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Arthur A. Manning
ARTHUR A. MANNING, born
March 6, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia. He
left Armstrong College in 1943 to enter
flight training and was commissioned at Mission, Texas in Class 44F. After completing
P-47 training at Abilene, Texas, he was
assigned to the 358th Ftr. Gp. - 366th Ftr.
Sqdn. of the 9th AF stationed in Toul, France
- then Mannheim, Germany. His 24th
mission was his most memorable.
"We were on a strafing attack outside
Augsburg about 7 miles behind the lines
when an ack-ack shell cut my oil line. I bailed
out, fell through a tree and hit the ground.
Two German soldiers took me to the mayor's
house in the nearby town of Pfaffenhofen.
His wife and 2 daughters gave me a healthy
meal. An English-speaking woman acted as
interpreter. Soon, a German officer entered.
- His unit of about 75-100 soldiers wanted
to surrender. I told him the American infantry would soon be there and to wait for them.
A few hours later, a German policeman and I
left to meet the American troops coming into
the next town of Mammendorf. When they
sighted us, obviously mistaking us for German soldiers, they started firing - we
jumped into a ditch and stayed there til
troops of the 3rd Division came to the rescue."
Two belly-landings and a "dead-stick"
landing added some additional excitement to
Manning's flying career.
Discharged in Oct. 1945, he graduated
from Georgia Tech in 1949 and N.Y. Institute of Photography in 1951. He joined the
Georgia Air National Guard in 1953, flying
F-84D's and F6s, and T-33's. From 1957 to
1961, he was an instructor at the Air Guard's
Jet Instrument School at Ellington AFB in
Houston. In 1962, he opened Work Of Art
photography studio in Houston and also
taught Photography 41/2 years at Sam Houston State College. He retired from the Air
Force as a Lt/Col. in 1970. He served as
President of the Professional Photographers
Guild of Houston in 1971.
He accumulated over 4000 hours flying
time including some 3000 hours in jets.
He married Diane Axelrad of Houston in
1966. They have two daughters, Marla -
12 and Lauren - 10.
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Pilot Name
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Biography Summary
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John Abbotts
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P-47 transition followed at Pocatello, Idaho and Greenville, Texas after which he was assigned to the 56th Fighter Group in England. When the news of his arrival reached Berlin, Hitler retired to his bunker with his cyanide capsule and revolver. Eva found the news equally depressing.
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Asa A. Adair
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He returned to the States in August of 1944 after participating in the invasion "D" Day. He flew P-63's, P-51's, F-80's, T-33's, F-84's, T-38's, P-47's in numerous assignments during the following twenty years in in, Japan, U.S.A. and Europe before retiring after twenty-six years of Active Duty.
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Edward B. Addison
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The 507th Fighter Group, equipped with P-47N's, won the Presidential Unit Citation for destroying 32 Japanese aircraft in the air on one mission to Seoul, Korea. The average flying time for raids to Korea and Japan would be 7 to 9 hours flying time. In a total of 31 months, the 507th not only provided top cover for B-29's, but also
dive-bombed, napalm-bombed and flew low-level on strafing missions.
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Levon B. Agha-Zarian
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It is rumored that he, took his primary training on a flying rug. He flew Spits, briefly, in England, but as the, war moved to the East, he was sent to India as a Sgt. Pilot and first saw action from Ceylon, flying the Curtiss P.36, the Brewster Buffalo, and the Hurricane. At this point he might have opted for the rug! This was at the time of the fall of Singapore and the sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse.
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George N. Ahles
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Posted to A-20 light bomber squadron Barksdale Field, Louisiana. . Group moved to Hunter Air Base Savannah, Georgia. Qualified for Pilot training November 1940. Entered Aviation Cadets January 1942. Presented wings November 1942 class of 42-J. Married Mary Louise while in Advanced Pilot Training at Craig AFB, Selma, Alabama, September 1942.
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Roy J. Aldritt
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Shortly after the group moved to France he ran into some unseen flak and was forced to make a nylon descent behind the lines; some evasion and a lot of luck had him back with his unit
in 24 hours.
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Eugene J. Amaral
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After graduation from Stonington High School he enlisted as an Aviation Cadet in December 1942 and was called to active duty in March, 1943. He received his wings and commission at Spence Field, Georgia as a member of the Class of 43-C.
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Talmadge L. Ambrose
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Flew 84 missions thru VE Day, was downed by 22mm ground fire over Siefried Line. He destroyed 11 enemy aircraft, 9 known confirmed in air and on
ground, including 4 FW 190-D's in one afternoon over Hanover, Germany, April 8, 1945. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,
Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, 17 man, Oak Leaf Clusters, Good Conduct Medal, Pacific Theatre and European Theatre Meda1s with 5 Battle
Stars and Unit Citation Medal.
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John C. Anderson
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After P-47 transition he was assigned to the 406th Fighter Group, 512th Fighter Squadron. (E.T
.0.) He flew 56 missions through January, 1945 destroying supply routes, bridges, and railroads; he also flew close support missions with the ground forces, with attacks on tanks, artillery and enemy positions.
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William Anderson
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It was not always flak,two ME-109's beat the hell out of me one day. The central controller called me and said "Basher-Red Leader do you have contact Bandits," I replied, "I sure do, I'll bring them over the field in 3 minutes, they're chasing me home." Got all the usual medals including two Belgium and two French but one I'm most proud of is the Silver Star -it is the greatest.
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