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Battle Stations - The Air Arm in World War I
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Battle Stations - The Air Arm in World War I
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Now get $80 off your first month with promo code space80 when you go to talkspace.com match with a licensed therapist today at talkspace.com send save $80 with code space80@talkspace.com. Battle stations battle stations. The National Broadcasting Company's Department of Special Events Cooperating with the United States States Navy presents the last of a series of four programs to tell you of your Navy, its accomplishments, its history, its heroes and its hopes under the title Battle Stations. Tonight, the men of the navy's air arm in world war ii. I wonder if I'll remember what a gal looks like. Gee, all those pictures you had in the wall of quarters ought to have kept your memory refreshed. Yeah, just the same, them kind of gals might have gone out of date since I had my last leave. These are Navy flying fighters making sounds like normal American young men. Almost an hour ago they took off from the flight deck of the USS Enterprise. In a few minutes they will land at a base and a long delayed, eagerly awaited leave will begin. This young pilot of Scouting Squadron Six fastens his eyes on the gray haze at the ARR and listens to the melody of power at his control, to which he adds words the Navy Flyer's Creed I'm a United States Navy flyer. My countrymen built the best airplane in the world and entrusted it to me. They trained me to fly it. I will use it to the absolute limit of my power. My fellow pilots, air crews and deck crews, my plane and I will do anything necessary to carry out our tremendous responsibilities. I will always remember we are part of an unbeatable combat team. United States Navy when the going is fast and rough, I will not falter. I will be uncompromising in every Blow I strike. I will be humble in victory. I am a United States Navy flyer. I have dedicated myself to my country with its many millions of all races, colors and creeds. They and their way of life are worthy of my greatest protective effort. I ask the help of God in making that effort great enough. See my eyes going bad at me? Looks like a lot of smoke over there off the starboard wing about 20 miles. Yeah, I see. Not so unusual to see smoke over these islands though. They burn the fields out around harvest time. What kind of fields? They don't burn out oil fields around harvest time. Say, that smoke is pretty black. And it's coming from the direction of Peril. Hey, look out. Fighter coming in from above to make a run on us. And it ain't one of ours either. Scouting Squadron six, which took to the sky with the nation at peace, is arriving at Pearl harbor in the hour of its people's greatest naval tragedy. At the hour of the nation's precipitous plunge into World War II, American youth and the Navy's fledgling, its air arm have been challenged. What of America's fighting men, Lorelei? Voices in the air sang a siren song of contempt. Our foe is smug. He has nothing to fight for but his smugness. He will not die for that. We fight for the Son of Heaven and we would die for him. The soft democracies will now pay for their weakness. They will fall before the strong, the supermen of the new order. And we will. Nuts. What of the men of the Navy's air arm? How have they met the challenge? We have read their record, the history they have written. At Midway, in the Coral Sea, in the Aleutians, the Solomons, over the Atlantic, at Casablanca, on a hundred watery battlefronts. Then are the men of America supermen? Are they fearless? Are they steadfast? Unassuming? Do they have tenacity? Do they want to fight? Do they follow instructions? Are they stiff necked? Do they know for what they fight? Let's look at a few pictures of the men of the Navy's air arm for the answers to those questions. Are they fearless? The aircraft carrier Wasp moves through the waters of the Mediterranean, its flight deck crowded with British Spitfire planes. The American fighter squadron men in the ready room receive instructions from a grim faced officer. All right, men, all right. You boys are up next. We're close to Malta. Suppose you know what that means. We're getting close to trouble. You're going to fly over for the rest of the way. Can't expect help from our cargo flighters. Those Spitfires are needed in Malta. They've orders to light out for Malta even if it looks like we're going to have an enemy attack. So about all I can say is good luck. All right, you guys, hop to it. Hey, let's go, boys. Come on. Man your planes. Man your planes. Fighter squadron just got a report that there are 204 German and Italian bombers out looking for us. We better see them before they see us. Fearless? No, indeed. These men are not fearless. They have no belief in a special warrior's Valhalla. They have human fears, but they have courage. Courage forged in the fiercer fires of freedom. Fearless? No, indeed. Scared, yes. But they did their job and did it well. Answer to question 1. Are the men of the Navy's Air Arm fearless? No. Courageous? Yes. Do they follow