Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

Pretty Lt. Bernie Manning wlio I', of COliN:, from 11011\\'O()(!. Illilh" life i1' plcns.mt
as life call be in Ass.un. India, CIs refer to this arca as " 1';111 t\ .vllcv." IZcading right
to left: pant\' girdle, stockings, CI p.mtic-, Lt. \Lllllling, 10llg undcrwcar p.mt x.
F L I G H T N U R S E (Cont inucd from I'age 30)
months a flatiron in a man's IWl1\e gale
him a better line th.m etchings ell' I' did.
"Vvc would go on ironing dates." the
girls cxpl.unccl. "Keeping om clothes
neat \\'as om tough est problem at first.
\\'e had water three times a dil\'-for a
couple of minutes each time-;'lJld that
lI'as all. \ V c could alw.ivs I\'ash om
clothes in the river hut \I'C 'couldn't iron
them became we didn't hale clcctricitv
at that time, The fellOlI'S did. so ,ve'~1
take om clothes O\'lT to their place and
spend a quiet, domestic elTning at the
ironing board. Oli, no. thcv didn't
mind-too much, Said it lent a horncv
touch to the place." ,
]\;mscs in most of the Pacific theaters
th' .m uvcrngc of about SO hours a
month. One month a girl spcnt I IS
hours aloft in her evacuation pl.mc.
l"ligh ts uxu.illv avcr.igc fom to cigh t
hours' f1I'ing time, And the long 01('['
water hops arc not made easier hv the
turbulent atmosphcre usuullv cnc'ollnt,
crcd in that arcu. or by the possibilitics
of enCI11\' attack on a hcavilv Iouclcd,
unannce( pl.mc. ,
One thing impoxsiblc. however. is to
get a 11\' flight nurse to admit there'« a11\'thinr;
heroic-or even diflicnlt-i-nbout
the Job she's choscu, In the first place,
she'cJ 5;1\ thcre isn't time to think about
l'lTsclf ;md on cv.rcuntiou missions this
is litcrullv true. I,ooking after 24 mcn
Ivhosc care h;ls lx-cn cu t irr-lv cntrustcd
to one \I'OIn;111is a full-time Job. It permits
no thought of comforts left behind.
;\IIl:I\'s her paticnh come first. It's
IlP to the nurse to cU'C for them. make
them comfort.rblr- .mcl sec th.rt thcv ;1[rive
at the destination in as good pi,,'sical
condition ;IS cxpcr! nllI'sing care can
:lSSIlIT, AmI where uir tLIITI is COl]ccruccl.
tl: i' t ll1can s bei n ~ prcp.ncd to
cope witl; the uucxpcct cd. Several
month, "go. the pl.m« Oil wh ich Lt.
Oorotl,,' Shikmki \I':]) f1i~ht nu rsc Ivas
forced cloxvn .it se:!. In the crash 1'\nrsc
Shikml,i\ hIck \1;1, seriomh' injurcel,
Yet, \lith 110 thollght for hcr o\\'n com-
62
fort, she helped her patienh in to life
r"ft" clrcel for their wou ncl s and attended
them const.mtlv until they were
picked up,
Once an cv.icnat ion plane is airborne,
the cabin becomes litcrallv a
hospital warcl with the nurse in ch,,'rge,
"Routine nursing c.uc.' it is call eel but
;111\' m.in evacuated bv air knows that
it'~ more th.m just ,vatching svmptoms,
changing dressing. giling plasma or
bringing out the morphine svrcttc when
she sees fists clenched in silent pain,
It's more th.m adjmting the splint on a
na livcs leg. or treating an Auvtrali.m
for "shock." or asking the pilot to descend
slOldy so that a too-snddcn pressure
change wont make a tank man's
condition I\'CJrSC,
~ lavbc it's a lot of little things-likc
the subtle \1;1\' she 1"ls of kccping a
hOI's mind off fcl!'S of Iming his injured
leg, Or thc manner in which she calms
a fcll(lII's nerves when sllc c.m sce ho-v
jmnpl' he is abont taking his first flight.
Or the \1;1\' shc asks "\\'onldn't \'CHI
like a cup of chocolate?" "110\1' al)out
a ci~;]!:ettc. s,~Tgcn~j?" "IIcre arc some
books or I Iere s a nc-v game \IT
picked up on the last flight," "Ll\he
it': the f:Iet th.it. hu-v ;IS she is, she
still h:l' time to t:IIL .
