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August 7. Patton kept moving his headquarters close to the head of his columns. But 19th 'I',\C headquarters had communi. cations troubles. The farther it moved in. land, the farther it \\'as from its airbuses. Cencral \\'e\Lmd, however, flc\\' up to confer with Ceneral Patton ncarlv cvcrv day, and operations continued lmccasingh:. Planes blasted enemy armor and guu povi tions, fle\\' over areas that the Third Army might move into, bombed and strafed tar. gcts thcv found there ami wutchcd O\Tr the supph' rontcs. Vvhcn the Germans used our color rccognition panels on their tanks, the 'L\C pilots would fly low and look O\Tr the vcluclcs as carefully' as a six.mile.a.minnte speed would permit. Then thcv'cl zoom upward, circle and come back clown to pelt the cncmv with horn bs and lJ\lllets, Thc Ccrmans had to usc horscclr.twu equipment nuuh of the time, and our fivers killed a lot of horses, some. thiug \\'hie'h bothered them couvidcrnhlv more t h.m killing Ccnu.mv, wl«: needed it. Durmg the action wliicl: closed thc Argcntan trap, some of the I CJth's 'Ih nndcr bolts pounccd upon a coutcutr.rt iuu of ncar. lv 1.000 cucmv vehicle, and dcxtrovcd at l~ast half of thc:lu, . .\t this stage of the campaign, cncinv gronnd troops beg,m surrendermg to the T.\C flvcr-; One unit of .ibout --100 Ccrmans ",'l\Td wlut c flags at a lIghter squadron which \\'as lining up for a stralmg attack, The squadron reported the location of the troops to hghter Control and w.ntcd arouud until some ground soldiers rounded np the Bochcs. An 1S'lcar,old bov among the prisoucrs said the field kitchen of his outfit had been bombed and that he h.ulut had .mvthing to eat for four clavs. Our planes then dropped leaflets ontlining the aell'anLlgcs of \ iclding and thousands of Cerman troops capitulated volunt.u ilv. Germau couccntr.rt ions were falling one 1)\' one, and on .\ngnst 1S there \I'as a liarvest of 7,000 jammed vohiclc.. Because most of thc cncmv cquipiucnt \I':IS in the British sector. the 1'Jth \I'as denicd the Jack, pot. \\'Inle the .vurcr icau flvcr« were creelitcd with a fe\l' hunched t ruckx, some tanks .md r.ulro.rd rolling stock, the score of the R,\]o"s 2nd Tactlctl COIIlII1l11H! \I:IS 1,1 'i C ) motor t r.m-port s dcstrovcd and 1,-;-24 dam. aged; 124 tallks destTO\ed .u«l ')(, c!:;;Il::gccl. \lcall\lhile, the .\Ihes h.«! landed in Southeru I"rance am! \lTre :;1) ulilcs inLind, The Cemlans \n'lC \'ell" unh:IPP\', I.ate III the month a cold front cnt clO\\'Il flling time, :Ulel on seH'lal d:ll's the Third \lIll;' sent its o\ln :umorn! p:ltrols :i1ong its Iii;ht' Ibnk on the lim' of the Loirc, There \las little cLillger, though, hce'llise the 1'Jth I ,\C h:ld LIken e:lrc' of Ihc elillil' :,11 :iJong that 41111mile streilh. \\hell the p::lnc.s \I ere fllillg, t hnc \I:IS cithn 110 :Iir oJlposi. tiou or pic-utI' of it. thc c'ueUII' plclcrrlllg to jUlllp om I' :;..,s, I' 4-s '1:lel 1':, I, \lhcu it h:lel :11l ciglil or teuto onc :1l11::ul:l'~C, ()m semcs 1lS11:i1h LIU about, fom C1ICIll\' craft dcst l\)' cli to O;\C of oms Ic"t. Oil onc oecisioll, c'ight I' :;1s elisperseduHHc Ih,lu SO (;nllI:11I plallC'S, ,\nother d:1\' ci:~ht P,4-:-s, jmuJlcel h\ t\lehe \ll-:l()l)s :md t\l'C'ntl' 1-'\\ I ')11" got six :11,,1 el'UII:lgcel ouc fm all ,\mcric:ul lehs of t 1\0 pLillCS anel pilots, In a 56 broadcast to its troops, the Ccnn.m high command declared that the Luftwaffe while outnumbered, realk wns doing something, even thongh Gcrman soldiers "tied to a single front" might not rc.rli:«. it. :\s the cncmv tried to cross the Seine before the fall 'of Paris, the Thunderbolts made things miserable for him. There were practically no bridges left standing. and some of the Germans were tr\'ing to swiu: across the river. "lost of them were using ferrics, and the 19th, making things worse. put de. laved action bombs in the fern' slips, Pressing ever onward, the .\mericans skirted Paris on two sidcs, leaving the 2nd French Annorcd Divixiou to occnp\' the en, circled citv after the French Forccs of the Interior I;ad a field dav ronting Ccrm.ms out of their fine billets. On .\ngmt 2:;, the Luftwaffe took a tcrr ific bcating, \ Imtangs and Thunderbolts of the 19th and of the 9th Tactical .\ir Command of the 9th .