| The World War II Experiences of George Bomely The Hartford Hornets were a group of men from the Hartford, Connecticut area who had enlisted in the United States Navy Aviation Cadet program in the late summer and early fall of 1942. I was a member of that group. A patriotic fervor gripped the country and the Hartford paper carried a picture of the group and gave the group a lot of publicity as part of that fervor. We were called to active duty on October 29, 1942 and were immediately sent to Pre-flight school at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. After fourteen weeks there, during which time some of the Hartford Hornets washed out for different reasons, we were sent to primary flight training in various places. I was sent to Squantum, Massachusetts. This too was a fourteen-week program. From there I was sent to Pensacola, Florida for twelve weeks for advanced flight training. Upon completion of flight training at Pensacola we were presented with our pilot�s wings and commissioned as Ensigns in the Naval Reserve. Some of us newly commissioned pilots then went to Opa Locka, Florida for transition into the F4F, Wildcat, one of the Navy�s first line fighter aircraft. Upon completion of this training, it was off to Chicago for simulated carrier landing school. With a few days leave prior to my next assignment, my fianc� and I were married back home in Connecticut. My next assignment was to the Naval Air Station in San Diego, California. My new bride and I were fortunate to have first class train accommodations for the long ride from Hartford to San Diego where we rented a room in a rooming house where several military personnel awaited further orders. I was given orders to proceed to Seattle, Washington to become a member of a new Composite Squadron, VC 87, being newly activated at the Naval Air Station, Seattle. We trained at Arlington, Washington and then moved to Holtville, California where we spent more time in training. Finally, at the end of September 1944, we transferred to our home ship the USS Salamaua, an escort carrier and departed almost immediately for the Western Pacific. Our last glimpse of the United States was on October 16, 1944. We stopped briefly in Pearl Harbor, but were ordered to proceed to Leyte Island in the Phillipines as the invasion of Leyte was on. On our way, we stopped briefly at Eniwtok Island and arrived at Ulithi Atoll. One morning, shortly after arriving at Ulithi, an alert was signaled and pilots scrambled to man their planes. Due to some kind of mix-up, the aircraft on the catapult was launched before the engine was turning at full power and the aircraft ended up in the ocean. Thankfully, the pilot had only a cut lip, however an enlisted man standing on the wing of the aircraft, was killed. Our first introduction to combat occurred shortly after this when we were performing escort duty of ships between Kossel and Leyte. Several Japanese aircraft referred to as �Frances� attacked a formation of our aircraft. As they turned to attempt to escape, one of them was shot down by the guns of an LST. November 25, 1944 was a momentous day in my life. My wife gave birth to our first child, a boy we named Roger. It was also Thanksgiving Day and the day I was promoted from Ensign to Lieutenant, Junior Grade. In addition we were steaming out of the combat zone and headed for Manus in the Admiralty Islands. On the way we crossed the equator. No one on the Salamaua could claim membership in the Shellbacks, an honorary fraternity of sailors who have crossed the Equator, so we all had to undergo the indignities of being made members of that infamous group. The squadron was shore based for the next month at Ponam, and the Salamaua was anchored nearby in Seeadler Harbor. We spent Christmas in the hot equatorial heat of the Admiralties, but the Squadron was soon back aboard the Salamaua and we were steaming north on the third day of the New Year. We sailed through the Sulu Sea past Manila Bay into the Lingayen Gulf and we were in the midst of the war for which we had trained. It seemed that we were at General Quarters almost constantly. Our radar screens were almost never clear of enemy aircraft. We saw quite a few Kamikazi aircraft, many of them being shot down before they could reach the ships of the Task Force that were their targets. Several of our pilots were successful in shooting down Japanese aircraft, even though the squadron�s main job was direct support of the invasion force. Our planes dumped a substantial tonnage of bombs and rockets on enemy positions On January 13th, shortly after 9:00 AM local time, the Salamaua was waiting her turn to take on fuel from an oiler. Seemingly, from out of nowhere, a kamikaze came hurtling almost straight down and crashed through the carrier�s flight deck. The Japanese Kamikaze and the two bombs that it carried tore deeply into the bowels of the ship. It created a hole in the flight deck about sixteen feet by thirty -two feet. One of the bombs went completely through the ship and out the starboard side at the waterline, without detonating. The other bomb exploded near thetop of the fuel tank, but thankfully did minimal damage except for buckling several bulkheads. If the bomb had exploded just a few frames farther aft, it would have been right in the middle of the ships bomb storage area. The ship was taking on water through the gaping twenty-inch hole left by the dud bomb and the aft engine room was flooded. The starboard engine was knocked out and steering was lost for