The Eight Ballers: Eyes of the Fifth Air Force: The 8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron in World War II (X Planes of the Third Reich Series)

183 Pages·1999·87.04 MB·English

by  John Stanaway

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The Eightballers:
i
Eyes of the Fifth Air Force
r
The 8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron in WWII
John Stanaway and Bob Rocker
SchifferMilitary History
Atglen, PA
_____• or ._•• _ ••
Acknowledgments
Theacknowledgments forthe 8PRS arethesegenerous people:
BenArmstrong,ConnieBailey,DickBailey,AllenBlum,Woodrow
Cobb,Mrs.AdenDavis,CurtisDell,JimDieffenderfer,MoeDmochowski,
Byron Dobbs, Tom Farmer, Bill Gailfus, Mrs. Marvin Gardner, Len
Headley, Bill Hilliard, Jim Kendall, Andrew Keppel, Don Kimbrough,
M. F. Kirby, EarlLee, DeLasso Laos, RobertLudtke, Jim McEwan, M.
Melman, HaroldMoffat,Vince Murphy, JohnNeilson, Roy Reid, Frank
Reindl,HectorRodgers,NorbRuff,RogerSheldon,DickShipway,Harold
Southard,ClarkSykes,VicTatelman,HerbertThomas,C.Thureen,Ralph
Watts,JamesWoods, andMessrs. Bugai,Heller, LookerandMattila.
BookDesignbyIanRobertson.
Copyright© 1999 byJohnStanaway &BobRocker.
LibraryofCongress CatalogNumber: 99-61082
All rights reserved. No part ofthis work may be reproduced or used in any forms or by
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ISBN: 0-7643-0910-2
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Contents
Introduction 6
8thPhotogrpahic Recon Squadron Begins 7
Chapter 1 8th Photo Squadron Diary 1942 8
Chapter 2 8th Photo Squadron Diary 1943 39
Chapter 3 Operational Summary 1944-45 101
Escape and Evasion:
The EightMonth Ordeal ofFred Hargesheimer 102
Color Gallery 145
Appendices
Appendix I 160
Appendix II 161
AppendixIII 164
11
Introduction
Happenstanceplayedalargepartwhenwestartedworkingon The diary itselfreveals the problems that every photo recon
this project. John Stanaway had decided to do something on the naissance unit faced during that part of the war. There were the
photoreconnaissanceversionoftheP-38 Lightning (F-4 andF-5) problemsofshortagesofpilotsandserviceableaircraft.Thenthere
when he learned that his old friend and Pacific air war research wastheweatherthatseemedtogobadeverytimethe8thhadenough
whiz, BobRocker, hadcontactedsourcesinthetargetunit(the 8th planes andpilotsto schedulemissions. Whenapilotgothis Light
PhotoReconnaissanceSquadron)whopossessedhundredsofhere ning overthe target in acceptably clearweatherit seemed that the
toforeunseenphotosofaircraft,personnel,andfamous locationsin camerawouldfogorbreakdownandturnadangerousmissioninto
NewGuineaandthePhilippines.Inaddition,thephotosweremainly futility.
ofprofessionalqualityfromtheverycamerasusedincombat.Other Thewriterofthediarysometimesmakesblandjokesaboutthe
photoswerepersonalexamplestakenbypilotsandcrewswhohad danger offlak orfighters, orofthe ever-presentfear ofbecoming
an edgeincomposingandproducing fine pictures. lostovertheforbidding landscapeofNewGuineaorotherequally
In addition, the story of the 8th is unique and distinguished uninviting islands in the area. Some pilots were lost and made it
enough to provide quite a narrative. The diary portion ofthe text backthroughthejungles to survivefor anotherboutwiththe need
wasprobablynevermeanttobewidelypublished,evidencedbyits forpicturesoftheSouthwestPacific. Otherpilotsjustdisappeared
manypersonalreferencesandramblingjokesthatwerethebaneof intothevoidaspartofthepaymentforkeepingHeadquarters sup
atleastone8thPhScommanderwhodeferredfromthedigressions pliedwithphotographicintelligence.
around the solidhistory ofthe squadron. However, thefeel ofthe The photos in this pictorial history were, for the most part,
periodisconveyedbytheexuberanceofatleastthreewritersinthe taken by the 8th PhS itself, thereby providing aquality survey of
Intelligence Section who were responsiblefor recording the story the unit's history. Virtually allofthepictures arepresentedfor the
ofthe 8thPhoto Squadron from the middle of 1942 until the unit first time and provide a unique record ofa great photo unit. The
wasabsorbedintothe6thPhotoReconnaissanceGrouplatein1943. reader will have acomplete view ofthe troubles and triumphs of
photoreconcrewsbattlingvariousobstaclesintheirdetermination
to completethemission.
