Blystone Page 2

DR: According to my understanding, you worked with the P38, P47 and P51 in the various Fighter Groups you belonged to, could you tell me how the 3 compared to work on?
WB: The P38 was the hardest to work on, as it had two engines and lots of exhaust turbo supercharger problems at times. The P47 was the easiest and P-51 in between. None were too hard to maintain.

DR: Were any models of the P51 harder to work on than the others?
WB: I think all the P51 models were the same to work on by the plane mechanics. Maybe some radio and armament problems were different.

DR: How did weather impact your job?
WB: We worked in all kinds of weather, but of course when the planes didn't fly we could also get some rest. Winter was hardest, as the cold affected the oil and also the feel of the airplane itself. I think it liked warmer weather as much as we did.

DR: Did you ever come under fire, while you were with the 357th?
WB: Never came under fire with the 357th, but was in a few air raids during the 1943-44 period. In London, or some of its suburbs, where we usually went when we had some time off for a few days, which was few and far between.

DR: You met your wife, (who served on an English AAA unit), while serving at Leiston. How did that take place?
WB: Met Jessie one night at a pub. We were all playing 21, a form of Black Jack for pennies. There wasn't much to do around Leiston in the evenings.

DR: Do you recall any funny, or memorable incidents while serving with the 357th FG?
WB: Saw Otto Jenkins buzz the field on his final mission and crash the plane. He was too low.

DR: What do you remember of D-Day and what were you doing on that day?

WB: On D-Day 1944, I was still in Goxhill crewing “Slip Stream Sally”. All we did was put on the D-Day markings of white and black stripes on the planes, or rather our maintenance unit did,I didn't. Our planes as far as I know, didn't participate in the battles that day.

DR: What functions did the C47 you were an engineer on, perform?
WB: The C47 we had was used mostly for liquor runs and trips to various places for rest and relaxation. We flew to France, London, and Brussels and down to the Riviera. I quit crewing the plane before it crashed in the Alps in October 1945, while on a trip to the seashore near Nice, France. Most of the passengers were officers and I think 3 Red Cross ladies, as well as the plane crew. The plane wasn't found for a few days, as it was buried in the snow when it hit the mountain.

DR: What type of training for your position did you have and do you feel you were well prepared for your functions?
WB: I went to airplane mechanic school at Keesler Field, Mississippi and then to Lockheed factory school at Burbank, CA., before reporting to North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego to join the 82nd Fighter Squadron. They started me off right away as an assistant crew chief and I made Corporal in July 1942 as I remember. I started to crew my own planes, then after we lost the P-38s to North Africa in early 1943, I went to a training squadron at Atcham.

DR: Looking back, how do you view your WWII
experience now?

WB: The best years of my life were those 4 years
during the war. Much better than working in the coal
mines. I saw service after that until 1966, retiring as
a Chief Warrant Officer. Served in Germany for 6 years
after the war period, many places Stateside and only one
year in Vietnam, in 1963-64. That's about it.

Chris also married overseas. He was from Salt Lake, Utah. I last saw him at Ft. Sill, OK in 1950 when he came into the airfield with planes from Utah National Guard, I think they were getting ready to go to Korea at the time, they were still using P-51s. Chris died a couple years ago according to the news from the 357th Unit paper.