2016 Summer Friends Journal Sampler

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Summer 2016 The Magazine of the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. • www.airforcemuseum.com

Featured Articles Of Their Own Free Will: The Eagle Squadrons of World War II Lieutenant Ashenden’s Album Photographs from the Great War Death March across Germany Under Siege in Tehran

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Vol. 39 No.2

THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC. BOARD OF TRUSTEES

From the Executive Director

This morning I opened the app I use to see what’s going on in my world—Facebook.

There amongst the daily clutter was a post about a young man who had done very well in a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) competition. Turns out, this young man was the son of a very dear friend, Brian. And the memories came flooding back.

Brian and I first met in the 1980s when we joined the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) as contract specialists. We quickly became friends, enjoying the intriguing debates that came with procurement and contract law. After a few years, Brian felt called to study law and moved to the Midwest to become an attorney. We still kept in touch and participated in each other’s significant life events.

He had such an impact on my life that my wife and I named our firstborn son after him. Sadly, a few years ago Brian’s wife called to let me know Brian had been taken from us…way too soon.

Bruce Springsteen, in his song “No Surrender,” said “Now young faces grow sad and old and hearts of fire grow cold, we swore blood brothers against the wind, now I’m ready to grow young again.” Man, I miss you Brian. But what if “I’m ready to grow young again” does not mean to spin back the hands of time, but to be ready to watch the young grow again; to band together with one’s blood brothers to influence those who follow?

Not certain if that’s what Bruce meant, but that’s how it struck me as I thought about Brian.

It also made me think about the stories in this Friends Journal, stories of the young aviators who went to fly with France during World War I, and to England in World War II. “Blood brothers” in the wind, with hearts of fire. These aviators, who were the first in the air for the United States during those two world wars, had a profound influence on their Airmen sisters and brothers who followed.

As I look at the Foundation, I see an amazing family, 12,000-plus strong, whose strength lies in our perseverance to respect the past and our unwillingness to surrender our expectations for the future, putting our time and dollars on the line to watch the young grow—again and again and again. No retreat baby, no surrender.

Thanks for all you do, Mike Imhoff P.S. October 1-2 you, too, can spin back the hands of time at the National Museum of the United States Air Force’s Dawn Patrol Rendezvous, a World War One commemorative event held every two years on Museum grounds. The Air Force Museum Foundation is the proud sponsor of this popular event. Hope to see you there!

Mr. Philip L. Soucy - Chairman Col (Ret) Susan E. Richardson - President Col (Ret) James B. Schepley - Vice President Lt Gen (Ret) C. D. Moore II - Secretary Mr. Robert J. Suttman II, CFA - Treasurer Mr. John G. Brauneis Col (Ret) Mark N. Brown Dr. Thomas J. Burns, PhD Brig Gen (Ret) Paul R. Cooper Dr. Pamela A. Drew Mr. Roger D. Duke Ms. Frances A. Duntz Ms. Anita Emoff Mr. David C. Evans Col (Ret) Frederick D. Gregory Sr. Mr. Benjamin T. Guthrie Maj Gen (Ret) E. Ann Harrell CMSgt (Ret) Eric R. Jaren Mr. Gregory G. Lockhart Gen (Ret) Gary L. North Gen (Ret) Charles T. Robertson Jr. Maj Gen (Ret) Frederick F. Roggero Maj Gen (Ret) Darryl A. Scott Mr. Scott J. Seymour Mr. Erik D. Smith Mr. Harry W. (Wes) Stowers Jr.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE Lt Gen (Ret) J. L. Hudson, Director Krista Strider, Deputy Director/Senior Curator

FOUNDATION

Executive Director - Michael Imhoff Chief Development Officer - Col (Ret) Mona Vollmer Chief, Museum Store Operations - Melinda Lawrence Chief, Attractions Operations - Mary Bruggeman Marketing Manager - Chuck Edmonson Membership Office: 1-877-258-3910 (toll free) or 937-656-9615

Friends Journal

Editor - Peggy Coale Art Director - Mark A. Riley Editorial Assistants - Joe King, Robert Pinizzotto, Art Powell Friends Journal Office: 937-656-9622 Cover: Illustration of an RAF Supermarine Spitfire from the American Eagle Squadron in 1940, over Dover, England.

