VP-112 Miscellaneous
BOOKs: Title: "I Was There When the World Stood Still" by K. Ray Marrs. In September of 1942, nine months after the bombing of Pear Harbor, I joined the Navy V -5 Flight Training program, at age 18, with 15 of my hometown classmates. After completing a four-month introduction to flying at a local airport and ground school at the Arkansas City, Kansas Junior College, I was one of thirteen, from that class, to be called to active duty on February 2, 1943. I was privileged to be one of three from that group to graduate, nine months later, and wear the Wings of Gold of a Naval Aviator. I soloed a PBY-5B at age 19 and flew that seaplane for several months before making the transition to the PB4Y -1 at NAS Chincoteague, Virginia in May of 1944. After completing that training my crew flew a new PB4Y-1 (B24-J) to North Africa, via the southern ATC route and joined VPB-112 on October 17, 1944. During the following three months we flew a number of Anti-Sub 1 missions in the Gibraltar Funnel area. Our Squadron was transferred to England in early January of 1945, where we joined four other squadrons of FAW-7. When the war ended in Europe my crew had flown 27 missions and was sent back to the States in June of 1945 for reorganization and checkouts for duty in the South Pacific with the PB4Y-2. Before that reorganization was completed the hostilities with Japan had ended and I was released from active duty after a short stint in the South Pacific. After returning to my hometown Kansas, my wife and I started a farming operation that included livestock and grain and grew to a 1500 acre spread. We raised three sons and a daughter on that farm and have lived in the same spot for 58 years but now leave the farming to others. AuthorHouse http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail~bookid~14172.aspx Contributed by Paul Jarvis vaq134@cox.net [27SEP2007]
BOOKs: Title: "I was there when the world stood still" This book tells how the bombing of Pearl Harbor changed the life of a Kansas farm-boy from farmer to PB4Y pilot/navigator and served during WWII in European/African with VPB-112, FAW-7 & FAW-15 and was awarded the DFC and Air Medal with three gold stars. K. Ray Marrs raymarrs@hit.net [01OCT2003]
 "...I have just been informed that my book, I was there when the world stood still , is helping in the research on NAAS Upottery, England . That was our home base for VPB-112 and VPB-107 of FAW-7 during the final days of WWII...K. Ray Marrs raymarrs@hit.net..." [15APR2006]
BOOKs: Title: "U.S. Navy PB4Y-1 (B-24) Squadrons in Great Britain During World War II" by Alan Carey acarey@austin.rr.com is the story of U.S. Navy Fleet Air Wing Seven (FAW-7) and the men who flew the Navy version of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber between 1943 and 1945.
Profusely illustrated and containing a wealth of first-hand stories and information, the book documents the daily life of Navy Liberator aircrews stationed at Dunkeswell and Upottery, England during World War II. Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator squadrons were unlike their counterparts in the U.S. Army's 8th Air Force, who battled their way through thick flak and swarms of German fighters while flying to and from targets in continental Europe. Often, Navy aircrews fought battles of boredom and fatigue while flying 12-hour patrols. The job of U.S. Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator aircrews was to keep German U-boats from successfully operating in the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel by going out day after day, often in miserable weather conditions, on unrelenting search and destroy missions. During the war, FAW-7 Liberators were responsible for the sinking of five U-boats and damaging many more. However, the men of Dunkeswell paid a heavy price for keeping the U-boat menace in check. Between 1943 and 1945, nearly 200 Navy Liberator personnel serving with FAW-7 were killed in either operational accidents or combat.
Over 300 photographs
Color Profiles
Wing Organizational Structure
Personnel Losses
U-boat Contacts and Kills Attributed to FAW-7 PB4Y-1 Liberators
FAW-7 Operational Sorties
FAW-7 Commanding Officers
FAW-7 PB4Y-1 Losses
FAW-7 Squadron Disposition of PB4Y-1 Liberators
Index
Bibliography
Notes
[Most all squadrons attached to FAW-7 are mentioned or has pictures showing many crews. The following squadrons served with FAW-7: VP-103, VP-105, VP-107, VP-110, VP-112, and VP-114] [Book Now Published 23JAN2003 | 11NOV2001]
BOOKs: Title: "Atlantic Air War: Sub Hunters vs. U-Boats" by Jack Lambert [Most all squadrons attached to FAW-7 are mentioned or has pictures showing many crews. The following squadrons served with FAW-7: VP-103, VP-105, VP-107, VP-110, VP-112, and VP-114. I have not seen the book so I don't know if every squadron is represented.] [28NOV99]
"VP-112 Summary Page"
|