instructions? A PBY is on routine patrol duty. The huge flying boat picks its way through puffs of irregular clouds. All right, I'll take it for a while, Jane. Okay. Hey, why don't you drop down and see if you can get all the way under those clouds? Yeah, I think I will. Not much chance of spotting anything if we. Hey, look. Look. Mean like something. A beam. You sure? Yeah, yeah, it's a sub. About 2 and a half miles. Get on it, boy. They're getting at us with those guns. Stand by to give me a hand on a pull out. It's going to take all we've got. Pull out. What the devil are you doing? Going to dive on it. How else can I get down through the cloud? A very interesting report, Robertson. Yes, sir, I imagine it is. I suppose you know the PBY wasn't built for dive bombing. Yes, sir, I know that. Uh huh. 60 degree angle, 220 knots. Weren't you afraid you'd rip the wings off on the pullout? Well, sir, I didn't know. With two of us standing up, braced and yanking at the controls. Seems to have worked. How'd you behave? Well, sir, why they call our fighter plane the Corsair Gowen I'll never know. My wings were flapping so we could see the tips behind bend. But they held, sir. Well, I won't say we encourage that sort of thing, Robertson, but we do like the results you got. Congratulations. Does the flyer of the Navy Air Arm follow instructions? Yes, sometimes. Usually, Almost always. But he has been drawn from a nation of free men. He's not an automaton. He thinks for himself. Thinks for himself, but not of himself. For there are some instructions he has never, will never disregard. Two Navy airmen adrift In a rubber lifeboat. This is a devil of a feeling, ain't it? You can say that again. Man, I don't know what I'd give to see one of our planes. I suppose they're out looking for us. Get the scraps over. They'll be out looking when we don't turn up. That's an awful big ocean to find a couple of little guys in. Oh, brother. I know now what the temptation of the devil means. What are you talking about? Radio. When we were going down, just think, I could have switched on. Given our location, we'd have been setting pretty. Yeah, I know what temptation means. Two men on a big ocean clinging to the hope that they'll be picked up. Real temptation. Understandable temptation. They could have sent out a radio report of their location. But they had been engaging the enemy. Their radio transmitter would have given the enemy valuable information. Would have endangered the safety of their comrades. They had been instructed to observe the radio silence during action. And they have obeyed. And the Pacific is a big lonesome place. But never once since the start of the war has this instruction been disregarded. Does the flyer of the Navy air arm follow instructions? Sometimes. Usually, almost always. But in matter affecting the safety of his fellows, always are they stiff necked. Our totalitarian foe has graded his supermen with severity. His traditional fighting man is a creature apart. His officer may not concede a greater power of any sort in an inferior officer. But what of the men of America's fighting forces? Listen to a couple of Marine pilots. Navy trained fliers. There are Japanese units nearby. A Marine lieutenant is flying wing on his division leader, a major. Zeros above, Major. Watch out. They'll make a run on us as soon as they spot us. Where? I don't see any Zeros. I do. I got 2020 vision. I should be able to see where you're right. You okay, Major? Yeah. Give me a hand. Before I use that hand to lean on, I'd like to shake it. What's eating you, Major? I always thought I had eyes, but mine aren't in it with yours. You mean because I spotted those Zeros? You were a good 10 seconds ahead of me. From now on, fella, I'm flying on your wing. You're leading the division. Are you kidding? I am not. You're the lieutenant and I'm the major. But from now on I'm glad to fly wing on you and you can lead the division. I'd much rather be an ex division leader than an ex major. Stiff necked? Not by any stretch of the imagination. Our picture of the Navy airmen rounds out Fearless? No? Courageous? Yes. Follow instructions sometimes, usually almost always Stiff necked. From taco night in Tulum to sushi in Tokyo, every bite is rewarding and postworthy with MX Gold's 4X Membership Rewards points at restaurants worldwide. Wherever you dine, points are piling up. So bring your friends along for your next course. Because it's not all about the post, it's about the company and the memories. How can gold from Amex sweeten your next food moment? Learn more@americanexpress.com Explore Gold terms and Points Cap Apply My shopping style is more stay at home than try in store, so my Amex Blue Cash Everyday card is my go to accessory. When I shop, it's easy to earn by getting 3% cash back on US online retail purchases. Each order brings me closer to more cash back, so go ahead, add the cart and shop the latest styles. Reinvent your look and reward yourself with Amex and try on the Blue Cash Every Day card. Learn more@American Express.com Explore BCE terms and cashback cap apply no indeed. Steadfast Is he Steadfast. There are the brave men who carry out vital and valuable