10:37 (Jerusalem Time)
Tuesday, June 9, 1953 ‘C’
Headquarters of the Palestine Interposition Force
Ramat David Airbase, Galilee
Israel
‘’Please sit down, ladies.’’
The 49 women called by Ingrid Dows to the briefing room of the operations center in Ramat David took place in the first ranks of folding chairs, both anxious and curious about the reason they had been called in. Ingrid, herself took place in a chair set in front of the others and facing them, a thick pile of documents in her hands. She then looked in turn at each of the women in silence. Over half of them were veterans of the Pacific War and had been serving with her since 1942. More than just being comrades, they were all good friends for her and she sincerely wished the best that life could bring to them in a world still dominated by men.
‘’My friends, the posting season has arrived, as you know already. Last February in Da Nang, on top of announcing many promotions and distributing medals, Vice-President Warren promised us that the Pentagon would finally open completely to women all positions in the Air Force. Well, I can tell you now that he kept his promise. Now that a peace treaty has been signed between Israel and Jordan and that a replacement fighter squadron has started to arrive in Ramat David, we will soon be free to go join our new postings.’’
The assembled women nodded their heads at that, happy. With a peace treaty signed, President Dewey had announced that the American interposition force would be replaced by a military training group that would help the Israelis form their own air force and heavy army units. The United States was also going to provide combat aircraft, armored vehicles and artillery weapons to Israel, so that it could fully defend itself from further Arab attacks. As for the British, they had to watch their strategic plans for the Middle East sink to the bottom, having lost most of their credibility and influence with the Arab nations of the region. Their debacle had been made even more bitter with the loss of their beloved King George VI, dead from lung cancer and now replaced on the throne by his daughter Margaret.
Briefly getting up from her chair, Ingrid quickly distributed her pile of message copies around the women present.
‘’I am now giving to each of you a copy of your posting message, coming from the personnel office of the Air Force. You all have in common with me the fact that you asked for a posting in Europe…and that you obtained it. Know first that I was named as the next commander of our Third Air Force, which has its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, and that you will all be under my overall command. I will thus be in good position to support and help you in your new jobs.’’
The young women facing Ingrid nodded their heads soberly at those words: they were still far from certain about what kind of treatment they were going to get in units that had been exclusively male up to now. Ingrid then looked at Colonel Gertrude Meserve, one of her oldest combat comrades and now 33 years old.
‘’Gertrude, you are going to take command of the 81st Fighter Interceptor Wing, based in Neubiberg, just south of Munich. The three squadrons of the 81st Wing are presently in the process of being reequipped with Lockheed F-83As and your main job will be to supervise and direct that transition. Don’t be afraid of making your male pilots understand that they can indeed learn from the girls of The Witches.’’
‘’Don’t worry, Ingrid: I will not go easy on their egos.’’ Promised Gertrude, a fighter pilot with a total of 59 registered air victories as a fighter pilot. Her reply made the other women giggle as Ingrid faced two other fighter pilots.
‘’Lieutenant Colonel Jane Plant, you are to take command of the 92nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron, while Major Shirley Slade will take command of the 91st Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Both of those squadrons are part of the 81st Wing of Colonel Meserve and are also based in Neubiberg. Each of you will also be followed by two experienced female pilots and their radar officers, who will become element leaders in your squadrons. Majors Hill and Vail will serve as element leaders in the 92nd Squadron, while Captains D’Arcy and DeMoe will serve as element leaders in the 91st Squadron. With your usual radar officers accompanying you to Germany, I am confident that such an experienced and hardened team will help make the 81st Wing an elite formation. To support you on the ground, Lieutenant Colonel Sally Nolan will be the new maintenance officer of the 81st Wing, with 25 women of all ranks following her to Neubiberg. Lieutenant Colonel Dickinson, you will be the new security officer for the Rhein-Mann Airbase, near Frankfurt, our most active air transport hub in Europe and a base that is vital to the operations of the American forces in Germany. Five of your female MPs will also go with you to Rhein-Mann.’’
‘’YEAH!’’ Exclaimed Angie Dickinson before exchanging high fives with her five MPs present. Ingrid then turned towards the oldest aviatrix of the group, a thin woman of forty with a wisp of gray in her brown hair.
