Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Tull on April 04, 2008, 05:51:44 PM
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Gents,
I was told that there were a number of members that have extensive research resources on the Army Air Corps in WWII. I have been trying to find information for my mother on her first cousin who was a Jug pilot in the Italian Theater. The info that I have is that James Erwin Anderson Jr, died on 9 Nov 1944 off the coast of Italy and he was a P-47 driver. Is there a place that I can go to get my mother some more information?
Jamie
“TULL”
JAMES W GENTRY III
Commander's Operations and Training Assistant (COTA), Mission Support Team #3
ARNG Distributed Battle Simulations Program (DBSP)
General Dynamic Information Technology
jamie.gentry@gdit.com
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From the 79th Fighter Group History.
It apears James E Anderson was part of the 86th Fighter Squadron, 79th Fighter Group (86th were the "Comanches")
"Two days later (November 9) Lt. James E Anderson Jr, a Comanche pilot from Houston Texas was killed in a freak mishap southwest of Forli. The 4th British Infantry Division was making a strong bid for Forli that day and their advance was being held up by a shone building that the Germans had fortified and made into a stronghold. Six Comanches and a flight of Skeeters answered the Britisher's call for help and were making rocket attacks against the enemy position. Down on the deck where there is little room for mental or mechanical error, Anderson's rocket tubes became entangled with his ailerons. The sudden loss of control flipped his heavy Thunderbolt over on it's back and it dove into the ground. Anderson was dead, but 26 rocket hits had completely demolished the enemy strongpoint and Forli fell to the British later that day"
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He's listed on the WW2 registry on the National WW2 Memorial website
http://www.wwiimemorial.com/default.asp?page=home.asp
2 LT James E. Anderson, Jr.
ID: O1695599
Branch of Service: U.S. Army
Hometown: Harris County, TX
Status: KIA
The other bit I found is he enlisted October 17, 1942 in Dallas, Texas
Born in 1914
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Dan, You are absolutely irreplaceable. :aok
Glad you could be of service to Tull.
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Gents,
Thank you so much for the information. I can’t express my amazement at the speed which you responded to my posting. Now I need to try to de-conflict oral family history with official unit history.
After the war a gentleman by the name of Harold Hall (of Kansas) came to my great-grandmother and claimed to be Jimmy’s (2 Lt. J.E. Anderson Jr.) wingman. Can his name be confirmed as a member of the Comanche’s?
The story that he related to my family was: At the end of a mission on the 9th of November, Jimmy had a hung bomb on his Jug. He could not land the aircraft on the field due to the danger of detonation. He ditch in the Med. Hall orbited Jimmy until he was safely in his rubber raft. Due to darkness, Jimmy was lost and his body washed up on shore the next day.
I do not believe it is possible to fully reconcile the two stories, but any further information would be greatly appreciated by my mother and her cousins.
Jamie
"TULL"
JAMES W GENTRY III
Commander's Operations and Training Assistant (COTA), Mission Support Team #3
ARNG Distributed Battle Simulations Program (DBSP)
General Dynamic Information Technology
jamie.gentry@gdit.com
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Photo of Lt. Hall from the 79th FG History. Note the rocket tubes behind him that, at least according to the history, caused the crash of your mom's cousin
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s199/guppy35/HHall.jpg)
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Nice work Guppy, you the man!
what model Jug was it. D11?
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:furious Wasn't the type of JUGG's post i thought it was darn! :rofl
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Damn, I thought this was a post about Sophia Loren... :cry
Later,
KayBay
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What's sad is that a couple of ya don't seem to get that what the post was about was far more important then what you thought it was about.
Instead of making a joke, I'd suggest you take a second to reflect on the young man who lost his life in that P47 all those years ago.
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Dan, well done. I'm glad you were of help. The info was very interesting to me also.
But of more importance it was of great value to the Pilots family.
Kids......about as deep as a puddle sometimes. No thought at all before making a comment.