\ir Forcc dcvt rovcd -;--;- cucmv pl.mc-, in the air .mcl :;lI on 'the grouncL got 11 probnblcs .md eLnnaged :;:;, The total .vnu-r ican loss I\':IS 2-; .urcr.rft. Over Cellnal1l, Sth .Vir j"orcc lIghters .mcl bombers accollllted for 11 in the .nr and 411 on the ground, The Ccnn.m« bllnchcd a fe\l' jctpropcllcd rr.ift which tr.rvcllcd like hell but never got .mvwlnr« ncar om pl.mc«. The 19th's assignml'llt after the fall of Paris was a tongl; one, calling for wiclclv dit1uscd action, l'ut ton \I':IS I.rr across I-'LIIKe and the T.\C \I'as supporting him, .Vt thc s.uu« time it \\,:IS bombing Brcst .mcl other c ncmv targcts in \\'cstern Fr.nuc. \\'hen these coastal invt.ill.it ion-, [innllv capitulated, Vvcvland \I:IS 'Ible to clcvot« hi~ Full strcngth to the canlpaign in t hc List, In September things bcgall to slo\l' dO\I'lI. althongh in the middle of the month the 1()th herded in 2l1,ililIJ CClIuallS to xuncnck-r in one of the oddcst actions of the war. These troops lidded to wlut .nnounrcd to a couple of platoons of inf.uitrv .mc] a bat. t.ilion of \IPs bronght np for the pmpme, .\ \'onng inf.mt rv officcr arrangcd t lu. sm. icndcr after cl.ivx of ncgoti'ltions wlun he t hrc.itcucd. :Imong other things, to h.ivc some circling p.4-s couu in .n«l bomb the Crnn.rus. The Thuudorbolt-, bad been at. t:lcking t liciu for \lTcks and t hcv clicln't w.mt another minute of it. Crounduir lOOJlCLltiOlI hctwrcn the 19th T\C ami tl«: Third .Vriuv relchcd :\1\ all. t iinr high a fe\l' \lTCk.s :Igo." if Ion e:m go for the f:mt:Jsti,' stem' thc\' tell :It T,\C he:lel. ciu:lrters, It's llb,iut a ;'oung :nrJIllm, :1 hen. kn'lllt eoloncl. \lho \\,:IS fmccd to b:li] ont bchind thl' Cerln:m lines, .\ecording to the Llk, I,c 11id in a to\1'l1 for t\l'O d:l\s. \I':liling for Plltton's colllnlns to :Ippro:lcl; the :lrc,:l. \fter :1 l.'rcnclun:1l1 h:ld SIW:lkc,d hilll :llTOSS the lim's, the I'o]onc] rc;wh('(1 Thirel \nll\' hC:ld'llJ:lrtcrs, \I'hclc hc dc'slTlbcd thc Cllc'ml'. helel to\l'n :llId its defcnscs :llId sllggested th:lt it bc LIKen inlnlc'di,rtc!l', "Cill' mc :1 fmh' lilT :11\('11"11 t:JKC it Ill\'. ',ll£," t hc' tller is "lJ(1 to h:II'e ,01ulltl'crcd, The co]n",'] 's cut 11I1Si;\SIlIis supposcd to 1,an' so pk'l'cd thc h\oglln nlllny to \I'hom llc \I'llS rl'porting, t lut h:IH :U\ hom bttT. ,\II\('ri";IU 1111L, ,,,lk'] illt" the tOIl'll. I~' eet'(hllg' Oil Ildn!111.!li')]1 :m ,\,\1.' olTieer h,,! obt:1 illcd on fl\\1\g boot rCCOlm:1iSSlmce, {:{ KEY MEN (Colltinned from Page 22) operator when someone failed to ask for au, t licnt icnt ion , The cuciuv is tr ickv enoughdout fall for his obvious attempts. It is not the purpose here to level the tlnger at radio operators and place all the rcxponxibilitv on their shoulders, :\ lauv times, the mistakes thcv make can he pre. vented by cooperation from the rest of the crew. \\'hen the navigator or pilot receives a bearing from the radio operator that secms to be out-of-line, it is their dutv to question it. Radio operators arc willing to admit their mistakes, but they Si1\' that too often the pilot docs not even consider them part of the crew. One radioman justifi.iblv com plains, "I made 47 missions with my pilot and I swear he docxnt even know mv name," Pilots should understand the radio opcrators job .md sec t h.it he attends to it proper", In the folhm'ing case. the fault \I'as the radio operator's, hut the pilot could huv« prcvcutccl it had he t.ilkcd the matter over \I it h his r.rdiom.m. ;\ B 24 \IllS Ihiug from I talv to .\frica to get supplies. The radio operator h.icl forgot. tc n to get the letter of the cl.rv. It \I'as his Job to get that infmm:ltion, but the pilot could li.rvr: chcckcd him before the takcotl. .\s it was, weather forccd the pbne dO\1'l1 to 1.()()() feet and it p:lsscd over a fr icncllv con, \ 0\', The racho operator reports, "T'hcv blinked the letter of the d.iv at me and I couldn't allS\I'C'l. I shot b'lck the colors of the cl.iv, hut thcv kept after me for the propcr code letter. I''in.ill,', three planes look 011 from some habv flat tops and 11Il//ed in to look us O\Tr. \\'e did cvcrv tlling but sing the Star Spllllgied B:mller to indicate that we were fricudlv. 