INTERVIEW WITH: Lt. Col. William H. Fandel, U.S.A .F. , Retired PLACE: Air Force Village, 4917 Ravenswood Drive, San Antonio, Texas DATE: December 3, 1985 INTERVIEWER: Jim Sweeney

S: Bill, as a Texan, suppose you tell us a little of your earliest memories . F: I was not born in Texas but I adopted Texas as my home in 1961, after I retired. Actually I was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, on August the 18th, 1916 . An interesting thing in my early stages: I developed pneumonia at the age of six months and managed to survive. My early years from about one through six was spent at One, Annapolis Street, Dorchester. I remember one interesting incident in those days. My sister, Thelma, about two years older than I, was about to lose some of her first teeth . My mother took her to the window to look out, as she had already fastened a piece of thread around the tooth, and she wrapped it around a brick on the windowsill and when my sister was looking out the window, she pushed it off. (Laughter) And another incident I thought might be rather interesting . I remember when I was about six years old, I had to have my tonsils removed . So the doctor came to the house and on a wooden kitchen table, he gave me some gas and took my tonsils out right in the kitchen. S: Sort of a do-it-yourself medical kit? F: I remember distinctly my grandfather used to take me out to his farm in Stoughton, Massachusetts, which I enjoyed very much . I attended first grade in a nearby school and I remember I got into trouble one time. I was accused of putting the girl's, sitting in front of me, hair in the inkwell . I actually didn't do it, but I got blamed for it. In 1922 at about seven years old, I moved to 40 Graton Road, West FANDEL 2. F: Roxbury, Massachusetts . It's another suburb in outlying Boston, a little further away from the city. During this period from seven to eleven years, I attended the second and third grades at Theodore Parker School, in West Roxbury . There I remember distinctly getting a Schick test. This was a test they gave for detecting diptheri'a . Then later on, I went to the Richard Olney School for grade four through six. I remember one incident there. I got into a fight with another student. I had to get what;they called the rattan. This is a thin reed they used and they bring it down and snap it over your hand. And it used to sting very badly. However, I spent many enjoyable hours skiing, sl edding, flying kites, etc. , during those years. Our home was close to a great big open field which allowed us to do that. In 1928, at twelve years old, we moved to 241 LaGrange Street, West Roxbury, the same town but a little further out. We had a larger house and my grandmother carne to live with us .at that time . I attended Robert G. Shaw Junior High for seventh through ninth grades . I took woodworking and machine shop and I joined the Boy Scouts. I spent a lot of time with sports: base­ ball, football, soccer and ice hockey . From 1933 to 1944 I attended Mechanic Arts High School in the city of Boston . I had to commute by streetcar and elevated which took approximately an hour's time . This institution was a prep school for M.I.T. with lots of math, science and manual arts . We had all types of shops like woodworking, pattern making, a foundry, sheet metal work, etc., and lots of drawing . I played trumpet in the high school orchestra. Since my father was a musician, he got me interested. He played the violin, banjo and mandolin. I played football some as a tackle. In those days, we didn't have the FANDEL 3. F: two-platoon system so you usually wound up playing the whole game, both offensive and defensive. Another interesting fact during those days, I remember my dad making home brew during the Prohibition years and which a few times, I helped him out a little. After high school, I attended Pennsylvania State College, which is now a University, from 1934 through 1938. I received a degree in mechanical engineering and had four years of ROTC . I received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Engineer Reserve . I had a great experience at six week summer camp at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia. We did a lot of interesting things like making pontoon bridges, firing the old Springfield rifle and working with demolitions . Another i.nteresting time during my college career was our senior trip, later in our senior year. We visited a lot of manufacturing plants, power stations, etc. to get a firsthand idea what engineering was involved with on the outside. Right after college, I had two wee ks active duty with the Engineers at Ft. Devins, Massachusetts; that was in