United States. Army Air Forces--Military life

Scope and Contents The collection of the 460th Heavy Bombardment Group Society contains a unit history of this B-24 U.S. Army Air Corps Group, 55th Wing, 760th, 761st, 762nd, 763rd Squadrons and Group Headquarters, which served in the Italian Campaign. This collection primarily focuses on the memory of the war and those who served in the 460th. Included is a listing of the airmen who were held as prisoners of war, including their squadrons, positions on the plane (e.g. pilot, gunner), the date, mission, and what country or stalag in which they were held. Also included is a booklet, "Remembering the 460th Bomb Group (H)," which contains photographs, personnel lists, and maps, and was prepared as a...

Content Description

This collection relates to Sheldon F. Berlow who served with the 352nd Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, as the chief public information officer. This collection contains letters, photographs, newspapers, and official documents from Sheldon F. Berlow's time in England and Belgium. Numerous photographs document the activities of the 352nd Fighter Group. Letters discuss the progress of the war in Europe and life on the homefront.

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This collection contains an oral history transcript of Staff Sergeant Charles Diedling, a flight engineer on a B-24 with the 460th Bomb Group at Spinazola, Italy. Charles Diedling discusses his training as a flight engineer and waist gunner for the B-24 at Keesler AFB, Mississippi and Loredo AFB, Texas.  In June of 1944, he was assigned to the 460th Bomb Group of the 15th Air Force in Spinazola, Italy. Diedling was shot down over Germany becoming a prisoner of war.

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The collection of Clarke M. Brandt contains an oral history transcript and various publications about army life during World War II. In it are examples such as George (Bob) Caron who was a tail gunner on the "Enola Gay" B-29 Bomber. The oral history includes Caron's eyewitness account of the bomb being dropped on Hiroshima. Also included are pamphlets and newsletters including "War Buddies," which covers the relationship between a soldier and his canine companion through his years as a member of the US Marine Corps. "War Buddies" is written by Earle Welch and Dick Roberts.

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Crispen Nissen served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps with the 12th and 18th Weather Squadrons during World War II in the United States, England, North Africa, and Italy. This collection includes an original diary Nissen kept from 1941-1942, describing his daily thoughts, experiences, and observations about the general war effort. The collection also includes Vmail and handwritten letters, written by Nissen to his fiancee and future wife, Etrulia Ellis, as well as the letters she sent to him.

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This collection consists of an oral history transcript of an interview with 2nd Lt. James J. Crooke, who served in World War II. Crooke served in the Army Air Corps with the 303rd Bomb Group in the European Theater (ETO).

Scope and Contents Deborah Gierach's collection of photographs were taken by her late father-in-law (no name given), a B-17 pilot in Europe during the Second World War. The collection consists of scanning from three photograph albums (in German) compiled and produced for the Nazi government as a means to show what the Third Reich was doing during the war. Subjects include Nazi rallies, Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goering, soldiers, military vehicles, as well as Hitler playing with children and socializing with others. Captions are in German. Organized month to month for separate calendar years of 1939, 1940, 1942. Note: the majority of the photographs do not contain the...

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This collection contains the oral history interview of Lieutenant Colonel Everett Walker conducted by the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience. Walker was forced to bail out very near the target on his eighteenth mission as a bombardier and gunner on a B-24. He discusses his rescue from the water, his interrogation experience and the conditions of his internment. He also talks about the many different escape attempts made by the American POWs at Stalag Luft III.

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This oral history interview transcript relates to George Logue,  an aerial gunner armament specialist on a B-24 assigned to the 15th Air Force.  Logue discusses his bombing missions over Europe, being shot down, life as a prisoner of war, and his brief service with the British 5th Army.

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The collection of First Lieutenant James Feerick contains an oral history transcript of an interview provided by the Reichelt Program for Oral History. Feerick served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as part of the 8th Bomber Command, 1st Bombardment Wing, 91st Bombardment Group in the European theater. He was based in London at Bassingbourne.

The collection also includes a copy of a magazine article from 2000 about a U.S. government agency that smuggled out contraband (radio parts, etc.), into German POW camps and letters along with other information. The agency also helped Allied POWs escape.

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This collection relates to James W. George who served as a Chief Master Sergeant in the 9th U.S Army Air Force. Wilmot R. George was James George's brother and also served in the European Theater. He served as a Tech Sergeant and received a Silver Star. This collection contains a one-page handwritten summary of James George's military service and ten-page memoir of his brother Wilmont's service during the Second World War.

Scope and Contents This collection relates to John C. Henning who served in the Eighth Air Force, Second Air Division, 14th Combat Wing, 392nd Heavy Bombardment Group, 578th Squadron at Station #18 at Wendling, England during World War II. The collection contains privately published statistics for the 392nd Heavy Bombardment Group. The collection contains basic statistics for the 392nd Heavy Bombardment Group, diagrams of take-off patterns, a diagram of flight formations, a list of crew with their basic backgrounds and a description of their adjustment to each other, a list of missions followed by details of each into Germany from England [Ingolstadt, Pforzheim, Swinemunde, Gutersloh, Zossen...

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32 page interview covering John E. Schmidt's life from birth and early childhood to his military career and life on base in the Panama Canal Zone. The vast majority of the interview concerns life in the Canal Zone from leisure activities to medical matters.

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This collection relates to John Eugene Zemanek who served as a bombardier on a B-24 with the 455th Bombardment Group in Italy during World War II. The collection contains a typed account of the events of April 25, 1945, Zemanek's last bombing mission, and annotated photocopies of pages from Stephen Ambrose's The Wild Blue.

