Martin H Build thread #3

[-Neu-]

Build #3: C-47 in Korea

Martin returned home in September 1945. He was immediately demobilized, but remained in the Air Force Reserve. He returned to his job as a cable splitter for the local telephone company.

In 1949 the communist government of North Korea invaded their southern neighbour. Immediately the United States rushed combat units to the region. The decision came at a critical time for the Truman administration. it was already contemplating a major defence buildup in response to soviet aggression in Eastern Europe. A NSC-68 called for a massive increase in the military's standing forces to meet the challenges of containment as well as fighting the current war in Korea.

Initial attempts by the armed services to meet its demands by enticing reserve soldiers back into service were disapointing to say the least. Thus starting in late July, they initiated a an massive involuntary recall: Martin was one of them. He was reinducted into the United States Air Force (which was officially split off from the Army in 1947), on September 5th 1950 at his old rank of 1st Lieutenant.

In many ways it probably suited Martin. He had eagerly wanted to fly again as a civil pilot, but post-war regulations made it difficult for him to transfer his skills. Furthermore he had several inopportune bouts of illness that might have prevented him from obtaining a full time position.

Unfortunately, recall would not be what he expected. He was stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey and assigned to staff duties; a position he was not accustomed to. He was able to get two hours as a co-pilot on a C-47 dakota; a type for which he had never actually trained to fly. He appealed to an old friend, Major Sharkey. A few days later he got this response:

Letter from Department of the Army, General Staff, United States Army, Washington 25, D.C.

Dear Bud:

Inclosed herewith in an unsealed envelope is the letter promised for Major Hayduk of the 52nd Fighter Wing at Maguire. Further, as I mentioned to you on the telephone last night, Major Hayduk is a West Point class-mate of mine and a fine fellow. I am sure he is thy type of man who would do everything he could to get you in the right channels for reassignment to an active outfit. I would suggest that you go to see Major Hayduk with this letter, use it as introductory information, and elaborate on same to give him completely the picture you want presented. We enjoyed very much your visit this past week-end; and, as I mentioned, give us a little warning for your next one so that we can lay on some high level operation. The Redskins play at Griffith Stadium on October 1, October 8, October 22, November 12, November 26, and on December 10. These dates can act as a guide for your next arrival.

Best regards, and keep healthy.

- T. Sharkey Major, GSC

Enclosed Letter

To Major A. Hayduk, 52nd Fighter Wing, Maguire Airfield, Fort Dix, New Jersey

Dear Al:

In discussing a personnel matter with John Henske, somewhat out of my bailiwick, he mentioned you as being on the ground and in a position to offer sound advice and possibly some assistance. Here is the matter—1st Lieut. Martin L. H, a good friend of mine and a fine officer, was on the involuntary recall program in the first part of September. As a matter of fact, I think he was recalled to Dix on about September 5th, and has been sitting around doing not much of anything since; furthermore, his future does not look too promising, apparently, as far as getting some immediate training service is concerned. Lieutenant Herrick is presently assigned to your station, Maguire Airfield, and will probably hand-carry this note over to you. He can supplement it with information of his own regarding his earnest desire to re-commence his flying training. You will see upon meeting him that he is very sincere and only wants to be put to work where he can be useful from the flying point of view.

We have about 35 class-mates here and get together about once a month for an informal class luncheon. Henske is a big wheel and is living in style in a fashionable Northwest apartment hotel. If you are down this way, please stop by—I would be delighted to see you—or if there is anything I can do for you down here, don’t hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,

Major T. Sharkey, GSC, Personnel Officer, Personnel Branch, Adm & Ln Division, G2.

Three days later Martin was transfered to an electronics course in a familiar location; Keesler AFB.

The Build:

So For this build I'm building a Esci 1/72 C-47, for reasons that will soon be clear. I actually got two kits for a decent price,

Unfortunately one was warped:

So I tried a technique common with resin kits... using steam to make the kit pliable, then reshape it.

Long story short; it was a disaster and I had to throw it out.... one less ESCI kit in the world. So I broke the other kit out and started. I wanted to have the cargo bay door open so I started by adding interior frames out of evergreen.

Then added some interior detail to the cockpit. Its pretty well done, but unfortunately it is almost all invisible once closed up.

This is what it looks like when completed.

So then I closed it all up:

IT required a two part process. I glued the ends... then once set, glued the centre. Worked quite well.

