By Charles M. Houston

Go to the bottom of this page for information on how to order this book.

 

Charles "Chuck" Houston's book about the events that he and his shipmates experienced during World War II is about ready to go to print! He's compiled the logs, diaries, stories and memories from long-time friends and shipmates to help ensure that family, friends, and future generations get a feel for how things were aboard Wasp and in the air during the War.

Chuck was born in 1923, four years before Charles Lindbergh flew the Atlantic. The author's boyhood heroes were the flying aces of World War I (The Great War) and the daring barnstorming pilots of the 1930's. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, Chuck became a Naval Aviator. He is a plankowner of the USS Wasp (CV-18) and attended the commissioning ceremonies in Boston. He flew fighter planes from the flight deck of Wasp as an "Iron Angel" in VF-14.

After the War, Chuck returned to college and art school in California. He spent the next 50 years designing architectural projects, manufacturing ceramics and building materials, practicing sculpture, and helping his wife raise four children. Semi-retired in 2000, Houston has joined his Air Group Fourteen shipmates in a look back at those adventurous years as Naval aircraft carrier pilots in World War II.

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The Book

"FLYING WITH IRON ANGELS" is hard cover and self-published. It contains 480 pages and includes more than 100 photos and 50 maps and drawings.

This is a first class book. It will be printed on acid-free paper for a longer shelf life and will be wrapped in a handsome dust jacket.

29 men contributed their memories of WW II events.

All the material that follows, including the title "FLYING WITH IRON ANGELS", are copyright protected by Charles M. Houston.

THE MEMORIES

A half century later these ex-pilots and air crewmen recall their experiences of so long ago, details of aerial combat that still burn brightly in their memories - plus recalling the monotony of living for months on a ship out in the middle of an ocean.

Interwoven are some of the official Navy Aircraft Action Reports, the de-briefing of the pilots after these flights.

The photos and maps are from our various personal albums and collections plus photos from the National Archives.

 

THE DIARIES:

Navy pilots tell their personal logs how it felt that day to fly through enemy anti-aircraft fire, fight Japanese airplanes and then find the home aircraft carrier and land with nearly empty gas tanks.

 

THE MEMORIES:

A half century later these ex-pilots and air crewmen recall their experiences of so long ago, details of aerial combat that still burn brightly in their memories - plus recalling the monotony of living for months on a ship out in the middle of an ocean.

These are the chronicles of real human beings living high adventures and comradeship, set off by hardship and self-sacrifice in World War II.

Interwoven are some of the official Navy Aircraft Action Reports, the debriefings of the pilots after these flights.

These all tell the story of one year in the lives of men on the USS Wasp and the men who flew the airplanes during 1944 in our Pacific War.

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This is a collection of the diary entries and the memories of many Air Group Fourteen comrades. The objective is to present an account of life in all four of our squadrons.

 

A sample ....

 

CHAPTER FOUR

 

COMMISSIONING THE U.S.S. WASP

 

(National Archives Photo)

"At the commissioning of the U.S.S. Wasp, in Boston, Captain Sprague presents the Air Medal to Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Eduguardo M. Coppola. Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt is at the right side of the photograph."

 

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CHAPTER FIVE

 

THE SHAKEDOWN CRUISE

 

by the middle of January, 1944, all three of our squadrons had left N.A.S. Quonset Point and then we spent many days at Naval Air Station Norfolk, Virginia, waiting to board the Wasp for our shakedown cruise. The purpose of the shakedown was to give the ship's company and the pilots and aircrewmen of Air Group 14 some experience in working out flight deck procedures.

While we waited at Norfolk to board the Wasp, we had many days of bad weather with far too much idle time. VF-14's Paul "Skip" Coari could always dream up interesting and unusual stunts whenever he had idle time:

MEMORIES - Ralph Goddi, Fighter Squadron VF-14, Aviation Ordnanceman, AOM 2/c

. . .we parked the plane, hopped out and went in to have our hamburgers and shakes while the employees were all buzzing over having a Navy plane parked behind their restaurant.

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The bad weather on January 28 prevented us from flying our planes from the air station to meet the Wasp at sea, so we had to taxi all the planes from East Field down to the pier to be hoisted aboard. All of that taxiing, for two miles through the air station roads, was done without a single nose-up, so apparently, those lectures that skipper Biros had been giving VF-14 were making an impression on us. And I don't recall any taxiing problems with the bombers either.

The Wasp departed Norfolk at 1400 (2:00 PM) on January 31, 1944, sailing through the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and out into the Atlantic Ocean. The ship's company was busy running the vessel but we pilots had no duties at that time and we were all wandering from deck to deck exploring our new home.

At the bow of the ship, directly under the flight deck, on the Forecastle Deck, was the junior officers' "Fo'castle Bunk Room," where several dozen of us young pilots would soon be packed into a large room, completely filled with triple-decker bunks. Just forward of this bunk room the fo'castle opened out onto the bow of the ship with the flight deck projecting out above it and with a dramatic, panoramic view of the sea ahead of the ship.

