Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Go For Broke

On January 28, 1943, the US War Department called for volunteers for a new combat team.  The mainland quota was 3,000 and the Hawaiʻi quota was 1,500.

But wait, we are getting a little ahead of the story.  Let’s look back.

On December 7, 1941, Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor forced the US into World War II.  On the day of the bombing and for six weeks after, the Nisei (Hawaiʻi born, 2nd generation Japanese in Hawaiʻi) and other cadets in the University of Hawaiʻi’s ROTC were made part of the Hawaiʻi Territorial Guard and assisted in guarding vital facilities on the island of Oahu.  They served as part of the armed forces defense of the islands for a 7-week period.

However, on January 19, 1942, the Army discharged all the Japanese Americans in the ROTC – and changed their draft status to 4C … “enemy alien.”  Wanting to serve, one hundred and seventy students petitioned the military governor: “Hawaiʻi is our home; the United States our country. We know but one loyalty and that is to the Stars and Stripes. We wish to do our part as loyal Americans in every way possible, and we hereby offer ourselves for whatever service you may see fit to use us.”  (hawaii-edu)

A year later, the War Department announced that it was forming an all-Nisei combat team – the call for volunteers for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was made.  The Territory of Hawaiʻi raised a total of 10,000-volunteers and so its quota was increased to 2,900 while the mainland quota was lowered proportionately to 1,500.  

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was activated on February 1, 1943 at Camp Shelby Mississippi; the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce held a Farewell Ceremony for Hawaiʻi 442nd soldiers on March 28, 1943, at ʻIolani Palace.  By April 1943, the recruits arrived for training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi.

The Hawaiʻi-born Nisei, also known as “Buddhaheads,” made up about two-thirds of the regiment. The remaining third were Nisei from the mainland (they came from the Pacific coast, the Rocky Mountain states, the midwest and the eastern seaboard.)  Immediately, the two factions fought with each other (because of different perspectives based on where they grew up.)  (goforbroke-org)

At the time, Japanese in the US were placed in internment camps; more than 110,000-people of Japanese ancestry (including 60-percent who were American citizens) were forcibly “relocated” from their homes, businesses and farms in the western states (about 1,000 were interned in Hawaiʻi.)

Back at the training camp, the Buddhaheads thought the mainlander Nisei were sullen and snobby, and not confident and friendly. Soon misunderstandings turned into fistfights.  In fact, that was how mainlanders got the name “Katonk.” (They say it was the sound their heads made when they hit the floor.)

The Katonks were fairer skinned, and spoke perfect English. The Buddhaheads were darker skinned and spoke Pidgin – a mixture of Hawaiian, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese and broken English.  (goforbroke-org)

Money was another big divider between the groups. The Buddhaheads gambled heavily and spent freely using the cash sent by their generous parents who still worked in Hawaiʻi. They thought the Katonks were cheap. They didn’t realize that the Katonks sent most of their meager Army pay to their families imprisoned in the camps.  (goforbroke-org)

The friction between the two groups was so bad that the military high command considered disbanding the 442nd. They thought the men could never fight overseas as a unit. The Army decided to send a group of Buddhaheads to visit the internment camps in Arkansas (the men thought Camp Jerome and Camp Rowher were little towns with Japanese families.)

But when the trucks rolled past the barbed wire fence, past the guard towers armed with machine guns pointed at the camp residents, past the rough barracks where whole families crowded in small compartments with no privacy – suddenly the Buddhaheads understood. Word of the camps spread quickly, and the Buddhaheads gained a whole new respect for the Katonks. Immediately the men in the 442nd became united – “like a clenched fist.”

From May 1943 through February 1944, the men trained for combat; they excelled at maneuvers and learned to operate as a team. In March, Chief of Staff General George Marshall inspected the regiment. Following their training, on April 22, 1944, the 442d packed up and were bound for Italy.

The motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was “Go For Broke.” (It’s a gambling term that means risking everything on one great effort to win big.)

The soldiers of the 442nd needed to win big … they did.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the entire history of the US Military.

In total, about 14,000-men served.  Members of this unit earned over 18,000-individual decorations including 9,486 Purple Hearts and 5,200 Bronze Stars. The Combat Team earned five Presidential Citations, the only military unit ever to claim that achievement.

