Earthquakers 12th Bombardment Group (M) USAAF

Turner Publishing Company

Publishers of Military History

P.O. Box 3101

Paducah, Kentucky 42002-3101

Co-published by Turner Publishing Company

and Mark A. Thompson, Associate Publisher

Copyright © 1998 Turner Publishing Company

This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced without the written consent of the Publishers.

The materials were compiled and produced using available information; Turner Publishing Company and M.T. Publishing Company, Inc. regret they cannot assume liability for errors or omissions.

Author: Barbara Stahura

Graphic Designer: Elizabeth A. Dennis

Library of Congress Catalog

Card No. 98-60438

9781618588104

Printed in the United States of America

Limited Edition

Cover Photo: The First 12th Group formation flight over Esler Field on April 6, 1942. Three months later they were on their way to Egypt by ship and by B-25s. (Kodachrome by Alex M. Adair)

Title Page Photo: The 12th over the Chin Hills between Burma and India. (Courtesy of Robert Yorns)

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Acknowledgements

THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE - WASHINGTON, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

12th Bomb Group Commanding Officers

Presidential Unit Citation

EARTHQUAKERS - 12TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP (M) HISTORY

HISTORY

SPECIAL STORIES

EARTHQUAKERS - 12TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP (M) VETERANS

INDEX

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The members of the 12th Bomb Group are indebted to Robert P. Bob Roth, Father of the 12th Group reunion organization, for his 52 years of dedication to building and maintaining an organization that would keep their memories and friendships alive, and preserving the history and accomplishments of the 12th Bomb Group for posterity.

Before leaving India he made a list of the home addresses of members of his squadron, the 434th, contacted many of them right after the war ended and organized their first reunion. For the next 20 years he searched for members of other squadrons of the 12th Group, and in 1966 organized the first reunion of the entire 12th Bomb Group in Tacoma, Washington. Since then the squadrons and the group have been holding reunions regularly.

Another member of the 434th Squadron, L. A. Frenchie Rogers, also dedicated his time to finding missing members of the 12th Bomb Group and in addition spent much of his time and money making complete sets of copies of squadron records from microfilm he had obtained from the Air Force. He made a set of records for each squadron which were quite popular at reunions where members could find mission reports and daily war diaries in which their activities were recorded. Frenchie also attended several reunions of the Eighth Army Veterans Association in Blackpool, England, representing the 12th Group.

The third equally dedicated member of the 12th Bomb Group is Robert E. Wilson, president of the 12th Bomb Group Veterans. His efforts took a different approach —he wrote a book, The Earthquakers, which recorded the accomplishments of the 12th Group from a personal point of view. He also has devoted much of his time to 12th Group activities for many years including assisting in developing the 12th Group display at the McChord Air Force Museum, as well as raising funds for the museum. He also obtained from the USAF Historical Division verification of the battle credits of the 12th and each of its squadrons, and after much correspondence had the records corrected to show the proper credits for each squadron and the group for each campaign they were in.

THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

WASHINGTON, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Message for the 50th Activation Anniversary Reunion

12th Bomb Group Veterans

It is a great pleasure for me to convey my greetings to you who have gathered in Tacoma for the 50th anniversary of the activation of the 12th Bombardment Group (Medium).

You could not have known at the start that you would take your planes on a five-year journey more than half-way around the world. In looking at the list of your overseas missions—Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Italy, Albania, Yugoslavia, India, Burma, and China—some might see only an impressive travelogue of service. It is much more than that; it is an honor roll of your heroism and dedication in the defense of liberty and freedom on behalf of all Americans.

Your many missions in North Africa not only helped earn the Twelfth a Distinguished Unit Citation, they also mean that you understand far better than most the rigors of desert warfare. In that, you have a special bond to those who served recently in the Persian Gulf region. I know that wherever our troops served during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, you were with them in spirit. Given your outstanding record of coordination with allied forces in World War II, our service members in the Gulf had a fine role model in that regard, as well as in your professionalism and tenacity in carrying out your missions.

