Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Changeup on June 25, 2010, 01:47:49 PM
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Gramps is 93 and failing health prevents him from traveling now. I had written to a couple of you that he would visit in July and VOX him some questions but that is no longer a possibility. The guys and gals of this game are some of biggest fans of the men that flew all of these fantastic aircraft in combat during WW II. Of all of the folks I know, I thought you all would appreciate the accuracy of his flight record more than anyone else. His flight record was accumulated by a gentlemen that is writing the definitive story of the 38th Bomb Group (Sun Setters) during WW II. Because Gramps was in that bomb group, his record is being included in the manuscript. This is the author's note to me regarding the 38th's mission and Gramps participation in the 38th Sun Setters/71st Squadron - The Wolf Pack. I hope you enjoy reading as much as Gramps enjoyed doing it and knowing its posted here...he was very flattered.
A Condensed History of the 38th Bomb Group:
The 38th Bomb Group, known as the “Sun Setters,” entered combat on September 15, 1942. The Group initially operated out of Horn Island, a small island off the northwestern tip of Australia's Cape York Peninsula. A month later the unit moved up to Port Moresby, along the south coast of New Guinea. Port Morseby was at that time under direct threat from a Japanese land force pressing down from the north via the Kokoda Trail, which crossed the mountains of the imposing Owen Stanley Range making up the spine of New Guinea. This was not the first time the Japanese attempted to wrest Port Moresby from the Allies. In May 1942 they attempted to capture it by sea. This is what the Battle of the Coral Sea was about—Port Moresby. Had the Japanese succeeded, they would have been able to strike mainland Australia.
When the 38th Bomb Group entered combat, it did so in support of the Allied operations against the Japanese at Buna. It was from here that the Japanese sent troops across the Kokoda Trail towards Port Moresby. Buna fell to the Allies in January 1943. During the first week in January, the Japanese sent a convoy of reinforcements down from Rabaul to Lae, west of Buna and a major Japanese base due to its deep-water harbor. The whole of Fifth Air Force (of which the 38th was part) was tasked with taking out this convoy. It failed to do so, but General Kenney, commander Fifth Air Force, did learn a valuable lesson. One squadron from the 3rd Bomb Group had attacked the ships of the convoy at masthead level, which proved effective, and thus Kenney decided to modify the B-25s in the theater to carry .50-caliber machine guns in their noses and along the sides of the forward fuselage. This development meant that, in the future, B-25s would have eight .50-caliber machine guns fixed to fire forward, allowing pilots to suppress whatever anti-aircraft fire they encountered when attacking ground or shipping targets. These modifications would not be made until the spring (405th Squadron) and summer (71st Squadron) of 1943. In March 1943, however, the Japanese made another attempt to reinforce Lae. The 71st Squadron would attack the convoy from medium altitude, but the 405th Squadron, as well as all the aircraft from the 3rd Bomb Group and some Australian squadrons, would attack at minimum altitude. The Japanese lost the entire convoy in what became known as The Battle of the Bismarck Sea.
Activity for the Group slowed down considerably after the Bismarck Sea battle, largely due to the weather in New Guinea during what is their winter. As the year went on, the 38th continued to participate in the campaign to wrest Lae from the Japanese, which finally happened in September 1943. In the meantime, two new squadrons, the 822nd and 823rd, were in Australia finishing up their training before joining the 38th Bomb Group. During World War II, a bomb group consisted of four squadrons. Two of the 38th's Squadrons—the 69th and 70th—were detached from the 38th shortly after the battle of Midway, in which two planes (B-26s) from the 38th participated. Thus, for the entirety of its combat operations overseas until this point, the 38th was only at half strength (which, incidentally, made my job of writing the history much easier). The 822nd and 823rd Squadrons joined the rest of the Group in September 1943 and continued training for a few more weeks before entering combat.
At the same time as the 822nd and 823rd were training in Australia, the 71st and 405th Squadrons were participating in yet another effort to eliminate Japanese resistance on New Guinea, this time at Wewak, an enormous complex of four airfields the were home to the bulk of Japanese air strength. In other words, gaining air superiority over New Guinea skies required that the Japanese at Wewak be eliminated. Wewak was a long way from Allied lines, but an extra fuel tank was added to the B-25 which gave it the needed range to make it there and back. The Japanese did not know Fifth Air Force's strafers could make it to Wewak, and were thus completely surprised by the first attack. Wewak would continue to occupy Fifth Air Force well into 1944.