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I wonder if those two dorks understand how close they will be to PNG status come Monday....
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Dan,
Jimmy was my mother’s double-first cousin and he was survived by a younger brother and sister. I wanted to share with you what Jimmy’s younger brother (William) wrote back to me.
“Jamie: Thanks for the facts regarding my older brother Jimmy's death. This varies from what we were told of how he died. At my Father's invitation, Harold Hall visited us in Cass Lake, Minnesota several years running after the war and kept in touch with various family members through the 1190s.Jimmy is now buried in your great grandparents plot in Fairlawn Cemetery, Oklahoma City along with our earlier brother of the same name who was still born. Keep in touch and I will try to answer all your questions. Best regards William”
My mother also was a resident at Cass Lake during Lt Hall’s visits and recognized him from the picture you sent. Thank you very much for the time and information that you provided for my family. Family history is important to us and you filled in some blank spots. I will post the military graduation photo of Jimmy when it is sent to me.
Thank you again for going above and beyond.
Jamie
“TULL”
James W Gentry III
LTC (RET), Cavalry, USA
JAMES W GENTRY III
Commander's Operations and Training Assistant (COTA), Mission Support Team #3
ARNG Distributed Battle Simulations Program (DBSP)
General Dynamic Information Technology
jamie.gentry@gdit.com
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:furious Wasn't the type of JUGG's post i thought it was darn! :rofl
Damn, I thought this was a post about Sophia Loren... :cry
Later,
KayBay
You two tools should be Banned from this Board without hesitation.
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Dan, I've had this photo on my HD for a few years now. I know the Jug was flown by the Brazilians in WWII. This particular incident involved the Jug hitting a chimney and losing part of the wing. Which when you take into account of the THREE men on the "stub", you realize just how large the wing is, like the Hellcat.
Just curious if there is any other info on this picture. Was it a low-level strafing run, jabo?
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/Masherbrum/BrazilianP-47hitschimney.jpg)
Finally, Dan you are truly a Gem on this Board. You've been a great guy to get to know in the game. You do a Saint's work and don't ever let someone convince you otherwise.
<<S>> Friend,
Jay
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Dan,
Jimmy was my mother’s double-first cousin and he was survived by a younger brother and sister. I wanted to share with you what Jimmy’s younger brother (William) wrote back to me.
“Jamie: Thanks for the facts regarding my older brother Jimmy's death. This varies from what we were told of how he died. At my Father's invitation, Harold Hall visited us in Cass Lake, Minnesota several years running after the war and kept in touch with various family members through the 1190s.Jimmy is now buried in your great grandparents plot in Fairlawn Cemetery, Oklahoma City along with our earlier brother of the same name who was still born. Keep in touch and I will try to answer all your questions. Best regards William”
My mother also was a resident at Cass Lake during Lt Hall’s visits and recognized him from the picture you sent. Thank you very much for the time and information that you provided for my family. Family history is important to us and you filled in some blank spots. I will post the military graduation photo of Jimmy when it is sent to me.
Thank you again for going above and beyond.
Jamie
“TULL”
James W Gentry III
LTC (RET), Cavalry, USA
JAMES W GENTRY III
Commander's Operations and Training Assistant (COTA), Mission Support Team #3
ARNG Distributed Battle Simulations Program (DBSP)
General Dynamic Information Technology
jamie.gentry@gdit.com
Glad to help Jamie. Those guys have been my heros since I was a little kid. Learning about them has been a life long passion. Please post the photo when you get a chance. It would be great to put a face to the name.
Interesting that there was family in Cass Lake Minnesota. Are they still there?
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:huh I thought I was going to see some chicks from Italy...DOH!
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IMO some of you need to lighten up. If you didn't see the humorous side of the subject line i guess there's no hope for your sense of humor. :( I'm not making fun of any part of the history of the post. Just the title and what i was thinking when i read it made me chuckle. I always enjoy reading about the actual history aspect that the game is founded on and the people who actually were there. Now having said that i do have a question. How could the rocket tubes foul the ailerons? Would it have been the arming lanyards for the rockets maybe? The one thing that really sticks out in this is the confusion of war. You have 2 different reports on what really happened.