‘’Lieutenant Colonel Straughan, you will go take command of the 42nd Special Transport Squadron, which is presently being reequipped with AC-10s at the Giebelstadt Airbase, near Wurzburg. You will bring with you Major Sara Chapin, who will be one of your element leaders, along with her whole AC-10 crew. The role of your new unit may appear rather unexciting, but it is actually a vital one. Strategic reconnaissance aircraft from the Strategic Air Command regularly use Giebelstadt as a base for deep reconnaissance flights over hostile territories, and so do visiting heavy bomber units from the United States. If a SAC crew crashes somewhere in Europe, or worse inside the USSR, your job will be to go scoop up that crew, as well as their loads of nuclear bombs or films.’’
As the women in the room exchanged excited comments, Ingrid smiled from one ear to the other while rubbing her hands together.
‘’Ladies, that leaves one last piece of news to give you. If you were expecting to have it easy under my command in Germany, know that my deputy commander for the Third Air Force in Stuttgart will be no other than Brigadier General Teresa James. I am certain that Teresa will know how to tighten your screws.’’
After a second of surprised silence, the women shouted their joy at having the veteran fighter pilot with 68 confirmed air victories coming with them to Germany.
10:18 (Germany Time)
Friday, July 3, 1953 ‘C’
Bavarian sky, Southern Germany
The formation of eleven jet aircraft, including eight F-83A fighter-bombers, had just overflown the Austrian Alps and were approaching the area of Munich when Ingrid, piloting her faithful F-83A ‘LADY HAWK’, spoke on the radio.
‘’From Lady Hawk to call signs Fifinella Wanderers: here we are, girls! It is time for us to split. Good luck to you and your girls at your new base, Walkyrie.’’
‘’Thank you, Lady Hawk!’’ Replied Gertrude Meserve, her heart pinched with emotion. ‘’Neubiberg group, steer to heading 340 and start your descent.’’
Gertrude then switched to the air control frequency of the Neubiberg Airbase.
‘’Neubiberg Control, this is Fifinella Wanderer Three, on approach with seven wingmen, over.’’
A calm male voice answered her after her second call.
‘’Fifinella Wanderer Three, from Neubiberg Control. We have you on our radar screens. Continue your descent at your actual rhythm and level up once at 10,000 feet. Keep your present heading, over.’’
‘’Fifinella Wanderer Three, acknowledged, out!’’
After eight more minutes of flying, the group of eight aircraft arrived in sight of the Neubiberg Airbase, an old Luftwaffe airfield with a single asphalt main runway of a length of 2,300 meters. A multitude of small villages and clumps of houses surrounded the base in the middle of a green, fertile plain, while the southern suburbs of Munich lay nearby, less than two kilometers away. Gertrude felt contentment fill her as she contemplated that picture from the air. While she and her aviatrix liked the Philippines, where the 99th Wing had been based since 1944, the hot and humid tropical climate there had started to be wearing on her, while the general living standards in the Philippines could not compare with those in Europe. Gertrude however had the net impression right away that the airfield in Neubiberg was too constricted, with a single main runway whose extremities were close to a number of villages. She could already imagine the pile of complaints about the deafening noise of F-83 engines that would come from German citizens living near the base. Letting the C-152 cargo aircraft of her group land first with its load of female ground support specialists and personal luggage, Gertrude landed last, concentrating to make a perfect landing. If she was to command her new wing, she had to show the example in everything, especially when in front of an audience of men skeptical about female fighter pilots. Following a taxiway after slowing down and leaving the main runway, Gertrude rolled towards one of the two wide parking aprons adjacent to the line of hangars and buildings of the base. Apart from the planes of her group, she could see less than thirty F-83s, plus a handful of transport and liaison aircraft. It was already evident to her that parts of her new unit were still not in Neubiberg. She however saw that a group of men in uniforms was waiting for her near jeeps parked on the edge of one of the aprons, observing her planes.