Illustrated by Mark Riley.

The Friends Journal is published quarterly by the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the expansion and improvement of the National Museum of the United States Air Force and to the preservation of the history of the United States Air Force. Authors retain all rights to further publication or use. Author’s views expressed in the Friends Journal do not necessarily represent those of the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. or those of the United States Air Force.

Printed in the USA. USPS Standard ”A” rate postage paid at Dayton, OH. Subscription to the Friends Journal is included in the annual membership of the Friends of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. All materials are copyright 2016 and may not be reproduced without permission from the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. Submission of material for publication and correspondence concerning contents should be addressed to The Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 1903, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-1903, and marked in the corner of the envelope “ATTN: Editor.”

Contents ARTICLES

DEPARTMENTS

2 Editor’s Notes

4 Of Their Own Free Will: The Eagle Squadrons of World War II Kenneth C. Kan

10 Liberty Bond Girl

Ruth Bancroft Law

11 First Yanks to Fly for France

A. J. Mueller

Lt James F. Ashenden and his Nieuport 28 14

3 Friends Feedback

32 Activities & Events

49 Reunion Notices

52 The Museum Store

Randall F. Volpe

17 Lieutenant Ashenden’s Album Photographs from the Great War

A Forgotten Squadron 20

Roy O’Neal

CMSgt (Ret) John Tinkle

23 Mind if I Borrow it?

The Day an Air Force Mechanic

Commandeered a North American F-86

Paul D. Mather

34 Death March across Germany Herbert Gold

39 Unconventional Aircraft at the

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

John B. King

43 Under Siege in Tehran Diary of an Air Force Wife

Jerrianne R. Hayslett

Do You Have a Story for the Friends Journal?

We love to hear from our Friends of their firsthand accounts of military service and combat. Our goal is to be able to present a variety of Air Force-related stories from all eras in which the U.S. Air Force or its predecessors played a role. We especially need stories from more recent conflicts, such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If you or someone you know has a personal experience you think our readers would find interesting, please consider submitting a story to us. Writers with all levels of experience are welcomed!

Contact the editor at 937-656-9622 or pcoale@ afmuseum.com with any questions you may have.

The typical Friends Journal article is 3,000 words maximum, and includes three to five photographs.

Your photos will be returned.

Submit manuscripts and photos to: Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., Friends Journal Editor, 1100 Spaatz Street, P.O. Box 1903, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433. Or email it to pcoale@afmuseum.com.

Friends Journal • Summer 2016

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EDITOR’s

NOTES

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n this Friends Journal issue we celebrate the intrepid spirit of American aviators, especially the young men who went overseas to fight for our allies during both world wars.

Our cover art of an RAF Spitfire honors the famous Eagle Squadrons of World War II—American pilots who were recruited to fly in England with British aircraft before the United States had entered the fight. It was technically illegal for these American citizens to join a foreign nation’s armed forces, yet they did so with great courage and sacrifice, to help our Allies in their hour of need. “We have seen the stuff of which you are made,” remarked Air Chief Marshal Sir Sholto Douglas in his farewell address to the American Eagle pilots in 1942, “and we could not ask for better companions with whom to see this fight through to a finish.”

Something similar happened during World War I, when the first Americans went to France to fly. The Escadrille Americaine—or American Squadron—flew its first mission in May 1916 and scored its first victory five days later.

When the German government protested the use of Americaine in the title (the United States was officially neutral at the time), France changed the name to Escadrille Lafayette. Although these Americans made an immense contribution to France, perhaps their greater value was realized in 1918 after most had transferred to the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). Being combat veterans they passed their knowledge along to their newly arrived countrymen.

Our centerfold illustration of a Nieuport 28 is a tribute to the first French fighter flown in combat by pilots of the AEF in World War I, and to one pilot in particular—Lt James F. Ashenden. Lieutenant Ashenden’s story first appeared in the spring 1992 Friends Journal. During the course of revising the article for the current issue, I located Lieutenant Ashenden’s now 91-year-old son, James Ashenden Jr. Over our past few months’ correspondence, Mr. Ashenden dug deep into his memory—and also his basement—and generously loaned us items from his father’s personal collection, including a circa 1918 album with hundreds of photographs from the war front in France. We had a wonderful time going through these photographs and have presented the highlights in a separate article.