In the meantime, the capture of Lae allowed the Allies to continue forward with their campaign to control both Papua New Guinea and the vital sea lanes to the north of the island. The next step in that effort was to neutralize Rabaul, thus preventing the Japanese navy from sending any more reinforcements to New Guinea or other parts of the theater. The first major attack on the base was on October 12, 1943. Heavy bomb groups had been striking the Japanese bastion since 1942, but it was not until late 1943 that Rabaul began to really feel the brunt of Fifth Air Force's efforts. The attack came as a complete surprise to the Japanese, though once the attack came they knew it was a prelude to invasion. The Allies had decided months before that invading Rabaul would be far too costly, and were content to isolate it and let the Japanese starve to death. Another large strike against Rabaul occurred on November 2, 1943. This attack, however, was directed at the shipping in Simpson Harbor in an effort to keep the Japanese navy from sending a counter-invasion force to push the marines off of Bougainville, an island east of New Britain.
James Shurig entered combat shortly after that engagement. It was a pretty a pretty inauspicious start. He piloted a plane across the Owen Stanley Range to Dobodura on November 10, 1943. Dobodura was the base from which the 38th staged for operations further afield (Rabaul, Wewak, etc.). The rumor was that another strike on Rabaul was in the works. It didn't materialize, and the crews returned to Port Moresby the next day.
The next campaign for the Allies on New Guinea was to invade southern New Britain in an effort to control both coastlines of the Vitiaz and Dampier Straits. By capturing Cape Gloucester and Arawe in southwestern New Britain, the Allies would accomplish this, in turn easing their advance further west on New Guinea. Shurig's first combat mission came, to the extent that our records indicate, on December 14, 1943. It was a strike on Arawe Island. The marines hit the beach the next day. Shurig was the co-pilot of B-25 #41-12938, which was formerly known as “Ole Cappy” and now carried the nickname “Gregory.” There is a profile painting of this aircraft in the book, and coincides with a detailed history of the plane in Appendix five.
Shurig spent the first 20 or so of his 52 combat missions with the 71st Squadron as a co-pilot, many of them in support of the Western New Britain campaign in one way or another (missions 12/14-29/43, see attached chart). The marines hit the beaches at Cape Gloucester on Christmas Day 1943, and later said it was the easiest landing they ever made during the war.
With the success of the Western New Britain campaign, the Allies continued their push west across Papua, beginning with Saidor. Saidor was surrounded by mountains and immediately bordered by swamps. The soil did not support roads; stones covered most of the beaches, and reefs off the coast made shipping prospects tenuous at best. In other words, Saidor was a terrible place for a base. Further southwest (about 50 miles), however, was Gusap, which the Allies wanted to turn into an advanced airbase. The Allies couldn't control Gusap with Saidor (and its airfield) in Japanese hands, and so it had to be taken rather than isolated. The Invasion was scheduled for January 2, 1944, and the 38th Bomb Group flew a mission to take out whatever defenses it could the day before. Shurig flew as a co-pilot on that mission, and continued to fly in support of ground forces fighting the Japanese at Saidor and the surrounding area for the next three weeks (missions 1/1-20/44).
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By the spring of 1944 the Allies controlled enough of Papua to make incursions into Dutch New Guinea (the western half of the island). Indeed, in early March 1944 the 38th Bomb Group moved across the Owen Stanley Range from Port Moresby to Nadzab, in the Markham River Valley 25 miles or so southwest of Lae.
Shurig participated next in the campaign to capture Hollandia, about 450 miles northwest of Nadzab on the northern New Guinea coast. The Allies wanted Hollandia for its three airfields, which the Allies wanted to use in future operations. Since Wewak had been utterly decimated by months of bombardment, the Japanese had moved what was left of their air forces to Hollandia. General Kenney wanted to take out those forces in one fell swoop. He therefore initiated theater-wide deceptive tactics, whereby no Allied airplane was to fly anywhere near Hollandia, making the Japanese think their base was out of range of Allied air forces. It worked, and the Japanese brought in 288 aircraft, which they parked wingtip to wingtip and out in the open. On April 3, 1944, the 38th and the rest of Fifth Air Force was poised to strike, massing a 310-plane strike—the largest to date. James Shurig was the pilot of #41-30248 on this mission. He flew in support of the Hollandia campaign for the rest of the month (missions 4/3/44-5/5/44). The marines landed there on April 22, 1944.
