Oral History Interview with H. James Avery, April 11, 2001

Oral History Interview with H. James Avery, April 11, 2001

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Description

Transcript of an oral interview with James Avery. Mr Avery was a junior at the University of Illinois when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He signed up with the Army Air Corps since they would let him finish his degree before they would take him. However, the Army Air Corps was not able to honor its commitment since they needed pilots badly. In March 1943, they called him up and sent him to Lackland Air Base for the preflight program. From there, Avery went to Fort Stockton where he learned to fly in a Fairchild PT-19 and then to Goodfellow Field … continued below

Physical Description

22 p.

Creation Information

Avery, H. James April 11, 2001.

Publisher

National Museum of the Pacific War
Place of Publication: Fredericksburg, Texas

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Provided By

National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Established in 1967, the Museum honors the 8 million Americans who served in WWII in the Pacific Theater by sharing their stories with the world. Located in Fredericksburg in the restored Nimitz "Steamboat" Hotel, the Museum partners with the Texas Historical Commission to preserve the historical resources of the era.

Description

Transcript of an oral interview with James Avery. Mr Avery was a junior at the University of Illinois when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He signed up with the Army Air Corps since they would let him finish his degree before they would take him. However, the Army Air Corps was not able to honor its commitment since they needed pilots badly. In March 1943, they called him up and sent him to Lackland Air Base for the preflight program. From there, Avery went to Fort Stockton where he learned to fly in a Fairchild PT-19 and then to Goodfellow Field in San Angelo to learn to fly a BT-13. After two months of basic training, he went to Reese Air Base in Lubbock to train in the AT-17 and got his wings there in January 1944. Avery wanted to fly the B-26 and he got his wish; reporting first to Del Rio and then to Barksdale Field where he got his crew assigned. There were six of them in the crew. After about three months at Barksdale, they went to Savannah, Georgia to pick up a brand new airplane. However, they had to wait six weeks for their ship; Martin Company was behind in building the B-26s. They were there on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and felt badly that they weren't over there to help after hearing about the terrible loss of lives at Omaha Beach. They didn't get delivery of their plane until October 1944. Next was their hop to Europe via South America and Africa among other places; eventually landing at Newquay, Wales after almost two weeks of flying. Avery stated that this trip is one of his most cherished memories. They were assigned to the Ninth Air Force, 323rd Bomb Group, 454th Bomb Squadron in Leon, France; this was mid-November 1944. He flew his first mission as a co-pilot. Their missions were against bridges, ammo dumps, supply trains and yards; anything to deter the enemy's capability to move. Avery provides a good general description of the missions they flew including the flak they encountered. He flew 44 missions in all and was discharged in October 1945.

Physical Description

22 p.

Subjects

Keywords

Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms

Library of Congress Subject Headings

World War, 1939-1945

University of North Texas Libraries Browse Structure

Language

English

Item Type

Text

Identifier

Unique identifying numbers for this text in the Portal or other systems.

Accession or Local Control No: OH00073
Archival Resource Key: ark:/67531/metapth1603435

Relationships

Oral History Interview with H. James Avery, April 11, 2001 - ark:/67531/metapth1607403

Collections

This text is part of the following collections of related materials.

National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection

This oral history collection depicts an instrumental era in American history. In these transcripts of interviews with World War II veterans are personal experiences with the war, from the Doolittle Raid and D-Day to the Battle for Bataan.

National Museum of the Pacific War Digital Archive

The Digital Archive presents digitized collections from the Center for Pacific War Studies collections at the National Museum of the Pacific War. Collections and material are continuously being added and represent only a small portion of the archives' physical holdings.

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