Apra Harbor from Mt Tenjo (continued below)
( continued from above) Agana from Mt Tenjo
Mt Tenjo
View looking North North Field
Guam was a Territory of the US, before it was over run by Japan in the first days of WW II, the Natives were US citizens. When retaken Guam’s excellent Apra Harbor facilities, previously home to the US Navy, were immediately put to use and improved.
Near view of Apra harbor Causeway sea side of Apra Harbor
Navy Air Field on Orote Pen. Nimitz Hdqs to
left
Mid Island Harmon Field,
20th AF Hdq Tumon Bay
Our shipload of replacements arrived
on Guam June 1945, most with orders to report to the 20th AF, by then Army Air Corps, called themselves
Air Force. 2/Lts Bernard Stelzenmuller,
Hank Talbot and I were the only Engineering Officers and knew we’d soon be
separated.
We were assigned temporary quarters
in the 20th AF Hdqs area and were soon acquainted with the red soil, humid
smell and out house facilities. We
killed time while hdq staff determined where to send us. I was quartered with two strangers who
wanted to play cards to kill time. I
rarely played cards and had to learn how each time, they said they’d teach me,
so I agreed. Once I got the hang of it
and began wining they lost interest.
Bernard & Hank came by to say
there was a good beach near by called Tumon Bay, so we went there for a
swim. Good was a misnomer, it was a
fantastic beach with clear sand and warm water – it was absolutely ideal except
for one thing. Under the water, laying
on the sand, were round long soft sea creatures – stepping on them with bare
feet gave you the uncomfortable feeling you had just stepped on turd!
We later found that during our swims
we had been awarded two combat ribbons!! Those assigned to hdqs received
ribbons whenever a ribbon was issued to a sub tier unit. When I see an abundantly decorated soldier I
wonder how he “earned” his.
At chow a permanent party Lt said a
new invasion must be in the making. I
asked how he knew, he said we are now on rations similar to those before the
Iwo Jima invasion, not long after the invasion of Okinawa took place.
Tour of 20th AF War
Room Bernard, Hank and I became
acquainted with the officer in charge of the Mission War Room and he gave us a
tour. He was our age and wanted to show
his handy work. We saw was a replica of
the Battle for Britain movie war room.
Large table maps were maintained showing current status while those in
command looked down on the missions progress.
Persons in radio contact plotted the movement of planes and ships. There was a map extending from the Marianas
to Japan with movable streamers and markers to show flights of aircraft moving
to and from Japan. Large floor to
ceiling photos showed the target areas.
The photos had been converted to maps showing bomb damaged areas and
percentages destroyed for major Japanese cities. The Lt said we are running out of good industrial targets. I was impressed with the detail and quality
of the setup, this was not show, it was very much alive.
Status Overview I later learned LeMay returned to
Washington and advised an A-bomb was not needed to destroy Japanese targets –
his presentation would have been based on the War Room photos. That array of photos had historical value
and probably exist somewhere. By April
1945 operations against Japan had becoming efficient and routine. The Navy hauled supplies, bombs, fuel, parts
& people to the Marianas and B-29s hauled and dumped bombs on Japan,
returning empty for another load. From
assembly line to dropping bombs was on automatic, an operation such as this had
never existed before. Initially the
Japanese felt protected by the vast Pacific, never anticipating their mote
could be spanned. Once their mote was
breached by B-29s, the Japanese were powerless to stop it. A conventional warfare defensive perimeter
could not protect from overhead bombs – or mined harbors hampering flow of
goods in or out. They had to know
from mid 1944 on they had lost the war – but their military was conditioned
to win or die – they didn’t have a surrender mode. Kamikaze suicide attacks could be sustained
so long as they had the means, the population expected to be enslaved or
killed. LeMay was right, they had been
defeated – but they needed a huge dose of reality – the A-Bombs saved far
more lives than were lost.
Jeep ride to North Field
Report
to 20th AF EO I was told to report to the 20th
AF Hdq Engineering Officer. I knocked,
entered and formally introduced myself.
He stood up to greet me, then after a slight pause said your younger
than I anticipated, I was looking for someone older as my assistant. Most EO’s were older and more experienced,
I was 21, only one cadet was younger, I’m certain I was the youngest in the 20th
AF. I smiled and said I
understand. He was very much a
gentleman and asked of my background, to be courteous and decide what to do
with me. I gave him a quick recap that
ended saying I’d been a P-40 crew chief.
