V1943-05NB.DOC

Instructor Airplane Mechanics School Lincoln, NB 1943/44

I moved into the instructors barracks only to be greeted, "Look fellows, another Potential Engineering Cadet....You'll be sooorrry!"

Withered Hope There were three barracks of GI instructors and a sizable percent were classified as Potential Engineering Cadets. The number leaving for cadets had reduced to a trickle and none I knew held out any hope, my prior enthusiasm withered.

Go back to school I was assigned to teach in Final Assembly and Checkout. This came after the students had been through basic components and sub systems. I found there was a great deal I had missed in KC because we had such old planes so I made arrangements to attend classes on another shift. So far as I know I was the only instructor who did.

Touch Football Instructors still had to attend calisthenics training. This was not necessary if you took part in organized sports like football so I signed up to play touch football on the Instructors team. There were about 10 Touch Football teams and once a week there was a game between teams. These were organized and planned by the PT (Physical Training) instructors and followed by GI reporters for the Base Paper. The following day there would be a write up in the paper telling of the game, show the scores & standings of the teams, and talk up the next game. The base paper Sports Writers made it a point to know the players and would write about them as if it was a college league team. There were no uniforms so we played in our fatigues. Though called Touch Football we played as if it were real football. Our fatigues and bodies really took a beating. We hit and blocked hard, often while on the run, to clear the pass defender from the receiver. All had played football in school, it was immediately obvious the way they handled themselves. In the heat of the game it became real football. The Instructor Squadron won more than their fair share because we had the most stable player population. There were no rules saying a lineman could not catch passes and make touchdowns. I played centered, as I had in school, but found myself being interviewed before and after games because one of the sports writers watched me make an unexpected touchdown and made a big deal of it in his write up. I sent the article home to my folks where it was promptly lost as unimportant. Those of us playing on the team developed quite a camaraderie, there are those who really take to football, it takes one to know one – this was a rare opportunity to have real fun. One other on that team made it to cadets.

PT tests Periodically we had to take physical training tests. If we failed we had to do extra calisthenics training on what would otherwise be our time off. One Monday morning after a week end in Omaha I faced the unpleasant realization that I had to take the test. Two buddies and I had just returned and were not up to a physical fitness test, not just yet. There were four tests: running broad jump, chin ups, quarter mile run, and sit ups. I was never good at chin ups, was not a good broad jumper and even the thought of jogging a quarter of a mile gave me a headache. I found that with a perfect score of 110 sit ups I could pass with poor scores in the others. So I did 110+1 sit ups for a perfect score and thus passed.

Wings replace “U.S.”, Pfc till start of Eng Cadets, Engine Specialist, P-47 crew chief rating, and Instructor.

How to do Setups The first time I did sit ups I managed 56 which was excellent for a novice. My stomach muscles tightened so bad I could hardly sleep that night and the soreness lasted for several days. Later one of the PT instructors, who had the Air Corps record of over 1000, told us how to do sit ups. First you lift yourself up in one smooth motion. When up you inhale, stretch your arms & back, chest up and out. Then exhale and roll back down, unrolling your back bone like a rug, keeping completely relaxed as you lay back. Then after a moments pause hold your breath and left up. The plan was to use the muscles only to lift, not to lower, and the arms back chest out exercise is to pump oxygen rich blood through the muscles so they don't fatigue. With a few practice tries anyone can double their number of sit ups while maintaining the required sit up rate.

Wonderful people The instructors were a wonderful bunch and became two sets of friends and buddies, those at my end of the barracks and those I worked with as an Instructor. My off base companions were a mixture of both. I still remember each well, but not all their names.

Colburn from Connecticut One barracks friend was a tall easy going intelligent fellow named Colburn from Connecticut. He had a book “Out of the Night” by Jan Valtin who had been a kid in the street fighting in Germany right after WWI. He'd run messages for the Communist side who were fighting those who later became the Gestapo. After Hitler came to power he was imprisoned by the Nazi and got out by becoming a double agent. In time things caught up with him and he took refuge in Connecticut under an assumed name. He had a small farm and was a neighbor of Colburn's folks. Colburn said intelligence dept people from Washington would come to see him and take him with them. Valtin personally knew many of those who came to power under Hitler and was used by our country to verify information or provide help of some sort. Colburn later shipped out to a base in Yucca Arizona. There were many terrific people I’d like to have known for a life time, Colburn was one of them.