General of the Army George C Marshall praised the team saying, “there were superb: the men of the 100/442d … showed rare courage and tremendous fighting spirit … everybody wanted them.” General Mark W. Clark (Fifth Army) said, “these are some the best … fighters in the US Army. If you have more, send them over.”  (army-mil)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, “a combat team … of loyal American citizens of Japanese descent has my full approval, (and) will add to the … 5,000 … already serving in the … (100th Infantry Battalion, and Military Intelligence Service) … Americanism is not … a matter of race or ancestry. A good American is one who is loyal to this country and to our creed of liberty and democracy.”

The 442d may be best known for its rescue of the Lost Texas Battalion of the 36th Infantry Division, in the forests of the Vosges Mountains in northeastern France, near Biffontaine and Bruyeres on October 30, 1944.

The 442nd and the 141st Texas Regiment were both part of the 36th Division under the command of Major General John Dahlquist. They were fighting in Eastern France, near the German border.  The 141st Texas Regiment advanced four miles beyond friendly forces – the Germans surrounded them.  More than 200 Texans were stranded on a ridge, they were low on food, water and ammo.

Isolated for six days, the Texans had beaten back five enemy assaults. Deaths and casualties mounted.  During the six days, the 442nd fought to rescue the Lost Battalion.  After 34 days of almost non-stop combat – liberating Bruyeres and Biffontaine, rescuing the 211 Texans, and nine more days of driving the Germans through the forest – the 442nd’s total casualties were 216 men dead and more than 856 wounded.

As part of the Allies’ Southern Group of Armies, the 100/442d fought in eight campaigns and made two beachhead assaults in Italy and France, captured a submarine and opened the gates of Dachau concentration camp.

It is ironic that this team liberated Dachau, because some of these Japanese Americans were detained in American camps before being drafted into service, and still had family in those US camps. Nisei were denied their property, freedom to move, live in their own homes, work, and learn in the western US.  (army-mil)

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team included the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 232nd Combat Engineer Company, 206th Army Ground Force Band, Antitank Company, Cannon Company, Service Company, medical detachment, headquarters companies, and two infantry battalions. The 1st Infantry Battalion remained on the mainland to train new recruits. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions would join the legendary 100th Battalion, which was already fighting in Italy.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was actually composed of two distinct units: the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion.  These two units were formed independently at different times and do not share a common lineage.  The 100th Battalion would eventually become the 442nd’s 1st battalion in June 1944.  (the442-org)

Some quotes about the members of the 442:
“You not only fought the enemy … you fought prejudice and won.” President Harry S Truman

“Never in military history did an army know as much about the enemy prior to actual engagement” General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Pacific Theater

“My fellow Americans, we gather here today to right a grave wrong … now let me sign HR 442.” President Ronald Reagan, Civil Liberties Act of 1988

“The Nisei saved countless lives and shortened the war by two years.”  Charles A Willoughby, General MacArthur’s Intelligence Officer

Soldiers wear a wide assortment of insignia, ribbons, medals, badges, tabs and patches.  The distinctive unit insignia for the 442d Infantry Regiment, Organized Reserves Corps (Hawaiʻi) was originally approved on May 22, 1952. It was amended to withdraw “Organized Reserves Corps” from the designation on June 30, 1959.  (Pentagon-mil)

The 442d’s insignia is blue and white, the colors for the Infantry. The taro leaf, from the coat of arms of the 100th Infantry Battalion, is identified with Hawaiʻi, and the Mississippi River steam boat symbolizes the place of activation of the 442d Infantry Regiment (Camp Shelby, Mississippi.)  (Pentagon-mil). (Lots of information here from 442-org, goforbroke-org and army-mil.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Howling Owl

In 1938, the Navy Shore Development Board began searching for a more secure and adequate method for storing the near 4 million barrels of fuel kept to supply the Pacific Fleet.

The intention was to move the fuel from the exposed Doheny oil tanks in the back of the Navy Yard to a series of underground horizontal tanks.

The tanks were arranged in two parallel rows, with adjacent tanks spaced by 100-feet at least. The parallel arrangement allowed access by tunnels built between them with branches to each tank. Tops and bottoms of the tanks were dome-shaped for strength.

Ninety percent of the work was done underground, below at least 110-feet of earth. Outside night work was done under blackout conditions brought on by the war. A 20-watt bulb mounted inside a tin can and suspended three feet from the ground was a typical light source.

Charlie Boerner of Maui, the civil engineer inspector of the Navy’s supervisory group, described it best. “All we’re doing is getting inside a hole that doesn’t exist and digging until it does. O.K., so the miners keep widening the hole out from the shaft, making it v-shaped so the rock will roll down.”

