USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Wenham > Wenham in World War II : war service of Wenham men and women and civilian services of Wenham people > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26
John Armington was released to inactive duty in June 1946 at Boston.
American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with stars for Marianas, New Guinea, Philippines and Okinawa.
Philippine Liberation Medal with star for Leyte.
World War II Victory Medal
BENTLEY PARKER ASHWORTH enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve, as a Private, December 15, 1942 at Los Angeles dis- trict recruiting office. He was called to active duty May 1, 1943 and sent to Parris Island, S. C. for boot training. On July 1, 1943 he was assigned to OCS (Officer Candidate School) and sent to Quantico, Va. where he was commissioned Second Lieutenant
23
Personal Records of Those in the Armed Forces
August 23, 1943 and completed officer training in November.
His next assignment was to Camp Bradford, Norfolk, Va. for special training in logistics and then to Camp Elliott, San Diego where he was assigned to the 5th Marine Division, just forming. After two weeks' practical training in logistics on the docks at San Diego, he was ordered to Pearl Harbor by air, December 29, 1943 and assigned as T.Q.M. (Troop Quartermaster) Officer to the USS J. Franklin Bell (APA-16) (Assault Transport) to prepare and execute the loading of a unit of the 7th Div. (U. S. Army) for the Kwajalein operation in January 1944. He supervised the unload- ing for the assault. Previous to this, the J. Franklin Bell had taken part in the Aleutian, Guadalcanal and Tarawa operations, and he returned to the States with the ship which was ordered in for routine repairs (due to excessive travel).
Bentley Ashworth was flown to Pearl Harbor April 28, 1944 to prepare a unit of the 27th Div. (U. S. Army) for loading aboard the Bell upon its arrival, in preparation for the assault on Saipan. At the time of the assault, June 17, 1944, he supervised the unload- ing of the division on the beach and also the re-loading of casualties for care and treatment on the Bell prior to transfer to hospital ships, whose arrival was delayed as a safety precaution.
The Bell returned to Eniwetok with a load of casualties, then went back to Saipan where it next loaded a unit of the 2nd Marine Division for the attack on Tinian in the Marianas (July 20, 1944). The Bell spearheaded this assault and then stood by under fire, as hospital ship, returning to Pearl Harbor with casualties and 500 Japanese prisoners. The ship then underwent repairs for damages received in the Saipan-Tinian operations.
On August 21, the Bell moved to Honolulu and loaded a unit of the 7th Div. (U. S. Army) for reserve on the Palau (Western Caro- line Islands) operation. The troops were not committed and the ship lay over at Manus for the Leyte operation.
On October 20, 1944 Ashworth unloaded troops and cargo in the southern sector, Leyte assault, and after re-loading casualties, pro- ceeded to Oro Bay, New Guinea and then back to the United States with cargo and casualties. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in December 1944 and after loading an Army Field Medical Unit at San Francisco took them to Saipan for the Okinawa operation. He proceeded to New Caledonia and supervised the loading of the 78th Seabee Unit for the Okinawa operation and discharged them on June 17, 1945 under heavy aerial attack at Okinawa.
24
Wenham in World War II
"Smoke screens were laid at intervals to protect the ship from air attack. One plane dropped four bombs at us-all near misses, dam- age slight. Ship's crew held at General Quarters (battle positions) for the most part of five days. Aerial attacks of 200 enemy planes were undergone but the smoke made accurate bombing impossible."
On August 30 the ship was assigned to the "Magic Carpet" group and moved troops back to the U. S. from forward areas.
The Bell rode out the typhoon that devastated Okinawa some miles off shore and Bentley Ashworth took charge of unloading all sup- plies aboard for the relief of the stricken island. "The eastern side of the island was leveled. Not a building stood. Over 100 small boats and ships were stranded on the beach, all beyond salvage. I had my jeep taken ashore and aided in the distribution of our supplies. Units of men were sitting around in complete bewilder- ment on what few belongings they had salvaged. They were covered with mud from head to foot as the tidal waves had flooded the island. Several times I had to be hauled out of mud holes in the flooded road where the jeep was unable to hold its engine above water. I aided in lining up some refugees from wrecked ships and homeless combat units and embarked them for the U. S. and home."
Bentley Ashworth was released from active duty and ordered to reserve status on December 12, 1945.
American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with stars for Marshall Islands, Marianas, Leyte and Okinawa operations.
World War II Victory Medal
FREDERICK LINCOLN ASHWORTH* was graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in June 1933.
At the outbreak of World War II, he was serving in the Bureau of Ordance, Navy Department, Washington, D. C. completing the third year of his Post Graduate training, and in May 1941 was ordered to the Advanced Carrier Group at San Diego, Calif. for Operational Training prior to service in combat in the Pacific theater of opera-
*Editors' Note: It is believed that this account of the training, both combat and non-combat, of one of the men who was chosen to drop the atomic bomb will be of general interest, and it has therefore been printed at length. When the war broke out, Ashworth had been a Naval Aviator for nine years, and was completing a course in the design, mechanics, and operational use of aircraft torpedoes, bombs, mines, depth charges, and guns. His later assignments made use of these four factors- naval experience, aviation training, special knowledge of aviation ordnance and combat experience.