Instructor Barracks Barracks life was more stable and we had more freedom than during student status. Our barracks structure was the same as student barracks; however, students bunks were perpendicular to the wall while ours were parallel to the wall which gave us more room. Our possessions had to fit two barracks bags and one footlocker. Clean clothes were folded and put in one bag and dirty clothes in the other. Personal effects were in the footlockers and shoes were kept shined and under the bunks. Mattresses were provided with the bunk. We used the mattress cover as a sheet with a blanket on top. In winter we had thick comforters which were essential to keeping warm.

Keeping Warm The last in bed and the first up would add coal to the stoves. Even so in blizzard weather snow would be blown in through the gaps in the doors to form a frozen white line on the concrete slab floor. It was like living in a poorly heated chicken house, but there were few who really complained. We knew we were much better off than many.

Killing Time About half the guys were married and would spend spare time writing. We didn't have radios or access to newspapers & magazines. Books were passed about but most were from second hand book stores, paper backs were not available. One weekend I bought three books at a used book store, Dante’s Inferno, which I thought was lousy, and Electrical Engineering, not a pleasure read and a book on Spanish, intending to learn how to speak and write. I wanted to taking advantage of spare time – I didn’t like being mentally idle. We spent time shooting the bull or shooting craps. I made a pair of dice from broken Plexiglas. Our games were for fun with a 5 or 10 cent ante, as we had little money. My pay was about $54/mo. I'd made PFC when I started mechanic school. Most of my companions were Corporals or Buck Sergeants. On outings they’d help pay my way as I'd come up short even with Spartan expenditures. When shooting craps we'd place a blanket on the rough floor and arrange a footlocker as a backstop. We learn the lexicon, some thing of the odds and some means of protection from being clipped by a pro.

Wrestling match We’d sometimes have a friendly wrestling match at our end of the barracks. At the other end was a guy with excellent physic and vanity to match, always exercising and flexing his muscles – most of us ignored his overtures for attention. Some at his end of the barracks, I found out later, bet he couldn't beat me in a wrestling match and had been prodding him for sometime. He was taller and heavier making this an insult. One night when I came through their end of the barracks he bumped into me. He'd had a couple beers & was “feeling his oats”. I tried to ignored him and go on my way. In front of his friends he was committed & demanded that I fight him. My buddies from the other end heard the ruckus and came down to see if I needed any help. By then we'd worked our way to about mid barracks. I kept trying to stay out of a fight. I told him I had no interest in fighting him, that I could care less who could whip who. if it made him feel better I’d declare he was the winner. That didn’t work, he had to prove he could whip me. He was not one of the potential engineering cadets, perhaps this was part of his problem, I was in an unwanted fight.

He was a lot of muscle and I was shoved over foot lockers, and into bunks as I tried to evade his attacks. We were soon on the rough concrete slab and he was unleashing pent up frustration – his frustration should have been aimed at his tormentors. He had me down thinking he was going to whip me, but I managed to keep on my hands and knees. I tried to ignore the rough concrete on my knees, trying to figure how to gain an advantage – by then I had no intent to let him beat me. I managed to get out from under, we were both up again. His initial super strength had subsided and he was breathing hard. He had muscle but was low on endurance – and knowledge of what to do, but his determination and intent were just as fixed. My determination was up and I had my second wind. This time I managed to do a take down – I knew I had him. The problem was how to terminate the struggle, he had to recognize the futility of continuing before he'd stop. To do this I had to grind his knees, hands and elbows into that rough cement, I knew how that felt and I took advantage of his plight. I rode my legs on top of his to grind his knees into the rough concrete. It was the old wear him down strategy I'd been taught by Rex Loehoefener. However, this was not on a mat or dirt, this abrasive concrete was drawing blood as I hoped it would. My years of heavy manual labor before service came to my rescue. He continued for some time after he knew he was defeated. Those watching knew this and helped end the struggle with face saving comments on how well he'd done – they too wanted it end. I was pooped but still strong, the first part had been the hard struggle. Finally he conceded he was too tired to go on. I never attempted to pin him. Afterwards we were neither friends nor enemies. It was a contest I didn't enjoy and had no desire to repeat. He no longer flexed his muscles or sought attention. After that we didn't even wrestle for fun at our end of the barracks.

