LtCol Arthur W. Mack

The photo shows the two of us brothers standing behind a B-17F at Bassingbourn Air Base, England, Dec. 25, 1943. Arthur (right) was stationed at Thurleigh Air Base home of the 306th Bomb Group (H), and "Phil" on the left, stationed at Bassingbourn in the 91st Bomb Group (H). Art was 23 years old and I was twenty. Although we entered the service at different dates we were graduated in the same class, 43D, at Blytheville Army Air Field. Arkansas. Arthur wanted to fly heavy bombers and upon graduation was assigned to a Heavy Bomber training base at Columbus, Ohio, to become a Pilot in Command of a B-17. I wanted to fly a light bomber (A-20) but, as they used to say, "the exigencies of the Service" dictated that Co-Pilots were needed for the heavy bombers more than Pilots for light bombers. Hence, I was assigned to duty as Co-Pilot of the B-17 and I began my "tour" in September 1943. Art arrived about two months later.

As a matter of interest, my base, Bassingbourn was near Cambridge, England, and Art's base was near Thurleigh, about 30 miles apart. We didn't get to see each other very often but Art flew over in a B-17 on Christmas Day 1943. We made a flight together in his ship, and that was the only time we flew together during WWII.

We were both fortunate to have completed our combat tours in a period of heavy losses. We each were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross upon completion having previously been awarded the Air Medal after each five missions. In addition, Arthur received a special award of the DFC for his performance as Pilot in Command on a mission January 11, 1944, to Halberstadt. Without friendly fighter escort, the task force ran into heavy German fighter opposition. His ship was badly shot up, he had wounded on board, an engine on fire, his control cables cut for the elevators and rudder. He was able to maintain limited flight control with use of the automatic pilot for pitch control and brought the crippled ship back to an emergency landing at another American base in England.

After the war, Arthur became a Pilot for American Airlines and retired as a DC-10 Captain and a Lt. Colonel in the USAF Reserve. I spent the remainder of WWII as a Test Pilot in the Special Weapons Test unit of Wright Field. I retired as Major in the USAF Honorary Reserve, and as Director of Business Airplane Sales for the Boeing Company. Secondarily, I retired as President of Mack Aviation Company, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in Boeing Aircraft.