The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Brig. Gen. William Mitchell - Dec. 15th, 2003

Aviation History Magazine ^ | September 1997 | C.V. Glines

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
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FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

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Brig. Gen. William Mitchell
(1879 - 1936)

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Billy Mitchell: Air Power Visionary

As Brig. Gen. William Mitchell faced court-martial charges in 1925, the Kansas City Star described him as 'a zealot, a fanatic, a one-idea man...' but added that someday his dream might come true.

As the U.S. Air Force celebrates its 50th anniversary in September 1997, it is fitting that the man who did much to help bring the Air Force into being should be remembered. William "Billy" Mitchell was a crusader who had the vision to understand the potential of air power long before his contemporaries.


Born in Nice, France, in 1879, on his parent's extended tour of Europe, Mitchell was brought back to Milwaukee at age 3. This photo was taken in 1898, when Mitchell first entered the military service. Mitchell held the rank of junior lieutenant.

The name Billy Mitchell brings different images to mind. To most, he was a hero, without whose dire warning the United States might never have been able to field the world's largest air force in time to fight World War II. To others, he was an ambitious egotist and zealot who ran roughshod over anyone who opposed his views on air power, especially his military and civilian superiors.

In a sense, the barnstorming era of the 1920s was also the Billy Mitchell era, because it was his voice that first loudly proclaimed the need for strong air defenses. Long before anyone else, he vigorously advanced the theory that the airplane would replace the fleet as America's first line of defense. He also saw the flying machine as a strategic weapon that could take a war to an enemy's industrial resources.


Billy Mitchell's first solo landing, spring, 1917

Mitchell was born in Nice, France, in 1879, the son of a U.S. senator. At age 18, he enlisted in the Army as a private when the Spanish-American War broke out. He was commissioned and served in the Army Signal Corps in Cuba, the Philippines and Alaska before becoming interested in aviation. As early as 1906, however, he prophesied in the Cavalry Journal that "conflicts, no doubt, will be carried out in the future in the air." After the first aircraft was purchased by the Army, he wrote several more articles pointing out that airplanes would be useful for reconnaissance, for preventing enemy forces from conducting reconnaissance and for offensive action against enemy submarines and ships.


General Billy Mitchell, standing in an allied trench somewhere in France, ca. 1918.

Mitchell was assigned to the Army General Staff in Washington in 1912 as a captain; at age 32, he was the youngest officer ever assigned to that important post. He prepared a report on the needs of American aviation and argued that, with the advances then being made in aeronautics, the United States was being drawn ever closer to its potential enemies and that distance would soon have to be measured in time, not miles.

Promoted to major, Mitchell was considered too old and held too high a rank for flight training. Convinced that his future lay in aviation, however, he paid for his own flying lessons at a civilian flying school at Newport News, Va., and later received a rating as a junior military aviator.


Billy Mitchell was a strong believer in the importance of air power

In April 1917, by then a lieutenant colonel, he was assigned to the American Expeditionary Forces in France and became one of the first Americans on the scene after the United States declared war on Germany. He immediately fought for the creation of American air units in France but was frustrated by the delay in getting American planes and pilots into the war. It galled him that the French had to provide air protection over the American lines, resulting in what Mitchell viewed as a lack of control and effectiveness. Mitchell met British General Hugh "Boom" Trenchard and quickly adopted his thesis that military air power could and should be used in a "relentless and incessant offensive" in wartime and, if so used, would one day become much more important in military strategy than sea power.



Slowly, American pilots arrived, were assigned to squadrons and were put in the air in French planes. In March 1918 the Germans began a desperate push against the Allies, and Mitchell was placed in charge of all American aviation units at the front. On Sunday, April 14, 1918, a year after the United States entered the war, Mitchell declared that America had finally put its first squadron into combat. His flair for combat leadership was subsequently proved at the Battle of Saint-Mihiel when he coordinated a force of 1,481 British, French and Italian planes to support American ground forces. He was promoted to brigadier general and became more vocal about the importance of a strong military air arm. He quickly earned the enmity of his nonflying contemporaries for his aggressiveness in building airfields, hangars and other facilities. His flamboyance, ability to gain the attention of the press and willingness to proceed unhampered by precedent made him the best-known American in Europe.


Mitchell (at center, with walking stick) and his staff pose at Koblenz, Germany, in January 1919. His World War I experiences, he said, had "conclusively shown that aviation was a dominant element in the making of war."

Mitchell returned to the States as a hero in 1919 and was appointed assistant chief of the U.S. Army Air Service. He was appalled at how quickly the organization he had helped to build in war had disintegrated in peacetime. He decided that the nation must not be deluded into the belief that "the war to end all wars" had really accomplished that end. "If a nation ambitious for universal conquest gets off to a flying start in a war of the future," he said, "it may be able to control the whole world more easily than a nation has controlled a continent in the past." Such statements embarrassed his superiors. He soon provoked the Navy admirals into open hostility through his tirades against their super-dreadnought concepts.