Mr. Ashenden still has a piece of the propeller from the Nieuport 28 his father crash-landed in Switzerland in 1918, pictured here.

Ashenden

A piece of the wooden propeller from Lt Ashenden’s 1918 Nieuport 28.

“Intrepid spirit” applies to the other Airmen—and one Air Force wife— whose stories are included in this issue. From early aviatrix Ruth Law, and a B-24 crew member who survived an unfathomable march through a brutal winter, to a plucky F-86 mechanic whose ambitions unintentionally took flight along with the plane he was working on, these stories cover a wide range of experiences of American Airmen defending freedom. Happy reading and happy summer!

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Friends Feedback The Dayton Kid

Museum Connections This is an account of unusual coincidences that led to some marvelous connections involving a recent article in the Friends Journal.

Kaplan

Lt Col (Ret) Dick Cole stands beside a plaque in the National Aviation Hall of Fame with an engraving of “The Dayton Kid” poem.

Doolittle Raider Lt Col (Ret) Dick Cole was born in Dayton, Ohio, just 12 years after Dayton natives Wilbur and Orville Wright conducted the first powered, controlled airplane flights at Kitty Hawk and just blocks from the brothers’ now famous bicycle shop. Fascinated by flight as a child, he often rode his bicycle out to the levees above McCook Field to watch pioneering pilots such as Jimmy Doolittle and John Macready test fly the newest concepts of the day. In late April 2016, Cole participated in a Living History event—the screening of a movie about his life—at the Air Force Museum Theatre.While here, he remarked that he was the model for Milton Caniff’s “The Dayton Kid” cartoon, which was the subject of a spring 2016 Friends Journal article. Our office reached out to Dick Cole’s daughter, Cindy, to ask for details. Her response follows.

Dad knew Milton Caniff because of Phil Cochran, cocommander of the 1st Air Commandos in Burma in 1944. [Cochran was the inspiration behind characters in the Steve Canyon series by Milton Caniff]. Later dad was mentioned in at least one, maybe two, of Milton Caniff ’s strips. I think the story is true.

Cindy Cole Chal,Waring,Texas Spring Friends Journal

I had recently shared an email about the Doolittle Raider reunions with my Army Air Corps WW II veteran uncle, Robert Schlotterbeck. Uncle Bob, in return, sent me the Friends Journal article “In The Footsteps Of My Father, Doolittle Raider David Thatcher,” written by Jeff Thatcher. I was engrossed in reading it when I got to the part about Jeff arriving in Beijing and meeting up with his friend, Melinda Liu, the daughter of “Honorary Raider,” the late Tung-Sheng Liu. I had a sudden rush of memory from 40 years ago, of an old story I had covered my first year as a reporter for The Fairborn Daily Herald.

I had been sent to the Air Force Museum on Saturday, November 22, 1975, with camera in hand, to get a story on the dedication of the new Doolittle Raiders exhibit.

General Doolittle was scheduled to cut the ribbon but was unable to attend due to a snowstorm in Nebraska. TungSheng Liu, who worked at the base as an aeronautical engineer, and was an Honorary Raider for his part in helping some of the Raiders escape, stood in for General Doolittle and cut the ribbon. I have shared the article and photos with Jeff Thatcher and Melinda Liu. We all thank the folks at the Friends Journal for publishing an article that has spawned this wonderful coincidence.

Rawjer Schlotterbeck, Boulder, Colorado Correction The caption on page 7 of the Spring 2016 Friends Journal, incorrectly identifies SAM 26000. It is a Boeing VC137C.

My husband has dementia and is now in a nursing home.

When the Spring Friends Journal came, I took it to him, and we had a delightful visit. He was so excited to see the photos and we talked about our past visits to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. He was so happy and pleased that I had tears in my eyes.Thank you for such joy we experienced!

Yvonne Beal, Frostburg, Maryland

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Of Their Own Free Will: The Eagle Squadrons of World War II Kenneth C. Kan

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n 1940 Nazi Germany held continental Europe in its deadly grip. German armies had crushed the armed forces of Poland; invaded the neutral nations of Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands; and easily dispatched French forces in Belgium. France held out longer, but on June 4, 1940, the British evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk and on June 22, France surrendered. Great Britain, now facing Hitler virtually alone, depended heavily on the Royal Air Force (RAF) to protect England from the seemingly inevitable German invasion.

