Al Cawrse

95TH BOMB GROUP (H)

ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

2002 REUNION      ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

 (Interviewed by Karen Sayco)

KS: Could you please state your name, the date, and where we’re at, please?

AL: Allen Cawrse, September 13, 2002, St. Louis, Missouri.

KS: Just to get some basic things on the record, what were your dates of service with the Army Air Corps?

AL: October ‘43 to October ‘45.

KS: How about your dates with the 95th Bomb Group?

AL: I think we got over there in October of ‘44, and May of ‘45, after the war in Europe was ended.  

KS: Okay, which unit or squadron were you in, in the 95th?

AL: I was in the 334th squadron.

KS: And your principle job with the 95th?

AL: Tail gunner.

KS: Could we start at the beginning, and tell us about your induction - how you decided to join up?

AL: Sure.  To begin with, I tried to get into the Navy V-12 program.  And they found out that I had Scarlet Fever when I was a kid, and they said no way.  So then there was the choice of the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps.  And the Army gave my three weeks, where the others was only one week before I’d go on active duty.  So I went into the Army.  I was inducted in Cleveland, Ohio in October of ‘43.  

KS: How old were you, and were you living at home at the time?

AC: I was 18 years old, and yes, I was living at home.  

KS: Where did you take your training?  What was that like?

AC: I took basic training in Miami Beach.  I was one of those poor souls that had spent a winter of ‘43-‘44 where it was warm.   And I was on the first shipping list to go to gunnery school.  They had a noone sick, so went through basic again until they had the next shipment.  

KS: And where did you go to gunnery school?

AC: I went to gunnery school in Kingman, Arizona.

KS: Did you have any memorable experiences during your training?

AC: Yes, I was so eager to fly, I decided I would volunteer to go up in one of the tow target planes.  It was a B-26.  I enjoyed it, but when I got down, I was told that was a dangerous airplane.  I guess it had a very high landing speed - I don’t know.  I had flown some when I was young, and I love to fly.  So it didn’t bother me one bit.

KS: And how did you get over to England?

AC: We flew both ways.  We flew from Gander Lake over to Prestwick, Scotland where we turned over the plane and waited for assignment. 

KS: You flew over in a new B-17?

AC: I’m not sure whether it was new or not.  (Chuckle) I didn’t pay that much attention.  We picked it up in Savannah, Georgia, at Hunter Field.  

KS: And anything unusual on that flight?

AC: I thought it was unusual we flew up the east coast, and this was fall.  And I thought it was wonderful seeing the trees in color, and those little English churches with the white steeples - oh.  It was a travelogue for me.

KS: Had you done - been out of Ohio much before then?

AC: Oh yeah.  I was not one that was going to be homesick because I left home.  

KS: How long before you started your missions after you got to Horham?

AC: It wasn’t very long - maybe a couple of weeks.  I don’t recall right off hand.  But as I say, it was not long.  

KS: Do you recall what your first mission was, and how was that?

AC: I’m not sure what the target was.  We had a little anti-aircraft opposition.  Nothing disastrous.  But I did find out what there was to be afraid of.  Until you first experience it, you don’t know what to be afraid of.  What they say before that, the only thing to fear is fear itself.  Well, I found out there was other things.

KS: When was it that you first got to Horham?

AC: In October of ‘44.

KS: Any particular mission that was outstanding?

AC: Oh yes.  

KS: Tell us about that.

AC: It was the fourth one, and we went to Merseburg.  We’d heard about it.  We didn’t know how bad it was until we went on it.  And I could not get into the flak suit in the tail.  I crawled so far into that flak helmet that only my toes were sticking out.  When I got back, I decided that I was going to put that flak suit on on the ground.  I was never going to try and put it on in the air anymore.  And it was a pretty vicious mission - not from fighter opposition, but from anti-aircraft.  KS: Any other memorable missions besides the Merseburg flight - and how missions did you fly?

AC: I flew 27.  I suppose that each one had its own memorable memory.  I do remember one - I think we were leading the Air Force - anyhow, we were going north of Berlin, I believe it was, and I was sitting back in the tail and I saw a FW-190 go by.  And he was close enough, I could see the pilot.  And I yelled up to the top turret gunner.  He said, why aren’t you shooting at him?  And he said, he’s not shooting at us.  I was ready to kill him - one of the funny little things that’s memorable.  I think the most memorable, other than Merseburg and the fear that I gained from it was the chow hound missions, where we were dropping food to the Dutch - doing something constructive for a change.  And the second time over, they had spelled out “thank you” in the drop area.  Besides that, the low altitude we went in, we had to go up 300 feet so the packages would loose some of that impetus.  But the tulips were in bloom, and it was beautiful.

KS: Did you ever have any occasion to make an emergency landing, or dish or anything?

AC: No, we were very fortunate.  In fact, we only had one crew member that was wounded, and that was the pilot.  

KS: And who was your pilot?

