Empty Barracks When I returned from Rest Leave in Hawaii,
I found more of the flight and ground crews had shipped home. All remaining 20th
AF personnel were being transferred to our group. There was no one left in my barracks and found a few EO’s I
recognized killing time on the flight line.
Flight crew members as 28th Sqd CO Capt Lomax, Bob Felton's crew and
other were all gone. Those killing
time about at the 19th maintenance area were a friendly bunch trying to orient
to the changed set up. It met Webber
and Wycoff there and they introduced me to the new 19th Bomb Group
Engineering Officer Capt _______ , He
and others had taken over the PLM I’d
set up and were using it as their base of operation.
Webber and
Wycoff I'd been reassigned to a
pool of other engineering officers to bide our time and provide what help was
needed on the line. The senior officers in rank and years service had been put
in charge. Engineering Officers Webber
and Wycoff found themselves in the same boat as I was, it didn't help to have
more points than enlisted and flight personnel who had already gone home.
Capt _____
New 19th BG EO
Richard Nevill and _______?
Webber and Wycoff, watching friend at bat.
Time for Softball
Mercury II
35mm Cameras 35mm cameras were now
available at the PX, we each bought one and took an interest in
photography. For most 35mm cameras the
film width was the photo height, our cameras used film width as photo width
which produced more photos per roll – becoming a non standard.
Peace Time Ground Crew They had a new contingent of trained
aircraft mechanics whom I was told had recently come from the states. A M/Sgt was in charge of the enlisted
mechanics and they formed up to march to
and from the bus; war time operations
had ended and peace time operations had begun.
Predictably unpredictable 1/Lt Foghorn (my name for him) became known
to all. He always had a twinkle in his
eye and possessed an abundance of energy and imagination plus with inclination
to harness it. His class mates now
Colonels and Majors had returned, while he chose to stay just in order to fly
B-29s at tax payers expense. He had a
history of mischief and ignoring orders resulting in his being reduced in rank
as often as he'd been promoted. He was gregarious and didn't know a stranger
regardless of rank or branch of service.
The
Foghorn He became acquainted with
Navy personnel and obtained a foghorn.
It was designed to work off steam but would work off compressed air. Our Cletracks were equipped with air
compressors and storage tanks, used to charge the landing gear shock struts,
just what the Lt needed to power his fog horn.
The Wing Commander had a hut in an
isolated area beyond where others were quartered. This placed him further from
the noise of engines permitting quiet and good sleep.
Our pilot friend “borrowed” a Cletracks one night and with the aid of cohorts mounted the fog horn on it. While the CO was away he placed the “portable fog horn” out of sight near the CO’s quarters. After the CO returned and went to sleep, our prankster pilot and buddies maintained silence till assured the CO was sound asleep, then released compressed air causing urgent loud prolonged blasts. They imagined the CO abruptly awaken by visions of a huge ship bearing down on his jungle quarters! It was hardly a secret who was behind the blasts.
Buzzed the field He had previously buzzed the field with the
foghorn blaring it’s unique tones earthward.
He’d placed the foghorn in the bomb bay of his B-29 and connected it to
the bomb bay door air compressor.
Reprimands were no deterrent.
The
Fishermen Lt
Foghorn and Captain _____ , our new 19th BG Engineering Officer, were old
friends. They told us they were going
fishing in a boat Lt foghorn “borrowed” from the Navy. That evening after chow
we went to the club to meet them, have a beer and chat before turning in. It became later and later and they still
hadn't returned. Finally we saw our captain friend enter and look around – he
looked beat?
He was exhausted. We got him a beer
and he plunked down in a chair and told us what happened. He said "Never
again will I go fishing with that idiot, he's nuts!" He brought along a
cases of dynamite. The Pilot had been
in charge of blowing out stumps to clear the area for more permanent facilities
and had saved some of the dynamite for "fishing". At first he'd thrown the dynamite way out
and they'd row the boat over to pick up any floating fish. This seemed too much work so he started
dropping the stuff closer to the boat – till he cracked the boat hull! The
Captain said he bucketed water for hours as fast as he could while his buddy
worked the boat back to shore. "And you know, that damn fool is already
trying to talk them out of another boat so he can go out again tomorrow!"
Coral Pit becomes Equipment Burial Ground
Mostly
Navy Amphibian tanks, misc trucks in bottom, persons improvising combed these
for parts.
Equipment
Grave Yard We took shots of huge coral
excavation pits, used for building highways and runways, which had now been
filled with wrecked amphibious tanks, airplanes and trucks. The pits were so
large the tanks, trucks, airplanes looked like toys in a kids large play-box.
It was indeed an enormous grave yard of damaged equipment, often cannibalized
for parts. GI's went there for parts to
rig their own form of personal transportation.
Pick a Plane and Fix It
After living the life of
playboys for about two weeks we decided to do something helpful so we picked a
plane that needed repair and removed and replaced the engine taking lots of
pictures of the process.
Engine Change
Post War There are almost no photos
available showing the tools, equipment and methods used to change engines
during the war. There was always a rush to perform essential task, such that
refinements seemed to languish. My training in the states had exposed me to
refined methods of Production Line Maintenance and special build up facilities
for engines. Those had been achieved independent of the necessity to build
airfields, living quarters, and fly missions.