The world has undergone remarkable changes since the 12th Bombardment Group served with distinction in combat during World War II. One thing that has not changed, however, is the inspiration that the values of democracy provide to those fighting on its behalf. That inspiration has been as evident recently among the champions of liberty in Eastern Europe, and even the Soviet Union, and elsewhere around the world, as it was for you 50 years ago. It is described very well by the Twelfth’s motto, Spiritus Omnia Vincet, the spirit conquers all.

I am proud to express my thanks to you for your illustrious service. You have my best wishes for a most memorable and enjoyable reunion.

12th Bomb Group Commanding Officers

Col. Charles G. Goodrich

January 1941 – September 1942¹

Col. Edward N. Backus

September 1942 — September 1943

Col. William W. Wilcox

September 1943 — September 1944

Col. L. Henry Dalton

September 1944 — September 1945

Col. Samuel C. Galbreath

September 1945

Col. Lewis B. Wilson

September 1945 — January 21, 1946

(Photos courtesy of Bob Roth)

Presidential Unit Citation

EXTRACT

VII—BATTLE HONORS—As authorized by Executive Order No. 9396 (Sec I Bull. 22, ED, 1942), citations of the following units by the Commanding General Ninth Air Force, in General Orders No. 39, 25 February 1944, under provisions of Section IV, Circular No. 333, War Department, 1943, in the name of the President of the United States as public evidence of deserved honor and distinction, are confirmed. The citation read as follows:

The 12th Bombardment Group (M). For outstanding performance of duty in action against the enemy in direct support of the British Eighth Army in the Middle East Campaign from the battle of El Alamein to the capitulation of the enemy forces in Tunisia and in Sicily. This group operating from advanced landing fields directly behind the front lines under the most difficult of weather and terrain conditions, carried out continuous and devastating bombing raids against the enemy airdromes, ground installations, troops, and supply lines as well as repeated aerial engagements with enemy aircraft. The airplane crews of this organization exhibited the greatest bravery and resourcefulness, while its ground personnel, in the face of repeated enemy attacks, performed all duties with utter disregard for their personal safety. By the superior courage, initiative, untiring efforts, and devotion to duty of all personnel of this organization, despite personal hardships and the most difficult and hazardous of conditions, the 12th Bombardment Group (M) contributed greatly to the defeat of the enemy in the Middle East in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Army.

By order of the Secretary of War:

12th Bomb Group B-25s chasing their shadows across the battle scarred Egyptian desert on their way to delivering some headaches to Rommel’s Afrika Korps. Photo by Gerry Furney of the 434th Bomb Squadron.

EARTHQUAKERS

12TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP (M) HISTORY

HISTORY

In the early days of World War II, the tanks of Gen. Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps roamed North Africa, seemingly invincible as they wrought destruction in the name of the Reich. They handily defeated the British Army in a massive tank battle at Tobruk, Libya, and sent the Brits fleeing back toward Egypt. But even Rommel could not maintain supremacy forever. The British Eighth Army, with the invaluable assistance of the USAAF 12th Bombardment Group, finally pushed him from Africa and then continued the push in Europe. For 18 months, the 12th helped to keep Rommel and his Panzer divisions on the run as they participated in the German defeats at El Alamein, Egypt, then again at Kasserine Pass in Algeria, and finally in Sicily and Italy against new divisions replacing those that were captured in Africa. The 12th then moved on to the East, where they helped pave the way for the British 14th Army to defeat the Japanese in Burma. For three years, the 12th played a major role in the eventual Allied victory over the Axis powers. Along the way, they earned battle stars for nine campaigns and a Presidential Unit Citation for outstanding performance in the defeat of Rommel’s Afrika Korps, and made their way into the history books. This is the story of these Earthquakers.

Company Street at Esler Field in Louisiana. (Courtesy of Joe Prisco)

The 12th Sent To Africa

Originally a regular Army outfit that was part of the 17th Bomb Group, the 12th Bombardment Group (Medium) was split off in January 1941 at McChord Field, Washington. They were the only bomber group on the West Coast north of San Francisco when Pearl Harbor was attacked, so they were immediately assigned the task of flying anti-submarine patrol, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At this time, they were equipped only with about a dozen antiquated B-18s and B-23s.