The sequence of operation in driving the tunnels was drill, load (dynamite), blast, muck out, timber, and repeat. Progress was hampered by the presence of cinder pockets and irregular rock stratifications.

Tunnels through softer rock required pre-fabricated arch-shaped steel ribs with heavy timbers between the ribs to make the tunnel safe for work to proceed. Tunnels through harder rock were simply coated with Gunite to consolidate any loose rock. (HAER No. HI-123)

Muck was carried by conveyor to a quarry. Eventually, all of the five million tons excavated from Red Hill was used in surfacing highways, making concrete and as landfill to connect Kuahua Island to the Pearl Harbor shoreline.

After the tanks were hollowed, the walls were lined with ¼” steel plating, much like stained-glass pieces create a Tiffany lamp shade, Gammon described. (John Bennett)

Each tank has a 300,000-barrel capacity, and all 20 can hold 252 million gallons of fuel. At its peak, the project employed 3,900 workers to build 20 cylindrical fuel tanks that are each the size of the 20-story Ala Moana Building. Two-thirds of the workers were local. (William Cole)

The first tank was completed and immediately utilized on Sept. 26, 1942; the last, on Sept. 30, 1943. The reservation was transferred to the Navy’s control upon completion of the project, and was part of the strategic fuel oil for the Pacific Fleet. Access to the complex is via a system of tunnels totaling 7.13 miles. (John Bennett)

“Snaking throughout the honeycomb are a series of tunnels. A short cross tunnel connects each pair of tanks at their bottoms, making ten cross tunnels altogether. Similarly, another ten cross tunnels connect the tanks at their springline, the base of the upper dome.”

“The lengthy harbor tunnel extends for an additional two and one-third miles before finally rising to the surface at a secluded and bombproof underground pumphouse on Pearl Harbor Naval Base.” (HAER No. Hl-123) There is a link which runs to the Commander in Chief of the Pacific’s Headquarters building located at Makalapa. (John Bennett)

To aid in the transport of materials, 13,000 linear feet of train tracks were removed from Oahu’s cane fields and laid in the lower tunnel.  (WestOfSunset)

As the miners inched their way through their subterranean passageway, gangs of track-laying crews followed at their heels. As fast as the tunnel moved forward, rail lines were laid, and the excavated rock and earth was rolled away in miniature rail cars. (HAER No. HI-123)

The only continuously-operated railroad on Oahu runs the 3½  miles from Red Hill to a pump house at Pearl Harbor. It’s 450 feet underground, transporting men and equipment. At the pump house, only four men at a time are needed to monitor the elaborate system that took thousands to build.  (Boykin, Hawaii Pacific Architecture)

The two-car train, pulled by a miniature electric-powered narrow-gauge ‘locomotive’, was named ‘Howling Owl’ that propelled the train through the underground, hauled workers and equipment to various stops along the route – it could reach 15 miles per hour at full ‘steam’. (WestOfSunset)

The train passes under Makalapa Crater, Makalapa Elementary School, Salt Lake Boulevard, and Foster Village, at which point it is nearly 100-feet below the surface.

As it snakes through the tunnel, riders could easily believe that they are in the New York subway except that no one has spray painted ‘Chico loves Gloria’ on the walls.

Leaving Foster Village, the Owl travels beneath Aliamanu Military Reservation, the freeway, and Coast Guard housing. At the last location, residents have claimed that their homes vibrate when the train passes below. (Mass Transit Exists!)

The origin of the name ‘Howling Owl’ is long lost.  One theory suggests that the train’s mournful hoot is similar to the hoot of an owl.

Another theory claims that the name stems from the Underground Railroad used by escaping slaves in the southern United States.  Slaves planning to flee were told to await the signal – a howling owl. (WestOfSunset) The 15-foot-tall lighted tunnels later accommodated electric engines Honu and Lapaki.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Marine Dam

Marines and Sailors trained for what has been referred to as the toughest marine offensive of WWII. 1,300 miles northeast of Guadalcanal, the Japanese had constructed a centralized stronghold force in a 20-island group called Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands.

RADM Shibasaki, the Japanese commander there, proclaimed, “a million men cannot take Tarawa in a hundred years.”   Ultimately, the objective took 9,000 marines only four days (November 20 to November 23, 1943) – but not without a staggering 37% casualties.  US victories at Tarawa, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands marked a turning point in the war.

