by Miner, Ron
AOM3/c Harry Richardson - Gunner
ACMM(AA), (CA) Roy Doull
AOM3/c Robert Knecht - Gunner
Crewmembers Doull and Knecht were not listed on the official roster but are mentioned in Dad’s own crew lists. My conversation with Bob Knecht confirmed this. He remembers the “Frisco Gal,” but flew with four crews during the two tours.
Crew 1943 —John Erhard, Howard Miner, Mel Goers, Frank Shackelford, Wendall Brock, Charles Hammett, Welham Garber, Don Elliot, James Cloud, George Keen, Glen Lindgren, and John Kiner
Crew members were often moved between planes in the first tour. By August 1943, the roster in Lt. Cmdr. Schoenweiss’ Report lists: Lt. Erhard, Lt. Hyland, Ensign Miner, Garber, Jackson, Keen, Hammett, Williams, and Lynch. Mel Goers now flew with Lt. Apgar’s crew.
Glossary
NAS — Naval air station
starboard — right side facing bow or front port — left side facing the bow (front) fore at the front or bow
aft — at the rear or stern
CB’s seabees — construction battalion
banka — canoe
Tender — vessel that services seaplanes
Wasp — USS Wasp, carrier
the hack — place of confinement for punishment
amidship — middle (of the ship)
slipstream — “wake” of turbulence behind a moving plane
abeam — at right angles to the plane, across the middle waist
waist — narrowing of the plane’s fuselage
yoke — the control or “steering wheel” of an aircraft that adjusts the attitude of the plane, side to side (roll) or up and down (pitch).
Acknowledgements and Notes
What a fascinating journey this has been and I still don’t know where it is leading. I am grateful to so many who have helped encourage and guide me along the way. David Sanford has been and continues to be an unselfish mentor. My brother, Mike, has helped me with both elbow grease and enthusiasm for the project, and we confer and travel to interviews and venues often. Military author Don Keith has patiently provided advice and a willing ear.
My appreciation, also, to J. A. Prusick for helping provide additional details about one of the rescue episodes and to my proofreaders, Lloyd, Ginger, John, and Win who were willing to donate their time not fully realizing what they were getting into.
(Win Stites, above left, VP-91, VP2-1, flight engineer who served in both the Atlantic and Pacific regions. He is the author of Cat Tales, a humorous collection of WWII crew experiences aboard a PBY, and Gigi, a coloring book for children and adults alike).
To my Aunt Marian, my wife Heidi, and all the members of the family who have been so supportive and helpful in more ways than I can count, you have my sincere thanks, as does Anneli Anderson, who again helped get me through the painstaking process of turning all this material into a book...and once again found the right amount of “sparkle.”
The opportunity to meet squadron members and their families has been invaluable: Alex Catlow, Del Fager, Bob Pinckney, Harold Koenig, Win Stites, Elliot Schreider, Virginia Peckham, Paula and members of the Sneed family, Becky and Andy Love, Gary Goers, and John Beuttler.
This book is built primarily around my father’s words and writings and gleaned from his extensive collection of documents, news clippings, war records, and keepsakes. My aim has always been to remain true to his voice, so familiar to me over the years in stories and conversations that it seemed to become a part of my own. In some instances, I felt a particular reference or anecdote might benefit from additional clarification, expanding, or the simple weaving in of a little history for context. Where this required research, I have tried to include and give credit to those sources. As I became acquainted with many of his friends, I found the interviews often included some of the same shared experiences and locations and whether at Black Cat Base or at a reunion, story swapping was a favorite pastime. Dad was no doubt very familiar with the exploits of his buddies, and the continuity of the book relies on relating these parts of the squadron’s history in a way that made it part of the action of the story. I am, again, especially grateful to the VP-54 and VPB-54 members who contributed wonderful new storytelling and corroborated old: Alex, Del, Bob, Elliot, and Harold.
Footnotes and Credits:
Many resources were helpful for general information and history about the Black Cats including:
Official US Navy War Diary
Reunion version of diary (Willie Sneed)
Black Cat Raiders by Richard Knott
The Retired Officer, July 1986 article by Michael Martin:
The Black Cats~Unlikely Heroes of the Pacific by Michael Martin.
Wings of Gold feature by Ens. John Leads 2010:
A perspective on MPRF and the Black Cats
PBY: The Catalina Flying Boat by Roscoe Creed
Details about various aircraft were found on the navalaviation.org website, acepilots.com website, and Wikipedia
Dave’s Warbirds - daveswarbirds.com
pg. 13 An illuminating article by Carl Zebrowski called “Your Number’s Up!” in the Dec. 2007 issue of WW II Magazine discusses the draft in much more detail.
pg. 15 Details of the “Macon” courtesy of a 1942 letter home.
pg. 33 Footnote R4D from interview with Stewart Bailey, Evergreen Aviation Museum and Wikipedia.
pg. 41 Queen Mary and Elizabeth - According to the QM (now a floating hotel) website (queenmary.com/history/) a record for troops transported aboard ship was set on a voyage from NY to Great Britain when 16,085 were aboard the QM. At that point she was stripped of her luxurious amenities and outfitted for wartime. A more complete WWII history is detailed there.
