSACHUSETTS CHAPTER

The Bay State chapter of our historical society got off its familiar eastern Massachusetts territory in early June. We traveled west down the Mass Pike on a bus hired from Bedford Charter Service. The ride was comfortable and former Master Sergeant Lionel LeBlanc kept everyone entertained with songs and merry banter. Our destination was the Westover Air Reserve Base on the Connecticut River plain.

Security was not a hassle at Westover. The elderly former airmen and ground men and women were greeted by a swarm of attractive young lady airmen. They did all that was necessary to make sure we felt welcome. There were none of the security hassles such as we experienced at Hanscom Air Base although some of the more astute travelers said they believed these cute airmen were the security. Suited us fine!

The Westover Club furnished us with an excellent lunch in pleasant surroundings and we were off to a tour of the base and the flight line. The highlight was an onboard visit to the enormous C-5Galaxy, the largest aircraft in the U.S. Air Force. It is designed to carry outsize, oversize/bulk cargo. Major Patrick Cloutier who routinely wheels these monsters through the sky and Chief Master Sgt. Vic Viglione provided us with a wealth of information. Our visit was completed at a memorial to fallen airmen at the base chapel. Chief Public Affairs Officer Gordon Newell was our knowledgeable guide on this part of the tour. A photo of the twenty intrepid adventurers accompanies this story.

Book Reviews
by John Brennan

Bomber Pilot. A Memoir of World War II
by Philip Ardery, The University Press of Kentucky

The cover of Bomber Pilot displays a photograph of a Liberator skimming the ground on a low level attack on the Ploesti raid. This photograph alone makes you want to reach out to grab Bomber Pilot assured that you will have an exciting read. And you won’t be disappointed. Pilot Phil Ardery won a Silver Star, two DFCs, four Air Medals and the French Croix de Guerre with palm. He didn’t get those sitting around some Officers’ Club.

He flew 24s on missions ranging from icy Norway to baking North Africa. Some Eighth Air Force crews were detached to Libya to join in the fight to drive the Axis from Bengasi, Tripoli and all of the Mediterranean. You’ll be able to compare bombing in hot and dusty Libya and lurching through the Norwegian sky trying to find any identifiable landmark.

Ardery flew missions to eastern Mediterranean islands. He says when he was stationed in Bengasi with Ninth Bomber Command there was no Protestant Chaplain and no Jewish one but there was a remarkable Catholic chaplain who was capable of conducting services for Jewish personnel. Ardery, a Protestant, notes that Fr. Beck could conduct a Jewish funeral with perfect form and dignity. He never missed an opportunity to give all possible aid and comfort to the Protestant boys. He never pushed his religion on any of them.

Fr. Beck actually flew on combat missions from time to time . Crews thought it was lucky to have him aboard. One day the Group Commander found out and grounded him. He apparently feared having to explain what the chaplain was doing up in the air if he got wounded, taken prisoner or shot out of the sky.

Read this book. My library got it for me which means most Massachusetts’s libraries should be able to get it for you. Ardery, who later became a successful attorney, will take you on raids as far north as Oslo as well as deep into Naziland. He describes the buzz bombing of London, flying over the D-Day beaches, the courage of the British civilians. He dedicates this book to the officers and men of the 564th Bomb Squadron, the 389th Bomb Group and the Second Combat Wing. Do these outfits sound familiar to any of you? Bet they do!

A Poignant Message

We reviewed "Wings of Morning" by Thomas Childers in our last newsletter and we could not recommend it more highly. It tells the story of the last B-24 to be shot down over Germany in World War II. Twenty year old radar operator Lt. John Murphy of West Chester, PA was among those killed. He now rests in Glennwood Memorial Gardens cemetery in Broomall, PA, Section J, lot 332, Grave 3. There is no marker on his grave! Nothing!

John Fleming, loyal admirer of the 8th Air Force, has written Dick Baynes, President 466th BGA, to see what might be done to place a proper marker on John Murphy's grave. He was only 20 and had no wife or children. He was an only child and his parents are dead. Fleming was unable to find any living relatives. He says to Dick and all readers "Let us give Lt. Murphy a decent headstone, one that is worthy of a hero. He deservers to have his final resting place marked."

Dick Baynes, in turn, immediately responded to John's plea. He found out that even if the Veterans Administration supplies a GI headstone the cemetery requires that a granite base be supplied at the cost of $637.00. A 466 BGA Memorial Fund has been started. If you make a small donation to the 466 Memorial fund (Murphy)" mail it to the Secretary Treasurer, Elmo Maiden, 8136 Cozycroft Avenue, Canoga Park, CA 91306-1712. The Massachusetts Chapter will oblige.

