Portland, Ore. -- When Japan announced its surrender on August 15, 1945, effectively ending the war in the Pacific, an interim period transpired before Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day) was officially proclaimed.
Indeed, even after the surrender decision was declared, a USAAF Airman, 19-year-old Sergeant Anthony J. Marchione, became the last American air combat casualty of the war during a reconnaissance mission over Tokyo when his Consolidated B-32 Dominator very heavy bomber was attacked by Imperial Japanese fighter planes on August 18, 1945. Additional time and effort was required to bring Imperial Japan’s military forces under control.
The impact of termination of hostilities affected Oregon’s first military aviation squadron, the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron (the Redhawks, today designated as the 123rd Fighter Squadron) then deployed to China, as described in “Redhawk Squadron on Victory over Japan Day,” here.
Pacific Bound, or Not...
On the other side of the planet, August 15 also found an impact on the 371st Fighter Group, the future 142nd Wing of the Oregon ANG. Per the unit’s August, 1945 history, it was assigned to the 70th Fighter Wing, XII Tactical Air Command, Ninth Air Force in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) at that time.
As the war in Europe ended in May, 1945 rumor spread the group would remain as part of the occupation force in Germany, which slumped morale. Then the rumor was redeployment to the Pacific through the US, and to the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater. Per the group’s warbook, The Story of the 371st Fighter Group in the ETO, Morale “...soared to new heights when we learned we were to go to the CBI via the United States.”
It is possible the group, given its knowledge and combat experience with the Republic P-47D Thunderbolt fighter, would have converted to the new long-range version of the Thunderbolt, the P-47N.
And the group could possibly have been assigned to the same numbered air force in the CBI, either Tenth Air Force or Fourteenth Air Force, as the 35th Photo Recon Squadron Redhawks, as part of the buildup of Allied airpower in the region for the invasion of Japan. Military planners were already working on Operation Olympic, the first invasion of Imperial Japan’s Home Islands at Kyushu, scheduled for November 1, 1945.
The group was alerted on July 5 for overseas movement and by July 14 received movement orders, shipment order 10085 for the USA. It began turning in aircraft to prepare for the redeployment, as well as turning in equipment, making convoy and passenger lists in preparation for movement to a marshalling area.
But on July 26, the movement order for the group was cancelled and the group began a reverse process. It was told it in early August that it was considered part of the “United States Strategic Reserve,” still in “Category II” and was scheduled to return to the US in December. The Pacific rumors dissipated, and occupation of the former Third Reich continued with an uncertain duration. The “...indecision and vacillation that had been characteristic of all our moves in the past held true to the end...” Group members had to sweat it out for what was to happen next.
Another Continental Move
On August 9, the day a Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, Headquarters (HQ) XII Tactical Air Command ordered the 371st Fighter Group to move in Europe yet again. On August 11, the group began moving from Bavaria to Austria.
When Imperial Japan threw in the towel on August 15, the group was in the process of relocating from Fürth/Industriehafen Airfield (Advanced Landing Ground R-30) near Nuremberg, Germany, to Fliegerhorst Hörsching (ALG R-87) in Upper Austria.
Horsching was at a location hand-picked by the deceased Fuehrer back in 1938 just southwest of Linz, on the Danube River. Adolf Hitler considered Linz to be his hometown. Field Marshal Hermann Goering had turned the first groundbreaking shovel of dirt for construction of the new base on May 13 that year, and foreign slave labor and later some prisoners of war were used to build it, housed in a camp adjacent to the base.
By 1940 the new airfield was opened. It served as a bomber training base early in the war, though as the tide turned it became more of a fighter base to defend against the growing air raids of the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive. The runway was lengthened to over 6,500 feet (2,000 meters) in late 1944 to enable it to handle jet aircraft such as the Me-262 fighter, some of which flew from there late in the war. Nearby Linz was the target of one of the last American heavy bomber missions of the war in Europe on April 25, 1945. Horsching was the farthest into Europe the 371st Fighter Group moved during its 1944-1945 European deployment.
August was already a month of chaos for unit personnel, with many transfers in and out of the unit under the Adjusted Service Rating Score (ASRS) point system. Points were awarded based on length of service, overseas service, combat awards and campaigns as well as having children back Stateside. The initial requirement to qualify for return to the US and discharge from the military was 85 points.
The group’s 405th Fighter Squadron history for August described the transfers, “After settling down in our new quarters at R-87, Horsching, Austria transfers tapered off to a steady flow. Low point men out, high point men in.” This suggested the unit would return to the States perhaps earlier than others.
Although the month was one of constant change, the group and its three fighter squadrons still accomplished routine daily activities and training. The 406th Fighter Squadron history for the month, for example, noted 52 training sorties flown in the first ten days of August.