In March 1942, the 12th was transferred to Esler Field, Louisiana, and equipped with new, more powerful B-25 Mitchells. Several hundred eager pilots, navigators, and bombardiers right out of school joined the group there.

In May 1942, the 12th was sent to Stockton, Calif., for a special mission, which was kept secret from them. According to Harold Elder, a pilot with the 434th Squadron of the 12th:

Once at Stockton, we were separated from the rest of the base and were confined to our tent area, and the flight line (our part only). We loaded 500 lb. bombs in half of our aircraft, half the crews went on alert during daylight and the other half flew and dropped practice bombs on a wheatfield bombing range near Fresno.

We remained at Stockton until the Navy battle of Midway was over – only then did all elements return to Ester Field, La. Only after the war did I learm why the nese navy was on the move and if they hadn’t been stopped east of Midway they may have come on to the West Coast.

Douglas B-18 Bolo with which the 12th Bomb Group (M) patrolled the northwest Pacific Coast immediately after December 7, 1941. (Courtesy of McChord Field Photo Section)

A B-23, one of the first bombers flown by the 12th, at McChord Field in 1941. (Courtesy of McChord Field Photo Section)

Once back at Ester, the men continued their training and became classified as combat-ready. They waited for their assignment overseas.

In June 1942, the Allied situation in North Africa became desperate as Rommel’s Afrika Korps breached the Gazala Line west of Tobruk, and destroyed the British armor at Knightbridge and Acroma in the following week. This destruction sent the British rushing back to the east, across 400 miles of desert to Alexandria, Egypt, in a mass movement that would later be called the Gazala Gallop. The South African Division, which had moved into the recently liberated Tobruk and weren’t notified of the rapid British departure, were overwhelmed by the Panzer divisions in one day.

In Per Noctem Per Diem, the story of the 24th Squadron, South African Air Force, the authors described the Gallop:

From LG 07 nestled beside the main coastal road, the gallop could be viewed. Thousands upon thousands of vehicles rumbled past night and day — so this is what a retreat looks like! Weary soldiers crammed into their troop carriers, heads hanging on their chests from fatigue and lack of sleep — dust grimed, dirty and hungry. The 21st, 22nd, and 23rd June saw the Squadron hammering away at the enemy’s spearhead by day and night, but again he was getting close to the airfield, and after the final raid of the 23rd, the Squadron flew back to LG 21 at Daba to resume operations on the relentlessly advancing enemy.

When Rommel made his gigantic push eastward, the great fear among the Alllied powers was that the Germans would continue to push into Egypt and into the oil fields in Iran and Iraq, thus gaining an intolerable advantage. If the Germans took these oil fields, the Allies would lose their main ferry route to India and the life line to China, not to mention the priceless oil itself, the loss of which would cut off Allied air and sea activity in the Indian Ocean. About the only positive aspect of the move eastward, from the Allies’ point of view, was that it stretched out Rommel’s already woefully inadequate supply line for 400 miles, making it a little easier for the Allies to keep the line broken up.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was in the United States for a conference with President Franklin Roosevelt when the rout at Tobruk occurred, and he issued a plea for military aid to help stop Rommel in his eastward push.

S-E-C-R-E-T

HEADQUARTERS ARMY AIR BASE OFFICE OF THE BASE COMMANDER

Esler Field, Louisiana

June 30, 1942

SPECIAL ORDERS)

NUMBER ... 13)

E-X-T-R-A-C-T

9. Pursuant to authority contained in Radio, WD, dated June 25, 1942, signed ULIO. and Letter 3AF, dated June 26, 1942, the AIR ECHELON 12th BOMB GROUP, consisting of approximately five hundred (500) Officers and Enlisted men as named on the attached roster *, will proceed with the least practicable delay via Military Aircraft to PE West Palm Beach, Florida, Overseas, and Beyond, as per instructions contained in Letter, 3AF 370 (6-26-42) 2886. This is a permanent change of station. In lieu of subsistence a flat per diem of six dollars ($6.00) is authorized for travel by air. Delay in route in any one place of thirty (30) days is authorized. The Commanding Officer 12th Bomb Group will comply with all instructions contained in Letter, 3AF, June 26, 1942, 3AF 370 (6-26-42) 2886.