He smiled saying I remembered those well, and we exchanged comments
about P-40s – then I said, I’ve never seen a B-29, but looked forward to
learning about them. He grinned and
said we can sure take care of that, I’ll send you up to North Field where the
action is, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to learn about B-29’s. I felt very comfortable, his demeanor was
that of a fellow hands on mechanic. He
added a note to my papers, reached forward to shake hands saying a Jeep will
pick you up in the morning. I liked the
guy, and wish I remembered his name. He
had probably been in the 19th Bomb Group in the Far Pacific with
B-17s in 1941-1942 – the 20th AF was built about those experienced
people. (Not long after I received a
call for experienced mechanics, to change cylinders on a B-29 engine for a
record breaking flight from Guam to Cairo -- our squadron had the best
maintenance record and I checked out the engine. They used sandbags on take off to make up for missing crew and
guns, Col Bill Irvine made a successful flight.)
Jeep ride North The next morning the jeep driver pulled up
and called for me by name, from a copy of my orders. I was the only passenger as we traveled north on the highway past
military bases, military cemeteries, areas of heavy grass and long stretches of
dense trees. We passed scenes I would
later see and remember, but they didn’t write in my long term memory at the
time. We had traversed a tree lined
road for several miles then came up over a rise.
North Field as seen by landing aircraft, Jeep arrived near right and parked on high
spot prior to runway overlooking the field.
314th Wing Hdqs in trees to the right
North
Field Suddenly, from a cleared area I could see a
sea of large airplanes, their shiny curved surfaces glittered in the bright
morning sun. The driver stopped the
jeep, letting me take in the scene.
There must have been at least 150 planes looking like huge insects preparing to swarm into the skies. A
closer look revealed motion and purposeful activity. I wish I had a photo of that scene. The driver said, I always
pause here, I never cease to marvel at the sight, it’s like another world. Each of those can carry 10 tons of bombs to
Japan, a B-17 could only carry 2 tons, part way. Little did we know that in a few years these magnificent
creations would be melted to scrap – few survived for others to see.
314
Wing After the pause the driver continued and
stopped at 314 wing hdqs, the driver went in with my papers to see where to go
next. While waiting I took note of a
huge tree, it had been lifted up by it’s roots, that could not penetrated the
coral under a thin layer of red soil.
314th Wing Hdqs North Field Guam;
Gen Powers CO, “Shorty” Wheless (19th BG Clark Field) Deputy CO
Taxi strip from 314th wing to 19th
Hdq far ahead on left then to 28th tent above right at far end
While riding down the long taxi strip, I looked at those big birds, one after another being worked on, I thought my gosh I don’t know a thing about those things. I’m supposed to be an engineering officer and all I know is what I see, they have four engines equipped with four blade props.
19th
BG Engineering We came to a service center area and
stopped at a Quonset hut marked 19th BG Engineering. I followed the driver in and was introduced
to the Group EO and a few others. The
EO said a Capt Keough needed an assistant so he was assigning me to work for
him. He told the driver, take him to
the 28th Sqd. I said glad
to meet you to those present and followed the driver to the Jeep.
28th
Sqd Engineering The 28th Squadron at the far end of the
taxi strip, between the right runway and thick jungle that extended to a
peripheral cliff that dropped 600 feet to the water. The driver soon pulled up in front of a tent covered frame and
said this is it. I said thanks for the
ride, got out and he drove off.
28th Sqd Engineering Tent, Capt Keough Engine removed, resting on sand bag
Captain
Keough I stepped up into the tent and was greeted
by Keough walking toward me wearing a big smile, saying “I’m sure glad to see
you.” We shook hands and exchanged
names. Keough asked, “where did you get
your B-29 training?” I said, “Capt I
never saw one of those big birds until about a half hour ago.” His jaw dropped, his expression changed to
how could they do this to me. I said,
“I just graduated from Engineering Cadets at Yale.” Reading his face, this did not impress him. I continued, “I was and enlisted man with
crew chief rating on P-40 and P-47 prior to that.” His face revealed an expression of at least that’s
something. I realized he was in a
quandary of what to say. So I said,
“Capt I’m not going to be any good to you till I learn something about these
big birds, I suggest I work as one of the mechanics till I know enough to be of
help to you.” His eyes lit up as if I
might be salvageable, and said, “come with me.” He took me to near by M-10, introduced me to Crew Chief Erwin Voss, and within 5 minutes I was
facing two engines resting on sand bags.