Hanger classroom School was taught in the large high bay wood frame hangers. They had two bays with huge doors at each end. Between the bays were lavatories, tool rooms, parts storage and class rooms. A balcony and offices hung from the rafters along the outer wall. This was where the engineering and instructors offices were.

Hi Bay Areas Each bay was wide enough to house a line of about four B-24's nose to tail with the top of the tails about level with the balcony's. The ceiling of the bays was high accentuating the smallness of the fighter planes arranged on the hanger floor. Their formal designation was Pursuit thus the prefix P-38, P-39, P-40, etc. Each day the planes would be rolled out on the flight line and returned to the hanger at night. The huge hanger doors were like over lapping cupboard doors except they had steel wheels and railroad like tracks to support their weight. Normally 2 to 3 men were used to get them rolling and stopped.

Nesting Small Planes We had a lot of P-40's and it was quite a task to get them nested into place. There were frequent tie up's and relocation of planes each night to get them all in. Confusion was caused by several people trying to direct the show and giving conflicting directions about something they never understood in the first place. One evening with the help of a few students I experimented with how far to move a plane before swinging its tail and wings so it could be pushed into a desired slot.

Do as I say There was a good natured, but loud sergeant, who loved to direct the movement of planes. He remained undaunted by the mix ups he'd create. One evening I told the guys to just do what I said and not pay any attention to other directions. We moved the planes in and swung them into place without a hitch or even having to rearrange them in the least. Just by chance I heard our Master Sergeant telling our Engineering Officer and Civilian Head of the school on the balcony that he’d watched us move the planes. They’d watched the confusion before, making it easy for the M/Sgt to describe. He said Sergeant X yelled orders as usual, but the students ignored him and did what Landau said, which was often the opposite – those planes fit into place without a hitch. Unknown to me they periodically rated each potential engineering cadet, this minor event boosted my departmental rating.

Foreign Planes I took advantage of the opportunity to study the Spitfire and ME-109 in the adjacent hanger. By then the experimental flights of these aircraft having dog fights and bomber passes above the plains of NB/KS was over. I studied the way the British and German planes were built as compared to ours. The Spitfire & ME-109 were each equipped with largest engines for their day, were very light with narrow landing gear and carried very little fuel, the small fuel reserve permitted them to be small. They were designed for combat at short range across the English channel.

The Spitfire used the Rolls Royce V12 1650 cu inch engine, later built in the US by Packard for the P-51. The Rolls Royce had a built in gear driven supercharger at the back of the engine which enabled the Spitfire to climb fast and go to altitude with just enough edge to be able to knock down the ME-109. However the Spitfires primary mission was to shoot down the bombers and later V-1 Buzz Bombs with the ME-109 a secondary objective. The Spitfire design begun as a racing plane equipped with pontoons, it won international speed races in the early 30's.

Allison vs Rolls The Allison V-12 actually had more piston displacement at 1710 cu inches. I felt the US made a mistake in not funding a gear driven supercharger for the Allison. In some ways the Allison was superior to the Rolls. Valve covers on a Rolls indexed on studs. The studs used coarse threads into the aluminum block and fine thread poking up with a nut and washer to hold the cover down. The nut was supposed to come off first due to the fine threads, unfortunately the stud could come out and soon strip the threads in the engine block. The Allison used steel threaded inserts into the aluminum block, nothing poked up, and screws held the cover down – the Allison method was quicker and more fault free. Packard engineers made many modifications to their Rolls, incorporating US methods of manufacture. The Brits were pressed for time and money, the outside of a Rolls was left unfinished with all attention given to internal working parts, the GM Allison had a sales appeal finish.