6
8th Photographic Recon Squadron Begins
February - July 1942
The8thPhotoReconSquadronstarteditsexistencewithaWar ited with downing aJapanese fighter, and the story may have be
Departmentletterdated23December1941thatauthorizedperson comeconfusedwith Polifika.
nel and equipment. At first only three officers and twenty- eight However,Polifkawasanextraordinarypilotwithmanyattrib
men formed the cadre after the squadron officially became orga utedactsofskillanddaringtohisrecord.ThelegendaryCol.Boyd
nizedonFebruary 1, 1942. Nine more officers from the4th Map "Buzz"Wagner worked with the versatilePo1ifkato plan ways of
pingSquadronjoined theircomrades on7 March 1942, and forty using theirmeagerresources toplotoutJapanesepositionsand in
additional volunteer enlisted men from the 102nd Observation tentions. Polifka was so intent on his missions that he sometimes
Squadronmovedfrom MorrowFieldto MarchField, California. overlooked the danger thatalways maintainedits presence. Once,
Additionalpersonnelwereaddedandthreeflightswereformed Polifka accidently shutoffhis oxygen supply at high altitude and
(A, B, and C). Because ofthe war emergency in the Pacific, "A" woke up forty-three minutes later at 3,000 feet upside down in a
FlightwashastilymovedouttoAustraliaaboardtheS.S.President valley between 10,000 foot mountains about 170 miles south of
Coolidge on March 19, 1942. The 8th PhS was in the war zone at New Britain. Hequickly righted his F-4 andflew backhome, but
MelbourneAustralia byApril 7, 1942. Leading theflight with no for months hewasjibedforhisexcellentseriesofphotosdetailing
more than four F-4 Lightning aircraft was 1Lt. Karl L. "Pop" skyandcloudsthathisactivatedcamerasshot,oneeveryforty-five
Polifika, who practically singlehandedly flew the 8th Squadron's secondsfor almostforty-five minutes.
first operationalflights inlateApril andearly May 1942. OnMay2, 1942,Polifkaand"A"FlightarrivedatTownsville,
PolifkajoinedtheArmyAirForcesinthelate1930safterleav whichfinally gavetheF-4sareasonablebaseonthenortherncoast
ingtheconstructionbusinessinOregon.Hehadcomefrom aRus ofAustralia. "B" and"c"Flights arrivedatMelbourneonJuly 16
sian-Czech family, which background gave him a solid dislike of aboardtheS.S.MatsoniaandjoinedtheirsisterflightatTownsville
theAxispointofview. Helearnedthephotoreconnaissanceoccu onJuly 27, 1942,to completethe 8thPhS inthecombatzone.
pationwellandbecameoneofthegreatAmericanreconnaissance Anadvancepartyofthreeofficersandeightyenlistedmenleft
aces.Aftercommandingthe8thSquadronuntilNovember1942he forPortMoresbyonSeptember5, andafew weekslatertheentire
wasreassignedtoEurope tophotographthedespisedThirdReich. squadronwastogetherandoperatingfromSchwimmerDrome,north
While flying over the Pacific he learned the valuable arts of ofPortMoresby. Thesquadronflew from SchwimmeruntilJanu-
improvisiationtosecurebadlyneededphotosoftheadvancingJapa ary 5, 1944, when it moved to Durand Strip. From July 16, 1942,
o
nese.Hebeganto takephotos as earlyasApriltobecomealegend until February 23, 1943, the 8th PhS operated as part ofthe 19th
intheefforttohalttheJapaneseoffensive.Ingeneral,heiscredited BombGroup,eventhoughthe 19thBGdepartedforthecontinen
withheavycontributionsinphotographicintelligenceregardingthe talUnitedStateslatein 1942.Formuchofitsearlycombathistory
Japanesefleet beforetheresultingbattlein the CoralSea. the 8thPhoto Squadron operatedvirtually aloneunderthe control
One ofthe reportedevents that led to his highreputation was ofFifthBomberCommand.Mostoftheaerialphotographicintelli
theacquisition ofaB-24bomberand crew inApril to photograph gence was gathered from the efforts ofthe squadron, and the 8th
thegatheringfleetatRabaul.Heiscreditedwithanumberofapoc pioneered the methods and procedures lateremployed by the Re
ryphalfeats, such as outrunningpursuingZeros overtheJapanese connaissanceunitsoftheFifthAirForce.Theheartofthe8thPhoto
shipsnearingtheCoralSeawhenoneoftheenginesonhisF-4was Reconnaissance story lies in its own operational diary that covers
shotout. One ofthefeats attributed to Polifkais thedowning ofa theperiodfromlateJuly1942untiltheendof1943whenthesquad
Zero with his unarmed F-4. Another 8thpilot was officially cred- ron becamepartofthe6thPhotoReconnaissanceGroup.
