|
Glen T. Noyes
GLEN T. NOYES entered the Army
Air Force on Dec. 10, 1942 at Los Angeles,
Calif. Sent to Lincoln AAF, Nebr. for basic
training he was subsequently assigned for six
weeks college refresher training at Iowa State
Teachers College, Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Assigned to Santa Ana Army Air Base
Cadet Classification Center in May, 1943, he
was selected for pilot training, Class 44BX,
and graduated from Luke AAF, Ariz., on Feb.
8, 1944. His assignment following graduation as an "instructor pilot" with the 3rd Air
Force at Baton Rouge, La., was a bitter
disappointment. But bitterness turned to
pure joy when the assignment was actually to
fly P-47's at Abilene AAF, Texas.
Noyes is one of the few who has flown all of
the '47's - the 0-47 and P-47 at Abilene,
the C-47 at various places and times, and the
Boeing B-47 as a Strategic Air Command
combat crew commander.
Assigned to the 373rd Fighter Group,
412th Fighter Sq. as a replacement upon
going overseas, shortly after "D-Day" Noyes
and about 10 other pilots were in the
advanced echelon to go to Normandy and
make ready the facilities for the Group.
Caught in the Battle of St. Lo, they wandered
about Normandy for three days before locating an apple orchard near Bayeaux, which
within a few days was transformed into an
airfield with two pierced planking runways.
Checkout for combat consisted of a couple
flights with Capt. Eldridge Bates and Capt.
Les Hough for familiarization. Before the
war wound down, Noyes flew 88 missions. All
but five involved bombing and strafing
attacks. On Dec. 22, 1943, he shot down an
ME-109 on a head-on pass while the squadron
was reassembling west of Bonn, Germany.
Earlier his Jug was hit and severely damaged
by flak west of Koln on Friday, Oct. 13, but
the Jug got him back to Belgium before he
had to crash land at over 150 mph. Thirteen
days later he bailed out when he couldn't
jettison a live bomb and landing gear was
damaged by flak.
He spent VE Day in London and returned
to the USA on June 4 aboard the SS Payne.
Wingate, a Liberty ship which was rammed
by a British tanker in Mid-Atlantic on the last
day of convoy of WW II. It limped into
Hoboken, N.J. and was salvaged.
Out of the service in Nov., 1945, Noyes
worked as a news reporter and photographer
and flew P-51 Mustangs in the California Air
National Guard until returning to active
duty in August, 1950. In the USAF, his
assignments included instructor pilot in T-6's, T-28's, B-25's and T-33's; F-86F's and
F-86D's in the 51st Fighter Interceptor
Wing in Korea and Okinawa; F-86D's with
the 86th FIW at Ramstein AB, Germany;
B-47's and B-52's in SAC. He flew 65 B-52
missions in S.E. Asia. Colonel Noyes' final
assignment was as Base Commander, RAF
Upper Heyford, England, in support of the
F-lll mission. He retired in Feb., 1973.
A widower, he was married to the former
Betty Haney of Pittsburgh. Their two daughters, Susan and Gail-Anne reside in California. Noyes returned to his home town, Redlands, Calif., where he is sales manager for a
real estate firm.
|
Pilot Name
|
Biography Summary
|
|
John Abbotts
|
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.
|
|
Asa A. Adair
|
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.
|
|
Edward B. Addison
|
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.
|
|
Levon B. Agha-Zarian
|
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.
|
|
George N. Ahles
|
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.
|
|
Roy J. Aldritt
|
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.
|
|
Eugene J. Amaral
|
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.
|
|
Talmadge L. Ambrose
|
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.
|
|
John C. Anderson
|
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.
|
|
William Anderson
|
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.
|
|
|