‘’Hey guys, I don’t want to hurt your egos but the girl in that group with the least air victory marks on her aircraft has fifteen planes on her hunting score.’’ Announced Colonel John Morgan to his senior officers present with him, while still looking through his binoculars. His subalterns looked at each other, with his operations officer, Major Walther Pensky, then asking a question on an hesitant tone.
‘’And…the one with the highest score, sir?’’
‘’One moment: I am still counting… The plane named ‘WALKYRIE’ has 59 victory marks on the side of its cockpit. However, we should not be surprised by this, in view of the reputation of these girls.’’
‘’Their reputation, yeah!’’ Said on a skeptical tone Major William Clarkson, the deputy commander of the 91st Fighter Interceptor Squadron. ‘’Do they really deserve that reputation, though?’’
Morgan gave a dubious glance to Clarkson at those words. Clarkson had been complaining to whoever would listen to him about the fact that the Pentagon had named one of the newly arriving female pilots to command the 91st Squadron, rather than himself. He was not alone in this, Morgan’s own deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Roger Tisdale, being equally bitter about not succeeding Morgan in command of the wing.
‘’Listen to me, gentlemen, and listen well!’’ Replied Morgan, raising his voice. ‘’The women of the 99th Wing have a combat service history that anyone in the Air Force could only envy. They even fought on the ground in Guadalcanal in 1942, in order to defend their airfield against Japanese soldiers. They again fought on the ground in Korea, holding part of the defensive perimeter around Pusan. These girls further fought in the air in Indochina and Palestine and still have fresh blood on their claws. I thus expect you to show the proper respect due to combat veterans and elite pilots, gentlemen. You will cut your nonsense about women having no business being fighter pilots, and this right now! Should I also remind you that the new commander of the Third Air Force, Major General Dows, has herself a total of 165 air victories, while she is only 29 years old?’’
Morgan then looked at the driver of his jeep.
‘’Sergeant, let’s roll to the F-83 marked ‘WALKYRIE’ once it will have stopped.’’
‘’Yes sir!’’
As his vehicle started rolling on the tarmac, Morgan signaled to the bus waiting behind his three jeeps to follow, before signaling to his administrative officer, Major David Rubinstein, to go with his jeep and the bus towards the cargo plane that had landed with the seven F-83s. Jumping out of his jeep as soon as it stopped besides the F-83 ‘WALKYRIE’, Morgan walked with a slight limp towards the cockpit as a ground technician deployed the two telescopic ladders integrated into the left side of the cockpit section. He greeted the pilot and radar officer that came down with a vigorous handshake once they set foot on the tarmac.
‘’Welcome to Neubiberg, ladies! I am Colonel John Morgan, current commander of the 81st Fighter Interceptor Wing.’’
‘’And I am Colonel Gertrude Meserve.’’ Replied the pilot, a tall, lean brunette in her mid thirties whose curly hair fell to her neck. ‘’This is my radar officer, Captain Betty Smith.’’
‘’Pleased to meet you!’’ Said Morgan while looking briefly at the small blonde. He then presented quickly his own officers to the newcomers, then pointed the jeeps and the bus to Gertrude Meserve.
‘’If you will now collect your luggage out of your planes, you and your women will be driven to the wing’s administrative office, where you will be able to take care of your arrival procedures. We will be able to get to know each other better at the officers’ mess during lunch.’’
‘’If that would be possible, Colonel Morgan, I would like to inspect this afternoon the accommodations that will be provided to my ground technicians, and this before settling in myself.’’
Morgan nodded his head at that, favorably impressed. He had too often seen in the past senior officers whose only concern were their own comfort, while giving little regard about how their lower ranking personnel were faring.
‘’I will be most happy to guide you during that inspection, Colonel Meserve. Know however that the accommodations on this base date back to the 1930s and are rather Spartan. Your technicians will have to lodge in communal dormitories, like the rest of our enlisted personnel.’’
‘’We are accustomed to living in rough conditions, Colonel.’’ Replied Gertrude, sounding accommodating. ‘’I am mostly preoccupied about the measures concerning their sex.’’
