Good Sunday Morning September 13, 2020.
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This day in Naval History
This day in Naval History
1803 Commodore John Barry dies at Philadelphia, Pa., having served in numerous commands and over vessels in the Continental Navy during the American Revolution and in the newly formed U.S. Navy.
1814 During the War of 1812, the British bomb Fort McHenry at Baltimore Harbor for 25 hours. The sight of Fort McHenry's flag and the British withdrawing from Baltimore the next morning inspires Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner.
1847 During the Mexican-American War, Chapultepec - the gateway to Mexico City - is successfully stormed by Marines. The next day they are assigned to duty as guards to the National Palace, called the Halls of Montezuma. This action inspires the first line of the Marine Hymn.
1906 Sailors and Marines from USS Denver (Cruiser #14) land in Havana at the request of the Cuban government to preserve order during a revolution.
1944 USS Warrington (DD 383) sinks off the Bahamas in a hurricane. After a prolonged search, numerous Navy vessels rescue only five officers and 68 men of the destroyer's 20 officers and 301 men.
1996 USS Cheyenne (SSN 773) is commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk. The 62nd and last of the Los Angeles-class attack submarines, USS Cheyenne is the third to be named after Wyoming's capital city.
2008 Hurricane Ike hits Galveston and Houston, Texas. At Galveston's Seawolf Park, a maritime museum, the museum ship USS Stewart (DE 238) and museum submarine USS Cavalla (SS 244), suffer damage as they are thrown out of the water onto land. Both vessels are restored to the prior locations and undergo renovations.
No CHINFO on the weekend
Today in History September 13
1515 | King Francis of France defeats the Swiss army under Cardinal Matthaus Schiner at Marignano, northern Italy. | |
1549 | Pope Paul III closes the first session of the Council of Bologna. | |
1564 | On the verge of attacking Pedro Menendez's Spanish settlement at San Agostin, Florida, Jean Ribault's French fleet is scattered by a devastating storm. | |
1759 | British troops defeat the French on the plains of Abraham, in Quebec. | |
1774 | Anne Robert Turgot, the new controller of finances, urges the king of France to restore the free circulation of grain in the kingdom. | |
1782 | The British fortress at Gibraltar comes under attack by French and Spanish forces. | |
1788 | The Constitutional Convention authorizes the first federal election resolving that electors in all the states will be appointed on January 7, 1789. | |
1789 | Guardsmen in Orleans, France, open fire on rioters trying to loot bakeries, killing 90. | |
1846 | General Winfield Scott takes Chapultepec, removing the last obstacle to U.S. troops moving on Mexico City. | |
1862 | Union troops in Frederick, Maryland, discover General Robert E. Lee's attack plans for the invasion of Maryland wrapped around a pack of cigars. They give the plans to General George B. McClellan who sends the Army of the Potomac to confront Lee but only after a delay of more than half a day. | |
1863 | The Loudoun County Rangers route a company of Confederate cavalry at Catoctin Mountain in Virginia. | |
1905 | U.S. warships head to Nicaragua on behalf of American William Albers, who was accused of evading tobacco taxes. | |
1918 | U.S. and French forces take St. Mihiel, France in America's first action as a standing army. | |
1945 | Iran demands the withdrawal of Allied forces. | |
1951 | In Korea, U.S. Army troops begin their assault in Heartbreak Ridge. The month-long struggle will cost 3,700 casualties. | |
1961 | An unmanned Mercury capsule is orbited and recovered by NASA in a test. | |
1976 | The United States announces it will veto Vietnam's UN bid. | |
1988 | Hurricane Gilbert becomes the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere, based on barometric pressure. Hurricane Wilma will break that record in 2005. | |
1993 | The Oslo Accords, granting limited Palestinian autonomy, are signed by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House. | |
2007 | UN adopts non-binding Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. | |
2008 | Five synchronized bomb blasts occur in crowded locations of Delhi, India, killing at least 30 people and injuring more than 100; four other bombs are defused. | |
2008 | Hurricane Ike makes landfall in Texas; it had already been the most costly storm in Cuba's history and becomes the third costliest in the US. | |
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From Blood Stripes to Bloody Ridge
by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
This Week in American Military History:
Sept. 12, 1918: Battle of St. Mihiel (France) opens between Allied American-French forces (primarily U.S. Army and Marine forces under the overall command of U.S. Army Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing) and Imperial German Army forces under Gen. Johannes Georg von der Marwitz.