7
•
1
8th Photo Squadron Diary
1942
Monday,July 27 CaptainWeidner SquadronExecutive
The Eighth Photo Squadron has come of age today with the Lt. Savage Flight"A"Commander
arrivalof19officersand 133enlistedmen.Whatwiththenew men Lt. Staller Flight"B"Commander
from the 435th Bomb Squadron and our own fledging group, we Lt. Surles Flight"c"Commander
now total 32 officers and 230 enlisted men. These new stateside Lt.Thomas SquadronEngineering
chapslooklikesmartboys, and althoughtheyperhapslackalittle
in experience, they will rapidly pick up and absorb the pearls of
wisdomdroppedbyus veteransand soonwillbeaterrificfighting
aggregation.Allow meamomentofreposewhileIstrokethislong
whitebeard.
Lt.PaulStaller,byallreports,didamagnificentjobofherding
thegroupacross thatwideblueseaandlooksinprettygoodshape
consideringtheresponsibility.Itisrumored,however,thatheheaved
morethanafaintsighofreliefwhenCapt.Polifka,thebemustached
commandingofficer,metthegroupinMelbourne.
Justtoshowtheboysthattheywerehereforbusiness,Lt.New
tonmetthetrainandgrabbedoff"Hap"Hazzardasco-pilotforthe
flighttoChartersTowerswhereB-17#126666istobeoverhauled.
ForgettingthatHapwasjustinfrom theStates,Newtonsaid,"Get
the superchargers."And so on takeoff Hazzard proceeded to pull
them back one by one. Thatis one ofthe reasons aman seems to
agequickly overhere. Hazzard was aptly named.
Capt. Polifka completed a photo mission of Bundaberg and
vicinity.
Tuesday,July 28
To aid the Squadron in its training program, the Nips visited
Townsville with air raid No.2 at0221. One serial 43 (Kawanishi
H6K "Mavis") Flying Boat was picked up in the searchlight and
engaged by A/A (antiaircraft). The Jap jettisoned his bombs five
miles NW ofGarbutt field and then disappeared. Six P-39s were
airborne, butcouldn'tseemto locatetheenemy.
Capt.PolifkadepartedforPortMoresbyinP-38"2325"at0930
forphotomissionsfromthatbase.HereachedPortMoresbyat1150.
Firstcommanderofthe8thPhotoRcn Squadron. Karl Polifka took
Thefollowing namedofficerswereappointedto theSquadron
thesquadrontoNewGuineaandpracticallyflewasinglehandedshow
jobs listed below,effective this date:
for thefirstfewweeksbeforetherestofthesquadron madeittoPort
Moresby inJuly 1942.Polifkawent onto theMediterraneanlaterin
the warand becamea legend in photo reconnaissance. Hewaskilled
inactioninKorea. (DelassoLoosviaRocker)
8
Chapter 1: 8th Photo Squadron Diary - 1942
F4 #25 at Garbutt Field in Townsville, Australia. April 1942. (Jim 8PRSF-4satGarbuttField. (HectorRodgers)
McEwan)
Lt.Rogers Squadron Operations andno damage was done. Fourfighters wereairborne and two in
Lt. Vestal SquadronAdjutant tercepted. The passes were made at 21,000 feet, and the enemy's
Lt. Search Squadron Supply tail was observed alight but later extinguished. Five more passes
Lt. Leonhardt Squadron Communications were madeandhits scored.
