James Fall
BIOGRAPHY James Fall 0-695161
This biography was emailed to the p47pilots.com website on Dec 4, 2005 by Jim Fall. Unverified.
James Fall was born 27 April 1923 in rural Fulton County, Indiana. He was a son of a WW 1 Air Corps veteran. While attending Manchester College he volunteered for the Army Air Corps 1 July 1942. He began cadet training in Classification and Pre-Flight Centers at San Antonio, Texas; received Primary Flight training at Victory Field, Vernon, Texas; Basic Flight training at Enid Army Air Base, Enid, Oklahoma. He graduated from Advanced Flight training with the Class of 43-J, 3 November 1943, at Foster Field, Victoria, Texas. After a few hours flying P-40s at Foster he was sent to Transitional Flight training in P-47s at Perry Army Air Base, Perry, Florida.
Lt. Fall was assigned 11 April 1944 to the 391st Fighter Squadron, 366th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force, stationed at Thruxton, England. On a ground support flight 10 June 1944 during his 21st mission with Holt’s Hun Hunters, his P-47 was terminally damaged by flak. He bailed out of the flaming Thunderbolt near Rosel, France (unfortunately on the unfriendly side of the front lines) and suffered a broken leg when he hit the ground. Although Lt. Fall landed within some 350 yards of Canadian troops on Juno Beachhead, he was taken prisoner by SS of the 12th Hitlerjugend Panzerdivision. He was held Prisoner of War at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 3, and Moosburg 7-A, and was liberated 29 April 1945 by the 14th Armored Division of General Patton’s 3rd Army.
With his mental Image of a fighter pilot somewhat tarnished by the POW experience, Lt. Fall chose to return to civilian life at the termination of WW 2, graduated from Indiana University School of Dentistry in 1950 and practiced general dentistry at Marion, Indiana until he suddenly became blind in September, 2001.
Fall married his high school sweetheart, Ethel Mae Swank, in 1945. They have three grown children: Jo Ellen, Mark and Janet. Mark has their only grandchildren: Gina, John and Rob. Gina has their only great-grandchild, Nicole. Dr. Fall is a life member of Veterans of Foreign Wars, 366th Fighter Assn., P-47 Thunderbolt Pilots Assn., P-40 Warhawk Pilots Assn., American Ex-POWs, American & Indiana Dental Assns., Charter Life Member of the 9th Air Force Assn., and is a member of Stalag Luft 3 Former Prisoners of War.
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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