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The Luftwaffe Arrives in Indiana
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An artist's rendering of the Heinkel Hs 129B
produced by Henshel |
and the real thing at Freeman Field,
Seymour, Indiana
FE-4600 |
New photos discovered in the Freeman Air Museum
A new project has begun in the Freeman Air Museum. Due
to a huge request for information concerning the hundreds of
captured enemy aircraft that were once stored and evaluated at
Freeman Field, it has been decided to scan all the available photos
and place on CDs so as to make them available to those who cannot
make the trip to Seymour, Indiana. In the first day's worth of
work, 156 photos that are not on display, were successfully scanned
and archived. Some are of German planes that are not known to
exist anywhere else. Included is the following, little known
and little used piloted V1 'Buzz Bomb'.
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Fi-103 R(V-1)
Reichenburg IV Piloted shown at Freeman Field with Ray White
and his daughter.
The Fieseler Fi 103R manned missile was one of the many
desperate projects conceived as the German situation became
more hopeless. Basically the Fi 103R was a piloted version of
the V-1 flying bomb, powered by the same Argus pulsejet
engine. By mid-1944, preparations had been made for mass
production, in time for the operation to attack the Allied
forces amassed in southern England.
The Fi 103R was to be carried by a parent aircraft and
released near the target. Then the pilot would take over and
direct the bomb into a dive towards the target. The pilot was
to detach the canopy and bale out just before impact. The
canopy, however, would almost certainly block the pulsejet
inlet and reduce the chance of pilot survival to almost zero.
Nevertheless, the Germans went to great lengths to distinguish
their Selbstopfermänner (self-sacrifice men) from the Japanese
Kamikaze pilots, whose cockpits were sealed closed before
take-off.
The Fi 103R's operation was codenamed Reichenberg and a
total of about 175 manned Fi 103Rs (R for Reichenberg) were
made. The R-I, R-II and R-III were used for test and training,
and R-IV was to be the production model. Two Rechlin pilots
crashed while test-flying the Fi 103R, and afterwards trial
flights were transferred to DFR test pilots Hanna Reitsch and
Heinz Kensche. Flying the Fi 103R was quite simple, since the
Fi 103R's unmanned version could fly without direct control.
Landing, on the other hand, was very difficult due to the
primitive control system, absence of landing gear and high
landing speed. This should not have mattered much because the
Fi 103R was not designed to return anyway! The project never
took off, due to the Germany high command's apathy, even
though some 70 pilots volunteered for training. |
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| One of the original Fire Trucks
used at Freeman Army Air Field from 1942 to 1946. Given
to the Seymour City Fire Department at the close of the base.
Later purchased and partially restored. Now housed at
the Freeman Municipal Airport. |
Another piece of history bit the dust at the Freeman
Field, when the WW2 WAC's Mess Hall, which had been allowed to badly
deteriorate by the current owner, was torn down.
Photographed just prior to destruction in 2002.
And one more small piece of the reason we enjoy freedom today had
disappeared forever.
Big Blue farm stores, owner of the last remaining
original aircraft hangar is going out of business. The Freeman
Air Museum had been asking Big Blue to donate the building for
museum purposes, but rumors are that it has been sold.
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This is the rear of the hangar.
The huge doors have been covered over,
but are still in place. |
Here, Hangar 5 as it appeared shortly after
Freeman Field had discontinued operations. |
Big Blue also owns the former warehouse across the street from the
hangar.
It's future fate is unknown.
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Graduations held
in Hangar 5. Here trained twin-engine pilots receive
their commissions as 2nd Lieutenants and were awarded their
pilots winds. Their next destination was bomber school. |
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AT-10 Twin-engine
Advanced Trainer, "Wichitas" over Southern
Indiana
Made almost entirely of wood by former furniture
manufacturers, none are know to exist in flying condition
today. The fuel tanks were fabricated of plywood with a
rubber liner. |
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The Base
Commander, Colonel Rundquist's personal plane, a BC-1A.
A variant of the popular AT-6 Texan trainer. |
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Seymour Daily Tribune
Seymour, Indiana
Monday, September 24, 1945
Freeman Field Pilot Killed - Plane
Crashes
Lt. Haynes, 20, Held Distinguished Flying Cross After Duty With
Ninth Force Overseas
Lt. William V. Haynes, twenty years
old, 16 Newton Place, Pontiac, Michigan, was instantly killed
Saturday Afternoon when his single-engine fighter plane crashed near
Freeman Field during a routine flight. A board of qualified
Army Air Force officers has been appointed to determine the cause of
the accident.
A combat pilot on temporary duty at
the Freeman Field Air Technical Service Command installation, Lt.
Haynes recently returned from the European Theater where he served
with the Ninth Air Force until completing his tour of duty. He
held the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with three oak
leaf clusters and the European Theater ribbon with four battle
stars.
