LW435P-WL

Westover Man had Tense Flight Evacuation MacArthurs Staff

A Westover colonel took a prominent part in a heroic mission back in the dark days of March, 1942 when the Japanese were overrunning Asia and the Pacific islands.

Col. William Lewis, Jr., photo at left, who assumed command of the 1600th Air Base Group in October, piloted one of the two planes which carried Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his staff from the Philippines to Australia, three weeks before the fall of Bataan to the Japanese.

The colonel piloted the plane which carried MacArthur's staff. Gen. MacArthur had been ordered by President Roosevelt to leave the Philippines before the inevitable surrender of American forces there. He had wanted to stay in the islands and carry on the fight with the guerrillas in the hills, but the President thought it best to have MacArthur direct the Pacific war from headquarters in Australia.

Two other missions to bring out MacArthur had failed and the planes had crashed. Four B-17, Flying Fortresses were sent on this last attempt. Two had engine trouble and were grounded at Darwin, Australia and no the so the other two went on to the rendezvous to .pick up MacArthur at Del Monte, an air base on Mindanao.

Col. Lewis was a captain at that time, flying reconnaissance missions with the 19th Bombardment Group. His group had only 11 B-17s with which they bombed the such Japanese bases such as Robaul, Buna and Lae. His group was the first to get B-17's with the tail gun, much-needed armament because they flew their missions without aid of fighter escort.

CLOUD COVER

“We didn't have very much to combat the Japanese offensive with. We had nothing like pursuit escort on missions,” says Col. Lewis, “but we got pretty foxy. We used cloud cover to the maximum. We figured out how long it took for a Jap pursuit to get to us. Flying at 25,000 to 30,000 feet it took 12 minutes for a Zero to reach us.”

First word of the mission was given the flyers at Darwin, Australia after the four planes bad flown from Townsville, their home base. After refueling, the crews were briefed on the meager information available concerning the mission.

Communications in that area were poor. The. planes dared not use radios on the flight for fear of Japanese interception. Weather information was scanty. "We had to gamble an the weather whether it was good or not. It was typicaI tropical weather. Clouds were scattered cumulus clouds - the fluffy kind. I had had no equatorial weatherfront experience," said Col. Lewis.

Navigation was a real hazard. They depended solely on the stars for navigation and fair weather was an absolute necessity.

Col. Lewis had never flown ever that area of the Pacific before. His co-pilot had recently flown out of the Philippines. The area from Darwin on the North east tip of Australia to Mindanao, the largest southern most island of the Philippines was not accurately mapped.

The risks were enormous. If the flyers missed their destination there was not enough gas to get back! If they were not killed they risked capture by the Japanese.

The trip was 1425 nautical miles. They had to fly 100 miles east of a straight line in order to avoid a Jap base at Davro on Mindanao. Thus they approached their destination at angle in stead of taking the shortest route. They had to run between two Jap bases only 30 miles apart.

"We went out confident, but our minds were very active," says Col. Lewis. "We had heard so much of the horrors of being prisoners of the Japs."

Carrying combat crews of 10 men in each Flying Fort, they took off from Darwin at 3 p.m. and reached the destination, Del Monte, at midnight. In that few hours was packed all the tension.

Home for a few days rest before reporting for a new undisclosed assignment is Col. William Lewis Jr., who participated in the evacuation of Gen. Douglas MacArthur from the Philippine islands in the early days of the war and who later distinguished himself in south west Pacific air combat.

Col. and Mrs. Lewis, the former Miss Eleanor Wherry, and their children, Edward and Dickie, have just come from Clay Center, Neb., where the Utah airman commanded the Harvard army air base for nearly two years.

It was in December, 1942, that Maj. Lewis came back from Australia with the 19th bombardment Group, which had participated in every south Pacific engagement for the preceding 12 months.

The Utahn receiver the distinguished flying cross in June, 1942 for gallantry in action against the Japanese and later the oak cluster in lieu of an additional distinguished flying cross for extraordinary achievement. Later, he received a special unit citation from the army at Pyote, Tex. The squadron was cited specifically for its heroic fight over Java.

As commander of the Casper, Wyo., army air base, Peterson Field, Colo., and the Harvard army air base, Col. Lewis directed the training of B-17, B-24 and B-29 tactical and service groups, thousands of men being sent to both the Pacific and the Atlantic fronts from the training areas.

V-J day marked the end of training. Col. Lewis of late has been deactivating the Harvard station which is now on a stand by basis.

Col. Lewis will leave Thursday, while Mrs. Lewis and the children will make their home in Salt Lake City.