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On Celestial Wings / Edgar D 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-dc20 95-43048 CIP ISBN 1-58566-003-5 First Printing November 1995 Second Printing June 1998 Third Printing December 1999 Fourth Printing May 2000 Fifth Printing August 2001 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 in this 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. Digitize February 2003 from August 2001 Fifth Printing NOTE: Pagination changed. ii This book is dedicated to Charlie Contents Page Disclaimer........................................................................................................................... ii Foreword............................................................................................................................ vi About the author ............................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgments............................................................................................................ viii Introduction........................................................................................................................ ix Chapter 1 Navigators of the First Global Air Force ..........................................................1 Chapter 2 Prelude to War...................................................................................................8 Chapter 3 Death on a Bright Sunday Morning ...............................................................13 Chapter 4 Attack on Clark Field ......................................................................................16 Chapter 5 George Berkowitz ...........................................................................................20 Chapter 6 Harry Schreiber ...............................................................................................23 Chapter 7 William Meenagh............................................................................................27 Chapter 8 Regroup ...........................................................................................................31 Chapter 9 Richard Wellington Cease...............................................................................34 Chapter 10 Paul E. Dawson .............................................................................................38 Chapter 11 George Markovich.........................................................................................40 Chapter 12 War Plan Orange III ......................................................................................46 Chapter 13 Carl R. Wildner .............................................................................................51 Chapter 14 Harry McCool ...............................................................................................55 Chapter 15 Merrill Kern Gordon, Jr. ...............................................................................58 iv Chapter 16 Francis B. Rang.............................................................................................64 Chapter 17 Corregidor .....................................................................................................66 Chapter 18 William Scott Warner....................................................................................70 Chapter 19 Jay M. Horowitz............................................................................................74 Chapter 20 The Super Fortresses .....................................................................................83 Chapter 21 Boselli and the Sacred Cow ..........................................................................88 Chapter 22 New Hope......................................................................................................96 Chapter 23 Bataan to Santo Tomas................................................................................100 Chapter 24 Deliverance..................................................................................................105 Chapter 25 A Visit with Charlie ....................................................................................111 Appendix A History.......................................................................................................114 Appendix B Class of 40-A.............................................................................................116 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................117 Photo Section ...................................................................................................................119 v 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. MOTT, Colonel, USAR, Retired vi About the Author 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. 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. 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. vii Acknowledgments I am grateful to the following people who contributed so generously to make this book possible: Gen Eugene L. Eubank, Elaine Bath, Ned Vifquain, Phillip Cease, Charles and Sylvia Lunn, Gen Austin J. Montgomery, Joe H. Sherlin, Dr Ron Johnson, Mary O. Cavett, Ruth King, Carl and Shelley Mydans, Frank Kurtz, Elmer Smith, Laura Showalter, Raymond Teborek, William Scott Warner, Carl R. Wildner, George Markovich, Harold C. McAuliff, John W. Cox, Jr., Harry McCool, Robert A. Trenkle, Theodore J. Boselli, Paul Dawson, Merrill and Bette Gordon, Harry Schreiber, Gen A. P. Clark, Harold Fulghum, W. R. Stewart, Jr., Edward M. Jacquet, Dr James Titus, Emily Adams, and the staff at the AU Press. viii Introduction In August 1940 a group of young men from all parts of the United States converged upon Coral Gables, Florida, to become cadets in a military navigation training program. Raised as children of the Great Depression of the 1920s and
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