'lhcv must h.ivc been slltislleeL for thcv di~l not shoot at ux. Hut it \I'as awfu! clo~e and the wliol« tiling coulrl h.ivc been serious. I was at [.mlt. of course, but the pilot could han' :l..keel me .rbout it before \IT left," 1Zadio operators arc cxt rcuu-lv importunt men. cspceialh' in 'Ill clllcrgel\l'\", \\'hell II pl.mc is lost, or is about to go cl0\\'11 , tIre quick work of a good r.ulio operator call oft en save the lives of the crew. ,\s a B.2() radio opcrator put it. "\\'c thrive Oil a crisis, \\'hell cvcrvboclv gch ncitl'lL it's the radio operator vho "hollLl kccp cool :mel get thc pwpcr Illc",',:lges thronglI. \\'elL one timc I \I :IS tltc gl1\' \I'lto got ncitcd alld \l'e damn Ile:n \lcnt into thc oCClm I)('eallse of it, \\'c \lTre retllrtliug frolll a Illission \I'ith a bad cngille, Thc pilot \I:lllted to elteck his POSI tion :(ild :l.skcd me to get a 0'1'1':. In m\' cxci!enlellt, I lnislllllkrstood h'-;-;I :Illel I got :1 \) J) \ I illSk:lcl. \ \ II h Olle cllgille Ollt. lIlld tIle dall[~lT of t]IC secolld OIle g()in~. \\"l' cLdn't !un: :Ill\' tilllC to erllise :mllllld \I'hile I ree!Jceked all'd got tlte sil;lI:I1 he hOld :J.s!.:c'd for ill Ille ilrst p!:Iec, I rc:I1;/e 110\1' thllt \I'!tell lie ::;:I\'C mc his illstl"\]ct lOllS 1 should h:ll'e repCllted tlIc'll :md h:ld hilll gi\'e me II l'lml1rmlltinll. B\\t I 1ud o\\C cye Oil th:Jt hill engine lIlld :mother eye Oil the \1':lter, so I \I':ISIl't ]l'l\illg much :lttcntioll, I II1l:I1!I' did get t]le \)'1'1< :Illd \lC got' hick \I,ithout too Ililleh trouhle, But I lute to think of \lh:i! might h:IYe ILlppencd if th:lt second enginc AIR FORCE
u: 1',C1It hid wlul« I \1:1' \\a,till~ tilliC i.;dtilll; l l \\TOII£; intunuut iou." ()IIC of t lu: l.;IC:lll',t C:1l1'C' ()f erlor, lIlalk 1>\ Lllh() ()pn:ltor, ruuu :1' till' rc-ult of t luir d""irc t() ICI:tc\ hef('ll' t lir llli"i()ll' :IIC l'('lllpkt('(!. 'lh« LIN' ori~illalh' eilt'd ()f thc I:ldi()lll:lll \1 II
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~J 1 AIR FOftCES * OCTOBER 1944
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Rendezvous Who Is He? Dear Editor:
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[us: ,dlat is tIle AAI'I'DC~ It is
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oads and bridges and military imtal
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Here's how controllers direct the p
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sengcr and courier service in areas
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GET WISE Here are a few of the easi
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Airborne soldiers. shown here durin
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Smoke in background is fruin [up.ui
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It has pronounced step characterist
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TIIC{"II""IIIi; ;lItidc j, till' I/
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OCTOBER,1944 The first thing the a\
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YOUR ENEMY All ;Iirer;!ft fllillg o
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->",i" .""tJnil'et hj/'- By Col. Do
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28 011 BOll~aiIldk is quicklv unloa
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the plane landed, a jccp would driv
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THE PHiliPPINES DISTANCES SHOWN IN
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The economic system of the Philippi
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The AAF's homing pigeons are recogn
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Our aviation engineers had to fight
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---- technique • -- - --- . RUNWA
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High Intensity Controlled Lighting
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Attached to a flyer's ear, the Oxim
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Automatic Pilot Trainer-A new train
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3 5 7 Surprised by the friendliness
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TIM ELY A D V ICE FRO M THE A I R I
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R.6 I:>:CJ: the AAF S helicopter, t
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SS I. You on the left, Buddy, appea
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ever .nrivc at a fir',t ~Iid stut i
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p:rinted on the outvi.lc wrt l: ,ih
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tanks and truck-borne infantry and
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FIGHTER CONTROL (Colltilltled from
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Property of tDe Library ARMY INDtJS
Page 70 and 71: For the Record I)e:lr h!Jtlll Rende
Page 72 and 73: he Allie's into German-held of the
Page 74 and 75: H Combat may make you Lazy By Maj.