August of 1938. Tho se were the depression years and I had difficulty in finding a job . I'd like to indi­ cate that only 12 out of 50 in my class in mechanical engineering were placed in jobs at graduation. So as a consequence I found work as a carpenter in building-repair work for about eight months. In the meantime , I took a physical exam for the Army Air Corps Flying School in February, 1939. After passing the physical, since I was a college graduate, I was qualified to enter the training program . I went in July of 1939 as an avi.ation cadet. Our primary training was at Parks Air College, East St. Louis . And we had the distinction of having the first class with FANDEL 4. F: civilian training. In other words, we had civilian instructors; super- visors were Air Corps officers. Then after leaving there, I had basic training at Randolph Field and advanced at Kelly. I might indicate that during the primary training, that was the period of time when most students washed out. I came pretty near washing out myself. I remember I took a check ride with one of our officer pilots and he told me to make an emergency landing. Of course, we were always hunting for fields in case our engine quit. I looked down, found a good field, and lo and behold, I made a downwind landing which was not good policy. And the instructor said, "O.K. take it up." So we took it up again. He gave me another chance. I felt very lucky. So I made a good forced landing the second time. S: Where was this? At Randolph or Kelly? F: This was at East St. Louis, Parks Air College. I just reverted back to that as an incident I wanted to bring up . Well, getting back to primary training, we had approximately 35 to 40 percent washouts but usually most of the washouts were in the primary stage. Very few washouts at Randolph and Kelly. After three months of primary training, we moved to Randolph Field, Texas, where we took our basic training. After three months there, in December, we went to Kelly for our advanced training. As a matter of interest, I met my wife, Azalea Willingham while at Randolph. She was attending Southwest Texas State Teachers College at San Marcos and of course, was born and raised in Texas, being from Waco. l received my pilot wings and commission as a Second Lieutenant Air Corps Reserve on March 21st, 1940 . I might indicate that I went through the flying school in a double status. I already had a reserve commission FANDEL 5. F: in the Engineers. However, in those days the only officers to go through pilot training were regular officers . Reserve officers had to revert to aviation cadet status and were not allowed to go through in grade. So I had a double status at the time and of course , when I graduated I was transferred from the Engineer Reserve to the Air Corps Reserve. After receiving my pilot wings and commission I went directly on active duty and was assigned to Mitchell Field at Long Island, New York, with the 9th Bomber Group . After about six months, I would say, we moved from there to Panama . After six months there the squadron I belonged to, the 1st Bomb Squadron, was transferred to Trinidad, British West Indies . It was there in Tri.nidad that I tied the knot with my wife . We had the distinction of having the first American military wedding in Trinidad, British West Indies . Of course, war was declared shortly after that. We were married in July, 1941 and of course, Pearl Harbor came on December 7th that year. Shortly after that, my wife had to return to the States . My next assignment than was on a special project to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to pick up new aircraft and sort of a secret mission . We really didn 1 t know what we were going for at first. When we arrived at Wright-Patterson, they told us that we were to receive the LB-30 aircraft. This aircraft was a forerunner of the B-24. It was built for the British but the British decided they wanted B-24s so the Air Corps then had to use these planes on our missions . They decided to convert this airplane into a radar type for flying patrol . This type of radar was called Air to Surface Vessel or ASV . It had two sweep antennas on the side of the airplane and on the wings and a nose homing antenna . You would f ly out and sweep about 20 mile~pn each side of the airplane and pick up any oceangoing ships that were there and then home in on them . We could find out what distance we FANDEL 6. F: were away. When we approached the ship we would ask for identification. That was the purpose of this equipmento And it came to great use in defend- ing the Panama Canal Zone. We carried bombs and guns in case an attack was necessaryo After this