In the afternoon, Lt. Col. (future four-star general) George S. Patton – destined to lead America's first tank attack against the enemy – and Brig.
Gen. (future five-star general) Douglas MacArthur will meet on the battlefield, and according to the U.S. Army Historical Foundation: "The lieutenant colonel [Patton] sported a Colt .45 pistol with an ivory grip and his engraved initials. A pipe was clenched in his teeth. The brigadier [MacArthur] wore a barracks cap and a muffler his mother knitted for him.
As they spoke to each other, a German artillery barrage opened up and began marching towards their position. Infantrymen scattered and dove for cover, but the two officers remained standing, coolly talking with each other."
U.S. Marine Gen. John A. Lejeune, will describe his personal experience of the battle: "In war, if a man is to keep his sanity, he must come to regard death as being just as normal as life and hold himself always in readiness, mentally and spiritually, to answer the call of the grim reaper whenever fate decrees that his hour has struck."
Sept. 12, 1942: Battle of Bloody Ridge opens on Guadalcanal (see next week).
Sept. 13, 1814: From the deck of a Royal Navy ship aboard which he has been detained, Washington, D.C. lawyer Francis Scott Key pens his now-famous poem, "The Star Spangled Banner," on an envelope as he witnesses the British night-bombardment of Fort McHenry, Baltimore during the War of 1812.
It will be more than a century before the U.S. Congress adopts "The Star Spangled Banner" as the official national anthem.
Sept. 13, 1847: U.S. Army and Marine forces (including lots of future Civil War generals like Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, George Pickett, Pierre G.T. Beauregard, Thomas J. Jackson, Joseph E. Johnston, Ulysses S.
Grant, future Admiral Raphael Semmes, and I'm probably leaving out a few) participate in the storming of Chapultepec Castle during the Mexican War.
Chapultepec defends Mexico City, which will fall on the 14th.
For those of us fortunate enough since to claim the title, "Marine," the taking of Chapultepec and ultimately Mexico City will give us two things:
First: The first five words of our hymn: "From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli ..."
Second: The "blood" red stripe along the seams of our dress-blue uniform trousers (Marines don't wear pants).
The origin of the blood stripe is more tradition than absolute fact. But we Marines heartily claim it. According to tradition, the blood stripe represents the blood shed by Marines storming Chapultepec. And the reason only corporals and above are authorized to wear the stripe is because there was such a high percentage of NCOs and officers killed in the storming of the castle.
Sept. 13, 1942: Ninety-five years after defeating the Mexicans at Chapultepec, U.S. Marines beat back a series of wave attacks by Japanese soldiers on Guadalcanal that began on the night of Sept. 12 and will last until the morning of the 14th.
The fighting – since referred to as the Battle of Bloody Ridge (also Edson's Ridge or Raiders' Ridge) – is over which side will control the nearby airfield.
Japanese soldiers led by Samurai-sword wielding officers attack the ridge-defending leathernecks in suicidal waves screaming, "Banzai!" and "Marine, You Die!"
At one point during the fighting, the American line — under the command of Lt. Col. (future major general) Merritt "Red Mike" Edson — is nearly broken. But the Marines hold, and beat back the attacks with terrible losses to the enemy.
Edson will be awarded the Medal of Honor for his command of Bloody Ridge.
Maj. Kenneth Bailey, killed in the fighting, will also receive the Medal of Honor.
Sept. 14, 1966: Operation Attleboro begins as something of a "feet wet"
operation for a green American unit – the U.S. Army's 196th Light Infantry Brigade – but will evolve into a major combined-arms operation as U.S.
forces make contact with a battle-hardened Viet Cong division and a North Vietnamese Army regiment. The end result by November will be the discovery of one of the largest weapons and equipment caches of the Vietnam War to-date, and over 1,000 dead enemy soldiers.
Sept. 15, 1944: Two years after Bloody Ridge, U.S. Marines land on Peleliu.
Sept. 15, 1950: United Nations ground forces – primarily U.S. Marines – under the overall command of U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur, begin hitting the beaches at Inchon, Korea.