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The death of the Jug pilot isn't a light subject. I'd suggest that once you read the topic, that you recognize that and whether you saw something humorous in the title or not, you use better judgement in replying under the circumstances.
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IMO some of you need to lighten up. If you didn't see the humorous side of the subject line i guess there's no hope for your sense of humor. :( I'm not making fun of any part of the history of the post. Just the title and what i was thinking when i read it made me chuckle. I always enjoy reading about the actual history aspect that the game is founded on and the people who actually were there. Now having said that i do have a question. How could the rocket tubes foul the ailerons? Would it have been the arming lanyards for the rockets maybe? The one thing that really sticks out in this is the confusion of war. You have 2 different reports on what really happened.
You are pushing for a PNG. You first claim "to be joking". Then to further dig your grave, you are now "questioning". How could have even "chuckled" is beyond me or any explanation of BS you could tell us.
Just stop posting in this thread, you've done enough.
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Dan,
My Grandfather was the 4th son of six brothers. Jimmy was the eldest son of the eldest brother. The entire family was in the cotton business with each of the 6 brothers managing one of the company branch offices in different cities across the South. With cotton there was a four month period during the summer that nothing could be done except watch the plant grow. During these months the entire family on mass would retreat to a complex of cabins on the southeast shore of Star Island. The family owned this summer retreat from the 20’s until 1954. In 54 due to the advancing age of my Great-Grandmother and changes in the cotton industry, the complex was donated to a church in that area for a summer camp. That is when the family stopped going to the area. The only visit to the area recently was by me when I was supporting training at Camp Ripley in the summer of 1998 and 1999.
Jamie
"TULL"
JAMES W. GENTRY III
Commander’s Operations & Training Assistant (COTA), Mission Support Team #3
ARNG Distributed Battle Simulation Program (DBSP)
General Dynamics Information Technology
jamie.gentry@gdit.com
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Tull, I have enjoyed the tiny "looking glass perspective" of your small world. I'm also grateful for folks like Dan, Karnak, WideWing, Bodhi, and other who have a TON of information, rare documents, out of print books and other plethoras of info at their disposal.
I'll assume by your handle that you might like Jethro Tull? Good band and I hope to meet you in the MA one day.
<<S>> to you and your family. Your grandfather made the "ultimate sacrifice" so many could live.
Jay
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Dan thx for helpin a fellow squadmate the depth of quailty info is amazing thank you sir
:salute
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I should have gone to bed hours ago, so glad I stayed up reading and found this post. Most amazing detail you've uncovered.
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First seems to me your the one starting the fight about what i meant. I chuckled because of the title, not the story. I find no humor in the fact that the pilot died as you so incorrectly assume. As to what i'm questioning is if someone knows how that could happen with the rocket tubes i'd like to know how. I worked with a/c explosives and i'm just curious if somehow it was the way that they were jettisoned caused it or what. Also to Tull if you took offense i'm sorry it wasn't meant that way and hopefully you didn't take it as offensive. If anyone would have a right to complain it would be you and none of the others. :salute
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First seems to me your the one starting the fight about what i meant. I chuckled because of the title, not the story. I find no humor in the fact that the pilot died as you so incorrectly assume. As to what i'm questioning is if someone knows how that could happen with the rocket tubes i'd like to know how. I worked with a/c explosives and i'm just curious if somehow it was the way that they were jettisoned caused it or what. Also to Tull if you took offense i'm sorry it wasn't meant that way and hopefully you didn't take it as offensive. If anyone would have a right to complain it would be you and none of the others. :salute
Lets try this one last time. As one of the others I thought it insensitve on your part to make a joke, despite how you took the title. It didn't take much to read the first post and see what it was about and show a bit more respect by not making a joke. It seemed like the most polite thing to do or not do as the case may be.