As the Wasp left the waters of the Chesapeake and on out into the Atlantic, the salt water spray and a strong wind were blowing across the fo'castle deck as Don Gruber and I stood there congratulating each other with handshakes and back-slaps. We had finally made it to a fleet squadron on an aircraft carrier! This was a very emotional moment, imprinted forever in my memory.

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MEMORIES - Ed Coppola, Fighter Squadron VF-14

Shakedown cruise to Trinidad and watching the first two SB2C dive bombers go into the water on takeoff on the first day of flight operations * * * respotting the aircraft on the flight deck to give them more deck space ....

On the third day we passed Puerto Rico and on day four we arrived at Trinidad. This is an island near the north coast of Venezuela, South America. Between Trinidad and the mainland is a large bay, the Gulf of Paria, which is about 30 miles wide and 70 miles long. The bay is semi-enclosed with only two narrow inlets from the sea and it provided a practice area that was well protected from German submarines. For the following two weeks, the Wasp cruised the Gulf of Paria while Air Group 14 practiced many flight exercises.

 

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CHAPTER SIX

 

THE PANAMA CANAL, SAN DIEGO AND HAWAII

 

The U.S.S. Wasp sailed from Boston on March 15 and we flew out from Quonset Point to meet her at sea. I recall being very aware that anyone who had trouble starting his plane, and could not join up with our flight out to the carrier would be stranded ashore. The Wasp was not going to wait around for anyone. Fortunately, we all made it and landed safely aboard.

After five days, on March 20, we docked at Colon, Panama, had an evening shore leave and then back to the ship. On March 21 we went through the canal and this was an extremely interesting passage. Although the canal locks were huge ....

 

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CHAPTER ONE

 

THE LAST DOGFIGHT

 

This is how it all ended for us. Air Group Fourteen's last air battle with Japanese planes was on November 5, 1944.

By that time we had been flying in very intensive combat for nearly six months and we were exhausted. We no longer felt that youthful enthusiasm to get at the enemy that we had felt six months before. In those early months most of us had been fresh, new pilots eager to take on the Japanese. Everything then was new and exciting and we had such complete self-confidence.

But, now we were seasoned veterans, still going out on strike after strike, but only occasionally feeling that exhilaration of combat that had engulfed us in the early months.

Since late in October we had been hearing rumors that we would soon be relieved by Air Group 81. But the rumors always proved to be unfounded and we kept going back for more strikes on the Philippines and on the Japanese Fleet.

 

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DIARY - Lieutenant Glenn Revel, Fighter Squadron, VF-14

Nov. 1, 1944…Heard tonight we were going back to the Philippines. Hope not.

Nov. 2…Sure enough-it happened. We sailed last night. Godamit anyhow…

 

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DIARY - Lieutenant (jg) Everett Fulton, Dive Bomber Squadron, VB-14

Nov. 2…We were anchored in Ulithi lagoon expecting to be relieved by another air group … having a beer party on the beach when a jeep came by telling all hands to return to their ships. So here we are on our way back to the Philippines.

This was the second time we had been disappointed like this. It had happened two weeks before with rumors about our being replaced--- and then we had been called back to the Philippines where two more of our fighter pilots had been shot down in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. We also lost two more dive-bombers and one torpedo plane.

After so many months of combat it seemed especially tragic to be killed so close to the end of it all.

ELIMINATING THE JAPANESE PLANES

By November 5 our Task Group 38.1 had arrived on station just east of the coast of Luzon in the Philippines. The Wasp and the Hornet, plus the Monterey and Cowpens, all sent in large fighter sweeps to the Clark Field area of Luzon, north of Manila; then these planes were followed by our dive-bombers and torpedo bombers, with the usual escorting cover of fighter planes.

Our Job was to destroy the replacement planes that the Japanese had continued sending down their chain of islands to the Philippines where Japanese troops were trying to dislodge General Douglas MacArthur's invasion force at Leyte Gulf. We had recently destroyed hundreds of their planes, but more of them kept appearing overnight on the airfields of Luzon and the other islands.

These strikes on November 5 really stirred up a hornet's nest of Japanese fighters.

 

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DIARY - Lieutenant (jg) Ray Heiden, Dive Bomber Squadron, VB-14

Nov. 5 - A large number of Japanese planes are reported to be on most of the airfields. Our job is to knock them out so they won't bother MacArthur. An unusually large fighter sweep was sent over the target ahead of us and we are to rendezvous with them when we reach the mountains on the East Coast of Luzon… From what we could hear on the radio our fighters were rather busy . . . There was a terrific dogfight going on right over the field. As we approached I saw a plane diving toward the ground with flames trailing behind it. It crashed just north of the field. Another Jap taking off was shot out of the air just as he got airborne he crashed and exploded. We had to dive through the dogfight to get to our target of parked aircraft.