‘’Master Sergeant Vanderbilt already took care of this aspect of their needs, Colonel Meserve. The top floor of one of our barracks, which includes separate showers and washrooms, has been reserved for your enlisted women. This should help avoid possible, uh, incidents between male and female personnel. As for you and your officers, those who will live on base will rate individual rooms. There are also a few civilian accommodations available near the base that could be rented…for those who can afford them.’’
Gertrude understood at once what Morgan was alluding to. The enlisted members of the American armed forces were actually poorly paid, often getting barely more than the minimum legal salary. Those who were married and had children had an especially hard time making ends meet. American military quarters for enlisted personnel were still typically vast dormitories where twenty or more members had to live in a complete lack of intimacy. In contrast, a colonel like her with ten years of service could earn with flight bonus and other allocations about 1,100 dollars per month, while a ground maintenance technician with the rank of airman first class could hope to earn about 170 dollars per month, or a bit more than half of the average American salary.
‘’I would indeed like to study that subject once my personnel is lodged. Please excuse me for a moment: I won’t be long.’’
Gertrude, along with her radar officer, returned to her plane and took her hand luggage out of the luggage compartment situated under the cockpit, then returned to Morgan’s jeep. The latter, along with his officers, was surprised to see that Gertrude and Betty Smith had brought their M2A2 carbines with them, like apparently all the female newcomers.
‘’You are accustomed to travel like this with your carbines, Colonel Meserve?’’
‘’Let’s say that me and my women have been serving for six months now in active combat zones. We even had to defend our airbase in Palestine against a night commando attack. Major General Dows is a believer about being always ready for combat, be it in the air or on the ground.’’
‘’Uh, I see!’’
Morgan then let his administrative officer take care of most of the things during the next hour or so, as the newcomers went through base arrival procedures. He was surprised to see how meager the non-accompanied baggage of the women, which had come aboard the C-152, was. Even Gertrude Meserve didn’t seem to possess any piece of furniture or kitchenware, having brought only a single large trunk filled with books, civilian clothes, souvenirs and a few decorative items. However, most of the newcomers had one or more weapons or pieces of military equipment taken as war trophies from enemy soldiers, be they Japanese, North Korean or Chinese. That made more than a few male aviators in Neubiberg raise an eyebrow, on top of starting a round of rumors and stories about this surprising martial side of the new women. Another unusual aspect about those women was their muscular build for their sex. Gertrude Meserve smiled when Major Nick Napolitano raised that point at the officers’ mess during lunch.
‘’That’s actually quite easy to explain, Major. Since the creation of the 99th Air Group in 1942, General Dows has insisted that all the women under her command train regularly in order to build their muscle mass and strength. An ordnance technician that can’t do her part to lift a 500 pound bomb and hook it under a plane would be next to useless to her unit. As for the pilots of our group, we had to have enough strength and stamina to be able to handle our plane control sticks during long aerial combats at high speed. Without being champion weightlifters, me and my women have a strength approaching that of men of our size. That factor is however only a secondary one to our successes.’’
‘’And what would be the primary factors that would explain the successes of your aviatrix, Colonel?’’ Asked Lieutenant Colonel Radner, the commander of the 78th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Gertrude took a sober expression as she answered him, emphasizing each point as she went.
‘’First, we use tactics devised to exploit the weaknesses of our adversaries and to maximize our own strong points. Second, we use surprise to the utmost and try to be unpredictable. Third, we grab the initiative and do everything to keep it. Fourth, we carefully select our targets in order to maximize the effect on the enemy and to minimize the resources needed for our strikes. As a consequence, we do our best to cut the head of the serpent, rather than its tail.’’
‘’Like you did when you bombed Beijing, right?’’
‘’Exact, Colonel! The Communist Chinese leaders had been stupid enough to let their paranoia affect their judgment and had concentrated all their houses and offices in a small, clearly defined zone in downtown Beijing. By killing all the top Chinese leaders, we forced their armies marching on Vietnam to turn around in utter confusion as chaos ensued in Beijing. Fifth, and possibly the most important factor according to General Dows, we should never lose sight of the political, economic and social factors that are causing a war. A purely military solution to a conflict is invariably condemned to fail in the long term. The cases of Palestine and of Indochina are good examples of that.’’