Tull shouldn't have to respond to it at all. He wasn't asking for jokes. He was hoping for some help in learning more about his mom's cousin and the circumstances of his loss. As near as I can tell we did that for him, which is all this thread should have been about.
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WOW... the Mind Police are here.... :O
We better clear our minds of All Politically Incorrect Thoughts or we might get Arrested :O
You guys should learn to take life a bit less serious because it aint 1967 anymore and you cant strip search me on the street for having long hair or not fitting in to "your" definition of "correct".
I read the title of the post and had a funny thought that made me laugh and I shared it with the community. So if sharing thoughts with the community that made me laugh are Politically Incorrect and warrant banning... then by all means please petition HTC and have me Banned Immediatly..... because ya never know what thoughts I might have next time :O
OH, and I did read the article and I did find it interesting as many of you did. However those were not the only thoughts I had.
And, BTW, my children and my Grandchildren play this and other online games as well so I am not a Kid although my mind sometimes wanders like one and is not confined by Political Correctness.
Awaiting my Ban,
KayBay
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The story that he related to my family was: At the end of a mission on the 9th of November, Jimmy had a hung bomb on his Jug. He could not land the aircraft on the field due to the danger of detonation. He ditch in the Med. Hall orbited Jimmy until he was safely in his rubber raft. Due to darkness, Jimmy was lost and his body washed up on shore the next day.
From a book I've been reading, authored by an Italian fighter pilot fighting alongside Allied forces in Italy in 1944, standard procedure in case of a malfunction that caused bombs to remain hung under the airplane (quite frequent, apparently) required the pilot to bail out at sea. The story you relate appears very consistent with this, if you exchange "bailed" for "ditched", which of course would have been very dangerous with ordnance on board.
We should not give too much credit to the official reports. The official explanation of a flight accident during the attack might have been conceived in order to cover up some responsibilities or mistakes which prevented the recovery of the bailed pilot.
The author of the book relates that a similar accident happened to him; on the way back from the target he was successful in shaking off the bomb from the rack using high g maneuvers. Apparently it exploded near or in a small village in Yugoslavian territory. He was deeply worried and wanted to go down and investigate but his squadron leader prevented him and asked all the pilots to keep mum about it. It was never reported.
Grifone
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WOW... the Mind Police are here.... :O
We better clear our minds of All Politically Incorrect Thoughts or we might get Arrested :O
You guys should learn to take life a bit less serious because it aint 1967 anymore and you cant strip search me on the street for having long hair or not fitting in to "your" definition of "correct".
I read the title of the post and had a funny thought that made me laugh and I shared it with the community. So if sharing thoughts with the community that made me laugh are Politically Incorrect and warrant banning... then by all means please petition HTC and have me Banned Immediatly..... because ya never know what thoughts I might have next time :O
OH, and I did read the article and I did find it interesting as many of you did. However those were not the only thoughts I had.
And, BTW, my children and my Grandchildren play this and other online games as well so I am not a Kid although my mind sometimes wanders like one and is not confined by Political Correctness.
Awaiting my Ban,
KayBay
OK, was staying out of this, but I think you guys are missing the point...and trust me, I advocate free thought and free speech. The point is, you can think all you want. You can even start your own thread and make jokes. But this thread was specifically concerning the death of a beloved family member. It strike many people on the same level as you sitting in the back of the chapel and cracking jokes while the funeral service is going on. It is not a matter of free speech. It is a matter of proper respect. As it is, many see the comments in this thread as disrepectful, rude and insulting.
This was not a live conversation. This was not people speaking off the cuff without thinking. When you post in a forum, you have a much greater opportunity to think about what you are going to communicate and the audience it is being offered too. You have to be much more purposeful here. And unlike the real-world, real-time, you even have the opportunity to edit and retract what is typed here.
Yes, you have freedom of speech. But how in the world can you link thoughtless comments when discussing the events surrounding a familiar member as an issue of "Political Correctness"? With that logic, I guess you support the Westboro Baptist Church protesting at the funerals of fallen US servicemen and women?