The Marines would reconstitute at Camp Tarawa at Waimea, on the Island of Hawaiʻi.  Originally an Army camp named Camp Waimea (when the population in town was about 400,) it became the largest Marine training facility in the Pacific following the battle of Tarawa.  

Pyramid tent cities and streets of long convoys of jeeps, trucks, half-tracks, tanks, artillery and amphibious ducks made up the formidable, but top secret, Camp Tarawa; over 50,000 servicemen trained there between 1942 and 1945.

A lasting legacy of the military presence in Waimea was an addition in the community’s drinking water system – “Marine Dam” – it’s still in use and is located above Waimea Town near the lower edge of the forest.

Marine Dam is a diversion dam in Waikoloa Stream at the 3,460-foot elevation, built during World War II by the US Engineering Department to supply water for the military encampment of several thousand Marines in Waimea.

Built in 1943, the 5-foot high dam captured stream water into a 12-inch lightweight steel clamp-on pipeline. In 1966, the steel pipeline was replaced by a more durable 18-inch ductile iron pipe.  A still basin and a cleanout were also added.

Today, the Marine Dam serves its original function and is a major source of drinking water for the South Kohala Water System, which provides drinking water as far east as Paʻauilo and west to the Waiemi subdivision on Kawaihae Road.

Hawai‘i County Department of Water Supply (DWS) relies on the streams of Kohala Mountain for its primary source of water.

The primary sources for the Waimea Water System are the mountain supplies from Waikoloa Stream and the Kohākōhau Stream diversion. The surface water sources are supplemented by the Parker Ranch groundwater well.  Surface water is treated at the Waimea Water Treatment Plant and blended with groundwater before distribution.

Raw water from the streams is stored in 4 reservoirs with a total capacity of over 150 million gallons (MG) and is treated in the DWS filtration plant. This system provides about 2-million gallons per day (mgd) (the system has a potential capacity of 4-mgd.)

There are three 50-million-gallon reservoirs in the Waimea system, although one of them is out of commission as a result of damage from the 2006 Kiholo Bay earthquake.  Two were initially damaged, but one has since been repaired.

The dam seems to also have helped native species; two Koloa ducks were observed on October 30, 1968 in a small pool of Waikoloa Stream approximately 400 yards above the Marine Dam, Kohala Watershed, and expressed the opinion that this was the “first sighting of wild Koloa on Hawaiʻi in more than 20 years”.

The work of the dam did not go unnoticed.  In 1997, the American Water Works Association designated the Marine Dam as an “American Water Landmark” (the only award for a neighbor island facility.)  Three other Water Landmark awards were issued to Kalihi Pump Station (1981,) Hālawa Shaft (1994) and the Beretania Pumping Station (1995.)

To receive a landmark status, the facility must be at least 50 years old and of significant value to the community.

DWS is permitted by the State’s Water Commission to take 1.427-mgd total from its diversions at the Marine Dam and Kohākōhau Dam, which is approximately 33% of the median daily discharge of Waikoloa and Kohākōhau streams combined.

The average or “mean” annual daily flow at Waikoloa stream is 9.12 cubic feet per second (cfs) (5.89 (mgd;)) however, this mean flow likely occurs only 20-30% of the time.

The median daily discharge for Waikoloa stream is 4.3 cfs (2.78 mgd.)  On a more typical day, streamflow is within the 70-75% range (meaning the percentage of time discharge equaled or exceeded this amount), or between 2.5-2.8 cfs (1.62-1.81 mgd.)  (MKSWCD)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sowing Seeds In Hawai‘i Via The Airplane

In 1903, the Hawai‘i Territorial Legislature passed Act 44 establishing the Board of Agriculture and Forestry, predating the USDA Forest Service by one year.

The Forest Reserve System was created by the Territorial Government of Hawai’i through Act 44 on April 25, 1903.  It was cooperative arrangement between the Hawai‘i Sugar Planters Association and the territorial government.

Plantations needed wood for fuel, but they also needed to keep the forests intact to draw precipitation from the trade winds, which in turn fed the irrigation systems in the cane fields below. (DLNR-DOFAW)

The first Territorial forester, Ralph S Hosmer, suggested that the forest had been declining in the uplands as a result of fire, grazing and insects. In order to preserve the forest, it was necessary to keep the ungulates out. From 1924 to 1926 hundreds of thousands of pigs, sheep, cattle and goats were reportedly removed from Hawai‘i’s Territorial forests.

