They were
headed in every direction so I would catch one going one way and when
they stopped at a base I would catch another going in the next
direction. At one base I was waiting when they wheeled in a stretcher
with the remains of an Englishman who had been trying to defuse a
bomb. He was still alive, but not much was left of him. I finally made
it to Len's field and spent the night there. He was living in a
beautiful brick home that was probably the residence of a British
officer before the war. At night he would set his shoes out in the
hall and in the morning they would be returned polished. Something
different from the conditions in which we found ourselves! We were
able to travel around like this when the weather was bad and there was
no chance of flying. After we began flying missions we had to be more
careful to stay near our base. Len Pierce was also flying P-51s and
was with one of the best outfits. He entered the service a couple of
months ahead of me and was Just that much further ahead.
We received a base pay each month and a flying pay for each month when
we flew at least four hours. During the first two months we received
no flying pay as we had no planes. Just before I left the States, I
arranged to have $100 a mouth from my pay go to Lettei in California.
Finally our new planes arrived and this was the first time we were
sure we were really getting P-51s. A lot of the other squadrons were
getting P-47s and P-38s so we considered ourselves lucky to be getting
the planes we wanted most.
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