Following the Hollandia operations, the Allies turned their attention further northwest to Wakde Island. Allied interest in Wakde came on because of the unworkable conditions at Hollandia. The soil was bad and could not support the all-weather runways needed. Moreover, the base simply wasn't big enough to house both the Fifth and Thirteenth Air Forces, not to mention various Australian units. The real prize, however, was Biak, located 300 miles further west in Geelvink Bay. The invasion of Wakde was scheduled on May 17th, with Biak ten days later on the 27th. Shurig flew a few missions in support of these campaigns before being ordered to Merauke with the rest of the air echelon on May 24th.
The 38th Bomb Group moved to Merauke, located along the south coast of New Guinea just inside the easternmost edge of the former Dutch boundary, so that it could strike at Japanese installations in Western New Guinea, where enemy forces were still capable of opposing the Allied advance along the northwest coast. The 38th operated out of Merauke for a couple weeks before being ordered back. Unfortunately I don't have any records for your grandfather during this time period.
The next major campaign that Shurig took part in was in New Guinea's Vogelkop Peninsula. Since I understand your grandfather is German, I thought this would be somewhat interesting to you. If you look at New Guinea, you'll note that it looks somewhat like the profile of a bird. Well, Dutch (and English, incidentally) is a Germanic language. The word for bird in German (and Dutch) is Vogel. The word for head in German is Kopf, Kop in Dutch. Thus you have the Vogelkop (or “Bird's Head”) Peninsula.
Anyway, after finishing operations at Merauke, Shurig piloted #41-12908 to Hollandia, from which he and the rest of the 38th would strike at Jefman and Sorong, the two remaining Japanese bastions on New Guinea. The Allies would not capture these targets, but rather isolate them in favor of moving to Morotai, an small island in the northeast of the Halmaheras chain. Shurig flew a couple missions to these targets (7/17 and 7/20), but then didn't fly until September in support of the operations to take Morotai. Shurig had another long break after only two missions in September, and didn't fly again until December 1944, when he flew two more missions in the campaign to suppress the Celebes chain (see map).
Again, after a brief period of activity in December 1944, Shurig didn't fly combat missions for over there months, by which time the Allies were advancing in the Philippines and he was flying in support of that effort. By April 1945 much of the 38th Bomb Group's attention had turned to Formosa (present day Taiwan). Allied command had been debating whether or not to invade Formosa, and in the end decided it was unnecessary so long as the industrial might of the island could be destroyed by other means, namely heavy bombardment. And so for the next two months Shurig flew in support of that effort, from April 1st to May 29th. A few of his missions during this time, however, were in the Philippines. The Group was based at Lingayen, in the Philippines on the island of Luzon, during this time.
The 38th Bomb Group moved once again in June 1945, this time it headed south, away from the northern advance and in support of a western one. The move was to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, from which the Group struck installations on Borneo, mainly Balikpapan, which was where Japan got a great deal of its oil. The Australians were to take the island from the Japanese, and the 38th was to support them. Shurig flew two missions during the week the 38th was based on Palawan (6/22 and 6/25). That ends his combat career. His final mission, a weather reconnaissance mission over Balete Pass in the Philippines, came on July 1, 1945.
Obviously, paring down a 650-page history to three pages meant that a lot is missing, so if you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me). Now for a few comments I have relating to some of this. The reason your grandfather, a native German, as I understand it, went to the Pacific was for the very reason that he was a native German. Trust was not something the U.S. Government did very well during the war. Additionally, I don't have any info on Al Katz, but I am certain that he would have flown with your grandfather beginning sometime from July 1944 on. The reason for this is that I have the crew manifests for the early part of his tour, and none of them show Katz to have been a member of his crew. Finally, Shurig appears to have been promoted to a captain at some point during the war. My source for this promotion is “Capt. Shurig” handwritten on the photo I have attached to this email. Hence my uncertainty. Anyway, I wonder if this promotion didn't come with an administrative position within the Squadron or Group that would have limited his flying time. Just a guess on my part. I will conclude this little treatise by saying that I could probably put together a more accurate picture of your grandfather's tour with the 38th Bomb Group if I had more records, namely those pertaining to him specifically. Right now all I have are records that pertain to the whole of the 71st Squadron, which do not go into detail about individual members of the unit. I hope this is of some value to you and your family.
