|
A
R
T
I
C
L
E
S
|
H. PAUL BREHM
WWII VETERAN
INTERVIEW |
| |
Interview with Paul Brehm
In March 1942,
Paul Brehm was initiated into Naval Aviation at the Naval Reserve Aviation Base
at Kansas City, Missouri, where he soloed and received basic flight training.
At NAS Jacksonville, Florida, he completed advance training and received his
Ensign commission on December 24, 1942.
His first war time assignment
saw him in the Pacific after receiving orders to VC 40, one of two land based
Navy Squadrons operating in the Solomon Islands. Initially flying from
Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, his squadron leap-frogged up the line to an
airstrip at Munda, New Georgia, then a beachhead airstrip on Bougainville for
strikes on Rabaul, New Britain. By the middle of 1944 he was back in the United
States assigned to Bombing 87 which was based at NAS Wildwood, New Jersey. The
Squadron was by this time flying the new generation of dive bombers, the
monsterous SB2C, nicknamed The Beast.
After assignment to the
aircraft carrier USS Randolph (CV-15), his unit was advised of the new
desperate tactic developed by the Japanese, called the Kamikaze, which had been
taking a severe toll of carriers and other warships. As a result, the air group
was dropped off at NAS Kahalui, Maui for restructuring. With less emphasis on
bombers and torpedo planes, a new element emerged; the fighter-bomber. This
airgroup was then assigned to the USS Ticonderoga (CV14) which had just come in
from a Navy repair yard on the West coast. It was a victim of a kamikaze
attack. Thus it was that Airgroup Eighty-Seven, came to be aboard the USS
Ticonderoga.
Lieutenant Commander Brehm's war time decorations included
the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal with 6 stars.
He is a member of The Legion of Valor and now lives in Riverside,
California.
WTJ: You flew the SB2C divebomber on the
Hyuga and Tone missions, how did it handle?
Brehm: It was
called "The Beast," a hydraulic nightmare. Very sluggish on take off, but a
good bombing plane. It had a tendency to "float" on landing. Only one pilot
never ditched on take off or caught a fence (barrier) on landing. Weapons were
all electrical, charging the cannon was done by turning on the arming switch.
This was different from the SBD's armament, which required us to put one foot
on the floor (off of the rudder pedal) and use the leverage to manually charge
the two fifty caliber machine guns.
WTJ: Speaking of
armament, were there any special or new weapons you used?
Brehm: We were first introduced to napalm in early '45. We
practiced dropping it on Upolo Point, Hawaii. Also, we were introduced to
proximity fuzed rockets. Problem was, in early instances when the rockets were
fired they didn't wait to get to the approximate target, they went off and blew
up the plane that fired them. When we were using them, we usually opened up the
formation, just in case.
WTJ: I notice that flights commonly
lost the first plane on launch. Why would such a thing happen so
frequently?
Brehm: Because Fly-One used a "Slip-Stick" to
calculate take off room. They always cut it too close and said we had enough
room for the wind over the deck. We lost a lot of planes that way. Realize that
the Captain was interested in launching faster than other ships. Also, when the
last plane was off, airborne, or in the drink, the task force could depart the
area.
 WTJ: What did you mean by "...the cameras started
rolling..."?
Brehm: Any time photographers thought there was going
to be a crash, they took pictures just to be on the safe side!
WTJ:
What happened with battle damaged planes or those that crashed on
deck?
Brehm: They were pushed over immediately. Plane
handlers hardly had time to try and salvage the clocks before the plane was
over the side. If the barrier was torn up, the cherry picker crane was placed
in the middle of the deck so you could crash into that.
WTJ:
Were there any common problems with returning from a strike?
Brehm: Yes. Because kamikazes were hitting the force, you could not come
back directly. You had to go to a picket destroyer with a CAP (Combat Air
Patrol), check in and then they would vector you to the TF. If we flew back
directly, we took a good chance of being shot down. We lost a lot of destroyers
because of this type of duty.