When an instructor in a fighter
aircraft mechanics school at Lincoln I would go to one of the hangers that
housed a German ME-109, a British Spitfire, and top of the line US fighters. I
studied the German and British aircraft in detail. I was most impressed by the
attention to detain the Germans had put into the ME-109. It had been in service
in Spain before the was started with Poland in 1939. The design was refined in
many ways. The Germans had placed much importance on the ability to perform
rapid maintenance and had incorporated that capability in the aircraft’s
design. For example they color coded, by anodizing, all lines that had to be
removed for maintenance. US aircraft used color coded cellophane tape which
could never be located usually because it had fallen off. They had also
included quick disconnects at the firewall. These observations caused me to be
very aware of the means taken to reduce down time. I was quite surprised that
our operations were still so primative.
Maintenance stands were available after the war ended Nacelle after engine removal
Engine with Cowling down Engine plus cowling on engine stand Cowling removed Engine only
Wycoff’s
feet near air cooler Webbers hands on
the starter Wycoffs hands on the right
magneto
One person could do an engine change Engine plus ring cowling is faster when combine on the ground
Setting up our
own Home Webber, Wycoff and I set up
our own home with kitchen, and more comfortable quarters in one of the empty
barracks. We collected aerosol insect repellent cans, a new invention then, cans
of powdered coffee and eggs. Powdered
(later called instant) coffee was a new thing then. We even found chairs and
furnished them with cushions and made a rug for the floor. Prior to that we'd
always sat on our cots. In small ways
we acquire luxuries of civilized life.
“V” Disk Records We found a hand crank record player and
stacks of "V" disks made by some of the best artists of the times,
they were excellent. One I particularly enjoyed was "Grandfathers
Clock" by Evelyn Knight.
Letters from Ground Crew I was pleasantly surprised to receive
letters from fellows who had returned. One I remember was written by one of
four who flew by C-54 from Long Beach to New York with a stopover in Tulsa,
Oklahoma. During the stopover they had gotten out and mingled with the ground
crew and talked shop while the ground crew serviced the plane. They said
"You wouldn't believe how clean the engines and engine nacelles
were". They'd been used to B-29's with oil streaked back across the wings
and wheel wells. They also said "We watched them come out and put oil in
each engine, with a 5 gallon can!" The B-29rs had become accustomed to a
60 gallon refill per engine for a total of 240 gallons from a tank wagon. But
then the C-54 (Airlines DC-4) had an engine of 2000 cubic inches vs the B-29's
3350 which was supercharged to shove over 2 times the energy into its
cylinders. They had flown only 6 1/2 hours at modest engine settings compared
to a B-29 for 16 hours with half the trip at full load. The "empty" return
load of guns and armor was heavier than a fully loaded C-54. After their being
accustomed to the war weary discolored machines they'd been nursing, that
gleaming C-54 must have seemed like a spirited cloud skimmer.
Help yourself to the comforts, door’s unlocked
Practice return
We were told it was some Col doing practice landings, sky’s were often empty, so we took photos
Taken 3-27-46 Aircraft below amidst clouds
Sandbag engine repair stand
Taking off Col Storey 314 Wing CO Prices are right
Officer Club Photos These photos were taken of photos on the 19th BG
officers club wall. Some were removed and photographed as a batch of 6 in one
shot for a distance of 1.5 feet. Others from in front of the bar as they were
on the wall. These are tremendously enlarged. At the time I didn’t think it
would work, but am pleased they are useable.
Unused
drop-able fuel tanks oil
drums content if any unknown.
Dump trucks Field Artillery Guns
edge
of negatives mailed to states scratched emulsion
The
surplus equipment shown above was some of the first sent to Korea.
F4U's on N side of North Field Large Artillery, destined for Korea
Weapons Carriers 315 W perimeter road
Japanese
engine at Navy airbase 14 cyls in
two banks. Note large intake manifolds to aid air flow.
This
was a Japanese airfield until mid ’44.
Enough of
Paradise Initially the engineering
officers accepted the fact that they had been frozen and not subject to
immediate transfer home. It was readily apparent that the mass transfer of
ground crews home had left things in a mess. However most of the planes had now
been flown back and the tone began to change for two reasons. Many of the
fellows, as myself, had not finished our engineering schooling and by the time
we processed out and had a short vacation it would be time to start the fall
semester. But most of all we had become aware that our replacements, regular
Air Force, rumored to be new West Pointers, had already arrived and were
spending their(our) time setting up permanent quarters for themselves and their
families near Harmon Field, a less rugged more beautiful part of the Island. We
decided to go en masse to see the Air Inspector.
To Air Inspector for Release About 50 of us were gathered at his office
when the Air Inspector arrived. At first he was going to have each of us fill
out a form. We helped him realize he could save time by using one form as we
all had the same complaint. Before he arrived we had established the basic
logic and rationale for our appeal. He invited us all into a large room. At first he began to play the devil's advocate,
but he was soon aware the group did not suffer from anemic IQ's. They were perfectly capable and inclined to
take the issue as high as necessary with no patience with attempts to patronize
or sidetrack. We prepared a formal statement in his presence which we all
signed. He told us the issue was of such a nature that it would have to be
taken all the way to MacArthur's headquarters in Japan where the original
freeze had emanated. He said he'd try to have an answer in a week when he
returned to our outfit.
He returned with the answer, the freeze was lifted effective immediately for all high point personnel. That included about 95% of the engineering officers in the outfit. Unfortunately Wycoff was short about two points so he, Webber and I abandoned our plan to buy a surplus jeep, obtain our discharge on the West Coast and tour the west on our way eastward to home.
Pack, Up You're Leaving
A
few days after word from the Air Inspector, we were loading on trucks for our
trip to Agana harbor. Wycoff felt lonesome, all his friends were leaving. About
a month later he followed us home on another ship.
None of us made a sojourn to the flight line, we'd had months to reflect on the events, planes and people now gone, except for guys like Wycoff our thoughts were ahead of us as we bounced on our 6x6 truck seats headed down the island.