testing, we picked up airplanes and started flying patrol out of Salinas, Ecuador . Our squadron, the 25th Bombardment Squadron of the 6th Bomb Group, flew six patrols a day out of Salinas, Ecuador out to the Galapagos Islands ; made a turn and came back . We were looking for a Japanese task force that might be approaching towards the Cana l Zone. All of these missions were flown approximately nine hundred miles from the Canal Zone o We flew just daylight missions because, with six airplanes, we could cover enough ocean so that they could not get through and we•d pick •em up the next day. I thought that this was a very interesting expe rience that I had and something there is not too much written about. S: I have a question there: Were there any Japanese missions ever dis­ covered? Or suspected? Submarines, for instance? F: No .Japanese task force ever approached that area. We thought that they would try it since they had struck Pearl Harbor o But the only thing we saw of any nature were submarines o On one occasion, we tried to bomb one of the subs, drop bombs on it, but to our knowledge, we don•t know if we hit it or nato S: Was that German or Japanese? F: No . We thought it was a Japanese sub . We j ust couldn•t identify it. After that tour, I returned to the States. I was involved in B-24 trainingo By that time, I had accumulated about 1500 hours in the LB-30 and B-24. They were more or less identical ai rp lanes except for some 7. FANDEL F: armament that was added to the B-24s . I was an instructor pilot at Davis Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona, for several months . I later became involved in the B-24 Standardization School . There's not much written on this school but we had a lot of serious accidents with the B-24s in the Training Command, where they were training all the crews to go overseas. It was fe l t that we needed to instill in the pilots certain types of emergency procedures and to be better able to fly instru­ ments . So this school was established. Originally, we used the test pilots from the Consolidated Aircraft Company in San Diego . They started the school for us and they taught us all the tricks of flying the B-24 . We developed a course from that. For instance, on takeoff when flying with a student, we would simulate an engine failure. The student was supposed to go through the correct procedure for feathering his engi.ne and bringing the aircraft under control in a safe manner. S: And suppose he didn't? What happened to you? F: Since we simulated the feathering, we didn't actually feather the engine. We pul l ed the throttle all the way back first and then in order to simulate feathering, we let the student advance the throttle to about 12, 15 inches of mercury, which simulated the feathered engine. We were in no danger because we could always push the throttle up and get the engine going . S: Wh at altitude were you? F: We wouldn't do this ' ti l we got to 500 feet. We weren't right off the ground. We did that simulation so we wou ld have enough altitude in case something did happen . We didn't have a single accident as long as the school was in operation. FANDEL 8. F: We had the distinction of training instructor pilots. We took all the instructor pilots in the various schools in the southwest. And most of the B-24 training schools during the war were in the southwest part of the States on account of the better weather. We trained all of the instruc­ tor pilots from the various schools and they, in turn, went back to their bases and trained the students. S: Was that here in Texas? F: The school was first organized at Davis Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona. After a few months there, we moved to Nebraska, not too far from Lincoln, a place called York . They had an airbase there and the school was there for awhile so we could get some pilots that were close to that area. And then the last stint for our school was spent in G~lveston, Texas. After they felt that they had trained most of the instructor pilots around the Command, the school was di sbanded. After that, I was assigned to Blythe, California, with a B-24 training unit that trained combat crews before they went overseas. A funny indident, this unit, called the 34th Combat Training Group, wa s made up of the old 34th Bomb Group . Thi s Group had been there for a year and a half or so, training B-24 crews . Hap Arnold , who was then Chief of the Army Air Forces, flew by in a B-25 and lost an engine close to Blythe so he had to land for engine repair. One of our Instructor crews flew him to Los Angeles for a meeting. They talked to General Arnold while he was on board and wondered if our