Lt. Cobb Squadron ChemicalWarfare Lt.Post,A.L.wasappointedSquadronArmamentOfficer,ef
Lt. Olson SquadronIntelligence fective this date.
W.0.Schrader Sq.Tech. andAdmin. Insp.
Friday,July 31
Wednesday, July 29 Remember those new B-17s we were promised? Well, 2458,
RaidNo.3 was endured this coldmorning. Oneserial43Fly betterknown as "Old 58," was turned overto us today, and itstill
ingBoatcameoverat0027anddroppedfromsixtoeightbombsin hastheoldremoteturret.AnotherheadachefortheArmamentSec
ClevelandBay west ofMagnetic Island. There were no casualties tion.
HarlanOlson briefingJohnKneeskern beneathF4"LimpingLizzie" HerbertThomasat14-Mile.(Thomas)
at14-Mile.(Jim Sills)
9
The Eightballers
F-4underrepairat14-MileStrip.(Mrs. Marvin Gardner) HaroldMoffattandgroundcrewunderF-5A#90"Sheila"at14·Mile,
probablyin 1943.(Moffatt)
Taking advantage ofa briefbreathing spell from ourarduous August 1,2,3,4
duties, the officersandmenopposedeachotherinasoftballgame. Not much happening these days. The new ships down in
Why is it the officers, those hand-picked specimens of physical Melbourne aren't ready yet, and our old beat-up jobs are out of
manhood, supposedly possessing the ultimate incoordination and commission, so mostofthe men are getting setin theirjobs, with
reaction time, can never beat the enlisted men? The EMs didn't occasional excursions to the countryside to find out what makes
evenneed that lasthalfinning. Australiatick.
Surles, Newton, and Reid have been giving B-17 transition
time to Staller,Thomas,Roerig, Gorton,and Rogers.
JimMcEwan nexttoaFaireyBattlethatlost powerand crashlanded Fred Hargesheimer was one of the top photo pilots in New Guinea
atGarbuttField.(McEwan) before he fell to a Ki-45 "Nick"fighter early inJune 1943over New
Britain. He wasoneofthe first to tackle the formidable Rabaul run.
(Loos)
10
Chapter 1: 8th Photo Squadron Diary -1942
coastandtheywereforced toclimbabovethe weathertoavoidthe
danger ofmountains. SinceTownsvillecould not be seen the ship
was flown to Charters Towers (which was) also closed in. They
returned to Garbutt Field. The same thing could have been done
earlier had the radio operator been more familiar with the green
code book. Alloperators are forewarned.
Monday,August 10
Lts.GardnerandFosterreturnedfromD.S.(detachedService)
with 435th Recon Squadron. They each have amission to Rabaul
and to Bukainthelogbooks-B-17 time.
Lt.Savageinship 12123returnedfromPortMoresbyat 1715/
Khavingsuccessfullycompletedphotographicmissionsfrom that
base.
Thursday,August 13
Lt. Paul Staller in ship 2125 leftTownsville at 1045 for Port
MoresbyviaHorn Island. HereachedHornIslandokand took off
Sanananda Point. SiteoftheJapaneselandingat Buna in July 1942. from there at 1700. He is now long overdue at PortMoresby and
(Melman) theyhave no wordfrom him there.
Lt.Newtonwithamakeshiftcrewleftthis morningin"58"for
amappingmission oftheDarwinarea.WithArtPostas navigator,
Friday,August7 FredHargesheimeras bombardier, andAirCommodoreHewittas
Lieutenants Newton, Rogers, Surles, andThomas andcrew in apassenger, hewillhave his hands full.
"Old58"departedfor HornIslandcarryingenlistedpersonneland
suppliesfor thephotographiclaboratory.TheyarrivedHornIsland Friday,August 14
at 1330and departedforTownsville at 1500.Becauseofdarkness We have received no word from Paul Staller, and a thorough
and bad weather, it was impossible to distinguish position along checkofthe ewGuineaairdromeshasbeenmadewithoutresults.
HarlanOlson,8thPRSIntelligenceOfficerandoneofseveralwriters 8thPhotoSquadronsign, probablyatoneofthe PortMoresbyfields.
ofthesquadrondiary. (Laos) (Hilliard)
11