routine services they also serve who only watch. We speak of the men who fly our blimps. Yes, they are steadfast, strong in the knowledge that their alertness is preparing future battlefields for victory. We now hear from one who can speak with authority for the men of the light of an aircraft. Their leader is a recognized pioneer in the field. Ladies and gentlemen, Rear Admiral Charles E. Rosendaal, Chief of Naval Airship Training, Admiral Rosendal in coastal waters of the Atlantic, the Pacific, in the Gulf of Mexico, and elsewhere outside our continental limits, considerable numbers of fast surface vessels of various types, many airplanes of different kinds, and a fair number of blimps comprise the coordinated teams of specialists constantly on the alert as the silent service needed to combat the many modern enemy submarines which have created havoc even in our own front yard. A vast amount of unsung, unseen, unspectacular drudgery must be performed by these thousands of specialists to provide continuous flow of the gigantic support required by our frontline forces at sea, on land and in the air to engage our scattered enemies successfully. But as well as crossing seas, these vast convoys must get in and out of our harbors and along our shipping lanes safely. There's some tendency to give blimps major credit for stemming submarines along our coasts, but we do not so claim. We do feel, however, that blimps are definitely pulling their weight in this war, as members of an important service, while equipped and able to attack and destroy submarines, blimps are primarily watchdogs or bird dogs to detect and flush lurking submarines, then generally turning over actual destruction to their more lethal airplane and surface teammates. Our current relatively great blimp expansion started almost from scratch with a half dozen odd and antiquated airships. During World War I, Blimps had served the allies very effectively. But between that and the present war, the United States had designed and built only one new naval patrol blimp. In all those 20 some years, no naval blimp had carried or dropped a bomb or fired a gun. Application of anti submarine equipment to blimps had been almost nil. Hence the provision and manning of even partially useful blimps for this war would really be somewhat of an accomplishment. As in World War I, blimps in the present war have enjoyed an exclusive record in that not a single one of the thousands of ships under escort by blimps has ever suffered a successful attack by submarine. Because of inherent characteristics, blimps can and do operate in weather conditions prohibitive to other aircraft. Had development not been interrupted just as we were overcoming their childhood ailments, we might today be making extensive and important use also of very large helium filled rigid airships as fast long range airplane carriers on the high seas. Pioneering work done by the airships Los Angeles, Akron and Macon proved the launching and recovery of airplanes by airships and everyday operating feasibility. For one thing, I am confident such airship carriers of airplanes could today be rendering efficient service comparable to that the baby flat tops are now doing. And who can say? Such airships might not have been of incalculable value in the Pacific just before fateful December 7, 1941. But whether or not we ever have such gigantic airships, blimps are today carrying on worthily in the light of an airfield. And as we become able to shift the accent from quantity to quality, we may expect wimps to become even more effective. Thank you. Thank you, Admiral Rosendahl. We have seen some of the shadow and some of the substance of this young man who flies on navy wings. But the overtone is missing. What of the endearing graces? Is he humble in victory? Is he unassuming when his deeds are recognized? Does he covet glory? Let's see. What about you, Keller? Just a moment, sir. I have to check with beach. On that beach, what do you think this fighter squadron back aboard the carrier is having coffee and the customary informal chat with the air combat information officer After a foray the data of the mission are being compiled. Well, you can chalk up 10 of the Nagoya type, I guess. Hey, what do you mean one? I said I saw you knocked down too, but I didn't spend all my time watching you either. Sure, Kelly, you got that, Charlie, I jumped you from above. The other men seem to think you got another color. I'm not saying I did. I think the other Lagoya dived to get away from where it was hot. He was down to about 4,000ft and still in the dive when I saw him last. Maybe he went all the way down, but I couldn't swear. As much as the fighter pilot would like to have another victory to his credit, he will not force the facts. Because above all else, combat figures must be compiled only from known facts. This is not hat twisting, storybook modesty. It is utter and complete realism. Realism so searching and unqualified that even official honor sometimes cannot stand up under it. Lt. Zigger contributed materially to the destruction of the vessel by pressing home his attack with skill and determination. Early in the spring, he made the original contact