Group could be sent into active combat. And he said, 11 I'll see what I can do . 11 About a month later we received orders to activate and later went over to the Eighth Air Force from there. We had to organize, get our new air­ craft and fly over. We had the distinction in our group, the 34 th Bomb Group , of flying FANDEL 9. F: overseas to our designated combat field in England without one loss of an aircraft. It was the only group that we knew of with that distinc­ tion. S: Was it a direct f light or did you stop in the Azores?

F: We took our training B-24s and flew them to Lincoln ~ Nebraska. At Lincoln they had a depot where they modified new B-24s for combat. We then flew these new aircraft to Orlando, Florida. From there we didn't know where we were going . After taking off from Orlando, we opened sealed orders after a hundred miles out on our flight to find out where we were going. We then knew we were headed for the Eighth Air Force in England . We flew from Florida all the way to British Guiana . From there we hopped to Fortiliza, Brazil, which is south of Belem . It's the furthermost tip of South America extending out into the Atlantic. From there, we flew to Dakar, Africa and spent the night. Then on to Marrakesh, Marrocco. And then we had a di rect flight from Marrakesh out over the Atlantic because, i.f you rememb.er, Spain was neutral at that time; we couldn't fly over Spain. So we flew out over the Atlantic and on to England . We landed at one of the bases right on the southern coast. We were escorted then by a Dakota transport to our new home, RAF Station Mendlesham. The British called the C-47 the Dakota. Navigation was so difficult in Engl and due to poor visi­ bility they thought we'd get lost so they chose to escort us . S: Well, these planes, because of the long flight, you had to sacrifice armament •. • conserve space • . •what defense mechanism did you retain on the plane, in case you were attacked? F: We didn't have any defensive mechanisms . We had to fly out over the Atlantic. Although some planes had been attacked by German fighters as they came into England, we didn't have any of that experience. We did FANDEL 10. F: have turrets and guns . However, our gunners. were very inexperienced so I don 1 t think we could put up much of a fight at that stage . After the group landed in England, it took us about two months to modify our aircraft and go through the training phase before we could fly any missions. The airplanes had to be greatly modified due to the circum­ stances in that theatre. The extreme cold at altitude and the type of defense that we had to put against anti•aircraft and fighter attacks. So our airplanes went through an extensive modification . After that we went through a comprehensive pre-training program to get the crews oriented for the theatre. Our group flew a total of about 170 missions, 60 of which were in the B-24. We had the unique distinction of converting from B-24s to B-17s . The reason for this was that the last two wings of the Third Air Division were B-24 wings and we were trying to fly bomber formations and rendezvous with the B-17s . Now the B-17 and the B-24 had a ten mile speed difference. The B-17 cruised at 150 and the B-24s cruised at 160 . So we did have di.fHculty in rendezvousing c They decided that it would be better to have all the same type aircraft so we converted to B-l7s. However, we did fly the first 60 missions with the B-24s and compiled a very good bombing record. As a matter of fact, the 34th Bomb Group had the best bombing record of any of the other groups in the Third Air Division at that time. When we did convert to B-17s, our bombing record sort of fell off. Of course, the B-17 had the Norden equipment and the B-24 had the Sperry. We felt that the Sperry bombing equipment was much more accurate at the altitudes we flew c We flew from Altitudes anywhere from 22,000 to 28,000 feet on most of our missions . FANDEL 11. F: After combat, I returned to the States in June of 1945 and spent two years in the Training Command . From there I attended the Air Command and Staff School for nine months in the Class of '47-'48 at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama . I stayed on after graduation and was an instructor in logis­ tics, specializing in Air Force maintenance. In late 1950, at the start of the Korean War , I was sent to Iran as the Chief of Air Force Section ~ Mili­ tary Assistance Advisory Group until November of 1952. My next assignment was at the Pentagon in Washington, D. c. There, I was a logistic plans officer for four years. I spent most of my time working on Joint Chiefs of Staff position papers. In 1956 I was assigned to a Strategic Air Command base at El Paso, Texas, Biggs Air Force Base . While there I was the Supply Squadron Commander and the Air Division Director of Materiel. In 1958 I was assigned to 16th Air Force Headquarters, Torrejon Air Base, Madrid, Spain . I spent two years there as Chief of the Supply Division . My last year was spent at Moron Air Base in southern Spain as the Director of Materiel . While in Spain, we supported the Strategic Air Command B-47 "Reflexu program. Kept six bombers on constant alert that rotated from stateside bases . Spain was my last tour and I retired as a Lt . Col . on the 31st of July, 1961. S: Well, Bill , you were one of the instrumental people in the founding of what is called the Daedalians . Am I right in that. F: No, I didn't join the Daedalians until well after retirement. S: What is the Daedalians? F: The Daedalians is an organization of military pilots . Any military pilot, whether ~ou're Air Force , Army, Marines, Navy , Coast Guard, you can join this organization. The Oaedalians consists of two parts , The Order of Daedalians and the FANDEL 12. F: Daedalian Foundation. The Order is a fraternal organization where you get together and meet and have good fellowship. The Foundation is involved in an awards program which recognizes distinguished individuals and organizational performance in aerospace activities . It also provides Fellowship Awards to selected military officers for graduate study in aeronautics. And in addition to that, they are interested in the training of new pilots and getting them to fly. They go to high schools and have various programs where they'll try to get people interested in going on to flying training . The organization also sends members to visit the flying train­ ing schools and talk to the pilots. This is involved in Project Warrior, where they try to instill the fighting spirit into the force. The Daedalians have been in existence since the mid-30's. It was first es tabli shed by a group of World War I pilots at Maxwell Field in Alabama . We have some privileged and special members like General Eubank here at Air Force Village. He's one of the original founder members of the organi­ zation. Any pilot who received his wings before World War I is what they call a founder member. Of course, they do have special privileges and special recognition . The rest of us are just reg ular members. I did not join the Daedalians ' til I arrived here at Air Force Village. I've only been a member for three years . S: Well now, you mentioned that you wife is a Texan . I understand , also, that you children are Texans . And even, I've heard that your grandchildren are Texans . Am I correct in that? F: My oldest son, and incidentally he' s now in the Air Force, a Lt . Col. stationed at K. I . Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan . He was born in Tucson, FANDEL 13. F: Arizona. My younger son was born in San Angelo , Texas, right after the war, in 1946 . Of course, he's a true Texan . Both of my sons graduated from the University of Texas . I retired in 1961 and adopted San Antonio as my home town . I spent about twenty years teaching in the public schools , at high school level . Since I had my background in engineering, I decided to teach drafting and architecture. So I spent twenty years after I retired in 1961, teaching . S: You are a graduate engineer from Penn State, then? Is that correct? F: That ' s correct. Graduate mechanical engineer, Penn State. I retired from teaching in 1979 , then in January of 1982 I moved to Air Force Village. I ' ve been here for almost four years . I've been marri.ed for 44 years to the same spouse . As I said, my sons are both graduates of the University of Texas . My youngest son wanted to get into the service but had a physical problem . His enterprise was getting into the automobile business . He's a manager at the Rod East Volks­ wagen here in San Antonio, I think that pretty well covers my major ex ­ periences . S: Well , what about the planes that you flew? Could you describe a little of the various types, mentioning the designation of the plane and was it a bomber? I gather that you did not fly jets; they were faster than propeller planes . Could you give us a little bit ~ a word , on one or two of the planes that you flew? F: Yes . Of course , I specialized in bombing aircraft since getting out of the flying school in 1940 . The first assignment that I had was with the 9th Bomb Group at Mitchell Field, Long Island, and Panama . We flew the B-18 aircraft. That was a two-engine bomber . It was sort of a make­ shift bomber because, as you know, they tried to get more B-17s but FANDEL 14. F: Congress wouldn't allow them enough money at that time so they had to sort of do with this B-18 bomber. It was built by Douglas who of course is known for his transport aircraft. They used the tail and the wing of the DC-3 transport and put a bomber fusilage on it and called it the B-18 . S: What was the speed of that plane? F: Well, it was rather a slow aircraft. The cruising speed was about 120 to a 130 indicated. If yo u could get up to 18,000 feet in that air­ plane, you were doing real good, because it wasn't very good for altitude. So you can see, it just wasn't a fit bomber when we were about to get into World War II . It had a two-stage blower on the engines but still dtdn't have enough power to get the altitude. And of course, from our experiences during the war you had to, especially in the European theatre, fly 22 ,000 to 28,000 feet in order to properly defend yourself against the flak and fighters. The next ai.rplane I flew was a LB-30, as I mentioned before, and the B-24 . Of cours.e they are a fo ur-engine type airplane. The LB-30 and the B-24 had a high wing and had a special Davis wing foil on it wh i ch allowed for a higher speed. They had turbo superchargers in the engines . They had fourteen cylinders whereas the B-17 Wright Cyclone engine had nine cylinders. The Pratt Whitney in the B-24 was bigger than the Wright and was a real dependable engine. Of course, with fourteen cylinders versus nine, you can see that there would be a difference in performance . S: What was the speed of that aircraft?