Or it could be her sm ilc. her calm
efficiellC'\' .md the 11';1\'she keeps C\,(TI'thing
nndcr control. ,\m;lIing wumcn.
these airborne nlH'CS. 110\1' tlicv kecp up
the hurd. tire,omc fli~hh month :lftn
month in e\TI'\' clim.rt« of the ~lohc, .\
p:ltient's own 'trel\]bles he~in to he forgotten
in achnir.rt iou for the nur:«:
aboard hi, p1:Iuc-'~:lllel the l11mdreels of
other nlH'CS just like her.
Call it nlHsillg C:lIT. c.ill it builcliut;
morale, call it :llllthillc;-the f1i~ht
IIm,e's sincerc elcsire to help .mr] comfort
hn p.it icut«. her w.nm spirit .nul
fr ic-nd lv disposition h.rvc won for her
Ihe s.nuc hiC;h .rccol.ulc on CITIT b.rttlcfront
\I here -;\mcricm soleliers ;ire fighting:
"Geez, isn't she \\,(JIlelerful!" U
AIR MASTERY OVER EUROPE
(COli till lied from 1':lgc :;)
the whole perioel USSTAF bombers
maintained their plnnllleling of German
:lirficlds in France, GcnU;lll\', the Low
Countries, lt.ilv, nut] the Baibns,
Xlcauwlnlc 'the 9th Air Force, the
RAF 2nd Tactical .md the Mcclitcr-
LmCII1 A11ied Air Forces were gi\ing
strong tactical support to the ndv.mccs
of the land armies. In their desperate
d.ish northward from the Falaisc sector
the Germans were bombed and strafed
into one of the II'()[St traffic tic-ups in
the history of the world. 1"01' miles vchicks
Il'n'e j.muncd blllnper to bumper
in hopeless congestion on main high-
\I':II'S and in the sur rouudiug maze of
couut rv lanes. Tow.ud the end, the
Ccnu.ms were trying to withdraw in
d;]ylight, an act of desperation in itself.
Ccruuin prisoners, pouri ng in to All icd
h.mds through these hectic weeks, testified
to the pS\'C'ho]ogie"l effect of AAF
and R,\F opcr.rt ions. Thcv revealed not
onlv the ten or of bombardrncnt but the
critical short:lges of food. nmmuuitiou,
w.rtcr and fuel that dircctlv resulted
from it. The g:lsolinc sllOrtage had hecome
acute and nobodv knows how
Ill;my :t'\;lZi t:mks were -bl()\\n up by
their 'erCII'S when thcv h:id no more
fuel. lnfuut rvuicn on the so-called
"holding front" h.ul gone without food
for fi\e or si x d;ll's in xomc c;]ses-anel
noth ing could h:IIT tolel them so well
that their cause in lr.mcc II':lS kaput.
?'ot the least of A\F exploits dming
the RIttle of Fr.mcc \I;IS the flving
of equipment to the j\ Iuquis. For weeks
13-1- s of the Sth Air Force were secretly
dropping red, yell 011' and white p;]rachntcel
IJl1nclles to rcnck/\o\1) points in
the 1:l11cI's. hi11s and p1:Iins of France,
Thcv delivered an avtonishius; total of
more th;1I1 90 percent of these cargoes
;mel nCITr perh;lps were guus. anuuunit
ion ;md supplies put to more ef1cctil'C
usc. A, Fr.mc« II':IS libcra tcd. in town
;Ifter town sobhing men .md women
sw.iru ud h.ippilv into their sunlit
squ;nes to sing L:l .\ LlrseilJ:l;\e once
:l~;lin, The vict orv \I;IS deserl'l'Cllv
sh.rrcd bv the French Forces of the
III tcr ior. '
In CH!I' Septelllher the cucmv's situation
I\:IS still detnior:1 ti ng. hut the
'\;l/i, h:id something left, The Luf t-
'1;ltTe h:lel put into ;Iction their \1l':-2h2
;11Ie1 other jet .mcl roch't-propellnl air-
CLIft. These p1:Ines h.«] been met in
com hilt .md IHTe kn(J\\n to he extremelv
f.r-.t. possihh' ~O()(1. 1\'(';1pOJl) , The
Ccnuu n-, lr.ul rcxcrvc ground force, .md
strong ddemi'e posit ion». But that
thcv could ITeOlTr from their m.mv d ix-
:lstc:rs or m.ik« " st:lnel on the \\'~stern
I,'wnt for long \I';IS unlikely. U
AIR FORCE