Lbirds.com Flickr photo collection

Below is a Lbirds.com gallery collection of related and interesting photos on Flickr.

These are NOT our photos, but photos we’ve searched for and collected from numerous accounts. More will be added as we have time.

The Lbirds.com feature gallery

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An L-5 pilot in the news!

It appears that some of the Air Commandos of WWII fame in the CBI recently had a gathering. The news stories refer to a WWII L-5 pilot Senior Master Sgt. William Cartwright as having been in attendance.

https://www.hurlburt.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1776498/air-commandos-gather-for-75th-anniversary-of-operation-thursday/

https://www.crestviewbulletin.com/news/20190305/ceremony-honors-air-commando-pioneers

If you know of a living WWII or Korean Liaison Pilot or crewmember PLEASE contact us so we can get in touch with them!

Air Commandos gather for 75th anniversary of Operation Thursday Photo by Tech. Sgt. Kentavist Brackin

 

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Off-site Liaison article link

There’s a lot of good material out on the internet if you know where to look. Here is a link to read or download an article published in the 1990s in US Army History for free:

Eyes in the Sky: A History of Liaison Aircraft and Their Use in World War II  by: Herbert P. LePore
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Liaison Pilot Profile: Maj. John T Walker

Lt. Col. John Thornton Walker
Personal pilot for Gen. Mark Clark
Article by Ryan Short

Photo of Maj. Walker in the cockpit of a Stinson L-5

Maj. Walker in the cockpit of a Stinson L-5

While searching for Liaison Pilot information online recently, and L-5 pilots in specific, I came across information about Lt. Col. Walker, who served in the Italian Theater with General Mark Clark. Lt. Col. Walker served served with high-ranking officials from the US and Allied forces in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations for three years. The next paragraph is a brief synopsis of Walker’s story – as provided by a member of the family. It has been slightly edited (with permission).

John Thornton Walker was born on 24 Aug., 1912 near Rochester , Illinois and lived there until he was 8 years old. In 1920 his family moved to Springfield , IL. He graduated from Springfield High School in 1931 and became a Cub reporter with the Illinois State Journal based in Springfield. In the early 1930’s he took flight lessons and eventually owned his own Piper Cub. He became the aviation editor for the newspaper and he was also the publicity director for the Illinois State Dept. of Agriculture. Most folks in Springfield called him Thornton or just “T” and General Clark (during WW2) called him Jack. John married Geraldine Hudson of Washington, Indiana on March 29th, 1934. His wife Geraldine was also a pilot and flew locally with John in the Springfield area. Mr. Walker joined the Illinois Army National Guard (Mechanized Cavalry Squadron) and went through all of the Enlisted Ranks (E-1 thru E-7) before he became a 2nd Lt.. His unit was called to active duty in 1940 and they served at Camp Livingston , La. through 1940 and 1941. He then was transferred to the Air Corps and trained at Fort Sill, Ok. for 8 weeks and then after a short tour at Alexandria AB, La. (where his daughter Connie Ann was born in March, 1942) was shipped to England and then to North Africa. There, in late 1942, he became General Mark Clark’s personal pilot. He flew combat operations with General Clark in North Africa, Sicily and Italy flying mostly L-4 and L-5 aircraft. Besides General Clark, Col. Walker flew many dignitaries over the Anzio, Salerno, Monte Cassino, Rome and other battle fronts including Sec. of War Stimson, General George C. Marshall, General Hap Arnold, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Sec. of Navy

A Piper L-4 "Cub" in a tree

A Piper L-4 “Cub” in a tree

Forrestal and General Jacob Devers. He won many Decorations including the Silver Star, Legion of Merit and Air Medal’s. He is mentioned is several books about WW2 including General Clark’s “Calculated Risk” (Gen. Clark tells of several of their escapades & crashes) and Margaret-Bourke-White’sPurple Heart Valley.” In at tragic accident, Lt. Col. Walker was killed on 19 Feb. 1945 while beginning a short leave to fly home to visit his wife and daughter. The English transport aircraft in which he was a passenger crashed on takeoff from the Rome airfield. There were no survivors. Speculation at the time was that the aircraft was overweight and out of balance. Lt. Col. Walker was buried in Italy in a ceremony presided over by General Clark. His remains were later brought home and are buried in Geraldine’s hometown of Washington, Indiana . On 29 May, 1951 in a ceremony presided over by General Mark Clark, “Walker Air Strip” at Fort Monroe, Virginia was dedicated to the memory of Lt. Col. John Thornton Walker. Geraldine and Connie Ann were in attendance.

While Lt. Col. Walker’s story may not have been typical of the experience of most Lbird pilots, it highlights the usefulness of these aircraft. They were beneficial from the lowliest private needed medical assistance to highest level commanders. He transported Gen. Clark numerous times and places during the US Army’s march through Italy and survived several crash landings – including once, when he was flying an L-4 and was chased home by German Bf-109 fighters. He ended up “landing” in a tree – but was able to climb down and walk away.

Lbirds.com is pleased to honor the memory and service of Lt. Col. Walker by offering a version of our L-5 model that you can build and display in the markings of one of his aircraft – “Rome Express” in our store (Pending re-upload). This was one of several aircraft he used during the war carrying Gen. Clark and others, and the aircraft carried the inscription Maj. J. T. Walker on the aircraft side.

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Bill Stratton – take one.

I’ll have more to write about Bill Stratton later on, but today’s blog post is the result of an email I got reminding me about an obituary I left a comment on years ago. Here’s a link to the obituary: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/san-antonio-tx/bill-stratton-4611148

I knew Bill before he died and enjoyed speaking with him. He had a wealth of knowledge about liaison pilots and aircraft and he and Hardy Cannon were the founders of what is now the Alamo Liaison Squadron down in San Antonio, Texas, where I first flew “L-birds.” 

Bill also ran the “International Liaison Pilots Association” or ILPA until he died and collected numerous histories and anecdotes related to the liaison story. I spoke with Bill’s son afterwards about the collection of data, but lost touch with him shortly afterwards and am unsure where the collection ended up.

The ILPA website is long gone, but some of it can still be viewed here: https://web.archive.org/web/20060501012639/http://www.centercomp.com/ILPA/

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