And that's that for now. But as a teaser...

Edited January 15, 2013 by -Neu-

[-Neu-]

Bud in Korea.

For reasons not clear at this time, Martin washed out of the Radar course at Keesler AFB in mid January 1951. It is quite possible that he intentionally quit the course, as he immediately transferred into the 3380 technical training wing and started requalification training on a B-25. He undertook a series cross country flights, traveling from Missouri to Sacramento, LA, illinois and Phoenix. By February 10th he was requalified to pilot four engine aircraft and within five days Martin was transfered to the 5th air force, which was fighting in Korea. He would take a train to Camp Stoneman California, where he would board a ship to Nagoya Japan.

The rapidity of his transfer would make sense given the situation in Korea. The Chinese Communists' surprise intervention in October of 1951 had thrown the United Nations forces in disarray. By december they had wiped out most of the gains made in the past year. Although the CCF's offensive petered out around mid January, major battles continued all along the front. The UN's launched its first counteroffensive on January 25th, and pushed the Chinese north of the 38th parallel.

In general, Chinese forces fought tenaciously, utilizing tactics that played to their strength. Although Technically inferior to UN forces, (lacking airpower, armor, and with limited artillery capabilities) the Chinese operated at night to maximize their numerical superiority. They launched massive human wave attacks on UN positions, consisting of hundres even thousands of individuals. Moreover the overwhelming airpower brought to bear by UN forces forced Chinese troop and logistic columns moved under the cover of darkness to avoid attack.

On January 3rd, the 3rd Bomb Wing loaded up a C-47 Dakota with 129 Mk VIII Naval flares and took off for a five hour mission north of Seoul. B-26s from the wing took off soon after. They orbited areas where Chinese forces were known to be moving. Upon sighting a possible target, the C-47 would approach it from above and a third crew member would start dropping flares out the aircraft's rear doors. A lanyard ignited the flare at about 5,500 feet, which floated towards ground by a parachute. They provided about four or five minutes of illumination from that altitude. C-47s were soon modified with a home made ramp that drop the flares and pull the lanyard to ignite the fuse.

One of two B-26s would then dive down and attack the target. During the first night, Invader crews claimed 30 trucks destroyed. Were not just critical for

but it also provided a safety margin for the B-26 crews. The Korean countryside was poorly catalogued at the time, and contemporary maps were unsuitable for the precision flying required for night interdiction missions. Without illumination aircraft were restricted to several thousand feet above the stated height on charts. Flares allowed B-26 crews to operate close to the ground and deliver ordnance with greater accuracy.

A related, but likely more crucial mission was frontline illumination for UN units under attack. C-47s flare ships would provide vital illumination to these forces so that they could direct their fire and that of artillery and close air support. So effective were these attacks, that often the mere presence of a flareship could deter or an attack. This is an time lapsed image at night of a US unit engaged in january 1951, with just how effective flares were for illuminating the battlefield. The fires on the right are US mortar pits, and in the back are the flares.

By February the 3rd Air Base Group had six aircraft operating in this role.

Martin arrived in Korea in early March, near the tail end of the First UN counteroffensive. However he starting flying some missions from various airports in late March from an APO970 near Seoul. Yet it was really in April when his real struggle began.

Edited February 25, 2013 by -Neu-

[-Neu-]

The Build:

So my first problem is trying to find a suitable subject aircraft to build. Its actually quite hard, as there are few, if any photos of the 3rd Air Base Group anywhere. Initially I wanted to build this aircraft.

I suspect the aircraft is either from the 3rd ABG or a nearby special warfare squadron... though it might be a "firefly" as the line might be used for igniting the flares.

But I then found these two photos which almost certainly is an 3rd ABG aircraft.

There is no way I can get custom decal work done, so I'll have to wing it and do it by hand. I've got a technique that I'll show later for it. Also, I already painted the windows as per the first photo, which might not be accurate for the other aircraft.

Anyway so I went about building the wings. As you can see there is almost no detail inside the wheel bays

So I spruced it up a bit, First using miliput to block the space in the wings and enclosed the bays.

Afterwards I add some wiring and piping to busy it up.

I then assembled...

Then primed....

then painted the model.

And that's that for now.,,, I'll need to move fast to finish my final build by the deadline.

Edited February 25, 2013 by -Neu-