in 100 octane and hanging them out to air dry. We were young, daring and desperate. We did it all and lived to tell about it. The days we ate from our mess kits and sand blew so hard, a crust formed over our food; and we would tunnel under the crust to get to the food.' These excerpts barely scratch the surface of what our men endured during that time. The morning of April 18, 1943 (Palm Sunday) dawned uneventfully over the desert. By this time, the 57th had moved its operations westward from Gambut, Libya, to El Djem, Tunisia. Early in the morning of April 18, the 57th flew a reconnaissance mission over the Mediterranean and saw nothing. Later, the English and South Africans took their turn and again reported no contact. At 5:00 p. m., a final patrol by the 57th FG, consisting of the 64th, 65th, and 66th, squadrons left El Diem. Bob was one of 12 members of the 65th to fly the mission that afternoon. Their orders were, 'Pick up Spitfire cover to be provided by the 244 Wing RAF. Proceed to the Gulf of Tunis and patrol easterly and westerly off Cape Bon. Come back when gas supplies dictates.' They climbed out and leveled off at 16,000 feet. They flew west along the coast line of Tunisia and then turned out over the Mediterranean. They received orders from Captain Jim Curl, group commander, and executed a formation that now spaced them into the sky like a flight of stairs. They continued patrolling, flying first to the east and then back to the west. No enemy was sighted. As daylight turned to dusk and gas ran low, they executed their final turn to return to base when someone spotted a large armada of aircraft below, barely 1,000 feet off the surface of the water. It was composed of JU-52s, a large tri-motored German transport, Me109s and Me110s, both German fighter aircraft (Messerschmitts) flying cover. The Germans were flying supplies and reinforcements into North Africa. After sizing up the situation, Captain Curl gave the order to attack. 'A squadron leader somewhere in the formation said, 'stay in pairs, boys,' somebody gave a yelp and there was a high-pitched howl as the first line of four Warhawks split into pairs and went down in a long sweeping turn to the right. The second element followed. The German fighters, turning into the attack from all directions, came at the Warhawks. The Palm Sunday Massacre was on'. What happened next was a fierce, wild battle, too confusing, too lengthy and too complex for this treatise to describe. You are referred to the excellent discussion presented by Dodds, Thruelsen and Arnold. Ten minutes after the first shot was fired, the air over the Gulf of Tunis was clear. The Palm Sunday Massacre was over as quickly as it had begun. During that ten minute battle, the 57th and their top cover of spitfires destroyed 59 JU-52s, 14 Me109s, and 2 Me110s. In addition, one JU-53 and one Me-109 were listed as probably destroyed and 17 JU-53s, nine Mel09s and two Me110s were damaged. The pilots who participated in the battle referred to it as 'the Goose Shoot.' At some time during that ten-minute period, Bob's P40 was hit by enemy fire and plunged toward the Mediterranean. The following is the only known account of what happened next. 'One Warhawk pilot, believed to be Lt. Blakeley of 65th squadron, bailed out at K-6885 (map coordinate) and his a/c (aircraft) hit the water at K-6284 (map coordinate). A pilot (possibly Lt. Blakeley) was seen swimming in the water. Sky conditions overcast, visibility poor.' In addition, five other pilots from the 57th were listed as missing in action. 'Air and ground searches were conducted during the months of June, July, and October, but no evidence was found which would aid in the locating and recovering of the remains of the subject deceased (Lt. Blakeley.) The coastal area has been searched for isolated burial and sites of crashed planes with negative results and QMG Form 371 for the subject deceased (Lt. Blakeley) has been compared with the Reports of Findings of Identification Processing Teams on all unknowns washed ashore in that area, with negative results. Examination of captured German documents failed to reveal any information relative to the subject deceased (Lt. Blakeley)'. Little did Bob realize that he had participated in what would become known as one of the greatest aerial battles of World War II. The destruction of the supply planes that day broke the back of the Germans in North Africa, and they surrendered 25 days later. Bob is listed in Wayne Dodd's book as belonging to the 'Late Arrivals Club' (LAC). This applied to pilots who failed to return to base following a mission. Some returned days or even weeks later. Unfortunately, such was not the case for Bob. The names of all members of the 65th squadron are listed on the wing of a Me109 in the 65th 'bar' which now resides in the New England Air Museum, Windsor Locks, Connecticut. An entire section is devoted to the 57th Fighter Group. As was the custom, Bob was listed as "Missing in Action" for one year and one day then declared Killed in Action on April 19, 1944. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart which was presented to his wife, Leah. Bob is officially listed as Buried at Sea on the Tablets of the Missing in North Africa, and the American Cemetery in Carthage, Tunisia. As a modest man, Bob would be embarrassed by this. He would say he was just doing his job; but to us, he is a hero. Submitted by Charles G. Summers and Marilyn 5. i Diamond, nephew and niece 8_ William Ensign Boyington - POW Sergeant William E. Boyington was a member of the 381st Bomb Group as well as the 533rd Squadron, and was a navigator of a B-17 that was shot down during a bombing raid over Munich, Germany, on July 31, 1944. He and the rest of the crew parachuted out into the woods in southern Germany. He hid for about two weeks in the forest but was captured by German troops while attempting to cross a bridge one night. He was taken to a prison camp where there were other captured GIs. From there, they were put in the hull of a cargo ship and were transported north by sea to a POW camp in East Prussia. He remained at that location until January 6, 1945. When the Russians began to advance from the east, the prisoners were compelled to go on forced marches to escape the advancing Russian troops. Five thousand POWs were broken up into marching columns of about 200 and began walking south. During these marches, they would stay the night in barns along the way, or in snow banks if there were no barns for shelter. There was very little food. Many men died of starvation, malnutrition, or cold. These columns of POWs zigzagged their way back into the heart of Germany. They were always evading the advancing allies. Sometimes they marched south, and often they would turn around and march north again. Finally, on May 10, 1945, the POWs got up in the morning and the German guards had gone. This same day the British troops arrived and liberated those POWs who were lucky enough to still be alive. Loa Virgil Brown Loa was shipped around from place to place in the Air Force. He had a two-week interval between each transfer, so he went home to Arizona between these times of service. In the beginning of the war, he was a volunteer at Falcon Field, Arizona, as an airplane mechanic. The soldiers taunted him and his friend because they were civilians. They enlisted in the Air Force in an effort to "show up" the soldiers. An interesting thing about working as a civilian as well as a soldier is that he had two Army seal numbers: one started with a 19 the other with a 39. The 19 was for volunteers and the Army wouldn't let him keep his release from that, so he used his honorable release from his soldier 39 number. He met his wife because of the war. He was stationed at the base in Moses Lake, Washington, and made a good friend there. His friend took him to see his sister who was a nurse in Seattle. Eventually, they fell in love and got married. His wife was from Ogden, where they eventually made their home. She is a former professor here at WSU, Dr. Ruth Brown, who taught Psychiatric Nursing. He never saw action; he ruined his knee while serving at the base in Hayes, Kansas. As he was running cross country on an eight mile run, he fell and twisted his knee on an uneven piece of training ground. Two big guys fell on top of him, and it ripped the knee. After he recovered, he put in for overseas service; but they wouldn't let him go because of his injury. Dale T. Browning Dale Browning served in the Air Force as a legal and intelligence officer. He attained the rank of captain. Fay W. Bryner Fay W. Bryner enlisted in the Air Force on October 26, 1942, and was in the 15th Air Force stationed in Italy. He was an engineer gunner on a B-17 bomber. His tour of duty was to fly fifty bombing missions over European enemy-occupied territory. Most of his missions were flown east over what was known as the Balkan States, consisting of Budapest, Bucharest, Ploesti, and Austria to name a few. 9