Grow up. This isn't about your free speech. It is about having some respect and decency.
To be fair, I do see that the response to the comments were a little heavy handed. But again, many take this sort of thing very seriously and given that it is family member and a person that died to help protect that freedom of speech you are screaming about, I think you would do well to let this go and move on.
Just my thoughts.
<S> To Lt. James "Jimmy" E Anderson Jr for his service for showing his valor to the ultimate cost
<S> To his family for their sacrifice
<S> To you, Jamie, for reminding us of the real cost of liberty
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From a book I've been reading, authored by an Italian fighter pilot fighting alongside Allied forces in Italy in 1944, standard procedure in case of a malfunction that caused bombs to remain hung under the airplane (quite frequent, apparently) required the pilot to bail out at sea. The story you relate appears very consistent with this, if you exchange "bailed" for "ditched", which of course would have been very dangerous with ordnance on board.
We should not give too much credit to the official reports. The official explanation of a flight accident during the attack might have been conceived in order to cover up some responsibilities or mistakes which prevented the recovery of the bailed pilot.
The author of the book relates that a similar accident happened to him; on the way back from the target he was successful in shaking off the bomb from the rack using high g maneuvers. Apparently it exploded near or in a small village in Yugoslavian territory. He was deeply worried and wanted to go down and investigate but his squadron leader prevented him and asked all the pilots to keep mum about it. It was never reported.
Grifone
I have read much the same about the reporting of accidents.
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Nice work Guppy, you the man!
what model Jug was it. D11?
Anderson Jr., James E 86FS 79FG 12AF KIFA
9 Nov 44 Republic P-47D-28-RE Thunderbolt ser# 44-19589
Pilot killed bailing out, Rimini/8mi E {R-9899}, Adriatic Sea
Edit: MACR#13115
<S>
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Anderson Jr., James E 86FS 79FG 12AF KIFA
9 Nov 44 Republic P-47D-28-RE Thunderbolt ser# 44-19589
Pilot killed bailing out, Rimini/8mi E {R-9899}, Adriatic Sea
<S>
Interesting how that supports the story the family heard. Also interesting how specific the 79th Group history is on the loss being during the rocket attack.
Nice find.
edited to add. Since there is an accident report out there, you could order a copy of it from these folks.
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/reports.htm#MIL
That would be the official report anyway.
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The author of the book relates that a similar accident happened to him; on the way back from the target he was successful in shaking off the bomb from the rack using high g maneuvers. Apparently it exploded near or in a small village in Yugoslavian territory. He was deeply worried and wanted to go down and investigate but his squadron leader prevented him and asked all the pilots to keep mum about it. It was never reported.
Grifone
It's in Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose. It was a B-24 with a hung bomb that, when jettisoned, actually hit and destroyed the only house around for miles.
May have been long after the war, but he did eventually find the family that lived in the house. Read it somewhere. Interview maybe and I can't find the reference now.
wrngway
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Gents,
As the person that started this thread, I am asking that the off topic comments please be stopped. For those that were standing up for the family’s feelings, I thank you. For my part, I hold to the old saying that “those who stay up at night listening and worrying about the howling of the wolves only lose sleep and are tired the next day.”
The airframe information is now helping me to solidify my view on the two stories that are radically different. Each of you has added to my view with a bit or piece of the puzzle. In the end there will be no smoking gun but I think that the answer is there.
I am going to add on piece of information that I had not intended to share, but I believe that the discussion has matured to the point that I will add it. ONE IMPORTANT POINT THAT I WANT UNDERSTOOD FIRST. The family is at peace with the events that I am about to speak about. They never blamed anyone for this or felt that anything was done wrong. They accepted that it was a part of war in that day and time. Please let us as a group not let hindsight overwhelm what has been a very good discussion
Lt Hall told my family that a Destroyer was dispatched to pickup Jimmy from his raft. He said that the Squadron was told that due to limited visibility and night operations that the Destroyer advertently ran over Jimmy during the rescue operation. The family has no proof of this part of the story but it might explain the conflicting information.