Sept. 16, 1776: Gen. George Washington chalks up his "first victory in the field" against British and Hessian forces under Gen. Alexander Leslie in the Battle of Harlem Heights, New York.
Sept. 17, 1862: The Battle of Antietam (Maryland) – the bloodiest single-day battle in American history – opens between Confederate Army forces under Gen. Robert E. Lee and Union Army forces under Maj. Gen.
George B. McClellan. After 12 hours of fighting, some 23,000 Americans are dead, wounded, or missing.
Though a strategic victory for the Union, the battle will prove tactically inconclusive for both sides.
Sept. 17, 1944: Operation Market Garden, an enormous Allied Airborne operation during World War II (in fact, the largest parachute operation in history), is launched to seize strategically vital bridges in German-occupied Holland.
After 10 days of fighting and many tactical successes, the operation will be deemed a strategic failure, and Allied forces will be ordered to withdraw.
(Cornelius Ryan's book, A Bridge Too Far, and the film adaptation of the same are based on Market Garden)
Sept. 18, 1947: Happy Birthday, U.S. Air Force! America's air and space warfare service (and the descendent service of the U.S. Army Air Forces), the U.S. Air Force becomes an independent and equal arm of the American military.
Sept. 19, 1777: Battle of Freeman's Farm — first engagement in the Battle of Saratoga (during the American Revolution) — opens between Continental forces under the command of Gen. Horatio Gates and British forces under Gen. John "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne. Brits carry the day, but suffer heavy losses. Continentals will ultimately win Saratoga.
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Thanks to Fred
Remembering A 'Brave,' 'Lucky' Hero In The War Of 1812
by Jeff St. Clair
WKSU - September 10, 2013
Two hundred years ago today, a young U.S. naval captain named Oliver Hazard Perry penned the words, "We have met the enemy and they are ours ..."
Perry's remarkable victory over the British changed the course of the War of 1812, and a full-scale re-enactment — the largest sailing re-enactment ever attempted in the U.S. — recently commemorated the anniversary of the win in the Battle of Lake Erie.
A Bit Of History
America had brashly declared war in 1812 to stop the British from kidnapping U.S. sailors to man the Royal Navy and to settle trade issues. A year later, the war against the world's leading superpower wasn't going well.
It was from Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie's South Bass Island that Perry sailed out to meet the British on Sept. 10, 1813.
Historian Walter Rybka — one of the planners of the re-enactment — says the 28-year-old Perry threw himself into battle. "Perry was, first off, phenomenally brave and determined, but he was damn lucky," Rybka says.
Somehow Perry survived two hours of hellacious fire that killed or maimed 75 percent of the crew on his ship, the Lawrence.
"His last gun had been knocked out of action on the starboard side, his rigging was cut to pieces, he could not maneuver, he could no longer fight. There was no point in maintaining an action because his men were just going to get slaughtered the rest of the way," Rybka says. "Right at the moment the wind fills in ..."
And that's when Perry hopped into his longboat and under heavy fire, rowed to the Niagara, a Great Lakes warship. Rybka says Perry brought along his battle flag, emblazoned with the words, "Don't Give Up The Ship."
"But the only way to do that was to give up the ship and go to the next one," Rybka says. "The real motto was, 'Don't Give Up.' "
A Turning Point
Fifteen tall ships sail out to the spot where the struggle took place 200 years ago. From the reconstructed Niagara, Capt. Wesley Heerssen hails the fleet.
"All tall ships in this battle re-enactment please stand by for roll call," Heerssen says.
And the battle begins.
Six ships make up the British line. The American fleet has nine. The Coast Guard has its hands full clearing a path for the tall ships amid a swarm of more than 2,000 speedboats and pleasure craft. The sea of boats has churned the lake, so in this version of the Battle of Lake Erie, Perry, portrayed by an actor sporting enormous sideburns, is motored from his ship onto the Niagara.
Then Heerssen hails the enemy fleet for the final maneuver of the re-enactment.
"To the British fleet we're going to pass two whistles, starboard to starboard passage," he says.
The Niagara cuts nimbly across the British line and fires its last set of broadsides. And as smoke fills the air, for a second, despite all the distractions, one of America's most famous sea battles vividly comes to life.