Horsching Air Hub
On August 16, the 371st Fighter Group closed its HQ at Furth and opened it at Horsching. The journey by vehicle was some 200 miles and took about nine and a half hours on the road.
The next day, Friday, August 17, the group officially declared a holiday at Horsching in honor of the Victory over Japan. Although the activities of the group aren’t described for that day in group histories, it was probably just nice to relax a bit after yet another continental move.
Like at Furth, where the group shared the airfield with the 425th Night Fighter Squadron, the group shared Horsching with another Northrop P-61 Black Widow outfit, the 416th Night Fighter Squadron which arrived at R-87 three days earlier on August 13.
In addition to the Black Widows, another P-47 Thunderbolt outfit, the 79th Fighter Group known as “The Falcons,” was already ensconced at Horsching, having arrived there from Italy on July 27, 1945 its latest stop along a long wartime road tracing back to Egypt in November, 1942.
It was at Horsching on July 31, 1945 when the former Vichy France prime minister Pierre Laval was extradited from Spain aboard a Luftwaffe Ju-188 bomber that diverted from Salzburg to Horsching due to weather – 79th Fighter Group members detained him at Horsching before he was handed over to the French to face trial for treason.
And the 17th Bombardment Group (Medium) was there too. It arrived even earlier, from France in June, 1945 with its Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers. This bomb group had travelled a long way since December 7, 1941 when it was assigned to Pendleton Field, Oregon after which it provided most of the cadre for the B-25 Mitchell Doolittle Raiders. It then deployed to North Africa in December, 1942 with the B-26 for overseas combat service at many different bases.
Conditions at Horsching were praised by many as the best the group enjoyed in all of Europe, from England, to France, Germany and Austria, although they may have been unaware of the base’s origins. The group’s August history described it as “... a good field, our best, with excellent quarters for everyone.” The 404th Fighter Squadron history for August said this about it: “The Squadron is set up on the best field that they have had since coming tom the ETO. The living conditions are the best imaginable. The EM’s have china, tableware, table cloths and civilian waitresses for their messhall and for the first time since leaving the states are not eating out of Army issue mess kits. The officers have practically the same set-up with both luncheon and dinner music provided by an Austrian band.”
On August 20, per General Orders No. 2, HQ Horsching Army Air Base, the 371st Fighter Group Commander, Col. Bingham T. “Bing” Kleine, assumed command of R-87.as the ranking flying officer on station among the groups.
The group continued to fly. The 406th Fighter Squadron history for August described the month’s activity as thus: “During the past month flying has continued as usual with the use of 16 P-47’s for training flights. One P-47 has been scheduled daily to used as Group and Squadron mail courier, between Linz and Nurnberg until APO change has been natified (sic) with corresponding relatives and friends.” And there was this addition, “Our squadron was assigned an L-4 which is in constant use with scheduled local flights in which EM are given a chance to fly.”
Tying up Loose Ends
While at Horsching, the group received an August 24 order from Ninth Air Force which originated at the HQ, Army Air Forces in Washington D.C. The unit was to search for the whereabouts of the group’s Capt. William T. Bales, Jr. Known as “Shorty,” he went Missing In Action on a combat mission and engagement with enemy aircraft on April 13, 1945 in the Gotha area of Germany.
At this point in postwar Europe, zones of occupation by the Allied powers were established in both Germany and Austria. The search area was within Russian-occupied territory in Germany. A team from the group which began the search got no farther than Linz, Austria, where elements of the US 26th Infantry Division refused them passage, citing a lack of authorization to cross over the Danube River into Russian-occupied territory of Austria.
On September 1, the unit requested authorization from higher HQ, but by the time that was received and processed through the various echelons of command, the 371st Fighter Group moved yet again, and then returned to the US, leaving the search to continue on into 1946 with other Army personnel in Europe. The full story of “The Mysterious Fate of William T. “Shorty” Bales, Jr.” is detailed, here.
Social Activities
August 27, the 404th Fighter Squadron enlisted men held their first dance in Austria, “...utilizing nearby DP’s and messhall waitresses for dancing partners. Liquid refreshments were provided by the first whiskey ration given to the non-commissioned officers under the new directive that officer rations will be split 50-50 with non-commissioned officers. The dance was something of a farewell party for all men being transferred and there was much regret and sorrow mingled with the fun.”
The 406th Fighter Squadron history for August noted that “Officers are invited to the Group lodge situated on the beautiful Atter Sea for periods of 3 days under a scheduled program. It’s a sportsmans paradise and during the evening wine women and song are also in abundant force.”
Although the group was now in an ideal spot, officers and enlisted men were still sent for 7-day rest and recreation leaves to Cannes, France. Though in this period a lack of transportation did not always allow for the full quota of leaves to be used.