During the perilous years of 1940-1941, a small band of Americans joined the RAF to help England resist Nazi Germany. They did so while the United States remained a neutral power, overcoming significant obstacles to accomplish their objective. Over time the RAF formed these volunteer pilots into three fighter units, known collectively as the Eagle Squadrons. The Americans who joined the RAF and formed the Eagle Squadrons did so for a variety of reasons. Some were adventurers and were attracted by the exploits of British pilots who flew during the Battle of Britain in their Hurricanes and Spitfires.

Others believed the United States would eventually be drawn into the war and wanted to enter into military service on their own terms rather than being drafted.

Whatever their motivations, these Americans flew alongside their British comrades in fighter and bomber escort missions until 1942, when they transferred into

NMUSAF

Hawker Hurricane of No. 71 Eagle Squadron.

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the United States Army Air Forces.

The United States was officially a neutral power in 1940.

Constrained by the dictates of neutrality laws, American citizens were prohibited from accepting a commission or enlisting in the service of any of the nations then at war.

Americans such as Colonel Charles Sweeny, however, were willing to circumvent these neutrality laws. Colonel Sweeny was a “soldier of fortune,” who had fought in the French Foreign Legion and the U.S. Army during World War I. He later served in Poland with other Americans in the Polish Army during the Battle of Warsaw in 1920.

He then went in 1925 to Morocco, and spent time in Spain during its Civil War in the 1930s to observe how well French aircraft were faring in that conflict.

When war looked all but inevitable in 1939, Sweeny worked with U.S. Army Brig Gen Henry J. Reilly to bring American volunteers to France. The French were receptive to the plan, but to skirt the neutrality laws, planned to use American volunteers as ambulance personnel. Sweeny, however, wanted these volunteers to serve as combat personnel and got the approval of General Paul Armengaud, former commander-in-chief of the French Air Force, to re-create a contemporary version of the Lafayette Escadrille of World War I fame.

In late 1939, Colonel Sweeny returned to the United States and sought out recruits in California. Despite scrutiny from U.S. officials, Sweeny recruited 32 American pilots who arrived in France in April and May 1940. By this stage of the war, France’s future was imperiled. Accordingly, American pilots did not have a long stay. Of the 32 who arrived in France, 4 were killed, 11 became prisoners, 5 went to England. The whereabouts of the remaining 12 were unknown. At this point Colonel Sweeny ceased his active recruiting of pilots and passed on the task to his nephew, also named Charles. This Sweeny and his brother Robert were Americans residing in England, who had been active in trying to help the British cause. In 1939, Charles, over the objection of then-U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James, and father of a future President of the United States, Joseph P. Kennedy, recruited Americans living in London to form the First Motorized Squadron, a home

Of Their Own Free Will: The Eagle Squadrons of World War II

guard organization. Ambassador Kennedy believed such efforts were in vain, as he held little hope that England would defeat Germany.

After forming the motorized squadron, Charles moved on to recruiting what became known as the Eagle Squadrons. In June 1940, he wrote to Sir Hugh Seeley in the British Air Ministry suggesting that an American Air Defence Corps be organized. He buttressed his suggestion by stating that his uncle, Colonel Sweeny, still had in place a recruiting organization with a large pool of potential American recruits to draw upon. Sweeny eventually made a presentation to the British Air Council which approved the idea on July 2, 1940—provided he had 25 pilots and 25 reserve pilots already on hand.

The new unit acquired the Eagle Squadron name based on a shoulder patch Charles Sweeny designed for the Americans to wear on their RAF uniforms. The patch featured an eagle similar to that found on a United States passport. After seeing the patch, Charles’ father thought up the idea of naming the new unit the American Eagle Squadron (AES). Charles presented the name recommendation to Sir Hugh Seeley and it received Air Ministry approval. The first patches had the letters AES on them, but the A was later dropped and units were forever known as the Eagle Squadrons.

years old. The RCAF had more flexible age limitations and permitted married men to hold flight status.

