A Citizen Soldier in the Air - a B-24 Liberator pilot's story.

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A Citizen Soldier in the Air.

Not jolly yet!

At Iron Range, Charlie and crew joined their squadron, the 321st Bomb Squadron, part of the 90th Bomb Group, which in turn was part of the Fifth Air Force. It’s important to note that while the 90th Bomb Group later became well known under the nickname "Jolly Rogers", .... it did not have this name during the time that Charlie served in Australia and New Guinea (November 1942 to June 1943).

Colonel Rogers became the C.O. of the 90th in July 1943, and at that point, the name "Jolly Rogers" seems to have been adopted, along with the skull and crossed-bombs tail art that became quite famous. In late 1942 and early 1943, the 90th BG was part of a very small air force that served as an important stop-gap to Japanese plans to capture all of New Guinea and eventually Australia.

Insignia of the Fifth Air Force, courtesy of heavybombers.com

Although there were some carrier-based US Navy and US Marine forces, as well as RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) planes, the Fifth Air Force had to provide most of the air power to contain the Japanese. With limited forces available, the strategy consisted of searching for and attacking Japanese shipping wherever they could, as well as attacking any Japanese bases that were within range of Allied aircraft.

Charlie was proud to be part of the 90th Bomb Group whatever they may have been called, but he likes to point out that a lot of the actions (including the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in March 1943) took place before the "Jolly Rogers" name was applied.

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