PORTLAND, Ore. -- This month marks the 85th anniversary of the first of the three Eagle Squadrons to go into service in World War II. The Eagle Squadrons were three Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter squadrons which were largely manned with American volunteer pilots, 244 of whom were accepted for service from the thousands that applied. They began service while the epic Battle of Britain was being fought, when on September 19, 1940 RAF No. 71 (Eagle) Squadron was formed. After training for air combat in Europe, No. 71 began combat operations on February 5, 1941.
These Eagle pilots should not be confused with the 11 Americans who flew in RAF Fighter Command squadrons during the Battle of Britain proper (July 10 to October 31, 1940), and who earned the right to wear the Battle of Britain clasp on their 1939 – 1945 campaign star medal. But the Eagle Squadron pilots had similar motivation and were already in motion to join the RAF and fight against the fascist powers dominating much of Europe when the Battle of Britain transpired.
The second squadron was RAF No. 121 (Eagle) Squadron formed in May, 1941 which saw its first action in September that year. The third was RAF No. 133 (Eagle) Squadron formed in July, 1941. The squadrons primarily fought the Luftwaffe in the skies over England and western France, and some American pilots were detached to participate in defending the isle of Malta during the aerial siege the Axis powers mounted against that vital outpost in the Mediterranean.
The Eagle Squadrons all took part in the fiercely contested Dieppe Raid of August 19, 1942. Shortly afterward, on September 29, 1942 all three Eagle Squadrons were transferred over to the USAAF to form the 334th, 335th and 336th fighter squadrons of the 4th Fighter Group assigned to Eighth Air Force and the strategic air campaign against Hitler’s Germany.
Some of these Eagle pilots returned to the United States where they were reassigned to other new squadrons being formed in the great buildup of American airpower then underway. Three of them joined the 371st Fighter Group, today’s 142nd Wing, when the group was established at Richmond Army Air Base on July 15, 1943. In alphabetic order, they were William J. “Diamond Jim” Daley, Eric E. Doorly and Edwin D. “Jessie” Taylor. Each one deserves a dedicated article, but for now, a summary of their part of the air war in Europe while serving in the Eagle Squadrons.
William James Daley was assigned to No. 121 (Eagle) Squadron. He was the first of the trio to clash with the Luftwaffe, on March 8, 1942 when he damaged an enemy FW-190 fighter. On April 24, he shot down a Junkers W34 single-engine transport aircraft (another source says it was a Ju-52 Trimotor) and received half-credit for it with another pilot. Daley claimed an enemy aircraft on May 17, and on May 27 attacked and sank a 1,000-ton enemy minesweeper vessel and then shot down a Luftwaffe Me-109F fighter.
Daley garnered the nickname “Diamond Jim” perhaps in comparison to some aspect of American businessman/financier/philanthropist James B. “Diamond Jim” Brady. The pilot had the look of a dashing movie star and was quite the popular gent, and the name stuck.
“Diamond Jim” damaged another FW-190 on July 30 and when 121 Squadron was transferred to the USAAF and became the 335th Fighter Squadron on September 29, 1942, Major William J. Daley became its first commander. He turned the reins over to Maj. Donald J. M. Blakeslee two months later and was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by the RAF.
Eric Ellington Doorly was assigned to No. 133 (Eagle) Squadron. On the night of April 28/29, 1942, he was sent aloft in pursuit of a German DO-217 bomber over North Yorkshire, England. Radar guidance from the ground got him near enough to possibly damage it, though he was hit by return fire and bailed out over England. On August 17 his squadron supported the first US B-17 heavy bomber raid on the Continent from England in a raid on the railroad yards at Rouen, France.
Two days later, Doorly flew three sorties in the disastrous raid on Dieppe, France known as Operation Jubilee. The aircraft he flew that day was a Spitfire Mk Vb, serial number AB 910, Squadron code MD-S, which was flown four times that difficult day. On its third sortie with another pilot, Flight Sergeant “Dixie” Alexander shot down a Luftwaffe DO-217 twin-engine bomber five miles south of Dieppe. It was AB 910’s only aerial victory of the war. The Spitfire was part of the D-Day operation and ultimately survived the war. Over the years found its way to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight in which it still flies and is well-preserved.