Lt. Haynes is survived by his mother,
Mrs. C. E. CeLap, Pontiac, hsi sister, Pvt. Gladys Haynes in the WAC
detachment at Selfridge Field, Michigan, and his stepfather, C. E.
DeLap, Pontiac, Michigan.
A similar German plane, FE-121 is run up on the apron prior to a flying
demonstration.
(Editor's Note: This was a captured
German Focke Wulf Ta-152, FE-0119)
Click here to read more about this plane |
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Thanks to Richard Corey for correcting
mistakes in this newsletter. |
Camp Atterbury News
Friday,
October 04, 2002
Newlin
replaces McGowen as Camp Atterbury commander
By John
Clark
jclark@therepublic.com
Lt. Col. Kenneth D. Newlin of
Greensburg will become the 32nd commander of Camp Atterbury Sunday.
Newlin will succeed Col. Michael P. McGowen, who became acting
commander of the base in December 1999 and permanent commander in
April 2000.
McGowen said his biggest achievements as commander were building the
ties between the base and the neighboring communities and overseeing
several new construction projects. “I think we have made some
great strides with making Atterbury more a part of the community
around us,” McGowen said. “We are not as insulated as we once were.
We have done a lot of new construction at Camp Atterbury. We have a
new water system that is almost finished and an $11 million range
that is getting ready to go online.”
Since 9-11, the intensity of the troops training has increased and
the tempo of operations has been boosted. “The most noticeable
thing is the attitude of the folks that train there,” McGowen said.
“There is a sense of urgency and a degree of seriousness about the
whole training process that wasn’t there to the same extent that it
has been since Sept. 11.”
McGowen, a Scipio resident, left Atterbury on Tuesday to become
deputy director of facilities, engineering and environmental at the
state area command, Military Department of Indiana. Maj. Gen.
George A. Buskirk, adjutant general of Indiana, praised McGowen’s
tenure in a press release.
“Under Colonel Mike McGowen’s leadership, Camp Atterbury has reached
levels of achievement not seen since World War II,” Buskirk said.
“He has overseen dramatic improvements in construction and
utilization that have strengthened Camp Atterbury as a premier
training site not only for the Indiana National Guard, but also for
a long list of active duty and reserve component services, law
enforcement and other government agencies.”
Newlin, 38, started as an enlisted soldier in 1981 and was
commissioned in 1986. He has served as Camp Atterbury’s civil
engineering technician and facility manager. Most recently he served
as supervisory civil engineer for the Military Department of
Indiana. Newlin holds two associate degrees and a bachelor’s
degree in mechanical engineering technology from Purdue University.
He and his wife, Rita, have four sons: Justin, 18, Jacob, 15, Caleb,
7, and Kolton, 6 months.
The 40,000-acre Camp Atterbury is split among Bartholomew, Johnson
and Brown counties. It is the only military training installation in
Indiana and was created in 1942 to train U.S. Army troops.
See the history of Camp Atterbury at
www.IndianaMilitary.org
The History Crier
is published independently by the Indiana Military
Org.anization and is in no way connected with the
Department of the Army, the Indiana National Guard, or any other
military or civilian organization. Unless otherwise noted, all
content has been previously published during WW2 and the Korean
War.
Editor—James D. West, Veteran, Sgt, Co. B 138th Armor, Co. C
151st Mechanized Infantry, INARNG and MSgt, 71st Special
Operations Squadron, USAFRes.
Email: JimWest@IndianaMilitary.org |
| The Cover:
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| Visit the web site dedicated
to south-central Indiana Military history and join the new
Discussion—Message board. Ask a question—Answer a question. All
are invited.
www.IndianaMilitary.org |
—– Own A Piece of Local Military History —–
Now available — PC and Mac computer CD-ROMS containing
photographic images of the original weekly published
newspapers of the Army and Air Force bases represented by this
paper. Not re-typed, but images of the actual papers.
Camp Atterbury WW2 CAMP CRIER.
Every page of every
issue. 184 weekly issues of either 8 or 12 pages. $21.00
Freeman Army Air Field’s TWINGINE TIMES. All issues.
Perhaps 6 pages missing. $21.00
Wakeman General Hospital, THE PROBE. All known issues
plus detailed Annual Reports. $10.50
Freeman AAF DOCUMENTS. More than 1,500 pages of the
official history compiled in 1946. $21.00
Camp Atterbury—Korean War era -THE CARDINAL.
Approximately 1/2 of all issues. $10.50
Hurd Report — The report that convinced Congress to
build Camp Atterbury. 86 pages, maps, specifications, costs, etc.
$10.50
Federal Court Summons to the Original Landowners — Lists
more than 525 individuals with property surveys. Gives each 60 days
to vacate. $10.50
All prices include taxes and shipping. Proceeds go
towards the maintenance and Internet hosting costs of
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Read details of the offer on that web site or email
Editor@IndianaMilitary.org |