The ME-109 was a superb piece of engineering. We marveled at the fore thought given to maintenance. The engine installation was equipped with quick disconnects; a damaged engine could quickly be removed and replaces. Tubing was anodized with a color code; it could be tossed in a heap and immediately recognized for reassembly. None of our fighters had quick disconnects and during maintenance our tubing was a mess. Our tubing was identified by use of color coded tape which invariably became damaged, lost or just not useful. My buddies and I would have liked to take and ME-109 plane and engine apart to study other attributes. The German design was evolved and proven in the Spanish Civil war.

British Spitfire German ME-109

South American students Those from South America were either genuinely interested or not interested at all. It was unusual to remember a given student, since there was a different bunch every week. However I do remember Joe from Peru. He was trying very hard but the language gave him trouble. I was quite surprised to see him about a year later on the campus at Yale University. One from Brazil was a Casanova, who delighted in telling GI's of his feats with the ladies -- his tales were probably true.

French students The French came through as a group. They were airplane mechanics and two engineering officers who escape & become part of the Free French. One French officer was very serious and intense and borrowed my notes for them to study in their barracks. He took the work seriously as if his family in occupied France were depending on him. The other French officer would gather GI’s about him during a break. I was told he discussed and described French attitudes and behavior with the opposite sex. The GI's didn't know if they should believe him or not. He was the inverse of the other officer.

Old Friend French had Curtis P-35s in N. Africa and some who had worked on them smiled as if seeing an old friend. The French helped finance the follow on P-40 plant in St Louis.

Curtis P-35 fore runner of P-40

Civilian Instructors Half the instructors were civilian and half GI. Military officers who had completed a tour of duty overseas were in charge, however civilians, most ex-school teachers, actually ran the school. I recognized Harland Ray, one of the civilian instructors, who had been a grade school then high school football coach at Norton KS when I was in school. He knew my coaches Edwin Hitchcock and Alex Francis quite well, this was a real surprise and he was quite helpful to me.

Balcony Office I'd go to the balcony offices to use a typewriter to type my notes. The secretary was a civilian girl, big, talkative but not unpleasant, nice looking but not beautiful. She was always asking what I did on week ends and if I'd escort her to the bus stop. I always declined, she didn't lack for attention, fellows were always eager to escort her.. The instructor from Norton would just smile and shake his head. He didn't know I was aware the French expert on ladies was seeing her safely to the bus.

Teach all I knew I tried very hard to be a good instructor, as I learned more I could teach more. The limiting factor was the instructor not the student. I evolved a system where I told the students I would give them a quiz after going over the entire plane telling them things they'd need to know to maintain it.

Lectures I broke subjects into four 1 hour lectures for which I prepared notes, gathered information and discarded the petty and insignificant. At first I didn't think I could hold their attention. I was amazed to find that if I was enthusiastic and energetic it was contagious and as I'd pose questions to test their logic they'd rise to the occasion. If I did a good job of presenting, they proved by the tests that they were learning.

Teaching method observed I noticed the Civilian Head of the school on the balcony above listen and observe as I taught a class. I told the instructor from Norton about this and Harland said that was because some queried students said my class was one of the best – which made him interested in what and how I was teaching. I later learned this civilian head periodically rated potential engineering cadet performance where some 50% were removed from the list.

Nurse Marsha U of NB Student Darrell with sisters Phyllis and Marjorie

Nurse Marsha On a trip to Omaha I met Marsha. She was going to Nurses school, her first time away from her home in western Neb. She was confined by her training and we found it difficult getting together again -- for me to get an overnight pass in order to get to Omaha and for her to get away from school. She was a very nice determined girl and we managed to meet several times, going out to dinner or a movie. I was informed unexpectedly by her younger brother via a letter that she had a boy friend back home and that I was to not interfere. She was quite upset with her brother, I was probably interfering with a high school romance. We lost contact and I have no idea what happened to her.

U of NB Student The week before I shipped out I met a girl at the Cornhusker Hotel Coffee Shop. She was with an Aunt and was going to school at University of Nebraska. She was bright and personable. I wrote to tell her I'd shipped out. She sent me a picture and we corresponded a few times but the Cadet program was soon all consuming.