8th Air Force Week

We cannot give 8th Air Force Week its due because it is all over before we go to press. When last your editor heard in late September, Massachusetts pols were still shilly-shallying about issuing a proclamation. They very well may have done so before VT hits the mailboxes. Let's hope so.

The New Mexico Chapter comes out in September and thus can spend some time on the week during which the 8th suffered great losses but which is also regarded as the week during which the air war turned ever so slightly in the Allies favor. New Mexico devoted a whole page to reproducing the official proclamation with Gov. Gary Johnson's signature prominent. Nice to know there are still come politicians around who appreciate the sacrifices made so long ago to preserve our form of government.

Flag Fuss!

There have been articles in the newspapers concerning cemetery staff picking up flags from grave sites and discarding them. This is one of these news items that seem a lot worse than it is. Some readers imaging that heartless graveyard workers are actually yanking flags from the graves and just chucking them into the rubbish.

The cemeteries are showing proper respect for Old Glory when they remove it from the grave before it becomes a tattered and disheveled rag. It is assumed that the used and faded flags will be respectfully burned and not thrown on a garbage heap.

It is sad to walk through a cemetery a few weeks after Veteran's Day or Memorial Day and see faded or even torn flags flapping unhappily over the graves. Many veteran's organizations put out the remembrance flags for the holiday. They actually go back a couple of weeks later and retrieve the flags for proper disposal. Remember the flags that wave proudly over the graves are inexpensive and expected to have a fairly short life.

Today’s speaker is our friend Henry Bengis. Henry was a pilot in the 379th BG. He was flying at designated copilot on his 21st mission when his bomber was attacked and severely damaged. Henry guided the crew to a safe landing. He was captured and taken to Stalag Luft 1 near Barth, Germany. He spent the rest of the war there until the advancing Red Army forced the Germans and their now near starving captives into a desperate march west. --JB

Humor Behind the Wire Stalag Luft-1 POW Camp Barth, Germany
by Henry Bengis

Those who were POWs at Barth will always be grateful to the Red Cross and the YMCA. Food parcels from the Red Cross did more than just supplement the German rations. They were an absolute necessity. The Y meanwhile supplied morale builders such as books, wind-up phonographs, architects graph paper, sports equipment like footballs, volleyballs, nets for games, softballs, bats, gloves and other sports gear.

The prisoners also received items such as costumes and make-up for stage plays, watercolor paints and educational material. This was a camp for officers which meant the inmates could not be forced to do manual or any other kind of labor. We put a lot of effort into trying to polish up our American sense of humor. Some of it was weird, some very dangerous, all of it very funny.

Just prior to Christmas, 1944, we were advised that a large new group of POWs would be arriving. A group of our more artistic “Kreigies”, as Germans called POWS, went to work painting travel posters to hang on the barbed wire that surrounded the compound. “All men wishing to call home to the USA sign up in Barracks 4!” “All men interested in a skiing trip to Switzerland sign up in barracks 2 “A Christmas Eve dance with local German girls will be held in Barracks 3.” Can you imagine what the new “Kreigies” thought when they were marched through the gate?

Here’s a practical joke that could have backfired! POWS built a phony artillery gun mount out of corrugated paper from Red Cross cartons, a few bed slats, salvaged tin cans etc. It was armed with a long tube salvaged from somewhere and painted olive drab. When completed a large group of men carried it as close as they dared to the warning wire (beyond which you would be shot) and set it down. A brave or reckless fellow sat in a makeshift seat as though he were ready to aim and fire. The gun was “aimed” at the nearest guard tower. The guard peered down in absolute astonishment and then reached for his rifle. The joke was over. Everyone scrambled to safety and then enjoyed a grand laugh.

We even put on a production of -*“The Man Who Came To Dinner.” All the roles were played by men, of course. One of the female characters was played by a fellow who shared our room (7A in Barracks C 61). He looked so good when they got him all dressed up he needed an escort to get back to the room when the play was over. Look for Barth in your atlas. It’s on the chilly Baltic northeast of Rostock and close to old Polish border. Remember this was early 1945 and the Germans were in a desperate last ditch struggle as the Red Army thrusts itself into German territory and pushes toward Stalag Luft 1.

More news about Kreigie life in Stalag Luft 1 will appear in future “Vapor Trails” and I hope you enjoyed my talk at the Fall Fling…..Henry Bengis.