Generally speaking, the U.S. government did not object to the idea of recruiting American pilots for Commonwealth air forces, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to help England in its time of need. However, given the idea’s political sensitivity, administration officials, during discussions with British and Canadian representatives, asked that such activities be done without much fanfare. Knight was able to find an acceptable solution to specific U.S. concerns by adopting the position that his organization would not engage in any advertising or recruiting activities, but would simply provide advice and assist in pilot training and travel to Canada and England.

The citizenship question, however, proved more difficult to surmount and remained troubling for years after the war had ended. According to the Citizenship Act of 1907, American citizens who took an oath to another government would lose their citizenship. Knight did not realize this law had caused a great deal of difficulties for many Americans who joined foreign military services in World War I. He devised a way around this impediment which received the concurrence of the Canadian and British governments. Instead of pledging allegiance to the King, those wishing to join the RCAF and RAF only pledged to obey their commanders’ orders.

While the Sweeny initiative progressed,another American, Clayton Knight, pursued an even more ambitious effort that had British and Canadian government support.

Once the legal issues had been dealt with, the Knight Knight had flown in combat in World War I until he Committee set about its recruiting efforts.The committee was shot down and taken prisoner by the Germans. In September 1939, Canadian Air Vice Marshal, William “Billy” Bishop, a World War I flying ace, telephoned Knight to ask him to form a recruiting organization for Americans wishing to join the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and RAF. Knight met with Maj Gen Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, chief of the Army Air Corps, and Rear Admiral John Towers, the Navy’s chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. Arnold and Towers agreed in principle to Knight’s recruitment effort with the assurance that it would not draw individuals away from entering the U.S. armed forces or those already serving on duty. In actuality the Canadian and United States standards differed in significant respects, which precluded the Knight NMUSAF group from trying to recruit the same individuals. U.S. requirements stipulated U.S. Eagle Squadron completing training, October 13, 1940. pilot recruits have two years of university study, 20/20 vision and be no more than 30

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Of Their Own Free Will: The Eagle Squadrons of World War II

first concentrated its work in California where there was a large pool of aviators, but eventually established offices in cities from coast to coast. Each applicant had to meet specific criteria: possess a high school diploma or equivalent; be between the ages of 20 and 45; if under 21, have a parent’s or guardian’s permission; have at least 300 documented flying hours; and hold a Civil Aviation Authority license. For applicants applying to join the RAF, the maximum age limit was set at 31 and they had to be unmarried. During the slightly more than twoyear existence of the Knight Committee (later known as the Canadian Aviation Bureau), about 6,700 of some 49,000 American applicants were selected for the RCAF and RAF and to staff flying schools as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Program.

While the Knight Committee continued its work, the elder Charles Sweeny moved forward on his scheme to bring American pilots to fight in Britain. By the summer of 1940, a number of Americans had traveled to Britain via Canada. Once in Britain the first arrivals received basic training in skills such as aerobatics and formation flying. Acquiring combat training was, in the words of one early pilot, “woefully inadequate, most of us learning these skills ‘on the job.’” By mid-1941, after the initial push to get pilots into combat had eased, recruits went to Bournemouth to receive indoctrination in RAF flying methods and military training before being assigned to an operational training unit.

After November 1941, the new arrivals also attended advanced flying training for three weeks before being assigned to an operational training unit.

had no connection with either the Knight Committee or Charles Sweeny. Upon completion of the RCAF training, the graduates were more prepared for RAF service than their counterparts who went through the U.S. civilian contract training program.The training they received was standardized and oriented toward military flying operations.

On September 19, 1940, Number 71 Squadron of the RAF’s Fighter Command was formed at Church Fenton, near the city of York. The squadron’s initial cadre of pilots had widely differing amounts of experience.

The first three pilots, Eugene Quimby Tobin, Andrew B. Mamedoff, and Vernon Charles “Shorty” Keough, followed a circuitous route in their quest to fight in World War II. Tobin and Mamedoff were recruited through the Sweeny organization to fly combat missions in Finland. However, Finland fell to the Soviet Union and Tobin and Mamedoff were told to go to France and

In October 1940, General Hap Arnold NMUSAF received the approval of Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson to allow Official British photograph of the Eagle Squadron ready for action. American pilots sprinting to American volunteers who were already their aircraft, L to R: Peter Provenzano, Eugene “Red” Tobin, Sam Marillo, Luke Allen. pilots to undergo refresher training at Air Corps civilian contract flying fly for the French Air Force. While awaiting transport schools. The volunteers received their instruction at in Montreal, they met Keough and all three set off for three schools, which became operational in November France. By the time they arrived in France, the French 1940 and were located in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Dallas, Texas; Army and government was already unstable, and the and Glendale, California. In 1941 another school, in three barely managed to escape to England before France Bakersfield, California, provided similar training. All capitulated to Germany in June 1940. In England the Eagle Squadron-bound pilots signed up in America after RAF eventually accepted the three and assigned them to November 1940 went to one of these schools.