In the swirling dogfight that day over the Clark Field area, Fighting Fourteen shot down 21 Japanese planes and, along with Bombing 14 and Torpedo 14, destroyed many dozens more on the ground at the enemy airfields. But we also suffered the loss of Bill Knight, our last fighter pilot to be shot down. Also, two of our dive bombers were shot down but the crew of one of these parachuted safely and were picked up by Philippine guerrilla forces in the mountains and then returned to us.

After the surprised Japanese had scrambled off the field and had come up to meet them. Knight's second section leader, Jack Sisk, and his wingman, Larry Dewing, downed three Zeros, but then the action got too furious for our planes to stay together. After Ray Taylor lost contact with Knight, Ray went on to shoot down two more planes. But he never saw Bill Knight again.

 

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MEMORIES - Jack Sisk, Fighter Squadron, VF-14

We lost Willie at Mabalacat #2, near Clark; we were looking for airborne too assiduously maybe and got scattered out. At one time I'm at 300 feet, happily firing away at a Zeke [Zero fighter], who had just launched, had flaps down and wheels trailing. Two Hornet VF [fighters] went by me like blue flies and creamed my target; looking for Bill and Smokey and Larry proved no go, so I went to rendezvous point, found company and came home.

 

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DIARY - Lieutenant Glenn Revel, Fighter Squadron, VF-14

Nov. 5 - Struck all fields north of Manila …several were shot down on sweeps…Bill Knight got shot down today.

Anyhow he didn't return. Sure hated it. I know how Mary will feel.

Bill Knight was one of the best-liked and most admired men in Fighting 14. He was our squadron's leading ace with 7 1/2 planes to his credit. It wasn't until much later that we finally learned the full story of Bill Knight's last flight, and it turned out to be a story both tragic and inspirational. I'll tell you the whole story in a later chapter.

In that morning's first furious dogfight seventeen planes were shot down by VF-14 fighter divisions led by Bill Knight, Glenn Revel and Fred Jacobs. Two hours later Kenny Garwood's squadron's got three more and in the third strike of the day Ed Coppola's division shot down our squadron's last Zero of the war. This was VF-14's last dogfight with the Japanese. All of the different fighter squadrons from our carrier group that attacked the Clark Field area that day shot down 97 planes. So, we again, had control of the Japanese fighter planes in that area and our bombers could continue to pound their airfields with nothing to bother them except, the anti-aircraft fire, but those big AA guns were very deadly and most of our air group's losses had always been to AA fire rather than to enemy fighters.

In the dark early hours of the next day, November 6, 1944, at 4:00 AM, Lieutenant (jg) James Bruce, Jr. and Ensign Irving Straus, two of our night fighters, took off on a heckler and night intruder mission over Clark Field. When a "Helen" bomber flew over the field, 1/ Straus attacked and got hits on it and then Bruce finished it off -- the last enemy plane shot down in the war by Fighting Fourteen pilots.

During the day of November 6, we sent three strikes against airfields on Luzon and destroyed many planes at Clark and Mabalacat airfields; then all our planes returned safely to the Wasp.

When it became definite on November 6, that Air Group 14 was really going to go home, there was much happy, noisy celebrating in our three ready rooms on the Wasp. But the happiness in Fighting Fourteen's ready room was a little subdued by the thought of losing our friend, Bill Knight, shot down on this last combat flight.

1/ "Helen" was our code name for a Nakajima twin-engine heavy bomber.

 

 

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ILLUSTRATIONS

 

Houston peppered his book with photos and maps from personal albums and collections, as well as photos from the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

 

CAPTION: "The U.S.S. Wasp, CV-18. Seen from the water level on her starboard bow. The wartime "Dazzle" camouflage was meant to confuse enemy gunners, but we never heard if it actually succeeded. It probably didn't. Each carrier's paint job was slightly different from that of other carriers and this often helped us pilots pick out our own carrier ..."

(National Archives Photo)

(National Archives Photo)

CAPTION: "Vice Admiral John S. McCain presenting Air Medals for aerial photographic reconnaissance to pilots of our photo division. The Admiral is shaking hands with Jack Stokes and Al Lorraine is on the left. Al was shot down two days later ..."

 

 

CAPTION: "BURIAL AT SEA - Services for A. J. Bridges, Gunners Mate First Class, killed on June 19, 1944, by a bomb blast close to the Wasp. The bomb was dropped by a Japanese dive bomber during the "Marianas Turkey Shoot" action."

 

Chuck also provides detailed maps to help readers understand how and why the events unfolded as they did.

CAPTION: "DAY TWO OF THE BATTLE OF THE PHILIPPINE SEA - 20 JUNE 1944"

 

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS - THE MEN WHO WROTE THE DIARIES

 

 

 

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