On September 6, a few weeks before his squadron was transferred to the USAAF to become the 336th Fighter Squadron, he flew a Spitfire Mk IX, serial number BS 276, as part of the fighter escort for USAAF B-17s attacking Abbeville, France. A staffel (squadron) of enemy FW-190 fighters opposed them and the first American B-17 loss over Europe occurred that day. Friendly fighters were busy, and Doorly shot down an FW-190 but then in turn was shot down by the enemy and parachuted into occupied France. With the help of the French Resistance, he evaded capture, made his way south through France, across the mountains of the Pyrenees to Spain, and reached England by December, 1942.
Edwin Dale Taylor was assigned first to No. 121 (Eagle) Squadron, then transferred to No. 133 (Eagle) Squadron. He damaged an enemy FW-190 on May 31, 1942. He gained his nickname “Jessie” after he and another pilot confessed to helping themselves to the liquor in the officer’s mess after hours. The British station commander there at Eglinton asked him “Where do you come from, Taylor?” To which Edwin responded, “Oklahoma.” The commander then exclaimed, “Who do you think you are, Jesse James?” And the nickname, modified with an “i” to “Jessie,” stuck. “Jessie” Taylor also had a dog that became the squadron mascot, a miniature dachshund he named “Herman the German.”
“Jessie” was a volunteer for service in Malta, but his commander refused to let him go. On July 31 came evidence as to why. As part of the escort for a successful Boston (Douglas A-20) light bomber attack on Abbeville, Taylor and his squadron-mates were bounced by around 30 FW-190s and ME-109s and a big dogfight ensued. Taylor was hit and seriously wounded at the start of the fight when a bullet pierced his foot and another creased his forehead, with blood temporarily blinding him. Wiping the blood from one eye, and with a boot filling with blood, “Jessie” fought back fearlessly, shot down two FW-190s, and probably shot down an ME-109. He flew his damaged Spitfire back to base with 107 holes in it, not counting the holes in himself. His wounds were such that he was hospitalized for a time.
Taylor should have been nominated for a British Distinguished Flying Cross, battling back as he did after being wounded in the dogfight but during his initial recuperation at an RAF hospital at Torquay he was out of sight and lost in the shuffle of a squadron change in command and a war going on. His only contact from his squadron busy fighting the war was a visit by Eric Doorly who brought him his personal belongings.
“Jessie” narrowly escaped death again on October 25, 1942 when a quartet of Luftwaffe FW-190s conducted a “Tip and Run” raid in which his hospital was bombed, despite being clearly marked by a large red cross on the roof. Twenty-one patients and staff were killed and another 40 injured.
Taylor and another ambulatory fighter pilot were out of the hospital when the bombs landed. They had just come out of a nearby movie theater featuring a movie about a Polish pilot with a scene of aircraft attacking a ground target when two “real” FW-190s strafed the street they were on – the men jumped through an open doorway to dodge the bullets and hit the deck, right into a trough of fish. They were shocked to find that the wing of the hospital they were quartered in was demolished. “Jessie” was soon sent back to the States to fully recover from his wounds.
By 1943, all three men returned to the US and were then reassigned to the 371st Fighter Group. Daley became the group’s Deputy Commander. Taylor was made the Commander of the 406th Fighter Squadron and Doorly was assigned to his squadron. We have a formal request for information submitted with the RAF Museum to obtain their officially credited Eagle Squadron aerial victories for our archival reference and are awaiting a response.
As we remember the American Eagle Squadron pilots who fought for freedom against the Axis in the days before America joined the Second World War, we look with pride upon their achievements and particularly those of the three Eagles assigned to the 371st Fighter Group, We remember that about 100 of their comrades became casualties of war, killed, missing or captured. Their stories add another layer of luster to the history of the US Air Force and the 142nd Wing. Lest we forget.