And suddenly, it's over.
The smoke clears, and it just another day on the lake, perfect conditions for sailing.
The battle was a turning point in the War of 1812. America had lost Detroit and much of the Northwest Territory. Rybka says if Perry had given up the ship, the Canadian border would have been much farther south.
"I think Michigan probably would have been lost to us and maybe Wisconsin as well," Rybka says.
Heerssen, as captain of the Niagara, has imagined this day for more than a decade. He says the re-enactment is a tribute to America's fighting spirit.
A buoy serves as a permanent marker in the peaceful waters of western Lake Erie. [Copyright 2013 WKSU-FM]
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This Day in U S Military History
1759 – During the Seven Years War, a worldwide conflict known as the French and Indian War in America, the British under General James Wolfe achieve a dramatic victory when they scale the cliffs over the city of Quebec, defeating the Marquis de Montcalm's French forces on the Plains of Abraham. Wolfe himself was fatally wounded during the battle, but his victory ensured British supremacy in Canada. Montcalm also suffered a mortal wound during the battle. In the early 1750s, French expansion into the Ohio River valley repeatedly brought France into armed conflict with the British colonies. In 1756–the first official year of fighting in the Seven Years War–the British suffered a series of defeats against the French and their broad network of Native American alliances. However, in 1757, British Prime Minister William Pitt (the older) recognized the potential of imperial expansion that would come out of victory against the French and borrowed heavily to fund an expanded war effort. Pitt financed Prussia's struggle against France and her allies in Europe and reimbursed the colonies for the raising of armies in North America. By 1760, the French had been expelled from Canada, and by 1763 all of France's allies in Europe had either made a separate peace with Prussia or had been defeated. In addition, Spanish attempts to aid France in the Americas had failed, and France also suffered defeats against British forces in India. The Seven Years War ended with the signing of the treaties of Hubertusburg and Paris in February 1763. In the Treaty of Paris, France lost all claims to Canada and gave Louisiana to Spain, while Britain received Spanish Florida, Upper Canada, and various French holdings overseas. The treaty ensured the colonial and maritime supremacy of Britain and strengthened the 13 American colonies by removing their European rivals to the north and the south. Fifteen years later, French bitterness over the loss of most of their colonial empire contributed to their intervention in the American Revolution on the side of the Patriots
1900 – Filipino resistance fighters defeat a small American column in the Battle of Pulang Lupa, during the Philippine–American War. The engagement was fought between the forces of Colonel Maximo Abad and Devereux Shields. Shields' defeat sent shock waves through the American high command. Aside from being one of the worst defeats suffered by the Americans during the war, it was especially significant given its proximity to the upcoming election between President William McKinley and his anti-imperialist opponent William Jennings Bryan, the outcome of which many believed would determine the ultimate course of the war. Consequently, the defeat triggered a sharp response. Arthur MacArthur, Jr. sent Brig. Gen. Luther Hare with "orders to treat the entire male population over fifteen as potential enemies and to arrest as many as possible and hold them hostages until Abad surrendered." Hare secured the release of Shields and his men. Maj. Frederick A. Smith continued the policy of destroying food and shelter in the interior of the island, and moving all civilians into the towns. Although Abad and most of his command continued to elude the American military, the civilian population was suffering for it, with many landowners and merchants joining the Federal Party, turning against Abad. These new tactics led to the surrender of Abad in April 1901.