a while. The human cost was quite severe. Fifteen men were killed and eighty-eight were wounded. The attack on the Salamaua was the last successful Kamikaze attack in the Philippines. The war was over for the Salamaua and the Squadron was reassigned to another escort carrier, the USS Marcus Island. We would spend some time ashore at Pityilu back in the Admiralties before embarking on the USS Barnes on February 11th. At Ulithi we transferred to the Marcus Island and began a rigorous training schedule that went on for about six weeks. We finally departed for Okinawa on March 21st along with other escort carriers and a convoy of transports and support ships. From March 26th until April 5th our job was to fly in support of the invasion of Okinawa. This included combat air patrol, anti-submarine flights and other special jobs. One more Japanese aircraft was shot down by two of the pilots of our squadron. Then, on the afternoon of April 5th, while the Marcus Island was being rearmed, the 87th received some news that for many of its members was the biggest thrill of the whole tour. We were ordered to leave the Marcus Island in thirty minutes for the USS Wake Island. After our goodbyes we boarded the Wake Island and headed Southeastward. We were headed home! We rode the Wake Island to Guam where we spent a brief period and then boarded the USS Sitkoh Bay for Pearl Harbor and the United States. For us the war was over. George, thank you sincerely for serving and thank you for sharing your Memories. |
| Commentary: The following story tells us some of the experiences of a Naval pilot, George Bomely. When I read this, I got a better idea of the massive mobilization that our country undertook. More than that, I was reminded of what it means to be a Patriot. See if you don't agree. |
| Memories of WWII Pilots & Crews |
| Pilots Journals: Page 4 |
| Morris Ellington�s Memory In 1943 I was an 18 year old army draftee. My first assignment after basic training was to Guadalcanal. I was assigned to an anti-aircraft outfit guarding the airstrip. This airstrip was used for bombing runs along the island chains including New Guinea. P39 Bell Aircobra pursuit planes were used to escort the bombers on these missions. In those days the air force was not a separate service but was a part of the army. However, even back then the aircrews were pretty much daredevil maverick types, unlike the spit and polish army. For example no pilot would wear his garrison cap without taking out the wire support inside the upper crown of the cap. The crumpled cap then sort of resembled the cap of a New York cab driver. The P39 was a beautiful single engine aircraft. The Allison V-14 water cooled engine was mounted behind the pilot, with power to the propeller provided by 2 crankshafts, one on each side of the pilot. While I still believe the P39 was one of the most beautiful planes ever built, it had one major problem. Designed and produced before WW2 it was underpowered. It simply could not compete, toe to toe, in the South Pacific, with the Japanese Zero. In addition the army required all planes be painted olive drab, a flat finish, with almost a sandpaper roughness. As a consequence the rough finish produced wind drag that reduced maximum speed by 40 mph. When I got to Guadalcanal the P39 was being phased out in favor of the twin engine, twin fuselage P38 Lightning, which not only solved the P39 problem of being underpowered, but had radar built in the nose which enabled it to be used at night. One hotshot pilot, however, wanted to keep his P39. He and his pit crew proceeded to sand off the olive drab paint, leaving the plane with a beautiful polished aluminum finish. It stood out like a diamond bracelet from Tiffany's among the other olive drab planes. This particular pilot was an ace. Painted on the side of his pretty plane was a scoreboard of the Jap planes he had "killed". I think there were about a dozen rising sun emblems on it when I last saw the plane. Naturally the polished aluminum finish and the emblems of the "killed" enemies made this plane a target for every Jap pilot in the sky. And sure enough, a week or two after this daredevel pilot prettied up his plane he left on a mission to Bougainville, New Guinea, I think, from which he did not return. A more cautious person would perhaps say that by being so flamboyant and conspicious this pilot surely had a death wish. I don't think so. I met several pilots in those days. To a man they felt invincible. They would readily tell you that a particular mission would be dangerous with casualties expected to be 50% or more. And they knew some of them would not be coming back. But they themselves always expected to get back; maybe some of the other fellows wouldn't. There were many brave men who served in all branches of the service in WW2. And some of them, like the pilot described here, never came home. And I sometimes wonder if we will ever see the likes of them again. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE MR. ELLINGTON. And thank you for this story. |
| COMMENTARY: This nest story is interesting for a couple of reasons. Not only does it tell us of the bravey of our pliots, but it also reminds us of the humility of men like Mr. Ellington who, rather than focus the spotlight on themselves, point to someone else to illustrate qualities they admire. This reminds me once again how fortunate our country has been to have men like Mr Ellington and the pilot he so admired. |
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