Editor note: For more information on Stalag Luft 1, check out this site on the internet: http://www.merkki.com/photo.htm.

How Times (and Time Zones) Change
by John Brennan

People seem to be interested to this day in how fast heavy bombers traveled. "How long would it take you to fly from point X to point Y?" "My grandmother flew in the Concorde and says she thinks she got to where she was going before she even left where she was!"

Well, things were different in 1945. We did not fly in pressurized cabins unless you were a rich kid in a B-29. There were no heaters or cooler, no toilets! The working class guys in the 17s and 24s moved from point to point slowly by today’s standards. The uncertainty of flight meant that you were not allowed, for example, to take a short cut across the Sahara for fear that if something went wrong there would be too much difficulty finding and rescuing you. Remember the poor souls in "Lady Be Good"? You had to stay near the coast and go around the long way but that was fine with the crews. Would you rather spend a day or two in Benghazi sipping North African wine or six weeks in Ougadoogoo drinking fermented camel milk? (The 8th was stationed in Benghazi when the Afrika Korp was threatening Cairo and Suez.)

We are not talking combat flying here but simply moving in an aircraft from one point on the map to another. Your editor recently came across his flight record for 11-15-45 when the B-24 "Mors Ab Alto" was the last bomber out of Tezpur, Assam to leave for home. We carried a dozen or so volunteer passengers in the waist who thought they would rather go by air rather than spend two months on a ship. Most of them got off at our first stop and rushed to sign aboard the troop transports which suddenly looked good to them.

Here is the Transmittal Sheet of Form One Time which I found in my attic where some say I should stay! Look in your atlas to find where the flight starts. Tezpur is southeast of Bhutan on the Brahmaputra River. Does that help?

Transmittal Sheet of Form One Time
17 Nov. 1945
Brennan, J.J., 31366061, S/Sgt. ROMG
All Flights on B24M

		Hrs
Oct.26	Tezpur - Karachi.	9:30
Oct.27	Karach i- Abadan, Iran.	7:10
Oct.28	Abadan - Cairo	6:35
Nov.1	Cairo - Tripoli	6:10
Nov.4	Tripoli - Marrakech	9:35
Nov.6	Marrakech -Dakar (Senegal)	8:45
Nov.9	Dakar -Natal (Brazil)	10.00
Nov.11	Natal -Georgetown	9:00
	Georgetown-Puerto Rico	6:05
	Puerto Rico- W. Palm Beach Total Flying Time	5:50 77:20

Sue me if I’m wrong but I think that was nine time zones. (We also stopped briefly in the Bahamas because of treaty obligations. The U.S. had to land so many times in a particular time period or control of the air field, part of the Lend-Lease deal, would revert to Britain.)

Need A Speaker For Your School, Club Or Organization?
Time is running out if you want to hear WW2 air vets describe their adventures! Call President Bill Campbell (978-368-8864). Give us plenty of lead time because we ain't as young as we used to be.

Annual Boat Trip

July found the Mass. Chapter again at sea as we were the guests on the wonderful people who take nearly 250 veterans on a salt water fishing trip. We were hosted by Harvey’s Salt Water Fishing Club of Hough’s Neck, the Boston Lobstermen’s Association, Quincy City officials, Quincy Yacht Club members and the Sallies who were ready with coffee and doughnuts as well as good cheer.

Police Boats from various agencies and departments were on hand for safety. The Fore River Bait Shop donated bait for the fishing. Food for the luncheon was donated at cost by Knight’s Crest, a local caterer. A special salute is due club members Bernie McCourt and Sam Miceli who spent the winter stringing more that 200 hand lines for the vets to use. Dan Quirk who owns the Quirk Automobile dealership in Quincy donated $5000 to pay for hats and shirts for all the vets. The shirts carried the slogan "No Veterans. No America!". Your Chapter also donated $200 to help defray the cost of the outing and received many thanks for this gesture

Henry Oi is now a TV star! He appeared in "Canton's (Mass.) Greatest Generations", a 149 minute interview with Tony Andreotti. It was broadcasted on Canton Channel 8 between September 19 and October 1. Lt. Henry Oi is a WW2 vet who served with the 8th AF as we all know! Henry and Editor John Brennan recently spoke at Brennan's Alma Mater, BC High, and are to be invited back to give their WW2 talk again. Seems there is some silver missing. No! Just kidding! Remember if you need a speaker for your school, club or organization, and you want to hear WW2 fliers describe their adventures, call President Bill Campbell or any other officer. Give us plenty of lead time as we ain't as young as we used to be!

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