‘’Talking of Palestine, Colonel,’’ hurried to say Major Rubinstein, ‘’there are rumors that some kind of miracle happened in Ramat David three months ago, a miracle that involved General Dows. What do you know about that?’’
Gertrude became dead serious then as she fixed Rubinstein in the eyes.
‘’A miracle indeed happened in Ramat David, Major: I was there and witnessed it. There were in fact two miracles. First, General Dows was healed in minutes of her severe wounds by a bright white light. Then, her driver, who had been killed in Haifa by the Jews who had attacked her and Dows, was resurrected in front of our eyes after General Dows prayed for her life. That is all that I am ready to say about this for now. General Dows will decide if she wants or not to add to that. You will probably be able to meet her when she will come for our local change of command parade in a few days.’’
The male officers around Gertrude looked at each other for a moment, stunned and disbelieving. Gertrude used that opportunity to change the subject, looking at Morgan.
‘’Talking about our change of command parade, Colonel Morgan, when do you expect to hold it?’’
‘’Next Tuesday, on the seventh, if that is to your agreement.’’
‘’That will be fine with me.’’
‘’By the way, the wing is celebrating Independence Day tomorrow. I hope that your women will be able to participate to our national holiday.’’
‘’Of course, my dear Colonel Morgan!’’ Replied Gertrude, smiling. ‘’After all these months of war for us, a party will do us a lot of good indeed.’’
After the meal, which was typical of American military kitchens (abundant, but of questionable value in terms of both diet and taste), Gertrude was invited by Morgan to go visit the quarters allotted to her women. She however surprised Morgan by asking to inspect as well the male enlisted quarters.
‘’Uh, why the male quarters, Colonel Meserve?’’
‘’Because the welfare of all my subalterns is important to me, not only that of my female subalterns.’’
Morgan nodded his head at that, favorably impressed by this demonstration of good leadership.
‘’In that case, we will inspect first the lower floors of the enlisted ranks’ barracks. If you will please follow me, ladies and gentlemen.’’
Followed by his staff officers, his squadron leaders and by Master Sergeant Vanderbilt, Morgan got up and led Gertrude out of the mess, taking place in the jeeps still waiting outside. A short trip of a few hundred meters got them to a long, two-storey building with dormer windows opening in its sloped roof. Morgan pointed the building, which had a strictly utilitarian appearance, to Gertrude.
‘’The personnel quarters on this base actually date from the 1930s and are quite austere. I did my best to improve them but our maintenance and construction budgets are very limited. Let’s go inside!’’
Entering behind Morgan and with the other officers following her, Gertrude soon walked into one of the communal dormitories of the barrack, a long room lit by ten large windows. The dormitory was filled with two parallel rows of iron bunk beds, with each bed provided with a narrow steel locker and a barrack box. Gertrude frowned on seeing the complete lack of intimacy offered by that arrangement.
‘’How many men live in this dormitory?’’
The wing’s personnel officer, Captain Bradley Ferguson, jumped in to answer her.
‘’Over sixty men, Colonel. This dormitory has a maximum capacity of eighty occupants.’’
‘’And if these men want to write letters, read a book or play cards?’’
‘’Then, they do it sitting on their beds or they use the two folding tables set in the center of the room, Colonel.’’
‘’And how is the junior ranks mess? If this barrack block can’t offer more than what I see here now, then I hope that our technicians can at the least use a decent mess. We are after all talking about men and women whose training cost thousands of dollars and took a couple of years. What I see here is acceptable for simple recruits, but not for experienced specialists.’’
‘’But, this is no different from the conditions found in most of our bases, Colonel.’’ Said Master Sergeant Paul Vanderbilt, a stocky man. Gertrude looked at him with a neutral expression while fixing him in the eyes.
‘’Maybe, Master Sergeant, but that is not a valid excuse for me to accept such a situation without even trying to improve it. Our pilots depend on our ground technicians to be able to fulfill their missions, missions that this wing is tasked to accomplish. Our junior personnel is already grossly underpaid in comparison to their civilian counterparts and deserve at the least decent living conditions after work. Don’t forget that your role is not limited to maintaining discipline, Master Sergeant Vanderbilt. You are also responsible to counsel, support and assist the non-commissioned personnel.’’