Cheers,
Mark
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His aircraft and his missions and his men. (I am trying to get nose art for his planes but they wont send me any pics until the book is released)
Lt. James W. Shurig's flight record and crewmen:
Date Plane Crew Position Mission
11/10/43 Unknown pilot Flight to Dobodura
12/04/43 41-12938 'Gregory' Co-pilot Weather Recconaissance, Kiriwina Island.
12/14/43 Same as above Co-pilot Arawe Island
12/20/43 Same as above Co-pilot Alexishafen, New Guinea
12/21/43 41-30336 'The Brooklyn Dodger' Co-pilot Madang, New Guinea
12/25/43 Same as above Co-pilot Cape Gloucester, New Britain
12/26/43 41-12938 'Gregory' Co-pilot Same as above
12/27/43 Unknown Co-pilot Karomi
12/29/43 Unknown Co-pilot Borgen Bay, New Britain
01/01/44 Unknown Co-pilot Saidor, New Guinea
01/08/44 41-12938 'Gregory' Co-pilot Uligan Harbor, New Guinea
01/09/44 Same as above Co-pilot Erimahafen Plantation, New Guinea
01/11/44 Same as above Co-pilot Uligan Harbor, New Guinea
01/16/44 41-30220 'Lobo' Co-pilot Barge Sweep, Cape Croisille to Cape Gourdon, New Guinea
01/18/44 41-12938 'Gregory' Co-pilot Strafing Faria River Valley, New Guinea
01/20/44 41-30226 'Rosie the Riveter' Co-pilot Shaggy Ridge, New Guinea
01/24/44 41-12938 'Gregory' Co-pilot Hansa Bay, New Guinea
03/29/44 42-87273 Pilot Dagua, New Guinea
03/31/44 Same as above Co-pilot Unknown
04/03/44 41-30248 Pilot Hollandia, New Guinea
04/08/44 Unknown Pilot Cape Moem, New Guinea
04/22/44 42-87273 Co-pilot Unknown
04/27/44 41-30336 'The Brooklyn Dodger' Co-pilot Supply Drop, Hollandia, New Guinea
04/29/44 41-12908 'The Scoto Kid' Pilot Maffin Bay, New Guinea
05/05/44 41-30220 'Lobo' Co-pilot Escort to Hollandia
05/07/44 42-87273 Pilot Sawar, New Guinea
05/13/44 41-30220 'Lobo' Pilot Boram, New Guinea
05/14/44 41-12938 'Gregory' Pilot Insoemoar
05/16/44 42-64771 Pilot Weather Reconnaissance, Wakde Island
05/19/44 41-30182 Pilot Karawop area, New Guinea
05/21/44 41-30226 'Rosie the Riveter' Pilot Cape Karawop, New Guinea
05/22/44 Same as above Pilot Wewak, New Guinea
05/24/44 42-87273 Pilot Flight to Merauke
06/26/44 41-30336 'The Brooklyn Dodger' Pilot Marchesa Bay, New Guinea
07/03/44 Unknown Pilot Search for downed crew
07/08/44 41-12908 'The Scoto Kid' Pilot Flight to Hollandia
07/17/44 41-30246 Pilot Jefman, New Guinea
07/20/44 Same as above Pilot Sorong, New Guinea
09/10/44 43-27846 Pilot Namlea, Celebes
09/14/44 43-27974 Pilot Pitoe Airdrome, Morotai, Halmaheras
12/04/44 43-28145 'Estrallita' Pilot Hatetabako or Lolobata
12/05/44 43-36008 Pilot Sidate, Celebes
03/16/45 44-29311 Pilot Baguio, Philippines
03/24/45 44-29371 Pilot Artillery Spotting, Balete Pass-San Fernando-San Nicholas areas
04/01/45 43-28125 Pilot Karenko Airdrome, Formosa
04/11/45 43-27832 Pilot Tsan-Bun, Formosa
04/14/45 44-30191 'This Is Itch' Pilot Baguio, Philippines
04/17/45 43-28145 'Estrallita' Pilot Taito Airdrome, Formosa
04/22/45 44-30371 Pilot Taichu Railroad Yards, Formosa
04/26/45 44-29777 'The Indian' Pilot Heito, Formosa
05/04/45 44-30371 Pilot Pattao, Luzon
05/10/45 44-30311 Pilot Kari, Formosa
05/18/45 Same as above Pilot Shoka Railroad Yards, Formosa
05/23/45 43-28145 'Estrallita' Pilot Santa Fe, Luzon, Philippines
05/29/45 Same as above Pilot Cervantes, Luzon, Philippines
06/22/45 44-30311 Pilot Balikpapan, Borneo
06/25/45 43-28145 'Estrallita' Pilot Manggar, Borneo
07/01/45 44-30311 Pilot Weather Reconnaissance, Balete Pass, Luzon, Philippines
Crewmen who flew with Shurig:
Co-pilots:
1/Lt. Frederick Corning
1/Lt. W. J. Smith
Lt. R. West
1/Lt. Douglas W. Raaka
Lt. G. Porter
Lt. S. Karall
Lt. N. L. Bryniddson
Navigators:
Lt. Jackson (first name unknown)
Lt. T. J. Quintana(s?)
