WWII Eccentric Heroes

[The Wingnut]

Mike Gladytch and the other Polish nationals flying Thunderbolts were far more eccentric than their U.S. counterparts...you see a bit of that in 'Battle of Britain'.

 

[Twitch]

As a writer of combat aviation pieces I'd like to call your attention to Dominic "Don" Gentile. He was only eccentric in that he truly lived to fly and fight like most of the gentlemen previously mentioned. With the 4th Fighter Group he teamed up with John Godfrey blazing their way across Germany.

 

[Zemke Fan]

Agree...

with you gents who've named some of the greats who flew in the Big One. Twitch, I am particularly fond of the Eagle Squadron guys and have a ton of interest in Gentile, Godfrey, Beeson, and all of the others. My other interests (besides collecting more stuff than I can afford) also extend to the Desert Air Force (the 57th Fighter Group in particluar). Lots and lots of fodder for future threads in all of this!

 

[Twitch]

Looks like there are some hard core combat aviation guys here!

Jake431- I wrote a very complete article on Hans Marseille who I consider the best shooter of any pilot and a facinating character. I'll send it to you or post it here if that's permitted. Lemme know.

These fighter pilots were just such intricate personalities in their own right. Couple that with the machines they flew and you have high drama and endless stories.

 

[Danny L]

How about Rudolf Hess? That guy was wacked!

Joachim Peiper? Brillant with really poor judgement?

 

[The Wingnut]

I wouldn't exactly call Hess a 'hero'. I'd call him a personality...a deranged one, at that.

Is anyone else getting tired with how easily people throw around the term 'hero'? Heros are people who do something truly heroic. Autie Murphy was a hero. Joe Foss was a hero. Guys like my grandpa, who was a B.A.R. gunner in the 69th infantry division, was just another honorable guy doing his job. He didn't do anything heroic.

 

[Hondo]

I wouldn't exactly call Hess a 'hero'. I'd call him a personality...a deranged one, at that.

Is anyone else getting tired with how easily people throw around the term 'hero'? Heros are people who do something truly heroic. Autie Murphy was a hero. Joe Foss was a hero. Guys like my grandpa, who was a B.A.R. gunner in the 69th infantry division, was just another honorable guy doing his job. He didn't do anything heroic.

Audie Murphy a true hero indeed, the topic isn't heroes its "eccentric" and I'm not a doctor or one to give an example so I'll leave it to others in the know.
I do agree 100% the heroes were guys like your grandpa and my dad a navy deck hand gunner, all of them, just doing there jobs, and especially those who died, real heroes. Its been said many times not every one gets "press" like Murphy, but if you served, did you job you indeed are a hero in the eyes of many, and your family, you don't need a badge to carry, hold your head high. All the regular Joes, honorable :cheers1:
On December 7th, the cook who took a gun to defend Pearl Harbor, theres a hero:cheers1:

 

[locobuster]

I'd have to go with Maj. Jack M. Ilfrey, C.O. of the 79th Fighter Squadron and one of the first aces in P-38s. He was not only a great pilot and leader, he was a master at ignoring military regulations to do what was right.

 

[GreyWolf]

There is a guy (Kenneth Williams) from England (now living in New South Wales) that claims that he helped Bader with his tin legs in a hotel in Liverpool during the very period (May-June 1942) when Bader was in a German POW camp. He calls his saga "The Douglas Bader Enigma" and it is a very interesting read.

Check it out >> The Douglas Bader Enigma

Sorry but it's tripe. Bader didn't return to the UK until he'd been liberated from Colditz in 1945 - this story is just a lot of hot air and blather by someone who either got his leg very firmly pulled in 1942 or has just made it all up.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Congressional Medal of Honor winner....

Sergeant Maynard Harrison "Snuffy" Smith.

When the going got tough, 'Snuffy' said, "P*ss on it!"

http://www.homeofheroes.com/wings/part2/06_smith.html

 

[Fletch]

Why do I think there's a lot less room for eccentricity in today's highly regimented war machine? I can't imagine the War On Terror tolerating such mavericks and kooks. Too much a battle of politics and loyalty. A war of minds with a toll in bodies.

One of my favorite WW2 loonies is Geoffrey Pyke, the British inventor with a mad scheme to make aircraft carriers out of "pykrete" = ice mixed with woodchips...

 

[Paden]

The only pilot with a cigarr lighter in his Me 109!


http://aerostories.free.fr/reaction/galland.JPG

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c2/Adolf_Galland_portrait.jpg

 

[Harp]

Why do I think there's a lot less room for eccentricity in today's highly regimented war machine? I can't imagine the War On Terror tolerating such mavericks and kooks.