Vanderbilt tensed up then but didn’t reply. Gertrude felt however clearly that he was not thinking much of her opinion. She thus promised to keep an eye on him and his professional performance.
Climbing the stairs to the attic level, which contained the female quarters, Gertrude found there conditions similar to those in the male quarters. At least they were not inferior in quality to those of the men, she thought. Her group then went back down and left the building, going to inspect the quarters for the NCOs and for the junior officers. While the accommodation for the senior enlisted personnel were decent in her opinion, with each NCO having a private room, what Captain Ferguson told her when she inspected a junior officer’s room didn’t please her one bit.
‘’You are telling me that you don’t have enough rooms on this base for all of our junior officers, Captain?’’
‘’Exact, Colonel.’’ Said Ferguson, feeling in his small shoes. ‘’The wing was previously equipped with F-86 SABRE fighters, a single-seat plane. The accommodations for lieutenants and captains were then in sufficient numbers. However, with the wing now reequipping with two-seat F-83s, we suddenly have to house 78 extra junior officers, essentially the radar officers of our F-83s. At this time, we can absorb about thirty of those extra officers in our present quarters. As a result, I ordered the single beds in the junior officers’ quarters to be replaced by double bunk beds, to compensate for the lack of rooms. There is still the option of lodging the extra officers in rented civilian accommodations around the base, Colonel.’’
‘’With a second lieutenant earning less that 500 dollars per month, all allowances included? Or less than 400 dollars per month for a lieutenant without a flight bonus? And what about the quarters for married personnel, Captain?’’
Ferguson then looked squarely embarrassed as he answered Gertrude.
‘’I am sorry, Colonel, but this old Luftwaffe base had only one residence for married officer: that of the base commander. As for quarters for married NCOs, they are non-existant. Unfortunately, the rental costs of civilian apartments are higher here than in the United States. Germany is still suffering from a shortage of housing because of the extensive damage from World War Two. In fact, the German economy has started to stabilize only two or three years ago.’’
Gertrude shook her head, disappointed by what she had heard and seen.
‘’Gentlemen, apart from completing the transition of this wing to the F-83, I will make a priority of improving the living conditions of our personnel. I know that the Airforce budgets are tight presently, but we must show both imagination and initiative. Don’t come to me after next Tuesday to tell me that something can’t be done because of some regulation: there is always a way to go around regulations if need be. Our men and women are counting on us to help and support them and that is what we will do. Sorry for having interrupted like this your guided tour, Colonel Morgan. What is the next installation on your list?’’
‘’The operation center and the staff offices of the wing, Colonel Meserve.’’
‘’Very well! Lead on!’’
Gertrude finally took the time after supper to settle herself in one of the suites for senior officers of the officers’ mess. Unpacking and organizing her things took her less than half an hour, the result of a military life spent in majority in theatres of war or on rotation to frontline bases around Korea. In that respect, the women of the 99th Wing, which was still based in the Philippines, had done more than their fair share of such combat rotations and missions. Taking out of its protective packaging a large framed picture, Gertrude sat down for a moment on the edge of her bed while she looked at it. It was a group photo of the original group of female pilots that had formed the 170th Fighter Squadron, ‘The Witches’, in 1942, a group she had been part of. Nearly half of the women on the picture were now dead, killed in combat, or had been wounded and had left the service for medical reasons. A few, including her old friend Nancy Batson, had voluntarily left the service in 1945, to return to civilian life. Tears rolled down on her cheeks as she caressed the picture of Evelyn Sharp, killed over Korea in 1948. Evelyn had been a great aviatrix and also one of her best friends, along with Ingrid Dows, Teresa James and Nancy Batson. After a moment spent contemplating the framed picture, Gertrude went to suspend it to a nail already hammered into one wall, doing her best to chase away her sadness and nostalgia. She was now in charge of a whole combat air wing and of over a thousand men and women, who now depended on her to guide and support them in their own careers. Her own personal conduct and public attitude thus had to be exemplary if she wanted to gain the respect and confidence of h