Again as always I thank each of you that have contributed. Every piece of information has been of great value to my cousins and mother.
Jamie
“TULL”
JAMES W GENTRY III
Commander's Operations and Training Assistant (COTA), Mission Support Team #3
ARNG Distributed Battle Simulations Program (DBSP)
General Dynamic Information Technology
jamie.gentry@gdit.com
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It's in Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose. It was a B-24 with a hung bomb that, when jettisoned, actually hit and destroyed the only house around for miles.
May have been long after the war, but he did eventually find the family that lived in the house. Read it somewhere. Interview maybe and I can't find the reference now.
wrngway
George McGovern was the B24 pilot. The family told him that if that's what it took to get the war over sooner, they had no problem with the bomb on their farm.
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Gents,
As the person that started this thread, I am asking that the off topic comments please be stopped. For those that were standing up for the family’s feelings, I thank you. For my part, I hold to the old saying that “those who stay up at night listening and worrying about the howling of the wolves only lose sleep and are tired the next day.”
The airframe information is now helping me to solidify my view on the two stories that are radically different. Each of you has added to my view with a bit or piece of the puzzle. In the end there will be no smoking gun but I think that the answer is there.
I am going to add on piece of information that I had not intended to share, but I believe that the discussion has matured to the point that I will add it. ONE IMPORTANT POINT THAT I WANT UNDERSTOOD FIRST. The family is at peace with the events that I am about to speak about. They never blamed anyone for this or felt that anything was done wrong. They accepted that it was a part of war in that day and time. Please let us as a group not let hindsight overwhelm what has been a very good discussion
Lt Hall told my family that a Destroyer was dispatched to pickup Jimmy from his raft. He said that the Squadron was told that due to limited visibility and night operations that the Destroyer advertently ran over Jimmy during the rescue operation. The family has no proof of this part of the story but it might explain the conflicting information.
Again as always I thank each of you that have contributed. Every piece of information has been of great value to my cousins and mother.
Jamie
“TULL”
JAMES W GENTRY III
Commander's Operations and Training Assistant (COTA), Mission Support Team #3
ARNG Distributed Battle Simulations Program (DBSP)
General Dynamic Information Technology
jamie.gentry@gdit.com
Thanks for that Tull. Making sure Jimmy isn't forgotten is the key for me. We owe those guys more then we can ever repay.
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In a world where its getting harder and harder to put up with people, and day by day losing faith in most folks, Its a breath of fresh air to see a person like Guppy doing what he did. Took time out of his day to help a total stranger, and his family. More people should read this and learn from it.
Guppy i dont know you, but i know your type. Glad to be involved in a game that has folks such as yourself in it. Its times like this that i wish my father was still alive, he was an encyclopedia of knowledge on WWII, and would have loved to talk with you about the subject. I learned everything i know about the war from him, and am passing it on to my 7yrold boy.
Its people like you that will never let people forget about what that amazing generation did for us all.
Tull, to you and your family my deepest sympathy, and thank you for sacrificing one of your family members, to keep mine free. No one could ever repay such a debt, but i promise to talk with my son about this brave pilot , and what he did to make this country what it is.
Thank you <S>
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In a world where its getting harder and harder to put up with people, and day by day losing faith in most folks, Its a breath of fresh air to see a person like Guppy doing what he did. Took time out of his day to help a total stranger, and his family. More people should read this and learn from it.
Guppy i dont know you, but i know your type. Glad to be involved in a game that has folks such as yourself in it. Its times like this that i wish my father was still alive, he was an encyclopedia of knowledge on WWII, and would have loved to talk with you about the subject. I learned everything i know about the war from him, and am passing it on to my 7yrold boy.
Its people like you that will never let people forget about what that amazing generation did for us all.