...mavericks flee to elite outfits.

 

[Haversack]

I seem to recall back just prior to the coalition attack on Afghanistan when had a number of special forces there working with the Northern Alliance, several photographs made the rounds which depicted some of these military troops bearded and on horseback. I even seem to recall an account of them playing bushkazi.

Haversack.

 

[Haversack]

For a WWII eccentric, (perhaps not in Wingate's class), I would nominate Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Aside from him going on commando raids with his friend Lord Lovat well before the US entry, he used his knowledge of Hollywood light and sound technology to create a specialized commando unit which came to be known as the Beachjumpers. Using a couple of specially equipped PT-boats, they could create the impression that an invasion fleet was just off-shore. They were also very useful in using deception for other "more shore-ward" tasks. The US Navy eventually pulled Fairbanks out for fears of him being captured.

Haversack.

 

[TailendCharlie]

A real flying Tiger; Hank Greenberg

In May 1940, Greenberg's baseball career was interrupted when he was drafted into the Army. One of baseball's highest paid stars, his salary dropped from $11,000 to $21 per month. In August, Congress decided that men over 28 years old need not serve, and Greenberg was honorably discharged. He planned to return to the Tigers the next season, but on December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the U.S. declared war. Greenberg was the first major leaguer to enlist in the Army, even though he had been excused from serving. While he could have had a stateside job as an athletic instructor, Greenberg chose to serve in the Army Air Corps in the China Burma-India Theater, where he had a distinguished record.
(from www.jewishvertuallibrary.org)

 

[Spitfire]

Somebody mentioned Lord Lovat and his commandos. Most of these guys were crazy. Must have been.

Especially Lord Lovart's personal piper (Millin?)
Imagine walking in on the D-day beaches playin a bagpipe.:eusa_clap

Being a dane I must mention the danish Major Anders Lassen.
Commandos and special forces in the Mediterranian. Especially the greek islands. One of the very few forreigners to recieve the Victoria Cross.:eusa_clap
A truely outstanding - and "difficult" - personality.

Many of you guys have allready mentioned a lot of "flyboys" and right you are!
My favourite candidate to the title must be Kid Hofer from 4th FG.
He flew with his German Sheepherd dog on his lap, making it look like, the dog was alone in the cockpit. He always wandered away from the group in search of more enemies to shoot at. He often got himself lost over Europe, and ended up dead in former Yougoslavia! On a trip from Debden (UK) to Berlin and back. Talk about a detour.

 

[Story]

Got to be Orde Wingate....

..who often wore an alarm clock around his wrist, which would go off at times, and a raw onion on a string around his neck, which he would occasionally bite into as a snack. He often went about without clothing. In Palestine, recruits were used to having him come out of the shower to give them orders, wearing nothing but a shower cap, and continuing to scrub himself with a shower brush. Lord Moran, Winston Churchill's personal physician wrote in his diaries that "[Wingate] seemed to me hardly sane --- in medical jargon a borderline case."

Wikipedia has a decent account of him, most readers of this thread would enjoy his pre-war resume -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orde_Wingate

An LRDG alumni eccentric hero would be - Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Vladimir Peniakoff DSO MC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popski's_Private_Army

See also
http://users.pandora.be/ppa/blad7a.htm

 

[Alan Eardley]

The 'ring of truth'

Sorry but it's tripe. Bader didn't return to the UK until he'd been liberated from Colditz in 1945 - this story is just a lot of hot air and blather by someone who either got his leg very firmly pulled in 1942 or has just made it all up.

IMHO this has about the same 'ring of truth' (i.e. chance of being true) as most of the stories about the death of Glenn Miller!

 

[priestyboy]

No list would be complete without Greg Boyington.

And to add to that, how about Chris Magee, one of his pilots?

By now we know that the Black Sheep as a whole weren't really the rough and tumble mess so poorly portrayed on the TV show.

There were a few exceptions and Chris Magee was one. A Black Sheep full of mischief and adventure, he ended the war as Boyington's top Ace (second to Pappy of course). He didn't settle down after the war as he pursued trades as a black marketeer, bootlegger and then going to Israel to serve as a fighter pilot with them. He did a little work as a courier for some American "businessmen" involved in Latin American politics and then ultimately ended up in jail for robbing a bank.

For more on Chris see the book, "Lost Black Sheep" by Robert T. Reed.

Now this guy was a character and as far as his WWII time, was an eccentric hero.