George Collar, World War II
George Collar was born in Jackson, Michigan near the end of World War I, “the war to end all wars”. His grandfather had fought in the 1st Michigan Engineering and Mechanics in the Civil War. An uncle was killed in the bloody battle of Somme and a cousin had been gassed while serving with the 32nd Red Arrow Division at Muese-Argonne. His English mother came to the U.S. in 1913 and so George grew up steeped in the heroics of people such as Sgt. York and Eddie Rickenbaker.
He graduated from Jackson High School in 1935. He learned the trade of tool and die making and worked several years at this occupation. He was in Tecumseh looking for a job and he remembers the day well, May 10, 1940, the day the great German Blitzkrieg roared through eastern Europe.
George realized that sooner or later that Hitler would have to be stopped and he went with a friend to Canada to join the Royal Canadian Air Force. At the induction center, they were turned away because they didn’t have their birth certificates with them. George returned to the U. S. and continued his work as a tool and die maker.
In June, l942, he was inducted in Kalamazoo as a private in the Enlisted Reserves. He was told that he would be called at a later time so he went to California to continue working as a tool and die maker. On Jan 5, l943, he reported for duty as an aviation cadet in Detroit.
From Detroit, his group was sent to Nashville, Tennessee where they were given a multitude of physical and mental tests. George qualified for either pilot or bombardier pre-flight school and chose to go to Maxwell Field, Alabama for pilot training. After some difficulties with pilot training, he was sent to Ellington Field, Texas, for bombardier pre-flight school. He stayed at Ellington for 12 weeks and had to help protect the planes there from a l25 mile an hour hurricane.
After Ellington, his class went to Laredo Air Base for six weeks of aerial gunnery training and received their gunner’s wings. From Laredo, they went to Big Springs, Texas for twelve weeks of advanced bombardier training. On December 24, l943, l99 cadets received their bombardier’s wings and commissions as 2nd Lt.
On a ten day delay in route to Salt Lake Air Base, he managed to return home to Jackson and renew acquaintance with Florence Kaminski, a young beauty that he had known for several years, and who would become very important to him later. From Salt Lake, where crews were formed, they went to Casper Air Base and trained in B-24s. George has many interesting stories to relate about his training, including one in which two bombs dropped out prematurely when the plane was near La Junta, Colorado.
George’s crew next went to Lincoln, Nebraska, a staging base for overseas, and then on to Dow Field in Bangor, Main. They arrived in England by way of Iceland in May, l944, at Clunto Base near Ulster. The pilots were taught formation procedures. In Ireland, George met a gnome-like Irishman who had sold them fresh eggs. This time he appeared with a bottle of Jamesons’ Irish Whiskey which he sold to them for $10. Much to their chagrin, they found out later it was cold tea. That Irishman never appeared again.
They eventually arrived at Tibenham in Norfolk, England where the airfield of the 445th bomber group was located. There he saw Jimmy Steward, who flew most of his missions with the 445th. George flew his first combat mission on June 29, l944. Their target was the Junkers Engine Works at Kothen, Germany.
Before leaving, Captain Steinbacker told the nervous rookies about the awful flak they would encounter. He said not to let it scare you. If you see black powder puffs, you will know they have missed. If you see yellow centers, they are getting close and you will never see the one that hits you! On this first mission, a piece of flak tore a hole in the side of the nose compartment and passed between George and the navigator and went out the other side.
A second mission was a V-1 buzz bomb site at Vignacourt in the Pas de Calai. This was described as a milk run since no fighters and no flak were encountered. Their third and fourth missions were to bomb a jet plane assembly plant at Munich. There were 1500 bombers and 750 fighters involved. They saw some bombers hit by flak which then peeled off for Switzerland which lay to their left as they returned. This had been a long, grueling flight of nine hours.
Their next and one of their roughest missions was to attack the Riem Air Field, Munich The weather was severe and at 24,000 feet, the close formation of bombers went into heavy clouds and as they emerged, George’s crew saw two of them come together and explode. They also witnessed a P-51 hit by flak, but were relieved to see his chute open. Their B-24 was also hit and lost one of its engines. They had to drop out of formation and drop their bombs on a secondary target, Saarbruken. They jettisoned everything they could and made it back to England on three engines.
To be continued.
– Percy