Likewise, the watershed areas needed to be reforested. “The difficulty lies in the distribution of … seeds over the thousands of square miles of mountain land. …”

“It follows naturally that … seeds will germinate and develop into trees when sown in elevated position by birds, they should do the same if sown in positions by the hand of man. Therefore the experiment of throwing seed into such positions was started by the foresters when traveling through the forests on foot”.

“‘Why then,’ [Dr Harold L Lyon,  superintendent of the Territory’s Department of Botany and Forestation] asked, ‘would it not be possible to fly over the decadent forests in an airplane, dropping … seeds wherever favorable conditions seem to exist for their reception?’”

“‘Naturally, most of the seeds so dropped would land in situations where it could not grow and thrive, but if one tree eventually matured for every 100,000 seeds so sown, the results would be worth the effort. …’”

“‘The air service of the US army has shown great willingness to assist us in this endeavor … We have learned many interesting and helpful facts regarding the culture and propagation …’ he concludes.”

“‘Our project has passed the critical tests and we can proceed with its further elaboration with every assurance that we are laying the foundation for a natural and permanent rejuvenation of our forests.” (SB, Jun 22, 1929)

Airplanes were not suggested just for reforestations in Hawai‘i, folks in Panama were seriously concerned about mosquitos and the malaria they carried.

“The definition of a Bombing Plane appears to be due for a revision – hurling bombs, dusting mosquitoes, sowing – what next?” (Army Corps News, September 18, 1931)

Then, several newspapers across the continent reported, “It might be called the story of the elephant, and the bombing plane. The wild beast of the jungles, with Its tremendous power of destruction, when once captured and trained, becomes the servant of man. Its lumbering hulk is put to work clearing paths through the wilderness transporting lumber and other cargo.”

“Under the guidance of its master its potential strength is turned to useful, peaceful pursuits to aid mankind.  The Army Air Corps bombing planes, the greatest destruction machines in the Government’s military service, are being similarly ‘harnessed,’ on occasion, in peaceful pursuits.”

“Potentially capable or wiping out cities with the tons of bombs and poisonous gases they can carry, they are being used on errands of mercy, seeding of sugar plantations and in the Government’s ‘war’ on the malaria-carrying mosquito.”

“The most recent instance of these humanitarian services occurred during the hurricane which swept Belize, British Honduras, and caused widespread destruction and suffering.”

“Army planes were dispatched with first aid equipment and provisions supplies to help in caring for the injured and homeless.

Another recent case of the peaceful use of the army fighting planes has been the war on mosquitoes in Panama.”

“Contrary to prevalent belief, this was the first time dusting by airplane to kill mosquito larvae has been attempted in Panama or the Canal Zone.”

“Co-operating  with the Health Department of the Panama Canal, the Air Corps has equipped a bombing plane with a ‘dusting’’ device and has attacked the breeding areas of  the mosquito.”

“Still another Instance in line with these peaceful pursuits of the Air Corps is the sowing of seeds in Hawaii.  At the request of the Forestry Division of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association and the Territorial Board of Agriculture and Forestry, bombing planes have been utilized in planting seed over the mountain area of Oahu near Honolulu.”

“Several flights are made each year over areas difficult to plant by ground methods with highly satisfactory results. The Army Fokker plane Bird or Paradise, in which Lieuts Maitland and Hegenberger flew from Oakland, Cal to Honolulu in 1927, was used for a time, sowing as much as a ton on a flight.”

“Now smaller quantities are scattered from the rear cockpit of bombing planes.” (Brooklyn Eagle, Sep 27, 1931)  “Several flights are made each year over areas difficult to plant by ground methods.”  (Army Corps News, September 18, 1931)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Metal Stick Operators – Beeper Pilots

“Much  of the credit for the 17,000 Japanese planes shot out of the air or destroyed aground in the war can be given to realistic training afforded pilots, aircrewmen and [anti-aircraft] gunners firing at aerial targets – tow sleeves, banners and drones.”

“Intensive work to develop an aerial target that would approximate more closely firing on an aircraft in flight began at Naval  Aircraft Factory in 1923.” (Naval Aviation News, Nov 1945)

“Drones were developed [in the 1920s]. First experiments with radio-control were in 1922 and the first successful take-off and flight was made with a VE-7 plane in 1924. … During the war smaller drones were used”.

The standard drone is … “a low wing Culver monoplane with 30-foot wingspan. It is a standard small plane adapted as a flying target and can fly three hours and another hour if provided with auxiliary fuel tank.” (Naval Aviation News, Nov 1945) The airframe was made with molded plywood.  (Allnut, Military Aviation Museum)

Wheeler Army Airfield had the 17th Tow Target Squadron that, as the name suggests, towed targets behind aircraft for aerial anti-aircraft gunnery training.