Horsching was quite the cross roads of humanity in the aftermath of the war. A Displaced Persons (DP) camp was on the western border of the base, Lager 60 (Camp 60). It was originally used for the labor to build the airfield, then for prisoners of war. After the prisoners left the camp, it was used for DP’s from the east and southeast. In the Linz area itself was the notorious Mauthhausen Concentration Camp and its sub-camps.
The Commander Departs
On August 31, orders for Col. Kleine’s return to the U.S. arrived. He was the 371st group’s commander throughout its early days of establishment, operational training, deployment to Europe and combat across the continent to war’s end. Two days later, on September 2, the day Imperial Japan’s representatives formally signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard the U.S. Navy battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay. Victory over Japan Day, V-J Day, was formally proclaimed as Col. Kleine left Horsching for the Zone of the Interior.
With Col. Kleine’s departure from R-87, Lt. Col. William P. McBride, the 404th Fighter Squadron’s commanding officer, assumed command of the group. Although the 371st group would leave Europe in the not-too-distant future, McBride would stay on and assume command of the 36th Fighter Group at Kassel-Rothwesten (R-12), Germany.
Leaving Austria
The group didn’t stay in Austria for long, and the group’s entry on pages 257-258 of the USAF’s “Bible” on group histories, Air Force Combat Units of World War II by Maurer Maurer, states that the 371st left Austria sometime in September-October for Stuttgart, Germany, and then departed for transport by ship October and November, arrived at Camp Shanks, New York on November 9, 1945 and inactivated the next day, Saturday, November 10, 1945.
A handwritten war diary for the group, not typed, tracked the group’s movement into mid-September. The personnel changeovers continued and on September 6, the unit was alerted for a possible movement to ALG R-50, Stuttgart/Echterdingen Airfield (Stuttgart Airport today) In Germany.
Back to Germany
On September 11, per the written diary, some personnel deployed to R-50 to make preparations for the rest of the group to follow. Additional members left on September 12, and on the 13th, Col McBride arrived to help sort out “...cramped living quarters and office space.” R-50 was definitely a step down from Horsching.
The September 15 entry noted more of the group moving to R-50 by vehicle and aircraft, and that “...rain added to the general confusion of unloading with no office space...” The last entry was on Sunday, September 16, “A day of rest but we’re working because there are reports of a POM inspection. Only 4 P-47s left & they are to be turned in this week along with all a/c but our C-47.” (POM is Preparation for Overseas Movement)
Back in Austria
Back at Horsching, the USAAF presence saw the 17th Bomb Group leave in early October. Both the 79th Fighter Group and 416th Night Fighter Squadron lingered much longer, into 1947. On July 31, 1948, the U.S. Army officially renamed the air base at Horsching as "Camp McCauley" to honor the memory of Captain William S. McCauley, commanding officer of Troop C, 4th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron who died on December 20, 1944, from wounds sustained in combat at Bogheim, Germany.
US Forces in Austria (USFA) remained at Camp McCauley until the Austrian State Treaty of 1955 restored Austrian sovereignty. Today the air base is a dual-use civilian and military airport, the Linz Airport on the north side of the east-west runway, and the military part on the south side, in those best facilities the 371st ever enjoyed. The military side is now called Fliegerhorst Vogler since 1967. It was named after 1st Lt. Walter Vogler of the pre-war Austrian Air Force, who on June 15, 1936 steered his burning Caproni Ca-133 tri-motor bomber away from an urban area before it crashed, losing his life in the process.
Reflections
As we commemorate the end of the war in the Pacific and of World War II eighty-one years ago, we can be grateful for the part the 35th Photo Recon Squadron played in the CBI, and the role of the 371st Fighter Group in Europe to help bring an end to the brutal global conflict.
Both units expended precious blood and treasure in operations against enemy forces. The 35th lost 13 during the war, with six missing (including three at a known ship loss location in the Mediterranean Sea) until last July, when 35th PRS pilot 1st Lt. Franklin H. McKinney was accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) – see the press release, here.
The 371st Fighter Group lost 53 men during the war and two shortly after the end. Five of these 55 remain Missing In Action to this day.
Although there have been wars since then, fortunately none have broken out into massive, worldwide armed conflict such as the Second World War. The capabilities and readiness of today’s 142nd Wing, 123rd Fighter Squadron and other elements of the Oregon ANG help to deter such global conflict.
To those who fought in the Pacific and earned the victory, we salute you on this V-J Day. To those who were going to the Pacific before then, we’re thankful the war ended when it did.
Special thanks to Mr. Mark Joyce, proprietor of the 79th Fighter Group, “The Falcons,” website for information and images which contributed to this story. You can learn more about the fascinating history of this remarkable fighter group, here.