On Celestial Wings

2005·15.9 MB·English

by  Whitcomb, Edgar D

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Errata Sheet
for
Whitcomb, On Celestial Wings
Please note the following corrections:
Page xi, para 2, of the "About the Author" section is
incomplete. The paragraph should read as follows:
He is the author of Escape from Corregidor which was
published in Chicago, New York, London, Moscow, and Manila.
The book relates Whitcomb's experiences of evading capture,
then later being taken prisoner by the Japanese, escaping by an
all-night swim from Corregidor, his recapture, and his ultimate
repatriation from China as a civilian under an assumed name.
Page 40, endnote 4, line 3: Change "Roosevelts" to
"Roosevelt's"
Page 40, endnote 4, line 4: Change "MacArthurs" to
"MacArthur's"
Page 40, last line: Change "Johnsons" to "Johnson's"
Page 87, line 9: Change "thing" to "things"
Page 108, para 4, line 1: Change "1100" to "11:00"
Page 146, last line: Change "even" to "ever"
Page 201, caption for top photograph: Change "Bosilli" to
"Boselli"
Page 206, caption: Change "(Wilder at left)" to "(Wildner at
left)"
A
On Celestial Wings
Col Ed Whitcomb
Air University Press
Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
November 1995
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Whitcomb, Edgar D.
On Celestial Wings / Edgar D. Whitcomb.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. United States. Army Air Forces-History-World War, 1939-1945. 2. Flight
navigators--United States-Biography. 3. World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns-
Pacific Area. 4. World War, 1939-1945-Personal narratives, American. I. Title.
D790.W415 1996
940.54'4973-dc2O 95-43048
CIP
Disclaimer
This publication was produced in the Department of Defense school environment in the interest
of academic freedom and the advancement of national defense-related concepts. The views
expressed int his publication are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position
of the Department of Defense or the United States government.
This publication has been reviewed by security and policy review authorities and is cleared for
public release.
bf QUALMT MISPEaCTgo
ThiB book is dedicated to
Charlie
Contents
Chapter Page
DISCLAIMER ..................... ii
FOREWORD ..................... ix
ABOUT THE AUTHOR ................ xi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............... xiii
INTRODUCTION .................. xv
1 Navigators of the First Global Air Force ......... 1
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Prelude to War ................... 13
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3 Death on a Bright Sunday Morning ............ 21
Notes ....... ....................... 24
4 Attack on Clark Field ...................... 25
Notes ....... ....................... 28
5 George Berkowitz ....... .................. 31
6 Harry Schreiber ......................... 35
Notes ....... ....................... 39
7 William Meenagh ....... .................. 41
Notes ....... ....................... 46
8 Regroup ....... ....................... 47
Notes ....... ....................... 50
9 Richard Wellington Cease ................... 51
Notes ....... ....................... 56
10 Paul E. Dawson ......................... 57
Notes ....... ....................... 59
11 George Markovich ........................ 61
Notes ....... ....................... 69
V
Chapter Page
12 War Plan Orange III ................. 71
Notes ....... ....................... 77
13 Carl R. Wildner ......................... 79
Notes ....... ....................... 84
14 Harry McCool ....... .................... 85
Notes ....... ....................... 89
15 Merrill Kern Gordon, Jr. ................... 91
16 Francis B. Rang ......................... 101
Notes ....... ....................... 103
17 Corregidor ............................. 105
Notes ............................. 111
18 William Scott Warner ...................... 113
Notes ....... ....................... 118
19 Jay M. Horowitz ......................... 119
Notes ....... ....................... 130
20 The Super Fortresses ...................... 131
Notes ....... ....................... 137
21 Boselli and the Sacred Cow ................. 139
Notes ....... ....................... 150
22 New Hope ....... ...................... 151
23 Bataan to Santo Tomas ................... 159
24 Deliverance ....... ..................... 167
25 A Visit with Charlie ...................... 177
Notes ....... ....................... 180
Appendix
A History ............................... 181
B Class of 40-A ....... .................... 185
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................... 189
vi
Illustrations
Figure Page
1 Route of Horowitz POW Ship ................ 120
2 Route of Horowitz POW Ship (Greater Range) .... 121
3 Individual Combat Record .... ............. 138
4 Author's Identification As Civilian Internee ...... 173
Photographs
Photo Section ....... .................... 193
Vii
Foreword
In November 1940, 44 young military cadets graduated from
the first Army Air Corps Navigational Class at Miami University
in Coral Gables, Florida. The cadets came from all parts of the
United States-from the urban areas of the East Coast, westward
to the Appalachian Mountains, to the Midwest and prairie states,
to the Rocky Mountains, and the West Coast. These young men
came from the inner cities, the farmlands, the mountains, and
coastal regions, and they were all volunteers. Most were college-
educated and in the prime of life. World War II was raging in
Europe and it was becoming increasingly difficult for the United
States to remain neutral. A few farsighted men in our small Army
Air Corps saw the essential requirement for trained celestial
navigators in our military aircraft.
The instructor for this navigational class was a 34-year-old
high school dropout by the name of Charles J. Lunn. Charlie Lunn
had first learned the art of celestial navigation aboard freighter
ships in the Caribbean and later as the navigator aboard Pan
American Airline planes flying to Europe and Asia.
This book was written by one of those young navigators, Edgar
D. Whitcomb, from Hayden, Indiana. Ed Whitcomb tells about
these young comrades-in-arms and draws vivid word portraits of
them as we learn of their assignments to Air Corps units. We
learn how they survived and how some died in World War II. We
learn about Ed's own pre-Pearl Harbor assignment with the 19th
Bombardment Group at Clark Field in the Philippines and the
unfortunate, and perhaps inexcusable, decision not to deploy our
B- 17 Flying Fortress bombers immediately after the attack on
Pearl Harbor resulting in the loss of 40 percent of those aircraft
as they sat parked at Clark Field when the Japanese destroyed
that vital military air base on the afternoon of 8 December 1941.
CHARLES J. MO'Tr, Colonel, USAR, Retired
ix
About the
Author
Ed Whitcomb
Edgar ("Ed") D. Whitcomb enlisted in the Army Air Corps in
1940 and was commissioned a second lieutenant the following
year with the rating of aerial navigator. He served two combat
tours in the Philippines during WWII. After his active military
service, he graduated from the Indiana University School of
Law. He practiced law in southern Indiana over a period of 30
years including two years as an assistant United States
Attorney. A graduate of the Army Command and General Staff
Course and the Air Force Staff Course he served in the Air
Force Reserve for 31 years and retired with the rank of colonel.
Whitcomb served the State of Indiana as a senator, secretary
of state, and governor.
Whitcomb's experiences of evading capture, then later being
taken prisoner by the Japanese, escaping by an all-night swim
from Corregidor, his recapture, and his ultimate repatriation
from China as a civilian under an assumed name.
Upon retirement from the practice of law at the age of 68,
Whitcomb took to sailing the open seas. He purchased a
30-foot sailboat in Greece and sailed solo across both the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans. When not sailing Whitcomb makes
his home in the village of Hayden in rural southern Indiana.
xi