Page 76 and 77: ..... -; ... The results of two yea
Page 78 and 79: Production charts show the disaster
Page 80 and 81: all key points of the factory's 3-+
Page 82 and 83: HE Fortresses T wings to the took o
Page 84 and 85: ';:'4"'~' .~~~c ~)'~ ~J ~~~ ~" . "
Page 86 and 87: 'l'h is was a YClr ago, but these a
Page 88 and 89: Pulling in His Ne-:I:. Reeelit de,c
Page 90 and 91: When a radio operator makes a mista
Page 92 and 93: Lifeline to the US,S R BY HERBERT R
Page 94 and 95: Ten o'clock of a December morning a
Page 96 and 97: THE MAN WITH THE PRIVATE BREEZE By
Page 98 and 99: THE AIR WAR IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFI
Page 100 and 101: STANDARD FLIGHT INSTRUMENT PANEL E
Page 102 and 103: It 11c:l!,illg l.ot h sidc
Page 104 and 105: , , ,CO:-iTI:-iUI:D ]'\o\\', pacbgi
Page 106 and 107: technique ••• CO]\;Tl:"UED Ne
Page 108 and 109: INSTRUMENT PANEL (Continued from Pa
Page 110 and 111: LIFELINE TO THE US S R ( Cout iuucc
Page 112 and 113: F\lr:RCF'\~CY FOUrp\lr:,\'T luvpcct
Page 114 and 115: 50 COMBAT MAY MAKE YOU LAZY (Contin
Page 116 and 117: EN of the AAF-including the hundred
Page 118 and 119: .I In. ]~rhO:S-':cl the'mll-it:IIT
Page 122 and 123: l'Iiavigation Training En Masse. Th
Page 124 and 125: "WE arc not going to bubble over wi
Page 126 and 127: A wood block support; injured legs
Page 128 and 129: Burma. A Japanese light antiaircraf
Page 130: ~ ~,C"= =~=.~7~~ ---,- .... _._. __
Page 134 and 135: HOW ,SHARP ARE YOU? A 'hoto Test of
Page 136 and 137: .. ' Back to the Philippines PART I
Page 138 and 139: Tacloban strip \\";IS not sC'ITicca
Page 140 and 141: All Tile Illftl, \\ ,(("d If iii, ,
Page 142 and 143: :lIe fbttle of Hrit.un. IC\i" intru
Page 144 and 145: Underground. ,'~ group of worried m
Page 146 and 147: volunteers between the agcs of II .
Page 148 and 149: I f By Capt. Greer Williams Air SlI
Page 150 and 151: Flaming debris (If njllI, ])1]]1:ll
Page 152: ground fire the pilot should look f
Page 155 and 156: two weeks: Cincinnati. one week: Pi
Page 157 and 158: At 5.000 fed. the pilot opened the
Page 159 and 160: cardboard bombs on their choice of
Page 161 and 162: turn to Traffic Scction, Crcnicr Fi
Page 163 and 164: Oil refineries arc gooel targets, T
Page 165 and 166: Tile air campaign to choke off fuel
Page 167 and 168: fallen into Allied hands, thus maki
Page 169 and 170: Hamburg i lPolilz IMagdeburg 1 I r
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He's the guy who holds the life of
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46 V4ba\'s vnong V4itbtbis pictUfe1
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:::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::
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j ._3 Thirteen days after the 13th
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THE ABC OF D-DAY When an invasion i
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By all AIR F( )RCl-: ()\"t'rsc;/s S
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The fighters called for help and th
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A jeep, laden with leftover explosi
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THE ABC OF D-DAY t Cont inu.xl [r o
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By Capt. E. E. Churchill co, isu. A
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- ~ --'fftJMlGa ~II.I - , • - '--
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We're more than 2,300,000 individua
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