Scope and Contents This recording contains highlights from a reunion held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, circa 1970, for Canadian and British fighter pilots who were involved with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during World War II. Speakers share remarks and humorous stories about each other and pay homage to the wartime service of Canadian pilots. Identified speakers include German fighter ace Adolf Galland; British fighter aces James Edgar “Johnnie” Johnson and Douglas Bader; and Air Commodore John...

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Radio advertisements for the Champlin Fighter Aircraft Museum at Falcon Field, Arizona, produced circa 1997.

Scope and Contents Fighter pilot Delno “Del” Carlton is interviewed about his military service with the United States Marine Corps during World War II. The interview focuses specifically on an incident in 1944 or 1945, when VM(N)F-542 (Marine Night Fighter Squadron 542) deployed from the USS Sitkoh Bay (CVE-86) to Yontan Airfield, Okinawa, Japan. Due to navigational errors, Carlton’s flight of Grumman F6F Hellcats and Vought F4U Corsairs ended up at Iriomote, off the coast of...

Scope and Contents In this two-part oral history, fighter ace William Y. Anderson discusses his military service with the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. In part one, he describes his wartime experiences as a fighter pilot, including his time in England and France with the 353rd Fighter Squadron of the 354th Fighter Group. In part two, he provides clarifying details regarding his wartime experiences and the combat missions discussed in the previous interview. Special focus on several combat...

Scope and Contents Fighter ace Rudolph Augarten discusses his military service with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II and with the Israeli Air Force during the Arab-Israeli conflicts. He describes his wartime experiences as a fighter pilot, including his time in Europe with the 403rd Fighter Squadron and his time in Israel with the 101st Squadron. Special focus on a bailout over German-occupied France in June 1944, which resulted in a multi-week evasion of enemy troops and eventual escape...

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Fighter ace Robert Baird discusses his military service with the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He describes his wartime experiences as a night fighter pilot and his time in Okinawa with Marine Night Fighter Squadron 533 (VMF(N)-533). Special focus on a combat mission on June 9, 1945 in which he scored his first aerial victory.

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Fighter ace Donald L. Balch discusses his military service with the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He describes his wartime experiences as a fighter pilot, including his time in Guadalcanal with Marine Fighting Squadron 221 (VMF-221). Special focus on a combat mission on April 7, 1943 in which he scored an aerial victory against a Japanese Zero (Zeke) aircraft and damaged another.

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Fighter ace Rex T. Barber is interviewed by historian Bruce T. Porter about his military service with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Barber describes his wartime experiences as a fighter pilot and his time with the 449th Fighter Squadron in the China-India-Burma Theater. Special focus on an incident in April 1944 in which Barber was injured during a bailout and spent several weeks evading Japanese troops with the help of Chinese guerillas.

Scope and Contents In this two-part oral history, fighter ace Donald S. Bryan discusses his military service with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. In part one, he describes his wartime experiences as a fighter pilot, including his time with the 79th and 304th Fighter Squadrons while stationed stateside and his time in Europe with the 328th Fighter Squadron of the 352nd Fighter Group. Special focus on four combat missions that took place on September 9, 1943, November 2, 1944, December 23,...

Scope and Contents In this two-part oral history, fighter ace George T. Buck discusses his military service with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. In part one, he describes his experiences as a fighter pilot, including his time in Europe with the 307th and 309th Fighter Squadrons of the 31st Fighter Group. Special focus on his bomber escort missions in Romania and Germany and on an incident in which he was erroneously given malaria control pamphlets rather than his overseas deployment...