609 Squadron, where they saw action during the Battle of Britain and were credited with aerial victories. These Another group of Eagle Squadron pilots received their three formed the core of the new 71 Squadron. training through the Royal Canadian Air Force. These individuals joined the RCAF on their own accord and

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Of Their Own Free Will: The Eagle Squadrons of World War II

Initially, the RAF equipped the first Eagle Squadron with Brewster Buffalos, an American-made fighter aircraft which paled in performance compared to the Hawker Hurricane and the Spitfire. In order to rid the squadron of the unwanted Buffalos, Squadron Commander Churchill told the pilots not to lock the tail wheel when they came in for a landing, knowing full well this would cause the plane to go into a ground loop. Squadron pilots followed Churchill’s directive and as a result the planes were damaged and replaced

by Hurricanes in November 1940. Although eager to get into combat, the Eagle Squadron pilots continued training and were not declared combat ready until late January 1941. A declaration of being combat ready, however, did not bring 71 Squadron the long-awaited opportunity for action against the Luftwaffe. Instead the American Eagles were assigned the job of escort duty for North Sea shipping.This necessary but hardly glamorous assignment did not last for long.

wait long for their first taste of combat. After arriving at Martlesham Heath in April 1941, 71 Squadron pilots flew several missions, including one off the French coast, south of Boulogne, where they encountered German aircraft but did not record any aerial victories. On May 15, two Eagle Squadron pilots engaged in a dogfight with three Bf 109s over the English Channel. During this encounter, one Bf 109 was damaged near Calais.

The Americans, however, did not escape unscathed: one Hurricane was damaged, due in part to being hit by fire from another American aircraft, and had to crash land.

On July 2, 1941, 71 Squadron pilots recorded their first confirmed aerial victories. The squadron was part of a large group of fighter units escorting 12 Bristol Blenheims, a two-engine bomber, to Lille, France. The bombers were intended not only to bomb an electric power plant, but also draw German fighters into battle.

The 71 Squadron pilots acquitted themselves well against 25 to 30 German aircraft attacking the British formations. Three enemy planes were shot down, plus one probable and one damaged. Squadron Commander Henry Woodhouse and Pilot Officers William Dunn and Gus Daymond were each credited with destroying one enemy plane. The 71 Squadron lost one plane, and the pilot, William Hall, was taken into enemy hands and became a prisoner of war. For the remainder of the summer, 71 Squadron pilots continued participating in defensive operations over Britain and as fighter escorts for bomber missions into France.

During July alone, 71 Squadron flew 568 operational missions.

On May 14, 1941, a new Eagle unit was activated, 121 Squadron. By this stage of the war, the Knight Committee had smoothed out its procedures and NMUSAF become a well-functioning organization.

There was a steady flow of applicants No. 71 Eagle Squadron pilot, William Dunn, seated in a Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIA at RAF for overseas postings, enough to fill Station North Weald, 1941. out another squadron. Recognizing the long lead time necessary for combat In April 1941 General Arnold was visiting England on a readiness, personnel who went into the 121 Squadron fact-finding mission and had a visit with Colonel Sweeny, received extensive training before going to England. whom he called the “coordinator for Eagle Squadron.”

Once formed, RAF officials assigned Squadron Leader The American general expressed his view that the Peter Powell as commander. Powell’s assignment reflected time for the Eagle Squadron to continue training had Fighter Command’s policy of having British officers ended, remarking “either it fights or is disbanded, in my serve as commanders of the Eagle Squadrons. opinion.”

On August 1, 1941, the final Eagle unit, 133 Squadron, The American Eagle Squadron pilots did not have to was activated. After relocating a few times and flying

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