[Johnny Gage]

Air Power
North American B-25 "Mitchell"

The B-25 Mitchell, a twin-engine bomber that became standard equipment for the Allied Air Forces in World War II, was perhaps the most versatile aircraft of the war. It became the most heavily armed airplane in the world, was used for high-and low-level bombing, strafing, photoreconnaissance, submarine patrol and even as a fighter, and was distinguished as the aircraft that completed the historic raid over Tokyo in 1942.

It required 8,500 original drawings and 195,000 engineering man-hours to produce the first one, but nearly 10,000 were produced from late 1939, when the contract was awarded to North American Aviation, through 1945.

Basically, it was a twin-tail, mid-wing land monoplane powered by two 1,700-hp Wright Cyclone engines.

Normal bomb capacity was 5,000 pounds. Some versions carried 75 mm cannon, machine guns and added firepower of 13 .50-caliber guns in the conventional bombardier's compartment. One version carried eight .50-caliber guns in the nose in an arrangement that provided 14 forward-firing guns.

The B-25 was a very versatile medium bomber that was used on all fronts. An example of its versatility can be seen in its use by Jimmy Doolittle, who led a raiding group of B-25s off of the deck of the carrier Hornet to bomb the Japanese home islands in April 1942. Armament continually changed during the evolution of the B-25, from the B model with a glass nose and a single fifty caliber machine gun, to the G model that carried a 75mm cannon in the nose, to the later version of the J model that had a solid nose with eight .50 calibers, fuselage blisters with four more forward-firing .50s, and six more .50s in other fuselage positions. The USAAF was not the only service to use the B-25. Over 700 Mitchells were delivered to the U.S. Navy and Marines, under the designation PBJ. Many Allied nations also used the B-25, some continuing in use until the 1960's.

Specifications:
Manufacture: North American Aviation
Primary Role: Medium Bomber
Engines: Two 1,700-hp Wright R-2600-92 Cyclone radial piston engines
Crew: 5
Number Built: 9,889
Number Still Airworthy: ~34

Dimensions:
Weight: Empty 19,480 lbs., Max Takeoff 35,000 lbs.
Wing Span: 67ft. 7in.
Length: 52ft. 11in.
Height: 16ft. 4in.

Performance :
Maximum Speed at 13,000 ft: 272mph
Ceiling: 24,200 ft.
Range: 1,350 miles

Armaments:
12 12.7-mm (0.5-inch) machine guns
4,000 pounds of bombs

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All information and photos Copyright of their respective owners.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Johnny. I knew you'd cover the B-25 today.:-)

[SAMWolf]

Just thinking about driving in france makes me sick.

[Johnny Gage]

Prayer Update

Thanks for all your prayers last week.

First off, my wife appears to be the #1 pick for the job she interviewed at.

Second, I received my pay-stub in the mail on Saturday. and it was at this time, that the company decided I needed a 4.5% raise(due to job market changes) and make it effective Nov 1st., so my check also included almost $200 in back pay, in addition to my new pay-rate.

Which "some how" gives us enough money after bills, to get through until the next pay day!

Thanks be to God from whom all blessings flow!

[Professional Engineer]

Oh man, Gotta love those rounds engines!

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for sharing the good news Johnny.

Continued prayers that the # 1 pick gets the job.

[SAMWolf]

Only two, but they'll do. :-)

[snippy_about_it]

Great news Johnny. Thanks for the update and I hope your wife gets the job.

[GATOR NAVY]

Do you have any info about this plane?

[Soaring Feather]

Good news Johnny! Woo Hoo!

[SAMWolf]

Hi Gator Navy.

I think General Mitchell used Martin MB-1's for the tests but I'm not real up on pre-WWII bombers.

[SpookBrat]

Glenn Miller died 59 years ago today. :(

In 1942, at the peak of his civilian career, Glenn decided he could better serve those in uniform by putting one on himself. By doing this, the band gave up a $20,000 weekly income. Too old to be drafted at age 38, Glenn first volunteered for the Navy but was told that they didn’t need his services. Not giving up, Glenn wrote to the Army’s Brigadier General Charles Young on August 12, 1942. Miller persuaded the Army to accept him so he could in his own words, "put a little more spring into the feet of our marching men and a little more joy into their hearts and to be placed in charge of a modernized army band."

In the Fall of 1944, the band was scheduled to be sent on a six-week tour of Europe and would be stationed in Paris during that time. Miller decided to go ahead, in order to make the proper arrangements for the group's arrival. And so, on December 15th, Glenn Miller boarded a transport plane to Paris, never to be seen again.

Glenn Miller will be remembered for many things; his musical style, showmanship, hard work, perseverance, and much more. But his patriotism in giving up his number one civilian band to enlist in the United States Army Air Corps, his pioneering efforts to modernize military bands and his supreme sacrifice for his country have caused him to be remembered as Clarinda’s and America’s favorite musical patriot.