1/Lt. Horace V. Gales
Lt. P. Conway
Lt. I. Nemerov
Radio Operators:
H. Riddle (rank unknown)
L. Poff (rank unknown)
T/Sgt. George J. Ferraro
V. W. Hews (rank unknown)
T/Sgt. James T. Berry
Gunners:
R. E. McKnew (rank unknown)
A Eramo (rank unknown)
J. Lynady (rank unknown)
A. Bosse (rank unknown)
P. McIntire (rank unknown)
P. Keefe (rank unknown)
E. Rawlins (rank unknown)
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Interesting read, thanks for posting that Changeup.
:salute to your grandfather for his service too.
Wurzel
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I'm sorry to hear that his health is not good Changeup, I'm pulling for him. Thanks for posting it.
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:salute Gramps.
Thank you ChangeUp for this record (Bookmarked for sure). Thank you Gramps for your service, and a special thanks from my dad 85 years old PFC Langston Campbell, WW2 infantryman. Thanks to these men and men like him, many of our forces returned home safely.
Would you please consider consulting on behalf of your grandfather with any of the Axis versus Allies development group?
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:salute Capt. Shurig.
Please post an update when the book is published.
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:salute My Grandad has just turned 90... He was eating breakfast on the USS Maryland when Pearl Habor was hit.... Unfortunately he only told me a few stories of his Pacific theater experiences.. I do understand because he simply tells me "Jearamy those were not the best of times.." Ty for the write up :salute
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In the early nineties my grandfather passed away. I had always had a love for WWII history,especially WWII aviation history. I was spoiled growing up in the late 70's early 80's before our move to Texas....living a stones throw from Chino airport in Socal. On almost a daily basis some type of vintage aircraft flew over our house. My grandfather never spoke much of his service in WWII, only if asked a question, would he respond. After he passed away I realized that I had missed an opprotunity to learn so much from a man that lived and served his country in that era. I regretted that I had never taken the time to sit down and listen to what he had to share. Then for my birthday three years ago my dad presented me with a box of cassette tapes, 24 tapes in all. The tapes were an audio history of his life, from his childhood through his service in WWII and Korea, that my dad and him and had made over the six months prior to his passing. It is quite possibly the greatest thing any person has ever given to me. Changeup a :salute to your grandfather and his service. You will forever have a permanent record of his service to our country.
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In the early nineties my grandfather passed away. I had always had a love for WWII history,especially WWII aviation history. I was spoiled growing up in the late 70's early 80's before our move to Texas....living a stones throw from Chino airport in Socal. On almost a daily basis some type of vintage aircraft flew over our house. My grandfather never spoke much of his service in WWII, only if asked a question, would he respond. After he passed away I realized that I had missed an opprotunity to learn so much from a man that lived and served his country in that era. I regretted that I had never taken the time to sit down and listen to what he had to share. Then for my birthday three years ago my dad presented me with a box of cassette tapes, 24 tapes in all. The tapes were an audio history of his life, from his childhood through his service in WWII and Korea, that my dad and him and had made over the six months prior to his passing. It is quite possibly the greatest thing any person has ever given to me. Changeup a :salute to your grandfather and his service. You will forever have a permanent record of his service to our country.
That is incredible, even before i read the last sentence i was thinking that this would be the best thing anyone could have given you.
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That is incredible, even before i read the last sentence i was thinking that this would be the best thing anyone could have given you.
Bacon - That is awesome...that may be the best gift I've ever heard of. :salute your grandfather for his service and your father for realizing its importance.
Changeup
Thanks guys...Gramps takes his hat off (his words)...we are hoping and praying for him. He had a bad spell about a year ago then WHAMMO, he bounced right back. Maybe this time he's got one more bounce in him. I sure hope so.