F: The speed of the B-24, after it was fully modified ~ on later models with all the defensive gun turrets on it, was 160 miles an hour indicated, fully loaded for combat. The B-17 was around 150 MPH fully loaded for FANDEL 15 . F: combat . I also had some flying time on the B-25 after World War II . I got to fly in the B-36 when I was stationed in El Paso with the Strategic

Air Command in the 50 1 s . I also flew the C-45~ which was a two-engine cargo and passenger-type aircraft. The C-47 which I'm sure you are familiar with~ was one of the most well-known , popular airplanes. There are still many of these flying . I flew the C-54, which was a four-engine version~ the next higher cargo and passenger type put out by Douglas.

Then I got to fly the C-120 some . That was a four-engine , larger~ heavier type transport that was used a lot by the Strategic Air Command to haul special weapons and other cargo around the Strategic Air Command. The only jet time I had was in the T-33 , when I was assigned to the Pentagon for a four-year tour in the early 50's . I had a chance to go through the T-33 transition school at Selma, Alabama. I got orientated on the airplane. And that 1 s really the only experience I had with a jet. S: Thank you, Colonel William H. Fandel, Air Force Village. I certainly appreciate this. Over and out.

TAPE I, Side 1 ~ 30 mi.nutes BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WILLIAM H. FANDEL, Lt. Colonel, USAF, Ret. Born and resided in Boston, Massachusetts through hig h school. Received Reserve Commission as 2nd Lieutenant Army Corps of Engineers from ROTC program at Penn State University, May 1938 . Graduated from Penn State University with degree in Mechanical Engineering, August 1938. Attended Army Air Corps Flying School as a cadet and graduated from Kelly Field in March 1940, Class 40-A. Received rating as pilot and transferred to Army Air Corps as 2nd Lieutenant Reserve. Went on continuous active duty from March 1940 to July 1961. Pre-war and war-time service as Pilot, Squadron Navigator, Instructor Pilot, Squadron Commander, Group Operations Officer and Deputy Group Commander. Flew 19 combat missions, 190 hours, in B-24 and B-17 aircraft as Group, Wing and Air Division Leader. Post-war service as Director of Materiel; Deputy Base Commander; Student and then Instructor at Air Command and Staff School; Chief of Air Force Section, Military Assistance Advisory Group, Iran; Logistics Plans Officer, Headquarters USAF, Pentagon; Direct ~ r of Materiel, SAC Air Division, Biggs AFB, Texas; Chief of Supply Division, Headqua~ters 16th Air Force, SAC, Torrejon AB, Spain; Director of Materiel at SAC B-47 Reflex Base, Moron AB, Spain.

Total of 8~ years overseas service. Pre-wa r and wa r-time service in Pa nama, Trinidad, Equador and 8th AF England . Post-war service in Iran and Spain.

Sp~cialized i n bombardment aircraft, B-18, LB-30, B-24, B-17, B-25 and B-36. Also flew C-45, C-47, C-54 and C-120. Only jet time was in the T-33. Flew a total of 5,000 hours as pilot and awarded Command Pilot Rating July 195 5. Received regular commission in July 1946. Highest rank Lt. Colonel, Regular Air Force July 1951 . Awards and Decorations: DFC with Oakleaf cluster Europe, Africa , Mi ddle East Campaign Medal Air Medal with 2 oakleaf clusters World War II Victory Medal American Defense Service Medal National Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal Foreign Decorations: Croix de Guerre (France) Merit Medal (Iran) Married for 44 years to the same spouse and have two sons, both graduates of the ·· university of Texas. Oldest son is a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force stationed at K. I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan as Commander of the Munitions Maintenance Squadron. Other son is Manager of an auto dealership in San Antonio. Retired from the Air Force in July 1961 with 23 years of credited service. Settled in San Antonio, Texas. Awarded Texas Permanent Teaching Certificate and taught high school drafting and architecture for 20 years. Now fully retired and living at The Air Force Village, San Antonio, Texas. ,A- JnL-vnh.A.__- i . )-ukJ.~ FANDEL, COLONEL WJLLIAM H.

Biographical fran childhood to retirerrent years.

Early World War II, defense of the Panama Canal Zone.

Instructor pilot for B-24s, training instructor pilots.

Joined 8th Airforce in England. B 24s converted to B 17s ••• 34th

Bomb Group •• Lots of airplane talk.

The Daedalians, an organization of military pil ots.