Glenn Miller’s life cannot easily be summed up in a few words. He put more in his short life of 40 years than most people do in a longer lifetime.

click

We love you Glenn. You'll never be forgotten in our home. Thank you for the example of unselfishness and servanthood you set for all Americans.

[SpookBrat]

Oops, had a little trouble with my links on my first post. I fixed it on the second one. Yikes! Sorry about that.

Victoria, I forgot to ping you on the above.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you for the post today Spooky. We did cover some information on Glenn Miller at the Foxhole and linked to his music some of our favorite songs, In the Mood being one of them. You might be interested so here is the link.

The FReeper Foxhole Studies Military Bands in America - October 31st, 2003

[SAMWolf]

YAY! We'll turn you into a history buff yet. Good catch!

I want to play with Jonah's TOW, my kid's too old to use as an excuse to buy the cool toys. :-(

[SpookBrat]

Awesome thread Snippy. Thanks for the link. I'm going to bookmark that thread. I love music and military bands, etc. I thought you all had covered Glenn Miller before, probably more than once.

[SAMWolf]

First Lieutenant Billy Mitchell in Alaska.

When the name Billy Mitchell is mentioned, most people think of the general who was court-martialed in 1925 for openly criticizing the Army's lackadaisical interest in aviation. Aviation buffs know that there was a World War II bomber named after him. These same people would probably be surprised, as I was, to learn that this same Billy Mitchell played a large part in establishing Alaska's first telegraph.

Melody Webb, in an article in the January 1986 issue of American History Illustrated, traces the development of the Alaska telegraph system, in which another familiar name pops up. General Adolphus Greely, namesake of Fort Greely near Delta, was chief of the Army Signal Corps in 1900, when communications between Washington and Alaska took two to six months to reach their destination. There were administrative problems arising from the flurry and disorder of Alaska's gold strikes, and growing friction with Canada and Britain over the international boundary. Greely, who had won fame as an Arctic explorer, now made the Alaska telegraph his personal cause.

The first step was to connect Fort Egbert, at Eagle on the Yukon River near the Canadian border, into the Canadian telegraph system. This was accomplished by October 1900, but the far more difficult task of tying the rest of Alaska into the net still lay ahead. Greely used infantry personnel stationed in Alaska to begin constructing telegraph lines to Fort Egbert at Eagle from four separate locations about the Territory. These locations were Fort Davis near Nome, Fort St. Michael at the mouth of the Yukon River, Fort Gibbon near Tanana, and Fort Liscum near Valdez.

In the summer of 1901, Greely, concerned about the meager progress on the lines, sent a young officer to investigate. His name was First Lieutenant William "Billy" Mitchell. On hearing the lieutenant's reports of the difficulties being encountered, and his optimistic appraisal that they could be overcome, Greely assigned Mitchell the job of actually building the line. Mitchell viewed the assignment as being on a level of importance exceeded possibly only by the Lewis and Clark Expedition and, of course, was delighted to have it.

The accounts of his ingenuity and drive under extreme hardship would be legendary, had this been any place other than Alaska where such feats are often taken for granted. Suffice to say that the line from Fort Liscum (Valdez) was connected to Fort Egbert (Eagle) at Tanacross Junction on August 24, 1902. The congressional appropriation for the line was to run out on June 30, 1903, and time was running tight. The Fort Gibbon crew from Tanana had 65 miles near Salcha to be surveyed, the right-of-way cut, and the line to be erected in only thirty days. Among other impediments was a forest fire, but on June 27, with three days to spare, Mitchell made the last connection himself. The line now extended nearly 1500 miles, and connected Fort St. Michael in western Alaska with Fort Liscum and Fort Egbert. The cost had been $617 per mile.

Mitchell's Alaskan experiences remained vivid to him in later years. In his last public appearance in 1935, he pleaded with the House Committee on Military Affairs to recognize Alaska's strategic importance. He said "I believe that, in the future, whoever holds Alaska will hold the world... I think it is the most important strategic place in the world." This may have been overstating the case a bit, and Congress ignored him. But of course, they ignored him about the future importance of military air power after World War I, also.

[snippy_about_it]

Some of the threads do inter-relate often so you never know. LOL.

[SpookBrat]

Oh my goodness. I loooooooooove history SAM. It's my favorite. I'm teaching American History this year at our homeschool co-op. I apologize for not participating more on your wonderful threads you guys work so hard on. Maybe if I'm not teaching history next year, I'll have more time to visit. LOL

Wish you could play too. I think about that more and more each Christmas. My kids are growing older and it's going to stop being fun soon. I begged Ally to let me buy her a doll this year. I asked her if she could just pretend to care about them still, just to humor me. A Christmas without a doll is sad. I'll be really sad when my little guy doesn't want cool little boy stuff any more.

He's going to die over his laser tag. All the mom's in the neighborhood are going to freak and ban their sons from playing with Jonah. He has too many weapons.