Black History: Elizabeth 'Bessie' Coleman, Aviator

ELIZABETH "BESSIE" COLEMAN (1892-1926)

Popularly known as "Queen Bess," was the first black woman to become an airplane pilot.

She had to travel to Europe for flight training because no American flight school would accept her because of her race.

Upon returning, she intended to start a flying school for black pilots.  She toured the country, giving lectures at black schools, churches and recreational facilities in an effort to encourage Blacks to enter the field of aviation.

Preparing for an airshow in Jacksonville, Florida, she was killed when she was thrown from a crashing aircraft while riding as a passenger.

Lloyd Evans Receives France's Croix de Guerre in 1919

From the February 27, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"Captain Lloyd Evans of Hinckley gas been decorated with the Croix de Guerre for bravery in France.

"He is an aviator and is now  with the American Army of occupation in Germany.  He is with the 88th aero squadron."

--Cooter

World War I's Ellington Field-- Part 2: Training the Pilots

In December 1917, the first  planes from Ellington Field took off and flew over Houston for a Red Cross benefit.  It was quite a sight and many people turned out for it.

During the war, the field served as an advanced training base.  By 1918, it had its own gunnery and bombing range.

For the first months of operations, Ellington Field had no pilot fatalities, but within a year that changed drastically.  By August 1918, it had the most pilot fatalities of any training base.  It also had many firsts, including:

First camp newspaper
First American aerial gunnery and bombing range
First "canteen girls"
First aerial  ambulance in American history

Before the end of the war, around 5,000 men and 250 aircraft had been assigned to the base

After the war, it was inactivated in 1920 with only a small caretaker unit remaining.  It was reopened in World War II.

--Cooter

WW I: Sept. 29, 1918: Frank Luke Earns Medal of Honor

SEPTEMBER 29, 1918

Frank Luke, Jr. is first U.S. pilot to earn a Medal of Honor.

It was awarded posthumously for his 18 kills in 18 days.

--Cooter

Chicago's WW I Medal of Honor Pilot: Harold E. Goettler

From Illinois Chronicles. //// He received his Medal of Honor posthumously after trying to fly supplies into a unit that was cut off in the Argonne Forest (the famed Lost Battalion of the 77th Division) on October 6, 1918. On his first attempt he was under heavy German fire and was unhappy with the accuracy of his drop. //// He flew lower on his second attemp and was hit by machine gun fire and killed instantly. //// His body was returned to Chicago and buried at Graceland Cemetery. ////

Ten Things You Might Not Know About World War I-- Part 2

3.  Russia mobilized 12 million in its military, the largest of the war.  More than 3/4 ended up killed, wounded or missing.

4.  Dogs were used as messengers and also laid down telegraph lines.

5.  The most successful aviation fighter pilot was Baron von Richtofen (1892-1918) who shot down 80 Allied planes.  France's Rene Fonck (1894-1953) had the most success on the other side with 75 confirmed kills.

6.  To  increase the size of the US Army during the war, Congress passed the Selective Service Act in May 1917.  By the end of the war, 2.7 million men had been drafted.  Another 1.3 million volunteered.

Four More to Come.  --Cooter

Dead Page: Tuskegee Airman

WILLIAM WHEELER, 87

Mr. Wheeler was a student at Howard University in 1943 and "swallowed his bitterness, boarded a segregated train in Washington, DC, and headed south" to become part of a landmark in aviation program that trained nearly 1,000 black pilots who became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Wheeler said, "I hated the country at the time and wasn't sure I wanted to fight for it. But I realized that despite our nation's injustices, even slaves had fought for this country and black people had fought in every US war since. I felt I couldn't let the tradition down..

In recent years Mr. Wheeler has been very active in keeping the Airmen's legacy alive.

While at Howard, President Roosevelt ended the Army's refusal to train black pilots and set up the school at Tuskegee, Alabama. In 2007, he was in attendance when President Bush collectively presented the Congressional Gold Medal to the Tuskegee Airmen.

To stand up against the segregation and attitudes of the time was a remarkable story. And then to serve and continue being treated badly. Congratulations Mr. Wheeler, one of the Greatest Generation.

From the July 21st Chicago Tribune.

World War II Aces Talk

The May 5th Sacramento Bee had an article about four WW II fighter pilot aces recalling their experiences at the Aerospace Museum of California. These men were in their late teens-early twenties when they battled the Germans in skies over Europe.

In order to be an Ace, you had to shoot down at least 5 enemy aircraft and only a few pilots attained that level.

They were Col. Bud Anderson, Lt-Col. Don Bryan, Col. Barrie Davis and Col. Art Fiedler. Together, these four destroyed 43 German planes.


COL. ART FIEDLER

Lived in a tent in Italy and escorted B-24 bombers on their missions. One time, he saw 2 German Messerschmidtt 109s and followed one in a verticle dive. He oipened fire with his machine guns and saw it crash. Pulling out of the dive, he found himself flying alongside the other German plane, so close he could see the enemy's pilot's red helmet and oxygen mask.

He couln't fire because his machine guns were facing forward. He firgures they flew next within 40 feet of each other for what seemed liked hours, but was probably more like 3 minutes. He unholstered his 45 and aimed it at the German pilot, hoping he would break off. Instead, the German jettisoned his canopy and bailed out. Fiedler took a phot of the parachute.

When he got back to the base, he got the name Art "Svengali" Fiedler because "He hypnotizes them into bailing out."

Fiedler had 8 confirmed kills during the war.
Anderson had 16, Bryan 5 in one day and ended the war with 13.


COL. BARRIE DAVIS

Davis shot down 6 and was almost shot down himself. On June 6, 1944, during D-Day, he mistook an enemy plane for an American and was hit. He lost consciousness and came to with the plane flying level at 20,000 feet. The canopy had blown away and he was freezing. His shoes had gotten wet while walking on the dewy grass at the base earlier in the morning, and his shoes were now frozen to his feet.

He managed to land, but his plane was shot up like Swiss cheese and a portion of the tail was gone. Metal fragments had to be extracted from his head.

The Greatest Generation. --Old Coot