Tull, to you and your family my deepest sympathy, and thank you for sacrificing one of your family members, to keep mine free. No one could ever repay such a debt, but i promise to talk with my son about this brave pilot , and what he did to make this country what it is.
Thank you <S>
Here here... :salute
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Dan,
I think that the e-mails today gave me a final fix on the events for Lt James Anderson on 9 November 1944. As is most history it appears to be a combination of multiple observations.
On 9 November 1944, Lt James E Anderson Jr. in a Republic P-47D-28-RE Thunderbolt (ser# 44-19589) was conducting ground support missions with his Wingman Lt Harold (Horn) Hall and 4 other members of the 86th (The Comanche’s) Fighter Squadron of the 79th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force, to the southeast of Bologna Italy. While conducting rocket attacks against a German fortified strongpoint for the 4th British Infantry Division in the vicinity of Forli Italy, Lt Anderson’s rocket tube became entangled with his ailerons and damaged his wing. He and his wingman exited the battle area to the southeast toward Rimini. Over the Adriatic Sea, 8 miles east of Rimini, the damage to Lt Anderson’s wing forced him to bail out. Lt Hall orbited Lt Anderson while he parachuted into the sea and observed him climb safely into his emergency rubber raft. Lt Hall continued to orbit Lt Anderson until his fuel level forced him to return to base. A Destroyer was dispatched to rescue Lt Anderson, however due to night time operations and limited visibility the Destroyer inadvertently ran over Lt Anderson in his rubber raft. Lt Anderson’s body was found on the shoreline the next day in the vicinity of Rimini, Italy and recovered.
This is the best answer that I can develop with all the information that has been provided by yourself, family and others. There is no way to prove this version in its entirety, but it best fits all the information gathered. This takes the Squadron History, family oral history and other contributors from this bulletin board.
Again, I want to thank you each and all for the help in piecing this together.
Jamie
“Tull”
JAMES W GENTRY III
Commander's Operations and Training Assistant (COTA), Mission Support Team #3
ARNG Distributed Battle Simulations Program (DBSP)
General Dynamic Information Technology
jamie.gentry@gdit.com
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Dan,
I think that the e-mails today gave me a final fix on the events for Lt James Anderson on 9 November 1944. As is most history it appears to be a combination of multiple observations.
On 9 November 1944, Lt James E Anderson Jr. in a Republic P-47D-28-RE Thunderbolt (ser# 44-19589) was conducting ground support missions with his Wingman Lt Harold (Horn) Hall and 4 other members of the 86th (The Comanche’s) Fighter Squadron of the 79th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force, to the southeast of Bologna Italy. While conducting rocket attacks against a German fortified strongpoint for the 4th British Infantry Division in the vicinity of Forli Italy, Lt Anderson’s rocket tube became entangled with his ailerons and damaged his wing. He and his wingman exited the battle area to the southeast toward Rimini. Over the Adriatic Sea, 8 miles east of Rimini, the damage to Lt Anderson’s wing forced him to bail out. Lt Hall orbited Lt Anderson while he parachuted into the sea and observed him climb safely into his emergency rubber raft. Lt Hall continued to orbit Lt Anderson until his fuel level forced him to return to base. A Destroyer was dispatched to rescue Lt Anderson, however due to night time operations and limited visibility the Destroyer inadvertently ran over Lt Anderson in his rubber raft. Lt Anderson’s body was found on the shoreline the next day in the vicinity of Rimini, Italy and recovered.
This is the best answer that I can develop with all the information that has been provided by yourself, family and others. There is no way to prove this version in its entirety, but it best fits all the information gathered. This takes the Squadron History, family oral history and other contributors from this bulletin board.
Again, I want to thank you each and all for the help in piecing this together.