with an enemy. The Navy air personnel at Dutch harbor stands at attention as one of its number receives the Naval Cross. And here's the citation read. To duty and self command in the face of danger. Were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval service. Lieutenant, my congratulations. Thank you, sir. You may dismiss the men. Dismiss. Let's see it. Ziggy. That's. Well, Zig, we're proud of you. You're going to get Bowley and toting all your decorations. Ah, well, you guys lay off. Did any of you ever think why in the devil I'm now wearing a decoration? Sure, you did a good job, Zig. Look, it isn't logical. Day after day I'm flying over the same water, 50ft above the surface. Through all this lousy weather we've been having. I could have cracked up any day. Then one day we have decent weather, everything's perfect. And on a day like that, when I'm flying along getting the suntan, I happen to lay a pattern around an enemy sub. What the devil am I doing with the metal for that? Modest, unassuming. Do those words describe the men of the Navy Air Arm? Not quite. Realistic is a better word. These are the men that the totalitarian supermen contemptuously said were soft, faint hearted, unwilling to fight unless forced. That was to be democracy's Achilles heel. Unwillingness to fight without compulsion. Would the Navy airmen fight without being compelled? A United States Navy task Force lies off Casablanca harbor and on an aircraft carrier, a squadron of dive bombers is being brought into line for a takeoff. A gunner is being besieged by a half dozen other gunners. I told you once, no. Oh, give me a chance, Nick. I ain't been out yet. I'll give you 100 bucks cash. If you got a talk door to him. I can talk louder. All of you. 150. Nick, how about it? No, no, I told you know what it. And I. I mean it. I ain't interested. 200 bucks. 230. Nick, that's all the cash I got. But we could work out something. Look, you guys, I know it's gonna be a good tough fight and you can't kid me into thinking it isn't gonna be. Why, I wouldn't let you talk me out of it for any amount of money. The rear gunner who has summarily rejected an offer of $230, knows a tough mission is ahead. That's why he refused the offers, refused to be paid to go. No, indeed. This man has a seat in the flight and he wouldn't sell it to his clamoring associates for any amount. Have these men the will to fight? Yes. A yes has been written after the question on a hundred battle scenes. Midway. Here, I'll give you a hand. I'm not getting out. Just came in to gas up. Well, come on, come on, get the gas in. I gotta get back out there. All right. Hope you got something to land on when you get back. So do I. For almost a day and a half before reports on the Battle of Midway could be correlated at the central point, the men of the Navy air arm landed and took off from the flat top, ceaselessly stopping only for gas and a cup gulp of coffee. All indications were that they had come up against a Japanese force of superior numbers. That defeat was but a matter of time. Their fighting spirit did not abate. In this battle, our Navy air fighters were to prove the axiom that free men fight more fiercely even in face of defeat, or what seemed to be a defeat. For when reports began to gather at the central command, the picture of defeat faded before the tidings of the victory at Midway. Our picture of the Navy airmen of World War II is about completed. We have only to learn for what they fight. Do they fight for narrow, selfish insularism or for the common cause of the United Nations? This is an answer. At five o' clock in the afternoon on June 11, 1943, the radio man at the United States Naval Air Station fingers his dials Seeking the patrol plane frequency more exactly. Outside the windows, low scud and fog patches deaden the sky. The sea offshore is heavy with long swells. The temperature at this latitude is 7 degrees below freezing. Now a voice is heard in the patrol plane frequency. PBY 7273 to base. Sighted RAF dinghy one hour ago. Plane crew looks okay. We're going down to pick them up now. We're going down to pick them up now. Going down to pick him up now. Cut the transmitter. Think it's going to go all right, Doug? That's a cinch. May have been an hour wasted studying the problem. It's better to be safe. It's pretty heavy weather to make a water landing without giving it a lot of thought. Poor devils down there. Man, I'll bet they're cold. Going to take a long run in. Here goes the sea. Airmen's run along the top of a long, broad master swell is perfectly calculated. Midway in the landing rung, a cross wave hooks a wingtip, swings big craft and flings it into an adjoining wave. Bow split green water rushed in, and in 15 minutes, PBY 7273 sank into the dark waters. As the crew of nine watched from two rubber life rafts. The men in the RAF dinghy paddled over. But they soon were separated from the rubber boats by heavy seas and darkness. All hands were constantly drenched with icy spray. On the first evening, two men died of exposure. On the second day, three more followed. On the third day, the survivors saw flares and often the fog. Thought they heard a plane take off. They talked