WTJ: Were you ever told what
to do if captured?
Brehm: Early in '45 the aircrews were
told that they could ignore the old "name, rank & serial number" rule. If
captured, tell anything they knew in order to save their skins. The Japs had an
idea of what was going on, they certainly knew that the fleet was out there
because we were bombing the crap out of them daily! We were not told of future
operations, so we never knew what was happening even the next day. At this time
we were given blood chits in case we were operating in Chinese water.
| Paul Brehm in Japan, 1999 |
 |
WTJ: Were any men from VB-87 ever
captured?
Brehm: Yes. During the raid on the Tone, Porter
and Brisette went down and were captured. We later found out that they died
during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. There is a plaque memorializing them at
the Andersonville National Cemetery.
WTJ: What if you were
caught on board during General Quarters?
Brehm: The hanger
deck was where the armor plating was (5 inches I think). The flight deck and
ready rooms were above it, and if hit by a kamikaze, those areas got blown up.
When we went to GQ, we went below and had to stay there. Depending on the
severity of GQ, the X, Y and Z doors were a problem. You could go through an X
door without too much of a problem. I think you had to have permission to go
through a 'Y' door after clearance with damage control. No one went through a
'Z' door. They handled magazines and fuel compartment, etc.
The worst
thing was being stuck below. The air was stale, and sometimes you would hear
guns firing in the distance and they would announce that enemy aircraft were in
among the ships. Then the five inch guns on OUR ship would begin firing and we
realized that enemy planes were in sight. Then our small guns would all open up
and we would think 'Jesus Christ!'
WTJ: Do you have any favorite, or memorable
Commanders?
Brehm: At Bougainville our skipper was LCDR "Red"
Pennoyer. I didn't fly with him too often, but when I did, it was a pleasure
for he was as smooth an airman as I have ever seen. He was also comical to
watch, and usually kept those who could see him in stitches. His usual
procedure was to fiddle and fuss with the trim tabs on the plane until it was
flying along perfectly...all by itself. One time after he got all trimmed up, I
could see him take off one glove, and then take off the other. He didn't pull
them off, he took them off like a woman does, gently, one finger at a time.
Next he pulled out his plotting board, took out a cigarette and put it in his
mouth. Then began the hunt for matches. I could see him feeling in his knee
pockets, in his breast pocket. I watched him peer into the furthermost corners
of his plotting board and then reach for the mike. His rear seatman jumped like
a puppet on a string, and swinging around, extended his hand as far as he could
with the precious matches. Lighting the cigarette, he settled back, put on his
gloves the same way he took them off, fitting one finger at a time. Then he
closed the plotting board and finally looked around to see if everyone was
still with him...and watching his performance.
WTJ: How
about famous people?
Brehm: After a mission we flew on
December 31, 1943, we returned to the main tent at camp and the Fighter Exec
was guzzling beer taken from a huge stack of cans in the middle of the floor.
Why they had been taken out of their cases I didn't know, but there they were,
piled high in the middle of the room. With him was a squat, chunky marine. They
were dressed alike, khaki shorts that once had been trousers, cut off with the
ends left to fray. The chunky fellow, "Pappy" Boynton, was chewing the fat with
the Exec, and when we came in we were introduced all around. We got talking to
"Pappy" and learned that all the heat was on him. At this stage of the game,
"Pappy" was the leading ace in the Pacific. In order to be leading US ACE, he
had to get one more confirmed kill that would put him over the top. He was due
for leave but was hanging around, mostly to please the news correspondents who
were hounding him to top the list. He'd make daily sweeps over enemy territory
trying to find some luckless Jap to make another notch on his guns. But the
skies remained empty and there was nothing to kill. "Pappy" was cussing the
newspaper men, the General Staff and everybody he could think of. He wanted to
go home. He was tired and he vowed that if in the next couple of days he didn't
get his kills, "To hell with it all." A few days later, January 3rd I believe,
we heard that he was reported missing. He had been shot down, but survived and
became a POW.
|
|
){kind=small}