The Polka A buddy and I ventured off to Lexington NB and ended up on a second floor dance hall with a crowd in a colloquial Polka dance where the crowd moved about the dance floor counter clockwise. We met two girls from Beatrice Neb.

It’s my husband A buddy and I attended a movie in Lincoln and were invited by two attractive girls to join them. We walked them home, keeping close tabs on the time, so we wouldn't miss the last bus to the base. My buddy walked his girl friend to her home a block or so away, I stayed and visited with the one I was with. The weather was brisk but not real cold. The girl invited me up on her porch encouraging me to help keep her warm. Expecting my buddy to return soon I kissed her goodnight, surprise to receive a warm response – then I heard the porch swing, we were not alone! Her body became rigid, she lifted her lips from mine and whispered in my ear "It's my husband!" Though she wanted me to linger, I made an expedient departure. My buddy continued to date his girl friend, and informed me the one I was with and her husband had parted, as expected.

Chose to Escape I met a girl at a USO center, pleasant looking but not attractive, her attention grabbing attribute was a fantastic figure. I took her to a movie and the next weekend she invited me to her home for Sunday dinner to meet her folks. She'd been a drum major in high school, the highlight of her life. She was an only child. Her parents were very nice people, taking pride in their daughter and wanting to know any soldier before giving their approval for her to date without an escort. I had the feeling of a fly being woven into a web by mother and daughter and chose to escaped.

Filling a Void Two of us had an overnight pass and procrastinated catching the bus as there was no harm if we were late. A lady saw us sitting at a table, when she came in to get something. I saw her carefully look us over, she asked if we'd like to join her for a late snack? We were surprised, and after a quick and favorable evaluation I said sure, provided she could get us back to the base or bus stop, explaining there was no rush as we had an overnight pass . She was an attractive woman in a business suit, about 30 to 35 and drove us to her home. We found her girl friend had a year old baby and lived with her and that she had a child not yet in school. Photos of their husbands were on display in the living room. The lady who invited us was married to a Captain and her friend to a fellow in Navy uniform. They fixed us a beer and we visited, testing to see what we were like. We were soon enjoying a lively conversation and getting along well – they said we could spend the night if we wished, provided there was no hanky panky – that was a no-no. We agreed and with that they proceeded to fix us a wonderful late night snack that was more like a dinner. We had a wonderful visit – they needed someone like us to talk with. They were marvelous ladies and I've wondered what they did, especially the one who's home we were in. She was not only attractive but quite bright with excellent vocabulary and conversational versatility. Another of the many it would have been nice to know in the years ahead. I've wondered if she taught at the college.

The list of 87 Our feeling of stagnation as potential engineering cadets was abruptly broken. Word spread a list of names had been posted, but not everyone was listed. I hurried to check, my name was there to report for a briefing. At the briefing we were told to assemble the next day and begin the process of going before a review board. There were 87 of us, about half of the original potential cadets. Each month we had been rated by those running the school. If you failed to sustain a number 1 proficiency rating you were dropped from the list.

15 officer selection board The next day we gathered all spit and polish, trying to seem calm. We were to go before the board one at a time. Those who had been before the board were separated from those who had not. It took the board three days to complete the interviews. I went before the board late the second day. The board consisted of 15 officers and was headed by a full Colonel. I didn't see anyone below a Captain. By the time I was interviewed they had the process down pat and a baseline established for rendering their judgments. I was a bit apprehensive as I entered the room. I made the proper left and right turns in placing myself before the commanding officer and rows of officers on the board. I saluted but remained at a posture of attention except for a slight turning my stance to address the person interrogating me. I'd never been through such an interview before. My instincts told me many would be eliminated and I would not have a second chance.

17 min interrogation I was before the board for 17 minutes during which they asked me a continuous string of questions until it was abruptly terminated by the head of the board.

The head of the board started the questioning with stock questions like, "Why do you want to be an engineering officer?" and "Why do you think you are qualified?" During the latter half I could sense he was checking with other members of the board to see if they had questions.