“The unit’s other responsibility involved training antiaircraft gunners on the ground, and for this they were also equipped with radio-controlled PQ-8 Red Foxes and later, with PQ-14 Cadets, along with specially modified Cessna UC-78 Bobcats which served as motherships to guide the PQ aircraft on their missions.”

“The PQ-14 and its slightly older and smaller sibling, the Culver PQ-8 Red Fox, played key roles in preparing the nation’s anti-aircraft gunnery crews (on both land and at sea) for the situations they might encounter in combat.”

“These diminutive, radio-controlled aircraft presented realistic, live targets for our trainee gunners to test their skills against. The men got to practice every aspect of how best to track, lead and shoot down incoming enemy aircraft.”

“Short of experiencing actual combat, this opportunity presented them with the most effective way of gaining such vital skills in their efforts to help win World War Two.”  (Allnut, Military Aviation Museum)

“The PQ-8 and PQ-14 were flown remotely using the same principles which present day RC [Remote Control] hobbyists fly their model aircraft.”

“Each of the drone’s control surfaces (rudder, elevator, ailerons and trim tabs) was connected to its own servo motor, which input precise position adjustments responding to commands it received from the remote pilot (via the aircraft’s radio control receiver).”

“Similar servo motors were connected to the engine’s throttle, mixture and carburetor heat levers. The PQ-14 also had a relay for operating the retractable undercarriage as well, a feature which the fixed-gear PQ-8 obviously didn’t need.”

“Neither aircraft type had flaps, to reduce their complexity and weight, although it did mean that landing speeds were comparatively high (90-mph for PQ-14) relative to other aircraft of their size.”

“During a typical drone mission, a pilot on the ground would perform the takeoff, sitting atop a chair with a ‘Metal Stick’ controller in front of them to remotely operate the PQ’s controls.” (Allnut, Military Aviation Museum)

“Formally known as ‘Metal Stick Operators’, these pilots were colloquially referred to as ‘Beeper Pilots’ due to the sounds and flashing lights emanating from their control consoles.” These sounds and lights were confirmation that the system was in proper communication with the PQ drone.

Typically, the ground-bound Beeper Pilots were only involved in the PQ’s takeoff sequence, another Beeper Pilot aboard a mothership would then take over the drone’s flying controls.”

“Once the PQ was in the air, a separate remote operator, flying nearby in a mothership with their own ‘Metal Stick’ controller, would assume command of the aircraft and take it through its mission and, should it survive, back to base for a landing.”

“Those qualified to fly a PQ from its cockpit often had to take their turn serving as a safety pilot while other trainee Beepers tested their mettle from the mothership.”

“A ‘Beeper’s’ ultimate goal involved learning how to land the PQ remotely from the air without a safety pilot aboard the drone, a feat referred to colloquially in some quarters by the term ‘nullo.’ With a nullo under their belt, and a little more practice, trainee Beepers would soon become qualified to fly actual gunnery missions with the PQ.” (Allnut, Military Aviation Museum)

“These pilots could control the plane as effectively as if they were sitting in the cockpit and could perform a satisfactory imitation of even the hottest enemy fighter planes during target training for gunners and pilots.”  (Experimental Aircraft Assn)

WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) were involved in the drone operations, as noted in a letter from Betty Jane Deuser, who spent several months learning how to fly the PQ-8, both from the cockpit and remotely.  She was based at Liberty Field in Hinesville, Georgia.

“‘The radio control operations is secret, but seeing as how they publicize the torpedo angle, it’s OK to say a little about it I guess. There’s a unit in the PQ [Culver PQ-14 Cadet airplane] which works by radio signals. We’re practicing flying the PQ with this unit now, and will go on to flying the PQ from the C-78, using the same method.’”

“‘To begin with, the PQ has a safety pilot in it; in case the ‘beeper’ gets the ship doing maneuvers that aren’t cricket. Then the safety pilot takes over and flies the PQ.’”

“‘But that’s just for practice. When we get good enuf at landing the PQ without busting it up, then we can do PQ missions – flying the PQ from the C-78 up over the anti aircraft artillery range, where they try to shoot it down. It’s better practice for the AA [Anti-Aircraft] to use real planes instead of just target sleeves…’” (Betty Jane Deuser, October 19, 1943 in letter home)

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