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Gramps is still hanging in there...pinching lots of nurses butts, according to my great aunt. Oh well, now I know where I got that.
Changeup
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:aok Nice Guys! :aok Hey Bacon, you still live close to Chino? :rock :x :cheers:
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First off :salute to your Grandpa.
There were voices in the IJA at the time who were Pro-Australia invasion as a main war objective. These voices were mostly western trained Army officers who believed Japan should fight a more conventional strategic war for long term gains instead of just surrounding an Empire with many strategically meaningless garrisons. Had they been able to consolidate New Guinea, and attack Australia itself, the war could have gone very different.
What guts it took in men like your Grandpa to jump in those B-25s and go out hunting. They were/are Heros in every sense of the word.
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First off :salute to your Grandpa.
There were voices in the IJA at the time who were Pro-Australia invasion as a main war objective. These voices were mostly western trained Army officers who believed Japan should fight a more conventional strategic war for long term gains instead of just surrounding an Empire with many strategically meaningless garrisons. Had they been able to consolidate New Guinea, and attack Australia itself, the war could have gone very different.
What guts it took in men like your Grandpa to jump in those B-25s and go out hunting. They were/are Heros in every sense of the word.
Thank you sir :salute
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I sure you've been to the 38th BG website, but if you haven't looked through the documents they have, you might enjoy doing so.
http://www.sunsetters38bg.com/index.php/71st-AFHRA-Documents/View-category.html (http://www.sunsetters38bg.com/index.php/71st-AFHRA-Documents/View-category.html)
Many of the mission reports can be found; like this one from June 26 1944. You can see Shurig J. W. listed as the pilot of #336. #336 being the last three digits of the plane's serial number, which in this case is 41-30336 The Brooklyn Dodger, as confirmed by the list you posted.
(http://i547.photobucket.com/albums/hh473/cactuskooler/6-26-44.jpg)
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Here's a great photo to give everyone an idea of what these missions looked like. This is my favorite photo of the war, in fact. That's B-25J 'Estrallita' 43-28145 from the 71st BS nearest the camera. You'll see that very plane several times on Shurig's flight record Changeup posted.
(http://i547.photobucket.com/albums/hh473/cactuskooler/38th%20BG/jj43-28145EstrallitaPhilipinesEarly1945.jpg)
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is there a Pat Shurig you are related to who flew in WW2?
heres somthing for you, my grandpa on my mom's side was in the 12th SS. he fought at D-Day and in Stalingrad.
my grandpa on my dad's side was a navy chaplain who was Gen. Omar Bradley's cousin
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:salute
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Great history Changeup. Great photo cactus!
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is there a Pat Shurig you are related to who flew in WW2?
Not a Pat Shurig but a Mike Shurig, who was Gramps brother, my great uncle. There is a biography/story in one of Time magazine, I believe it was Time, where he goes through the time he bailed out of a B-24 over the Italian Alps...he was a tail gunner. The way he tells the story is that Gramps ribbed him all the time about flying in bombers...flying in bombers was a stupid decision and Mike should have flown in "fighters" like he did. (That's why I always get a chuckle when Corky or Silat or Shuff get kidded about flying bombers into a furball....Gramps thought his B-25 was a "fighter", lol)
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Great history Changeup. Great photo cactus!
Thank you...I need to get his real stuff...my great aunt is a horder...like TV, not this game, lol. My mother said he has a daily diary and all. I'd like to just read it once...or get my hands on the pics so I can scan them or something. You have to know they are just getting old and falling apart and that just kills me. :salute
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My Dad, Martin Bertram was also one of Jim Shurig's co-pilots, and Jim knew my mom, Laurel Jacobson ( Aussie girl, married at 16) in Australia. My Dad's flight record with the 71st squadron shows 47 combat missions, many of the same one's on your Grampa's record. If you'll send me your email, via PM , I can send a pdf of Dad's missions. Dad is mentioned by William J. Smith in the story "Buzzing an Australian Train" at http://www.pacificwrecks.com/people/veterans/smith.html . I was fascinated to read the above accounts of Jim's record. Thanks, Brent
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My Dad, Martin Bertram was also one of Jim Shurig's co-pilots, and Jim knew my mom, Laurel Jacobson ( Aussie girl, married at 16) in Australia. My Dad's flight record with the 71st squadron shows 47 combat missions, many of the same one's on your Grampa's record. If you'll send me your email, via PM , I can send a pdf of Dad's missions. Dad is mentioned by William J. Smith in the story "Buzzing an Australian Train" at http://www.pacificwrecks.com/people/veterans/smith.html . I was fascinated to read the above accounts of Jim's record. Thanks, Brent
I received your PM. Email to follow
Edit: Gramps passed away Oct 23, 2013.