TDN. QM will pack, crate, and ship authorized household goods and baggage of Officers and Enlisted men of 1st four grades and furnish necessary Rail Transportation to authorized dependents ** of Officers and Enlisted men of 1st three grades.

By order of Lt. Colonel BARZYNSKI:

JOHN R. McDONALD

Major. AAF,

Adjutant

OFFICIAL:

JOHN R. MCDONALD,

Major, AAF,

Adjutant.

SPECIAL DISTRIBUTION:

** Base Headquarters, Esler Field, will furnish dependents an official memo

for use in travel thru gas rationed states in private correspondance.

S-E-C-R-E-T

Although reluctant at first because they wanted to reserve manpower and materiel for the coming push in western Europe, the Americans finally responded to his plea. On July 16, 1942, the French luxury liner Louis Pasteur, which had been taken over by the British, headed out of New York City bound for Egypt. Aboard were the ground personnel of the USAAF 12th Bombardment Group (Medium), their escorts the 57th Fighter Group, the 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), and the 323rd Service Group. The 12th consisted of four squadrons: 81 st Bomb Squadron, 82nd Bomb squadron, 83rd Bomb Squadron, and 434th Bomb Squadron. All these groups were now officially part of the U. S. Army Middle East Air Force (USMEAF) under Major General Lewis H. Brereton.

The month-long cruise took the men across the Atlantic, around South Africa, and up the Indian Ocean to Suez, but despite riding on a former luxury liner, they enjoyed no luxuries on the way. The quarters assigned to enlisted men were very crowded, which led to some dissent among the troops. According to Medical History of 12th Bombardment Group by James A. Sutton, Major, M. C., The rooms on the lower decks approximately 10 feet by 20 feet had eighteen men in them and those 40 feet by 40 feet had one hundred men. The promenade deck was enclosed after dusk and hammocks were strung so close that it was nearly impossible to walk from one part of the deck to another.

In October 1996, Robert A. Engberg of the 434th recalled two hazards — one potential and one real — of this crossing:

...1942 was a very good year for the U-boats, and they had been very successful in attacking Allied convoys which typically had 50 to 60 ships. But the U-boats also did well against fast ships like the Louis Pasteur that went alone, sinking 840 of those going solo during 1942. In early 1942 a wolf pack of U-boats had been enjoying especially easy pickings just outside of New York harbor. However, American anti-submarine capability was improving during early 1942, and this capability was concentrated on the New York wolf pack. Therefore, by Mid-year the NY wolf pack had moved South to the Carolina Coast and the Carribean. Thus, when the 12th Group’s original overseas ground troops left New York on the Pasteur in mid July getting away from NY was less hazardous than it had been two months earlier. However, by heading South the Pasteur went toward the U-boats that had been chased away from NY. Also, by refueling at Freetown on the West African coast, the Pasteur had to approach a large U-boat wolf pack in the Eastern Atlantic.

Fortunately the U-boat evasion skills of the British sailors operating the Pasteur were much better than their much lamented culinary skills, so the Pasteur made it safely enough on the 15,000 mile trip around the Cape of Good Hope to Egypt. All troop bodies aboard the Pasteur were delivered to Port Tewfik though the culinary part of the Pasteur did result in a reduction in tonnage of troops delivered.

A bombing crew that went overseas together. (l. to r.) Kneeling: Emil Ramsak, Jack Golladay, and Phillip Wood. Standing: William Perkins, Charles Payne, and Joseph Vlazny. (Courtesy of Emil Ramsak)

The horrible food on the Pasteur during the crossing is remembered by men of the 12th to this day. In his November 22, 1993, issue of Poop from the Group, Alex Adair printed a 1993 reminiscence of Arthur L. Thomas, who was aboard the Pasteur and had a run-in with the British cooks:

One day for dinner I sent the mess detail (3) up to the kitchen for food. (Note that he said sent them up — the diners were close associates of the propellor shafts (called screws by the naval purists.) They came back with a dish pan full of tomatoes and powdered eggs all scrambled. Ugh, Awful, and unappetizing. On top of that one of the soldiers said, Look, Lieutenant, and he was holding his plate upside down — it contained tapioca and it stuck to the plate like glue. We also got a dish pan full of tapioca with the tomatoes and eggs. Then I heard another soldier call me and he showed me a plate of tapioca full of weevils. Anyway, I went up to the kitchen to see the head cook. Explaining it to him, he made the remark, That’s not too bad, just tell them to push the weevils aside. Boy, that really tee’d me off. I began a lecture to that cook about American living and we were not in the habit of eating contaminated food. Then he got abusive, so I had him call the ship’s medical doctor. He happened to be one of our doctors, a major, I cannot remember his name. (Probably Dr. Sutton). After explaining the problem to the doctor, we went to the big pot that had the tapioca in it. Believe me there was a band about 4 high all around the top of the tapioca. (Presumably weevils can sense too much heat and try to get away from it just as you and I.) The doctor read the riot act to the cook and ordered him to destroy all of the tapioca on board. I later heard that they dumped nearly one hundred cases of it overboard that night. The food did improve after that. As I’ve always contended, officers of the lower rank tried to change the routine but they were peeing" against the tide.

As the ground crews were making their sea voyage, the air crews of the 12th and the 98th were flying their 55 B-25s to Egypt via Florida, the Antilles, Brazil, Ascension Island, across Africa to Sudan, and north to Egypt. They left Morrison Field, Florida, between July 14 and August 2; by mid-August, all had reached the Egyptian Delta. Not one plane was lost in the potentially treacherous crossing.

The P-40s of the 57th Fighter Group were based in Quonset, R. I., and they left for Africa on July 1. Not having the range of the B-25s, they were ferried across the Atlantic on the aircraft carrier Ranger. When they came within 100 miles of the African coast, they took off from the deck to fly the remainder of the trip to Egypt. Ground crews in transport planes followed the fighters and spent each night preparing them for the next day’s flight.

As soon as the ground and air crews were reunited along the Suez Canal — with the 81st and 82nd squadrons at Deversoir and the 83rd and 434th at Ismailia — they began adapting to their new environment and training in desert warfare tactics and navigation. In Earthquakers’ Odyssey, T/Sgt. Roy H. Miler of the 81st Sqdn. described their new home: That desert sure was a helluva place. Stifling hot and blindingly bright in the daytime, bitterly cold and usually pitch dark at night. We were usually about 25 to 50 miles from the front and could hear the guns echo across the sand and occasionally see the flashes of gunfire after dark.

For many in the ground crew, part of their introduction to desert life was a bad case of Gyppo Tummy, as the British had dubbed the dysentery spread by the Egyptian flies. According to Dr. Sutton, Flies throughout the whole camp were so numerous that it was almost impossible to take a bite of food before a fly made a three-point landing on your fork. The officers’ mess consisted of four EPIP tents in which there were five doors. None of the doors were screened and it was pointed out to the mess officer how the flies were coming in one particular door. Two days later, that door was screened but none of the others ever were.

Furthermore, the water tower that provided water for the camp was found to be contaminated with moss and four dead birds.

Not until the Americans set up their own mess halls, with strict fly control and boiling water for washing messkits, did the group overcome this buzzing enemy.

The 12th had come to Egypt with the express purpose of assisting the British Eighth Army under Field Marshall Sir Bernard Montgomery to drive Rommel from North Africa. Therefore, they trained with the Royal Air Force in Suez and quickly learned to fly in tight 18-ship formations made up of their B-25s and British A-20s and Baltimores. According to U. S. Air Force historians in The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume II,

The 12th Group, based along the [Suez] Canal, began under the tutelage of RAF and South African Air Force (SAAF) light bomber wings. A month’s training ensued, including five missions intended to acquaint the crews with the aids to navigation available in the Middle East. The first of these missions, night operations against the port of Matruh and the enemy airdromes at Daba and Fuka, proved that without flame dampeners to black out the bright spurt from their exhaust pipes the B-25’s were easy targets for AA and night fighters. Further difficulties arose in locating targets by day in the