about it quite a lot. That was the night the Royal Air Force men were picked up. On the fourth day, two more men died. On the sixth, another. And on the seventh, the one survivor was saved. These men did not for one moment question their responsibility nor try to deny the bonds of brotherhood that unite your nation and ours in this common cause. At a memorial service held for the crew of PBY 7273 a few days later at the US Naval Air Station, United States Navy airmen were not surprised to see an RAF chaplain assisting their own to find the church and the yard outside filled with silent Royal Air Force pilots and mechanics. Our blinking newspapers will think of a better way to say it, Yank. Thanks. But they can't mean it any more than we do. We'd a thousand times have rather it been one of us. And as the men of two nations united in a common cause shake hands. We have the final victory of our United States Navy flyer. In World War II. Believers in the universal right, in the stake of each in the future of humanity, in the brotherhood of man. Ensign William R. Evans Jr. Of Torpedo Squadron 8 wrote a letter to a friend that speaks the thoughts of our men who fight on Navy wings. His letter was written a few days before he was reported missing in the battle of Midway in June of 1942. If anything good or great has been born of this war, it should not be valued in the pages that historians will attempt to write, but rather in the youth of our country who were never trained for war and who almost never believed in war, but who have from some hidden source brought forth a gallantry which is homespun. It's so real. I say these things to you because I know you like and understood boys, because I want you to know that they haven't let you down. Out there, between the spaceless sea and sky, American youth has found itself and given of itself so that a home spark may catch burst into flames, burn high. If our country takes these sacrifices with indifference, it will be the cruelest ingratitude the world has ever known. Remembering the countless happy hours I spent with all of you has been a constant source of contentment. My luck can't last much longer, but the flame goes on and only that is important. As a fitting close to the battle station series, we present Vice Admiral John S. McCain, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air, who speaks to you from Washington. Less than two months after the war began, carrier based planes struck viciously at the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. The destruction they left behind them was repeated at enemy Hell, Wake and Marcus Islands. Action at Solimar and Lae knocked out Jap cruisers, destroyers, transports and cargo ships. This was done again at Tulagi. Then followed the historic battles of the Carl Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal. And as the Allied drive against the Axis strengthened, Navy planes saw gallant action in North Africa and the Aleutians, Navy and army fliers helped beat off the aerial counterattacks by which the enemy tried to block the start of present Pacific offensive. The occupation of randover. During the first nine days of this drive to capture Mundo, nearly 200 Jap planes were destroyed. A 5 to 1 ratio of planes destroyed in the Pacific is not uncommon. Our pilots are keen, competent, brave. Their equipment and their crews are equally top flight. As naval aviation reaches its 30th anniversary, huge and powerful task forces will seek the enemy to destroy him. The best planes, the best ships and the best men are working together to that end. Such teamwork points only one way. Unconditional surrender of the enemy after we have battered their strength to a pump. Thank you, Admiral McCain. This has been the final in a series of four programs prepared by the Special Events Department of NBC in cooperation with the United States Navy. The script was written by Charles Gusman. The music composed, scored and directed by Leo Kempinski. The production was directed by Joseph Mansfield. Jack Costello speaking. Battle stations came to you from Washington and New York. This is the National Broadcasting Company. Mom, can you tell me a story? Sure. Once upon a time, a mom needed a new car. Was she brave? She was tired, mostly. But she went to Carvana.com and found a great car at a great price. No secret treasure map required. Did you have to fight a dragon? Nope. She bought it 100% online. From her bed, actually. Was it scary? Honey, it was as unscary as car buying could be. Did the car have a sunroof? It did, actually. Okay, good story. Car buying you'll want to tell stories about. Buy your car today on. Delivery fees may apply. I'm here on the job site with Dale, who's a framing contractor. Hey, good morning. Dale traded up to Geico Commercial Auto Insurance for all his business vehicles. We're here where he needs us most. Yep, they sure are. We make it easy for him to save on all his insurance needs, all in one place with coverage that fits his business and bottom line. Oh, I shouldn't have looked down. It's all right. We're so far up here. Look at me. Take a deep breath. I'm good. So good. 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