This WWII documentary film titled, “Perishable Rush,” shows how the Army Air Forces during World War II flew wounded men from Pacific battle areas to mobile army surgeons hospitals, hospital ships, and finally major hospitals and eventually home towns in the United States. Fast forward to the 3:18 mark to see L-4 in action. At…
The story of one WWII American airman who went missing when a crew of nine were shot down in August, 1944, and parachuted out of their B-24 Liberator in northern Italy. April 28, 1945, following the advancement of Allied forces north of the Gothic Line. “British headquarters had been established in a wardamaged building that…
Advertorial from Flying magazine, March 1945
Flying unarmed Piper L-4 Grasshopper, Stinson L-5 Sentinel and Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman light aircraft, the 159th Liaison Squadron flew courier and aerial reconnaissance missions and dropped munitions and supplies to American and Philippine forces fighting in the Battle of Luzon, and rescued many wounded soldiers. While the film is 20 minutes in length, the liaison…
Collier’s for February 17, 1945Wing Talk, edited by Frederick R. Neely FROM Mrs. W. B. Mohney, Topeka, came the suggestion that “an article in your magazine on Grasshopper planes would be interesting—not the Grasshopper of the Air Corps, but of the Field Artillery. It is a very important part of the Army and most people…
January 20, 1945 – “In view of 12th Army Groups’ recommendation that two L-4s in the Arty Air Sections of Army, Corps, Brigade, Division and Group HQs be replaced by L-5s as the latter are received as replacements, the comparative information below should be of interest.” Advantages of the L-5 over the L-4 [true advantages…
The fall of St. Lô In July of 1944, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel of the German Nazi forces, faced one of the greatest battlefield challenges of his Wehrmacht career. In spite of a large concentration of German tanks opposite Caen, the Allies were expanding their Normandy lodgment. Several armored counterattacks against the British Second Army…
Excerpted from Science News Letter for June 10, 1944. THE TINY grasshopper planes, or flying jeeps, are being used by the Army in the jungles of Burma for air ambulance work. Up to the present time these planes have been used mainly for reconnaissance work and directing artillery fire. This is the first time that…
Excerpted from The Field Artillery Journal, May 1944, By Maj. Edward A. Raymond, FA Organic air observation for artillery has come into its own after trial in Africa, Sicily, and Italy. The development of its use throughout the three campaigns is an interesting tale from the professional point of view, and it is a tale…
Sixth in a series of incentive films made “exclusively for the men and women of American industry,” this mid-1944 official US War Department film depicts the use of “pint-sized” planes in directing artillery fire. Beginning at the 09:35 mark, it shows the “Grasshopper” and features light aircraft used for observation and transportation. The roughly two-minute…