Jamie
“Tull”
JAMES W GENTRY III
Commander's Operations and Training Assistant (COTA), Mission Support Team #3
ARNG Distributed Battle Simulations Program (DBSP)
General Dynamic Information Technology
jamie.gentry@gdit.com
That makes sense. What a tragic end to it though :(
Thanks for sharing the story. I hope you can post a photo someday of Jimmy :salute
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It's in Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose. It was a B-24 with a hung bomb that, when jettisoned, actually hit and destroyed the only house around for miles.
May have been long after the war, but he did eventually find the family that lived in the house. Read it somewhere. Interview maybe and I can't find the reference now.
wrngway
The book I was referring to is "Pilota da caccia" by Paravicini http://www.hoepli.it/libro.asp?ib=9788842536765&pc=000018007000000
He was flying a Spit V in air to ground operations for the Allies in the Balkans in 1944, based somewhere near Lecce or Foggia.
As I assumed the official report was a cover up; very understandable, due to the circumstances. War is hell, always.
Grifone
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Dan,
The internet is an amazing tool. LT Harold Bryon Hall (Horn) is still alive at 87 in retirement at his Kansas home. He is still sharp as a tack and all his memories of that day are clear. He was not with Jimmy on 9 Nov but got the details from the pilot who was on Jimmy’s wing.
On 9 November 1944, Lt James E Anderson Jr. in a Republic P-47D-28-RE Thunderbolt (ser# 44-19589) was conducting ground support missions with 5 other members of the 86th (The Comanche’s) Fighter Squadron of the 79th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force, to the southeast of Bologna Italy. His normal Wingman Lt Harold (Horn) Hall was assigned to another strike mission for that day’s operations. While conducting rocket attacks against a German fortified strongpoint for the 4th British Infantry Division in the vicinity of Forli Italy, the forward support bracket of his rocket tube was destroyed by ground fire. LT Anderson’s rocket tube became entangled with his ailerons which damaged his wing. He and his wingman exited the battle area to the southeast toward Rimini. Over the Adriatic Sea, 8 miles east of Rimini, Lt Anderson was forced to bail out due to the damaged wing. His wingman orbited Lt Anderson while he parachuted into the sea and observed him climb safely into his emergency rubber raft. The wingman continued to circle Lt Anderson until a British Albatross (a flying boat) assigned to air-sea rescue arrived on station. However, the Albatross was unable to land and effect rescue due to heavy German long-range anti-aircraft fire. A Destroyer was dispatched to rescue Lt Anderson, due to night time operations and limited visibility the Destroyer never found Lt Anderson in his rubber raft. Lt Anderson’s body was found on the shoreline several days later in the vicinity of Rimini, Italy and recovered.
I am very confident that this is the best factual description of what happened on 9 Nov 44. It is amazing how little pieces of information can lead to big breakthroughs in research. Dan (“Gruppy35”), you in conjunction with Lt Hall and “Megalodon” have provided me with the critical pieces of information to pull the story together. I wish to extend a special thanks to the three of you. On Jimmy’s picture, I am scheduled to be at my parent’s house on Sunday to search for her copy of Jimmy’s flight school picture. I will post it a week later when I get back to my office.
Jamie
“TULL”
JAMES W GENTRY III
Commander's Operations and Training Assistant (COTA), Mission Support Team #3
ARNG Distributed Battle Simulations Program (DBSP)
General Dynamic Information Technology
jamie.gentry@gdit.com
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Gents,
I am posting my mother's cousin's last post on Jimmy's passing. I think that it provides a little prospective.
Jamie: By now you should have the photos taken of Jimmy after he got his wings. Cica late 1942/early 1943. He had left Texas A&M to enlist. He was lost 9 November and with a birthday of 11 November he was just short of his 22nd year.
Give my heart felt thanks to all that helped in this effort. I will now try to help your dear Mom with family dates and names. Regards William
All my thanks again.
Jamie
"TULL"
JAMES W GENTRY III
Commander's Operations and Training Assistant (COTA), Mission Support Team #3
ARNG Distributed Battle Simulations Program (DBSP)
General Dynamic Information Technology
jamie.gentry@gdit.com