1950 – Task Force 77 struck Wolmi-do with naval gunfire in preparation for the amphibious assault against Inchon. Lieutenant David H. Swenson was killed aboard the destroyer USS Swenson when the North Koreans hit the ship with a two-gun salvo. Ironically, the ship was named after his uncle, Captain Lyman K. Swenson, who was killed in the South Pacific during World War II.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*HALLMAN, SHERWOOD H.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, 175th Infantry, 29th Infantry Division. Place and date: Brest, Brittany, France, 13 September 1944. Entered service at: Spring City, Pa. Birth: Spring City, Pa. G.O. No.: 31, 17 April 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 13 September 1944, in Brittany, France, the 2d Battalion in its attack on the fortified city of Brest was held up by a strongly defended enemy position which had prevented its advance despite repeated attacks extending over a 3-day period. Finally, Company F advanced to within several hundred yards of the enemy position but was again halted by intense fire. Realizing that the position must be neutralized without delay, S/Sgt. Hallman ordered his squad to cover his movements with fire while he advanced alone to a point from which he could make the assault. Without hesitating, S/Sgt. Hallman leaped over a hedgerow into a sunken road, the central point of the German defenses which was known to contain an enemy machinegun position and at least 30 enemy riflemen. Firing his carbine and hurling grenades, S/Sgt. Hallman, unassisted, killed or wounded 4 of the enemy, then ordered the remainder to surrender. Immediately, 12 of the enemy surrendered and the position was shortly secured by the remainder of his company. Seeing the surrender of this position, about 75 of the enemy in the vicinity surrendered, yielding a defensive organization which the battalion with heavy supporting fires had been unable to take. This single heroic act on the part of S/Sgt. Hallman resulted in the immediate advance of the entire battalion for a distance of 2,000 yards to a position from which Fort Keranroux was captured later the same day. S/Sgt. Hallman's fighting determination and intrepidity in battle exemplify the highest tradition of the U.S. Armed Forces.
KELLY, CHARLES E.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company L, 143d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Altavilla, Italy, 13 September 1943. Entered service at: Pittsburgh, Pa. Birth: Pittsburgh, Pa. G.O. No.: 13, 18 February 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. On 13 September 1943, near Altavilla, Italy, Cpl. Kelly voluntarily joined a patrol which located and neutralized enemy machinegun positions. After this hazardous duty he volunteered to establish contact with a battalion of U.S. infantry which was believed to be located on Hill 315, a mile distant. He traveled over a route commanded by enemy observation and under sniper, mortar, and artillery fire; and later he returned with the correct information that the enemy occupied Hill 315 in organized positions. Immediately thereafter Cpl. Kelly, again a volunteer patrol member, assisted materially in the destruction of 2 enemy machinegun nests under conditions requiring great skill and courage. Having effectively fired his weapon until all the ammunition was exhausted, he secured permission to obtain more at an ammunition dump. Arriving at the dump, which was located near a storehouse on the extreme flank of his regiment's position, Cpl. Kelly found that the Germans were attacking ferociously at this point. He obtained his ammunition and was given the mission of protecting the rear of the storehouse. He held his position throughout the night. The following morning the enemy attack was resumed. Cpl. Kelly took a position at an open window of the storehouse. One machine gunner had been killed at this position and several other soldiers wounded. Cpl. Kelly delivered continuous aimed and effective fire upon the enemy with his automatic rifle until the weapon locked from overheating. Finding another automatic rifle, he again directed effective fire upon the enemy until this weapon also locked. At this critical point, with the enemy threatening to overrun the position, Cpl. Kelly picked up 60mm. mortar shells, pulled the safety pins, and used the shells as grenades, killing at least 5 of the enemy. When it became imperative that the house be evacuated, Cpl. Kelly, despite his sergeant's injunctions, volunteered to hold the position until the remainder of the detachment could withdraw. As the detachment moved out, Cpl. Kelly was observed deliberately loading and firing a rocket launcher from the window. He was successful in covering the withdrawal of the unit, and later in joining his own organization. Cpl. Kelly's fighting determination and intrepidity in battle exemplify the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces.
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Thanks to Mike. This is a great article about the men and women who made aviation history as pilots and engineers who designed, built and flew the new designs to the edge of the envelope.