pg. 43 An interview with Black Cat Lt. Cmdr J.O. Cobb, USN from April 26, 1943 is available in the Bureau of Aeronautics archives. His fascinating insights about the Black Cats include a discussion of red goggles and red light. In addition to my father’s descriptions, a host of PBY details are available in Jim Busha’s article about flying the Slattery PBY in the May 2014 issue of Sport Aviation and another in AOPA PBY-5a Catalina: Stand Up and Salute by Barry Schiff (aopa.org/News)
pg. 50 Photo courtesy of John Bickford found at “Dave’s Warbirds” (daveswarbirds.com/) and is attributed to Marine Colonel W. C. Lemley.
pg. 51 Major Roosevelt account is from one of Dad’s letters home. More about his war record is available at valor.militarytimes.com and James Roosevelt, Wikipedia
pg. 53 Poem from “We’ve Got a Fighter Up Tonight.” A hand typed version was in Dad’s scrapbook. Full version is available from the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, #AFS 8763 B1. There is no mention of an author.
pg. 54 Additional descriptions about PBYs can be found in a variety of locations. Black Cat Raiders by Richard Knott is the “go-to” resource for PBY information and the article in Sport Aviation magazine (May 2014) written by Jim Busha elaborates on many of my father’s details provided in his notes.
pg. 55 My photo taken inside PBY at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum
pg. 57 Dad mentioned this in his writing and additional information can be found on the Library of Australia website.
pg. 59 SNV Valiant trainer by Vultee . Information is available at navalaviationmuseum.org
pg. 69 From Black Cat Raiders: Pg 115 discusses Lt. Erhard’s crew and using the countermeasure equipment.
pg. 83 From the Cobb interview, additional details on glide bombing and the “low altitude Cat.”
pg. 84 The entire story of Lt. Anderson’s crew came from numerous sources including Elliot Schreider, Black Cat Raiders, Willie Sneed’s writing, the War Diary, and my father’s notes.
pg. 85 R4D - from interview with Stewart Bailey, Evergreen Aviation Museum and Wikipedia explanation
pg. 91 Photo Noumea from Schreider collection
pg. 95 This compelling account was from the Elliot Schreider interview and Dad’s notes. Photo from Elliot Schreider collection.
; pg. 98 Many good websites on rationing including amesihistory.org. My Aunt Marian provided some personal details.
pg. 107 GO-9 transmitter was part of discussions with Alex Catlow, Bob Pinckney, and Win Stites.
pg. 112 Lt Cobb’s interview covered the reconstruction of the PBYs and the level of security the patrols in the Solomons were providing.
Discussion of this carrier duty is mentioned in the VP/VPB-54 War Diary.
pg. 113 Specifics about the Battle of Midway from Elliot Schreider, history.com/battle-of-midway and navy.com/battle-of-midway
pg. 114 Swan account of Nell 96 from the Catalina Chronicles newsletter, Vol II, Feb. 24, 1995 PBY Catalina Foundation.
pg. 117 This account differs from the contemporary account and Lt. Gordon’s own retelling of the story of the rescues. It was reported in an interview with Gordon by Charles Rawlins in the Saturday Evening Post in Dec of 1944 and corroborated in article by Don Wharton, Look Magazine, (Feb 1945). These articles were part of my father’s scrapbook and Library.
pg. 118 Gibson Girl hand cranked transmitters involved an H2 generator, a metal cylinder containing granular material that when mixed with sea water would produce hydrogen gas. It was part of a kit that included a box kite, the hydrogen generator, and even a small light that was strapped to either the kite or balloon. The gas was used to pressurize the balloon if there wasn’t enough wind to fly the box kite. Courtesy Henry Rogers, historian - WHRM
pg. 122 Photo from Del Fager collection
pg. 145 Photo Del Fager collection
pg. 156 F4U Corsair see acepilots.com
Photo courtesy Harold Koenig
pg. 159 Photo courtesy Paula Sneed
Pg. 160 Largely taken from a letter by Willie Sneed provided by Andy Love
pg. 163 Photo from Schreider collection
pg. 167 Leaflet from Fager collection
pg. 173 P-38 - see acepilots.com
pg. 179 Photo from Alex Catlow collection
pg. 188 SB2C - see acepilots.com
A letter written by Doyle to the King family was printed in the Historic Huntsville Quarterly 1992 and supplements my father’s account. This was provided to me by J. A. Prussic. Adam also provided a copy of Nebraska History Magazine, Vol. 95/4/Winter containing an interview with Doyle by Samuel Van Pelt. I was pleased to discuss the article with Judge Van Pelt by phone in May 2016.
pg. 201 and 204 Photos of Japanese Del Fager collection
pg. 205 Attempts to bomb the Orca are addressed in the VPB-54 War Diary.
Epilogue: The explanation of the name “Press” is slightly different in the two books I’ve looked at on the subject, so I’ve included both. Pistol: the Life of Pete Maravich by Mark Kriegel and Pete Maravich: the Authorized Biography of Pistol Pete by Wayne Federman and Marshall Terrill.