AC: William Desazo.  I think I pronounced that correctly.

KS: Any crew members that you especially remember?  And did you stay in touch?

AC: Well, I heard from one member for maybe two Christmases.  The radio operator and I exchanged Christmas cards, and we have through the years.  But the co-pilot and I became very, very good friends through the reunions.

KS: Tell us a little bit about living on base.  What was that like?  Accommodations, the food?

AC: Well, we lived in a Nissen hut at first, I think that’s what they were called - similar to a Quonset hut.  And there were maybe three or four crews in there.  And when one of them was awakened for a mission, of course everybody else would be awakened.  After a while we moved to one of those tents - 10 x 10 tent, I think it was.  When we were there, we were called, we were all going anyhow.  Didn’t have to worry about it.  We would walk up to the mess hall to eat.   We’d go up to the theater to watch a movie at night.  And every now and then we’d go to London.  But I tell you one thing about the 95th Bomb Group before December 24th.  I had the best meal I had in the whole service time I was in on Thanksgiving of 1944.  It was fantastic.  We didn’t get that big a one for Christmas, because we had so many other planes land at our field.  That was the first time we went off, after the Battle of the Bulge.  

KS: What did you have for Thanksgiving dinner?

AC: I think it was a traditional Thanksgiving dinner - turkey and the works.

KS: They went all out.

AC: Yeah.

KS: Could you sort of walk us through a typical day when you were flying?  What time were you awakened?

AC: Oh, I guess they came around and awakened us about 3 o’clock in the morning.  And we would get drowsily dressed.  And we would go up to the mess hall for breakfast.  They treated us pretty good in the combat mess hall.  We had scrambled eggs, probably made of powder - I don’t know.  But we had a good breakfast, considering how early it was.  Then we went over to briefing.  From briefing, we would go out to the plane, and the gunners would load the guns into the plane and rig them up, ready for combat.  And then we’d sit around and sit around and sit around until we finally got the orders to start the engines.  And then there was still the wait.  I think this is typical of the army maybe even today - hurry up and wait.  And then we would taxi around the perimeter strip to the runway.  And when we got the green light, we would go.  

KS: Once you had taken off?

AC: Once we had taken off, why that’s when we would form with the squadron, and the squadron with the group, and the group with the division.  It was quite a lengthy process.  I was surprised the first time we went up that it took so long before we started heading for the continent.  There were some days it was pretty rough - so cloudy.  Some days it took quite a while to get above the clouds.  And I guess, from what I hear, it was very dangerous forming in that condition.  I guess some planes collided.  I don’t know of any that did.  Then we would get formed up and get into the procession to go over to the continent.  

KS: And after bombs away and you’re headed back, what was the procedure.

AC: Thank God that we made it to the time anyhow.  When we were over there, we didn’t have that much fighter opposition.  So it was tense while we were over the continent.  But when we got over the Channel, then we could relax a little bit.  But we were told, do not take the guns out until you get down.  Apparently earlier some German pilots flew over and caught them as they were preparing to land, circling - a lot of gunners had taken their guns out.  That was a very oppressive statement, to me.  

KS: Once you were back on the ground, what was the routine before you could to bed?

AC: We had to, of course, go to interrogation.  And the Red Cross would have coffee, and maybe cookies or donuts for us.  The medics would give us a shot of whiskey.  And then we would go in to the interrogation table.  And the crew would sit around the table with the interrogation officer and pretty much tell him what went on as far as our crew was concerned, on that mission.  And if we saw planes go down, did we see ‘chutes come off of them, or anything like that.  And it was a fairly lengthy process.  

KS: We know you don’t call yourselves heros, but did you witness anything or have a part in anything we would consider courageous, or you would consider courageous?

AC: Every time we got in the bloody plane and went up, that was courageous.  No, I don’t consider myself a hero.  I think the most heroic thing I saw was these fellas whose plane was going down, that were able to bail out.  And some of those planes, I was surprised that anybody got out.  But I think that took a lot of intestinal fortitude - or guts.  

KS: Anything humorous that you witnessed or took part in.

AC: Oh yeah.  Well, I got that incident about the top turret gunner not shooting the German fighter.  Afterward, I thought it was hilarious.  And I still do.  And then of course, we had our moments of humor on the plane.  The co-pilot took great delight if somebody called up and said, somebody’s using the relief tube.  And he’d bounce that plane around.  And he’d spray the area down there, because he’d have to reach up to hold on to something.  One day we caught the co-pilot back there, and the pilot bounced it around pretty good.  I know it bounced, because I was back in the tail, but I couldn’t see what was going on.  Funny little things like that - there were probably a lot of funny little things that happened that I don’t remember.  I mean, that’s fifty some years ago.  

KS: What did you do, or what were some of the things you did on your off hours off base?