I said, “I gather your taking parts from that old one to build up this
new one?” Voss said. “that’s
right.” One of the mechanics handed me
a speed wrench saying, “welcome to the club, you take those off and put them on
here.”
B-29
Mechanics 101 Training began about 9 am. Keough took me to the mess hall for noon
chow, We didn’t talk except about what
was where.
We hoisted the new engine up with a hand cranked crane and from on top of a maintenance stand I helped mount the engine. About 10 pm a red headed guy from another crew came over with others to help install the ring cowling. With a grin he said, “as the new comer you get to be on the bottom, stand there and hang on to him, I’m going to stand on you and others will stand on me.” He explained we have to get nine hands up there to guide exhaust stacks (which I helped move from old to new engine) to fit in the exhaust collector ring which is part of the ring cowing assembly.
Forward exhaust collector ring fits in ring cowling, front exhaust stacks with ball joints poke into front collector ring. Aft collector ring is part of the engine assembly. There were no engine stands so ring cowling then engine was removed, with engine propped upright on sand bags. Parts as exhaust stacks went from old to new engine also resting on a sand bag. New engine was lifted and mounted, then collector ring lifted and “stack of mechanics” hand fit forward engine exhaust stacks in ring cowling exhaust collector ring ports.
I
chuckled to myself as the guy on my shoulder wiggled his oil soaked shoes to
hold the guy above him, leaving foot prints on my freshly cleaned sun tan
shirt. Looking at the guys shoes I said
to myself, “you volunteered – you’ve arrived and finally doing something
worthwhile.”
Keough
had taken me by the wash stand to clean up then to the mess hall for chow. At evening chow he showed me my new living
quarters, my stuff had been put on a cot near the prefab door. I’d been assigned the same quarters and army
cot as the fellow I replaced.
End
of First Day At midnight Keough was still there to take
me to my quarters, we didn’t talk much.
I said thanks for the lift, got out, placed my stuff on the floor and
fell asleep on the cot. It had been a
long interesting first day. M-10 crew
chief Voss and crew had a calibration on the new guy, he asked a lot of
questions. Keough knew he was a hands
on guy, not afraid to get his hands dirty.
Apparently the first report back was
positive because the next day Keough gave me a quick tour of the area and I met
most of the crew chiefs. There were 15 planes and some 200 men assigned to
him. He also took me to 30th
and 93rd Sqd and introduced me to their Engineering Officer.
The
squadron facilities consisted of tents covering wood floors and partial
walls. I was introduced as his new
assistant replacing the engineering officer killed in a test hop not long
before.
The
Captain was tough and demanding. Some of the enlisted men and officers felt he
was too tough. I quickly acquired a respect for his ability and methods, I
could see the hard outside and came to know the softer inside. Inwardly he
was often up tight and would vomit his breakfast on the way to the flight line,
then later try to catch a snack, he didn't want the men to know so I kept his
secret. He was impatient with anyone he felt was not doing his best, but had
high regard and praise for those he believed were conscientiously giving it
their all. I was to find his squadron had the best maintenance record in the
20th AF. Maintenance personnel were
held accountable for performing maintenance as prescribed by Tech Orders and
application of sound judgment. Many had stripes removed for unintended foul
ups, peoples lives were on the line and everyone was doing their very best.
Flight Crews
Best Friend
The 28th Squadron was Captain
Keough. He set the standards, demanded the discipline and earned the admiration
& support from those above and below. He was tough, hard & fair; also a
person of foresight & sentiment. His jeep was marked "28th Squadron
Engineering Officer", a title that carried considerable weight on the
Flight Line. Operations and Flight Crews sought his help and lent their
assistance, they had confidence in him and those who worked for him – they made
the planes they flew safe to fly.
I benefited immensely, when Keough
chose to have me replace him as Sqd EO, others granted me the respect and
authority Keough had earned.
Erwin Voss 2007 Herb Bumgarten 2000
M-10 crew chief and engine specialist -- my
instructors 1945