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My Dad passed away 26 Dec 1994 . Long before it was his time, but he wouldn't complain. :)
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My Dad passed away 26 Dec 1994 . Long before it was his time, but he wouldn't complain. :)
That generation never complained. Ever. It's sad they are leaving us but both of mine got to spend a lot of time with their great grand kids and that's what was important to them. I miss them both.
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This letter from General Kenney was dated AFTER Dad's last mission with the 17th Squadron. By January 1945, Dad was flying p-38's with the 49th Fighter Group ( he was shot down over Tacloban airstrip on January 6 , 1945 and ditched in the ocean, was picked out of water by some un-named Filipinos ) . Dad served with the 13th squadron, 3d Attack; 17th Squadron 38th BG; and 49th Fighter. He spent some time in hospital after being shot down several times, and I wonder if the unit changes were a result of coming back to duty, and being re-assigned at that time. I don't know how the Air Corps worked in those days.
(http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/o700/brentb636/Dad%20WWII/AirMedal_zps54299f57.jpg~original) (http://s1338.photobucket.com/user/brentb636/media/Dad%20WWII/AirMedal_zps54299f57.jpg.html)
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On the right is Dad, Martin Bertram , at Blythville, class 43-f . Unknown cadet next to him is awaiting identification. :)
(http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/o700/brentb636/Dad%20WWII/MartinCadet_zpsb0e6bf21.jpg~original) (http://s1338.photobucket.com/user/brentb636/media/Dad%20WWII/MartinCadet_zpsb0e6bf21.jpg.html)
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Very Nice! Great citation too
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BRAVO! I'm so glad others have shared information on their WWII family history. I've posted of my maternal grandfather *points to sig line*, but I really should make mention of my paternal grandfather who was a "jeep jockey" in Europe with an arty unti and my grandmother's brother who was also a B24 pilot in the PTO.
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My Dad, Martin Bertram was also one of Jim Shurig's co-pilots, and Jim knew my mom, Laurel Jacobson ( Aussie girl, married at 16) in Australia. My Dad's flight record with the 71st squadron shows 47 combat missions, many of the same one's on your Grampa's record. If you'll send me your email, via PM , I can send a pdf of Dad's missions. Dad is mentioned by William J. Smith in the story "Buzzing an Australian Train" at http://www.pacificwrecks.com/people/veterans/smith.html . I was fascinated to read the above accounts of Jim's record. Thanks, Brent
I wish I would have known this a little sooner. A couple of years ago, another gentlemen who flew with gramps called our house. I put him in touch with Gramps and they visited every week for two hours on Friday's at 1PM. I asked Gramps why 1PM and he said "Damage Assessment meeting"...apparently the 71st had their weekly photo recon, after-action-report meetings on Fridays at 1PM, lol.
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Over the years since Dad passed away ( 1994), the resources on the internet have grown immensely. It IS too bad that we couldn't be having this kind of discussion 20 years ago, with our family still around to fill in the many blanks . My mother passed away in Dec 2010, and I wish now that I'd grilled her more thoroughly about Jim Shurig and the other pilots she knew from those early days. She was only 16 when she married my dad, but she worked in the Air Intelligence Office , frequently saw both General Kenney and General MacArthur. What an education for a young Aussie girl. <3
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A song that Dad taught us , and we'd all sing along while driving down the road ( much to Mom's mortification).
"We've been over Buna, we've been over Lae,
We've been out to sea after ships.
Our gunners all stink, our pilots all drink,
Our navvies never know where they are....
Our bombadiers can't hit a barrel of "ROSES"..
Oh, Shanty, don't send me so far !!! "
"ROSES" ???
:)
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A song that Dad taught us , and we'd all sing along while driving down the road ( much to Mom's mortification).
"We've been over Buna, we've been over Lae,
We've been out to sea after ships.
Our gunners all stink, our pilots all drink,
Our navvies never know where they are....
Our bombadiers can't hit a barrel of "ROSES"..
Oh, Shanty, don't send me so far !!! "
"ROSES" ???
:)
That's familiar. I'll have to look that up.