AC: Sleep was a primary one.  Go up to the Red Feather Club.  Go to the movies.  On the base that was about all you could do, unless you would get a 3 day pass, and you could go to London or someplace else to sight see.  I saw a little bit of London.  I’d like to see a little bit more, but that’s not in the books.

KS: Did you get into the local villages?

AC: Yes.  In fact, we took in an Easter church service in one of the local churches.  And I was very impressed with the church.  They didn’t have central heating.  They had little pots periodically along the lane - the aisle - that would give us a little heat.  To me, going to church on Easter Sunday over there was a memorable occasion, I would say.  Then we had rest home that we went to.  That was very interesting, because I got down to the southern part of England, and they took us around on various tours - like they’re doing today with the reunion.  We got over to the Isle of White, saw Terrace Brook Castle, where Charles I was held prisoner until they chopped his head off, went to a little Abby that Cromwell had destroyed.  We went down to Bath, I think, and saw the most exciting play you ever want to see - Peter Pan.  I think I slept through most of it.  

KS: ___________________ tell me you were from Cornwall - did you get down to there?

AC: No, I tried to, but I wasn’t able to.  I wanted to go down and see where my grandparents came from. 

KS: Now, how did you come home?

AC: We flew back, and we flew back by way of Iceland - Goosebay, Labrador.  But that was interesting me to me because I had never seen an iceberg in person before.  I’d seen pictures of them.  And of course in the movies.  But the various formations of those icebergs I thought was fascinating.  

KS: What was your homecoming like when you first got back and when you got back to your home in Cleveland?

AC: When we first landed at Windsor Loch, Connecticut I think the first thing most of us did, after we got through customs, was to get a quart of ice cream.  I can remember fellas walking out of there with a quart of ice cream in their hands.  I found out that customs, at that point, was a farce.  I could have carried that B-17 home if I could have picked it up.  

KS: You mentioned ice cream.  Ice cream was not available at all in England.

AC: No.  Never had a bit over there.  They didn’t want us to drink the milk because it wasn’t pasteurized.  I believe that’s correct.  

KS: What was your reception when you got home to Cleveland?

AC: Well, being from a rather English family, they don’t seem to get too excited.  It was nice. I got home during the day and got to talk with my mother for a little bit.  And then my father came home from work.  I remember the first time I went out in the car.  My mother said, don’t forget you’re not in England.  And before I’d gone ½ mile, I was on the wrong side of the street.  But it wasn’t a real boisterous reunion or anything.

KS: Speaking of reunions, how long have you been coming to these reunions of the 95th?

AC: 1996 at Savannah was our first one.  I had lost complete track of the 95th Bomb Group, after I got that first edition of Contrails.  And then I saw a car with the 8th Air Force Historical Society bumper sticker with a phone number, or an address rather.  And I wrote to them, and the Post Office very politely returned it.  They had moved, and it was past the time where they would forward it.  That happened twice.  The third time we were down wintering in Florida, and I saw one down there with the correct address.  And I wrote to them, and I wanted to know anything they could tell me about how I could contact the 95th Bomb Group.  And they gave me Dave Dorsey’s address.  And I wrote to Dave, and that was it.  I was a member.  

KS: And what do you feel is the most important benefit that you get from coming to these reunions?

AC: To me, old friends; making new friends.  As far as we know, there are only four members of our crew that are still alive.  And the co-pilot and I are the only ones that come to the reunions.  We knew our radio operator was still alive out in California.  And then, within this past year, we found out our waist gunner was alive.  And we got that from one of the newsletters - that section where people are hunting for people.  And this, I think, is quite interesting.  I saw or read a letter from the daughter of our waist gunner seeking information about anybody that knew her father.  And she gave an e-mail address.  Well I’m not into computers, so I don’t have one.  But both my kids are.  So I contacted my daughter and I told her about it, and I gave her Carolyn’s e-mail.  And she contacted her.  And she said they were out, when she came home that evening she had an answer.  That just started a ball - I’m in the process of writing a letter now, telling her that our co-pilot and I are both here, wishing you were here with us.

KS: And to come to Washington, D.C. with you next year.

AC: Well I don’t know if he wants to or not.  But good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I’m going to be there.  

KS: Is there anything else you would like to add for the record?

AC: I really can’t think of anything, especially involving the 95th Bomb Group.  The only thing I could go on record for is that everybody should have their children read Tom Brokaw’s book, The Greatest Generation.  I made sure my kids did.  And my daughter, I know, had my oldest grandson read it too.  The years I spent with the 95th I consider an education.  It’s not one I’d want to go through again.  But because I made it, I consider it an education.  And I made some friends.  And I come to the reunions when I can, and just have a ball.  I meet people.  I met you several years ago.  I remember your sales pitch in Pittsburgh.  (Chuckle) That’s about all I can think of.

KS: I’d like to add, for the record, that this has been Karen Sayco from the Legacy Group, talking with Al Cawrse.  We thank you for sharing this time with you - with us.  And we thank you for our service to our country.

AC: You’re more than welcome.