Content Description

This collection consists of photographs, letters, and other materials documenting the service of John B. Jones Jr. who served with the U.S. Army Air Force in ground crew support in New Guinea with 27th Air Depot Group during World War II. Included in the collection is documentation about the medical treatment Jones Jr. received after a welding accident that lead to the explosion of a airplane gas tank. The collection includes programs for several postwar reunion of the 27th Air Depot Group and a number of photographs documenting these events.

Scope and Contents This collection relates to Fred L. Kagan Jr., who served with the 9th Army Air Force before transferring to the 5th Infantry Division. During the war, he served as a litter bearer in the European Theater of Operations from November 3, 1943 until the end of the war in 1945. This collection consists of documents, photographs, and artifacts related to the service of in the United States Army Air Force and US Army during World War II. The documents consist of official paperwork and discharge papers as well as identification documents. The photographs are primarily of fellow servicemen but also include some images of occupied Hanau, Germany. The artifacts mostly include US Army patches and...

Abstract Charlotte Mansfield enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (W.A.A.C.) in 1942 to pursue work in photograph processing for the military. She was part of the first all-women graduating class from Lowry Field Photo School in Colorado, where she was trained to be a photo technician that developed primarily aerial shots in photography labs. Mansfield was stationed at various locations throughout the United States before being transferred to lab work overseas in England and Germany. By this time, W.A.A.C. had transitioned to Women’s Army Corps (W.A.C.). Throughout her military service, Mansfield took numerous personal photographs that featured her friends and surroundings. They provide...

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Alan May served as a gunner on a B-24 Bomber with the 451st Bomb Group during World War II in Italy and was shot down during a mission to Ploesti, Romania, and became a POW.  May was awarded the Purple Heart, Air Medals, 2 Presidential Unit Citations, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Included in this collection is a footnoted manuscript diary of missions.

Scope and Contents The materials in the Omer E. Englehart collection document activities of a U.S. Army Air Forces Corporal who served in the European theater during World War II. This collection consists of an extensive compilation of personal correspondence between Omer E. Englehart and his family, friends from home, and friends from abroad between the predominant dates of 1940 to 1947. The collection also includes, various copies of newspapers regarding military happenings, original wartime books, training pamphlets and booklets for the U.S. Army Air Corps, travel guides, original photographs and postcards depicting life on base as well as Omer E. Englehart's personal travels while deployed, three 78...

Content Description

This collection consists of correspondence and official records related to the service of Theodore Oxman in the Army Air Force in World War II. As part of the collection there is a sixty-fifth anniversary booklet of the Cornell University’s Class of 1948 where alumni recount their World War II experiences in the different branches of the armed services. The collection also contains two photographs of Oxman and a book documenting the personnel and mission of the Grenada Army Air Field in Grenada, Mississippi.

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The Paul K. Dougherty Collection includes photographs, documents, and various artifacts Dougherty obtained while in Germany. His collection contains rare original German propaganda publications such as Deutschland Erwach and Adolf Hitler. Also included in the collection is a personal photograph album that belonged to Nazi official and founder of the anti-Semitic newspaper Der Stürmer, Julius Streicher. Other items included are Nazi Party flags/fabrics, Paul K. Dougherty’s camera, and camera accessories.

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This collection relates to Francis W. Purdy who served as a Navigator on B-17 bombers with the 347th Bomb Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group (Heavy), during World War II.  He was stationed in Italy and flew during missions over both Italy and Austria. This collection contains a manuscript memoir written by Purdy which includes pages from training manuals and photographs from Purdy's life.

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This collection relates to James Reed who served with the U.S. Army Air Corps 1st Fighter Control Squadron during World War II in the Pacific Theater. The collection includes an oral history interview transcript of Reed and comrade Chester Driest where they discussed their experiences in the Pacific Theater. Both served as radio operators that directed Army Air Force planes with ground based radar. The men also recount a few experiences before deployment and experiences in local indigenous populations they encounterd on the islands.

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This collection contains a copy of the oral history interview of Joe Rendelman who served with the 15th Air Force in Italy. He was shot down over Romania after twenty-five missions. He spent six months in a POW camp and was liberated by the Russians in 1944.

Scope and Contents Roland Cadoret served as a B-17 pilot in the 351st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater.  His collection contains a manuscript, "The Battle of Grounded Eagles," in which he details his entire POW experience from mission briefing to liberation, an excerpt from his diary, and his photocopied version of General Dwight D. Eisenhower's letter to Invasion Forces. The Polebrook Post 351st Bomb Group Association 8th Airforce Vol. XXVII-No. 2, and the English version of the Moorsburger Beitung, a newspaper, which had special stories all about the POWs which were kept at...

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This collection contains a compilation of personal letters and official documents, photographs, personal items, and military badges of Sgt. Simeon C. Sparkman who served with the 8th Air Force from 1943 to 1945, at Burtonwood Air Depot, Warrington, England, also known as Base Air Depot No. 1. Sparkman was specifically assigned to Hangar 5, Mary Ann Site, “B” Shift, Aero Repair Crew 6, and was the ranking NCO on Crew 6 in the grade of T/Sgt. The papers in this collection are comprised of correspondence with his wife, parents, and other family members and close friends.

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This collection was compiled by Edward McKenzie and includes a directory of New Hampshire Ex-POWs book. It is a boxed collection of approroximately 20 individual collections of American POWs who were interned at Stalag 17. The individual collections collectively consist of personal papers, transcripts, documents, photographs, and drawings relating to their experiences as prisoners of war.

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This is a collection of personal letters written by Thomas Burns (76th Air Base Squadron) during World War II. Burns wrote from Hendricks Field, Sebring, Florida to Mary Donnelly in Massachusetts. He mostly wrote of his experiences and activities on the base. While the letters do not deal with Florida or World War II, they do offer a glimpse into courtship during that era and life on an air base.