Some of the questions had technical substance but most seemed to have some unique meaning to the person asking them. I remember a few like, "If you were in a combat region and found metal particles on the sump plug, what would you do?" A sump plug was like an oil drain plug on a car except that it had a permanent magnet to trap iron particles. I said "I'd replace the engine." There was little technical content to such questions and this disturbed me.

"A British plane lands on your field needing service and you only have American equipment, what would you do?" I replied, "since their equipment requires metric wrenches I'd take the next size larger American wrench and grind it to fit; thus creating sets of tools for working on their equipment."

"Who is Joe so and so?" I simply replied, "I don't know Sir, I can only presume he's someone I should know if I was up on current events." (He was a fighter pilot in the South Pacific who had recently become an Ace.) Another officer on the board told the interrogator that we didn't have radios in our barracks or access to newspapers in the squadron area.

"What two engine plane will not fly on one engine?" This stumped me because I thought they should all be capable of maintaining altitude if they dumped their load. On the other hand there could be some that wouldn't like the obsolete Martin B-26's collecting dust at one end of our field. They added 13 feet of wing span to later models. My immediate answer was "I don't know Sir, I presume all should be capable." which gave me time to let the above spin through my head, after a slight pause I added; "but I imagine you'd have considerable difficulty with a B-26." Two Captains in the back row immediately burst out laughing. This sudden outburst startled me but I keep my composure. I learned these two officers had completed tours in North Africa flying B-26's and had barely managed to get back on one engine. They were delighted with the way I responded as it showed recognition, to the other board members, of their feat.

The fate of each of us was dependent upon these strange and tenuous lines of affinity between each of us and each board member. The proof of this strength would come in the final vote.

The next day I replayed their questions and my answers through my mind to see if I could determine what kind of an impression I'd made. The ones that worried me most were two WAC officers on the board. They had asked questions which had no relevance to engineering but were designed by them to evaluate me. All I can remember is that I tried to direct a smile at the questioner when I answered.

11 of 87 pass Our enthusiasm was brief, we were to go before another board.

10 of 11 pass The first board was the engineering cadet board and the second a flying cadet board. The second board was a breeze compared to the first, only one was eliminated, now we were 10.

Home for Furlough After about two weeks of waiting with nothing happening we began to wonder if it was false hope. I had a furlough due so I left word to give me a call if any orders came through. When I got back from furlough 5 guys had been shipped to the cadet program. My name was one of them but they decided not to call and spoil my furlough, they sent a substitute. A week later I was sent but to my knowledge the remaining four never were, at least I never saw any of them again.

Quick Departure I gathered my things in a hurry to catch the truck to the train station. I didn't have a chance to say goodbye to many of my buddies.

High School Ring On the train I remembered that I didn't have my high school ring. Before furlough some friends and I had gone to a place in Lincoln called Hurdle and Halter where they served beer in a large glass globe on a stem. Two of the guys had girl friends who joined us and during the evening we discussed school rings. The girls asked for mine so they could see it better. They & I forgot about it when we left, as the train rolled along I chastised myself for being so careless. I wrote one of my buddies who was along that night and about a month later I received my ring in the mail. They spent three weekends searching for the other guys and their girl friends to find the girl with the ring.

When riding the train writing the letter about the ring I reflected on the tour of duty at Lincoln. I regretted to part with close friends again – that was the way it was. On the plus side, I was given an opportunity to meet and make new friends.

The Thinning Process I was 1 of 700 mechanics to become 1 of some 174 potential cadets which was cut 50% to becoming 1 of 87, which was cut to 1 of 11 which was cut to 1 of 10 of which only 6 actually ship to start cadets.

Cadet Thinning Of 100 starting Pre-Technical Cadets only 75 would go to Yale, of the 75 starting Yale, 56 would graduate as 2/Lts

Expansion Cutback What happened at Lincoln was happened at all AAC training commands, they projected an end to the engineering cadet training program.

Mixed Lot We were a mixed lot from training commands, colleges, operational commands, etc, that unloaded at Seymour Johnson Field North Carolina to form Pre Engineering Cadet squadron K.