Home front letters about wings--poignant.

[pfrost]

This will be a long post.  It doesn't show any rare wings, but it does talk about wings. Please be patient, as I think this will be very important and interesting thread to those of us who are fascinated by the history of wings and not just the collection of them.

 

As collectors, we often talk about wings as if they were something mystical to the airmen who wore them.  I suspect once they faced the mortal danger of combat, the pilots and aircrew had very little romanticism left and probably were just happy to land and have a beer with their buddies. Maybe get some letters from a loved one, and catch up on some sleep. But it is very rare to actually hear from the people at the time about their feelings concerning things like wings.

 

About 15 years ago at the Rose Bowl flea market, I was mucking about in a box of old envelops. Most were empty, but they had been mailed from an APO numbers in San Francisco.  I grabbed an handful of the envelops (all written by a HR Holmes and addressed to a Mrs HR Holmes) from either the 31st BS, 39th General Hospital, and the 371st BS. One of the envelops had an interesting notation of (+ wings). 

I was able to figure out that the letters came from a Howard Rue Holmes, of Pasadena California. 

 

Lt Holmes was born in 1918 and died in 2007.  Apparently he enlisted in March of 1941 and if I had to guess was an aviation cadet (I strongly suspect he was a pilot, but could have been a navigator or bombardier).

 

By June of 1943 he was in the 31st Bomb Squadron, but transferred to the 371st BS in July of 1943.  These were B-24 squadrons flying out of Esperito Santo, Guadalcanal, and New Georgia.

 

Sometime around January or February of 1944 he was involved in a crash or accident that resulted in him going to the 39th General Hospital. It doesn't sound like he was seriously wounded, although the letter written by his wife says mentions that it was bad enough for him to spend the next 5 months in and out of the hospital. And that he lost some of his crew (I assume killed).  It seems that he was grounded for a time.  After that, it seems that he decided that the didn't want to fly anymore and the grounding became permanent.  He seems to have struggled with this.

 

The next few posts are from the letter his wife wrote to him where she discusses her feelings about his choice.

 

[pfrost]

The only correspondence I found was in one of the envelops.  There is one from him dated April 23rd but that only talks about how much he wants to get home. The other is a three page typed letter from her to him.  It appears to have been sent to him while he was in the hospital recovering. The top of the letter is notated that it was written in 2/18 and mailed two days later. The note "to 715" probably refers to the APO715 which included the 39th Gen Hospital.

 

It seems that in the letter that she is responding to, he wrote that he was feeling like a Kiwi... a flightless bird.  I expect that he was grounded after the incident that killed one of his good friends, he lost his nerve for flying and was assigned to be the squadron Mess Officer. He is clearly upset about this, and feels like he has let himself, his mates, and his wife down.  I assume he also wrote to her that he didn't feel worthy to wear his wings anymore.

 

Her response to  him is so loving and clear headed.  I think when I read this, I fell in love with her just a bit (no not in a creepy--"this could have been your grandmother") way, but in her clear insight and support of her husband.  He was lucky to have her. (BTW her name was Phyllis May Bone) 

 

[pfrost]

more of the letter.  He was in combat and probably did some sort of testing with the USAAF that she feel kind of bitter about.

 

She also uses something I haven't seen before.. .the term TARFU (Totally And Royally F****d Up or Things Are Really F****** Up).  What a saucy lady!

 

I think she wasn't that happy with the US Army and its treatment of them.

 

 

[pfrost]

The last few parts of the letter:

 

Here she tells him that she thinks he earned his wings and that he should be proud of all that he did.  Pretty sage advice!

 

 

It sounds like he was offered the chance to return to the States but decided to stay. She mentions a crash, the loss of some of his crew and his injury.  Also that he was awarded the air medal.  AND that as far as she is concerned the wings and the AM go together! 

 

[pfrost]

In summary, here we have a pretty good indication that wings were kind of mystical to the pilots and airmen who wore them.  That is was a huge source of pride, but it wasnt just the wings, it was the deed behind them that were important.

 

Thank you for letting me put on my Ken Burns hat.

 

I did find one other bit about Lt Holmes. This is a picture from his Montebello HS yearbook.

[dmar836]

Quite an interesting read. Thanks!

Dave

[jeff41st]

Great read. Thanks for sharing this Patrick.

[Wharfmaster]

More proof that war is Hell.   Thanks for posting.