Flying Magazines 51 Flying Heroes and Heroines
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for September 13, 2020 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
13 September
1916: The Signal Corps Aviation School at San Diego held its first aeronautics course for field officers. (24)
1917: The 1st Aero Squadron arrived in France. That arrival made it the first Army air unit to serve with the American Expeditionary Forces. (See 5 June 1917 for first Naval air unit) (21)
1923: Through 14 December, Lts John F. Whitely and H. D. Smith and crew flew a Martin MB-2, powered by two Liberty 400 engines, on an 8,000-mile round trip from Langley Field to San Diego in anticipation of a national airways. (9) (24)
1935: Howard Hughes flew his Hughes Special Airplane at Santa Ana, Calif., to a 352 MPH world speed record. (9) (24)
1943: The 52 TCW used more than 80 troop transports to drop 1,200 paratroopers from the 82d Airborne Division on Italy's Salerno Beach, with no losses of planes or men. This effort was one of the most successful allied airborne operations in the war. (21) (24)
1944: Eighth Air Force bombed Hungary's Diosgyoer Steel Works. (4)
1951: The USAF established its first pilotless bomber squadron at the Missile Test Center, Cocoa, Fla. (16) (26)
1960: The 4135 SW at Eglin AFB received the first production GAM-72A Quail missiles. (6)
1961: NASA used the worldwide Mercury tracking network for the first time to follow an unmanned Mercury vehicle in space. The results convinced NASA that man could be sent into space using an Atlas vehicle. A Mercury-Atlas booster lifted the vehicle into space. (16) (24) NASA studied atmospheric winds, temperature, and density by releasing sodium clouds at high altitudes from two four-stage Argo D-4 rockets launched from Wallops Island. (24)
1962: Lt Cmdrs Fred A. Franke flew an UF-1L Albatross amphibian to 27,380 feet with a 4,410- pound payload to set a new altitude record. Lt Cmdr Donald E. Moore flew the same aircraft to 29,460 feet with a 2,205-pound payload to set a second record. Both flights surpassed Soviet records set in 1940. (24)
1974: Capt Harold B. Adams (pilot) and Maj William C. Machorek (RSO) flew an SR-71 from London to Los Angeles in 3 hours 48 minutes at a new speed record of 1,435.59 MPH. (1)
1985: CELESTIAL EAGLE. Major Wilbert D. "Doug" Pearson, Jr., flying F-15A (Tail No. 77- 0084) fired the first the Vought ASM-135A air-launched anti-satellite (ASAT) missile at a live target over Edwards AFB. The missile hit the orbiting Solwing scientific satellite that was traveling at 17,500 MPH nearly 290 miles above Earth. The 6512th Test Squadron F-15A stationed at Edwards AFB took off from Vandenberg AFB and zoom-climbed up to 80,000 feet and then launched the ASAT. Both the first and second stages fired successfully, and the miniature kinetic kill vehicle separated and homed in on the satellite, destroying it upon impact. (16) (21)
1992: Operation IMPRESSIVE LIFT. Through 29 September, AMC aircraft moved UN troops from Pakistan to Somalia to begin a peacekeeping mission. In the 94 flights, the aircraft carried 974 passengers and 1,168 tons of equipment and supplies. The troops tried to distribute food fairly for Operation PROVIDE RELIEF. (16) (21)
2001: Operation NOBLE EAGLE. The Air Staff cleared all training and operational USAF units to resume normal flying operations. (3)
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Thanks to Harold
Douglas Bader WWII British ace….See attachment for the article
Subject: Article about WWII RAF ace
I have some personal interests in this story. Let me explain. Todd Gerald, an engineer from my days at LTV, knew Bader. Told me several stories about him. Todd was shot down in a P-38 in France and helped carve the headstones for those guys killed in the Great Escape. He also worked on the third tunnel that they had abandoned earlier, until he was liberated. Todd was also an Aggie. Very nice guy I remember him well. He and Bader were in the same POW camp at some point. Told me the Germans would take Bader's legs away as punishment. Said he'd drag himself out to the wire and cuss the Germans in their own language (he spoke several languages). He was always doing things like that, Todd said.
Another interesting story, I did a house inspection for an older woman in Fort Worth years ago. On her desk was a picture of a WWII flier standing beside his Spitfire. It was signed by Douglass Bader. I asked her about it and she was amazed I knew who he was. Turns out she was one of the girls at the same base as Bader (Duxford I believe). She pushed the planes around on the maps like you've seen in the movies. She knew him well. She almost gave me the picture then but I wouldn't take it. Then, about 10-12 years later I did another house in Fort Worth for a Dr Hoot and his wife. "You did my mother's house years ago" I was told. Turns out it was that lady's mother. Her mother had told her I knew about the war and Bader. I asked about the pic and nobody knew where it was. They said I could have it since I knew all about it, but neither her nor none of the siblings could find it. They figured it was thrown away. Boy I would have loved to have gotten it. Nonetheless it is a good story. Bader had to go all the way to Churchill to get permission to fly in the war. Wonderful story. What a guy.
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