WWII Pilot Recalls Planes, Training and Watermelons

World War II Pilot recalls pilot training at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.

(PRWEB) July 15, 2006 -- It was 1943 and the U.S. was in the middle of World War II. Luke Field (now Luke Air Force Base) had opened two years before. Unlike today’s bustling combination of business and residential areas, the West Valley was predominately a region of cotton fields and onions.

While the terrain was an expanse of agrarian tranquility, the skies were buzzing with the sound of single-engine trainers as young aviation cadets learned the exciting, but dangerous task of flying everything from the T-6 to the P-40 War Hawk.

Walter Douglass, then an aviation cadet with the Army Air Corp who was undergoing advance pilot training at Luke Field, remembers Luke Aux 5, an air strip in Buckeye, located adjacent to the proposed Buckeye Town Center, as a training facility that was mostly used at night.

“The air strip was shaped like a triangle, as were all air strips of that time,” said Douglass. “We’d land on one side, turn and taxi and then take off on the other side. While we sat and waited for our turn to practice take offs and landings, we’d eat the watermelons that grew in the surrounding fields.”

While take offs and landings are considered two of the most dangerous aspects of pilot training, the exercises at Luke Aux 5 were relatively calm compared to target practice in Gila Bend. This part of the pilot’s training involved shooting live ammo at a target towed by another aircraft.

“No one wanted the job of towing the target. It was a disciplinary action to keep the men in line,” said Douglass. Infractions that could result in this unpleasant target-towing task ranged from returning late from leave, to not making a cot to the flight instructor’s satisfaction.

Douglass explained the guns on each plane had different colored bullets. Once the exercise was finished, the target was examined to see which gunners hit the target with greater accuracy and which ones fell short.

While Douglass survived his training unscathed, greater peril emerged during the heat of battle. While flying a mission over France, his plane, a P-51 Mustang, was shot down before crossing back over the English channel. The young pilot was captured and imprisoned in Stalag Luft 3 in Germany, a special POW facility for Allied air crews. This prison camp is the same one made famous in the movie, “The Great Escape”. Douglass describes the experience stoically. “It wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t that great either.”

Undeterred, Douglass continued his military service and served both overseas and abroad until May 1971. After 30 years of active duty, the retired Colonel and his wife, Virginia (Ginny) returned to Arizona and made their home in Litchfield Park, a place he affectionately calls “his oasis in the desert.” Douglass, now 84, enjoys Litchfield Park’s close proximity to Luke Air Force Base. He frequents the base on a regular basis and shops at the local BX.

Once a month, Douglass meets with other Ex POW’s in Sun City. He is also a member of the Daedalians, an international organization of military pilots who meet at major cities throughout the world. Once a month, the brotherhood of pilots, who range from World War II veterans to those who recently served in Iraq, meet at Luke AFB and swap war stories. Both young and old begin each meeting with the pledge of allegiance, a prayer and a toast to the memories of the brave pilots who died so others could be free.

Planes, Trains and Watermelons is part of an historical perspective sponsored by Buckeye Town Center, the proposed 750,000 square foot regional power center planned at I-10 and Verrado Way in Buckeye. For more information contact Marks Public Relations at 480-664-3004 or email comicsall @ yahoo.com.

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