Glen T. Noyes
GLEN T. NOYES entered the Army
Air Force on Dec. 10, 1942 at Los Angeles,
Calif. Sent to Lincoln AAF, Nebr. for basic
training he was subsequently assigned for six
weeks college refresher training at Iowa State
Teachers College, Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Assigned to Santa Ana Army Air Base
Cadet Classification Center in May, 1943, he
was selected for pilot training, Class 44BX,
and graduated from Luke AAF, Ariz., on Feb.
8, 1944. His assignment following graduation as an "instructor pilot" with the 3rd Air
Force at Baton Rouge, La., was a bitter
disappointment. But bitterness turned to
pure joy when the assignment was actually to
fly P-47's at Abilene AAF, Texas.
Noyes is one of the few who has flown all of
the '47's - the 0-47 and P-47 at Abilene,
the C-47 at various places and times, and the
Boeing B-47 as a Strategic Air Command
combat crew commander.
Assigned to the 373rd Fighter Group,
412th Fighter Sq. as a replacement upon
going overseas, shortly after "D-Day" Noyes
and about 10 other pilots were in the
advanced echelon to go to Normandy and
make ready the facilities for the Group.
Caught in the Battle of St. Lo, they wandered
about Normandy for three days before locating an apple orchard near Bayeaux, which
within a few days was transformed into an
airfield with two pierced planking runways.
Checkout for combat consisted of a couple
flights with Capt. Eldridge Bates and Capt.
Les Hough for familiarization. Before the
war wound down, Noyes flew 88 missions. All
but five involved bombing and strafing
attacks. On Dec. 22, 1943, he shot down an
ME-109 on a head-on pass while the squadron
was reassembling west of Bonn, Germany.
Earlier his Jug was hit and severely damaged
by flak west of Koln on Friday, Oct. 13, but
the Jug got him back to Belgium before he
had to crash land at over 150 mph. Thirteen
days later he bailed out when he couldn't
jettison a live bomb and landing gear was
damaged by flak.
He spent VE Day in London and returned
to the USA on June 4 aboard the SS Payne.
Wingate, a Liberty ship which was rammed
by a British tanker in Mid-Atlantic on the last
day of convoy of WW II. It limped into
Hoboken, N.J. and was salvaged.
Out of the service in Nov., 1945, Noyes
worked as a news reporter and photographer
and flew P-51 Mustangs in the California Air
National Guard until returning to active
duty in August, 1950. In the USAF, his
assignments included instructor pilot in T-6's, T-28's, B-25's and T-33's; F-86F's and
F-86D's in the 51st Fighter Interceptor
Wing in Korea and Okinawa; F-86D's with
the 86th FIW at Ramstein AB, Germany;
B-47's and B-52's in SAC. He flew 65 B-52
missions in S.E. Asia. Colonel Noyes' final
assignment was as Base Commander, RAF
Upper Heyford, England, in support of the
F-lll mission. He retired in Feb., 1973.
A widower, he was married to the former
Betty Haney of Pittsburgh. Their two daughters, Susan and Gail-Anne reside in California. Noyes returned to his home town, Redlands, Calif., where he is sales manager for a
real estate firm.
Pilot Name
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Biography Summary
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Asa A. Adair
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He returned to the States in August of 1944 after participating in the invasion "D" Day. He flew P-63's, P-51's, F-80's, T-33's, F-84's, T-38's, P-47's in numerous assignments during the following twenty years in in, Japan, U.S.A. and Europe before retiring after twenty-six years of Active Duty.
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John C. Anderson
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After P-47 transition he was assigned to the 406th Fighter Group, 512th Fighter Squadron. (E.T
.0.) He flew 56 missions through January, 1945 destroying supply routes, bridges, and railroads; he also flew close support missions with the ground forces, with attacks on tanks, artillery and enemy positions.
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W.B. 'Tex' Badger
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Eight and Ninth Air Force in WWII. B-l7's, P-51's and P-47's. Fifth Air Force in Korea, F80's and F86's. WWII and Korea, Flew 156 missions. Tactical units served in with the USAAF and USAF were: 305th BG , 368th Fighter Group, 4th Fighter Group, 49th Fighter Group, 12th Fighter Wing, 506th Fighter Wing.
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Robert T. (Bob) Bagby
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He trained in P47's at Cross City and Dale Mabry Fields, Florida and then joined the 341st FS Black Jack Squadron), 348th FG of the 5th AF in Brisbane, Australia in June 1943. Bob flew 78 combat missions in New Guinea (Port Moresby, Finchafen, Sador, Wakde and Biak) primarily as wingman to squadron CO's John Campbell and John Moore. Also privileged to fly wing to Neil Kirby on several occasions.
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Frank Baker
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After brief stops at Stone and Atcham, England he joined the 313th Fighter Squadron of the 50th Fighter Group in France. He flew 90 missions through V.E. Day. Most of the missions were close support attacks on various ground targets with a few B-26 escort missions thrown in. All of the missions took place in eastern France and southern Germany. He was awarded the Air Medal with 11 oak leaf clusters.
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John M. Balason
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To relieve the boredom, Balason went down on the deck and blew up a locomotive
he had observed at altitude. A few seconds after making his strafing pass he received a hit in his left wing tank and a fire started immediately in the cockpit. The paralyzing effect of the intense heat made climbing out of the cockpit impossible.
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Albert W. Barlow, Jr.
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He flew 69 escort and ground support missions. Destroyed one E/A (ME-I09). Was shot down on Sept. 8, 1944, and evaded enemy ground forces for 8 days. Was picked up by an American Recon. Unit behind the German lines. Was hospitalized until Feb. 1948, when he was medically retired with the rank of Capt. Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, and Purple Heart.
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William T. Beckler
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In July, 1944 Beckler exchanged his P-40 for a P-47N Thunderbolt. Missions in the Jug covered Northern Italy and Southern France. These included escorting medium bombers. The Bombers, based in Southern Italy, would be escorted to France by Thunderbolts based on Corsica. Shortly before target the Jugs would pull ahead of the bombers and bomb the enemy gun positions.
Beckler's activities while participation in three major campaigns earned him the DFC, two Air Medals and two Presidential citations.
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Herbert R. Benson
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After training in P-47 Thunderbolts at bases in North Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware, he was
assigned to the European Theatre of operations and joined the 48th Fighter Group
493rd Fighter Squadron at St. Trond, Belgium. After flying 44 combat missions, he was awarded the Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf clusters.
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Marvin C. Bigelow
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Training in the Southeast Training Command with the class of 44C, he graduated and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant single engine pilot at Marianna, Florida with the class of
44D. After checking out in the P-40 at Marianna, he transitioned in the P-47 in the Northeast Defense Command and after gunnery at Dover, Delaware was shipped on the Queen Mary to England.
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