The Eight Ballers Eyes of the Fifth Air Force - John Stanaway & Bob Rocker.pdf

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The Eightballers:
Eyes of the Fifth Air Force
r
The
8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron in
WWII
John Stanaway and Bob Rocker
Schiffer Military History
Atglen, PA
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Acknowledgments
The acknowledgments for the 8PRS are these generous people:
Ben Armstrong, Connie Bailey, Dick Bailey, Allen Blum, Woodrow
Cobb, Mrs. Aden Davis, Curtis Dell, Jim Dieffenderfer, Moe Dmochowski,
Byron Dobbs, Tom Farmer, Bill Gailfus, Mrs. Marvin Gardner, Len
Headley, Bill Hilliard, Jim Kendall, Andrew Keppel, Don Kimbrough,
M.
F.
Kirby, Earl Lee, DeLasso Laos, Robert Ludtke, Jim McEwan, M.
Melman, Harold Moffat, Vince Murphy, John Neilson, Roy Reid, Frank
Reindl, Hector Rodgers, Norb Ruff, Roger Sheldon, Dick Shipway, Harold
Southard, Clark Sykes, Vic Tatelman, Herbert Thomas,
C.
Thureen, Ralph
Watts, James Woods, and Messrs. Bugai, Heller, Looker and Mattila.
Book Design by Ian Robertson.
Copyright © 1999 by John Stanaway & Bob Rocker.
Library of Congress Catalog Number: 99-61082
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any forms or by
any means - graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or information
storage and retrieval systems - without written permission from the copyright holder.
Printed in China.
ISBN: 0-7643-0910-2
We are interested in hearing from authors with book ideas on related topics.
Published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
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Contents
Introduction
8th Photogrpahic Recon Squadron Begins
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
8th Photo Squadron Diary 1942
8th Photo Squadron Diary 1943
Operational Summary 1944-45
Escape and Evasion:
The Eight Month Ordeal of Fred Hargesheimer
Color Gallery
Appendices
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III
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Introduction
Happenstance played a large part when we started working on
this project. John Stanaway had decided to do something on the
photo reconnaissance version of the P-38 Lightning (F-4 and F-5)
when he learned that his old friend and Pacific air war research
whiz, Bob Rocker, had contacted sources in the target unit (the 8th
Photo Reconnaissance Squadron) who possessed hundreds of here-
tofore unseen photos of aircraft, personnel, and famous locations in
New Guinea and the Philippines. In addition, the photos were mainly
of professional quality from the very cameras used in combat. Other
photos were personal examples taken by pilots and crews who had
an edge in composing and producing fine pictures.
In addition, the story of the 8th is unique and distinguished
enough to provide quite a narrative. The diary portion of the text
was probably never meant to be widely published, evidenced by its
many personal references and rambling jokes that were the bane of
at least one 8th PhS commander who deferred from the digressions
around the solid history of the squadron. However, the feel of the
period is conveyed by the exuberance of at least three writers in the
Intelligence Section who were responsible for recording the story
of the 8th Photo Squadron from the middle of 1942 until the unit
was absorbed into the 6th Photo Reconnaissance Group late in 1943.
The diary itself reveals the problems that every photo recon-
naissance unit faced during that part of the war. There were the
problems of shortages of pilots and serviceable aircraft. Then there
was the weather that seemed to go bad every time the 8th had enough
planes and pilots to schedule missions. When a pilot got his Light-
ning over the target in acceptably clear weather it seemed that the
camera would fog or break down and turn a dangerous mission into
futility.
The writer of the diary sometimes makes bland jokes about the
danger of flak or fighters, or of the ever-present fear of becoming
lost over the forbidding landscape of New Guinea or other equally
uninviting islands in the area. Some pilots were lost and made it
back through the jungles to survive for another bout with the need
for pictures of the Southwest Pacific. Other pilots just disappeared
into the void as part of the payment for keeping Headquarters sup-
plied with photographic intelligence.
The photos in this pictorial history were, for the most part,
taken by the 8th PhS itself, thereby providing a quality survey of
the unit's history. Virtually all of the pictures are presented for the
first time and provide a unique record of a great photo unit. The
reader will have a complete view of the troubles and triumphs of
photo recon crews battling various obstacles in their determination
to complete the mission.
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