25
Personal Records of Those in the Armed Forces
tions. After a few weeks in the Advanced Carrier Training Group he was placed in charge of the training of torpedo plane pilots. In September 1942, he was ordered as Commanding Officer to Tor- pedo Squadron Eleven, a squadron of Carrier Air Group Eleven then forming at San Diego, Calif. In October, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
Air Group Eleven left the United States on October 24, 1942 for the Hawaiian Islands, where for three months they trained as a combat group. During this period the squadron developed the first night torpedo tactics for carrier type aircraft utilizing air-borne radar equipment.
On January 30, news came that the Japanese were expected to attack Canton Island with a large cruiser and destroyer force, and on the first of February, Ashworth led six of his planes on the two thousand mile overseas flight to that island to help repel the raids. This was to be the first stage of the first flight of single engine air- craft from the Hawaiian Islands to the South Pacific, a distance of over 4,000 miles. A month later, when it became evident that the expected attack would not materialize, the six planes under the command of Commander Ashworth continued the overseas flight re- joining the rest of Air Group Eleven at Nandi, in the Fiji Islands.
On Easter morning 1943, the Air Group landed at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal and reported for duty under Admiral Mare A. Mitscher, then a Rear Admiral and Commander Aircraft, Solomon Islands. From this "unsinkable carrier" they flew day and night missions providing anti-submarine patrols, bombing missions, tor- pedo attacks and mining operations until the Southern Solomons were consolidated and the Island of New Georgia was attacked and successfully occupied. In the words of his citation for the Distin- guished Flying Cross, "As Commanding Officer of a Torpedo Bomb- ing Squadron in combat against shore installations and shipping in the Solomon Islands area from April 26 to July 12, 1943, Lieuten- ant Commander Ashworth led his squadron on mine-laying missions in the Kahili-Shortland area, participated in daylight shipping raids in the face of enemy aircraft opposition, and on the night of May 15, in an exceptionally well planned attack, personally scored a hit on a hostile cargo ship. During this period he led his squadron in seven successful bombing raids against strongly defended enemy positions at Munda, Rekata Bay and Vila," during which they sank five merchantmen, four Japanese destroyers, and one light cruiser, and held the unusual distinction, for a torpedo squadron, of shoot-
26
Wenham in World War II
ing down three Japanese planes. The Air Group was then ordered home for rehabilitation, and reached the United States in August 1943.
On September 22, 1943, Commander Ashworth reported to the Staff of Rear Admiral R. K. Turner, Commander Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet, for duty as Aviation Aide and Air Operations Officer. At this time the Pacific High Command was preparing for the Central Pacific Campaign which was to reach from the Gilbert' Islands to Japan. Here his knowledge of the capabilities of carrier- borne aircraft and of the effect of various types of bombs and straf- ing against different types of enemy installations, gained from schooling and from combat experience, was put to use. He was in- strumental in the preparation of the plans for the air support opera- tions for the landings on Tarawa and Makin in the Gilbert Islands, on Kwajalein and Roi-Namur in the Marshall Islands, and on Sai- pan, Tinian and Guam in the Marianas. He participated aboard Admiral Turner's flagship in the execution of the Gilbert and Mar- shall Islands campaigns. "Applying astute judgment and profes- sional ability to the planning and execution of several major am- phibious operations, ... he rendered outstanding service in solving the numerous tactical and strategic problems encountered during a' bitterly fought campaign," says the citation accompanying his Bronze Star Medal.
Ashworth was promoted to the rank of Commander in June 1944, and ordered to shore duty at the Naval Proving Grounds, Dahlgren, Va. as Senior Aviation Officer and head of the Aviation Department. Here his duties in supervising the testing and experimental pro- gram further extended his knowledge of aviation ordnance. His tour of duty at the Naval Proving Ground was cut short in Novem- ber 1944 when he received emergency orders to the atomic bomb laboratory at Los Alamos, N. M.
Here, under the cloak of the deepest secrecy, the greatest weapon in the history of warfare was developed. Commander Ashworth "was assigned the duties of supervising and coordinating field tests in which facsimiles of the weapon were dropped from B-29 air- craft. Understanding the principles and functions of intricate and complicated mechanisms, he was able to make sure that no time was wasted and the maximum information gained, both as to the com- ponents and as to the method of delivery. As a result of his success- ful fulfillment of this assignment, he acted as representative of Major General L. R. Groves in the historic delivery of the second
27
Personal Records of Those in the Armed Forces
atomic bomb on Nagasaki, August 9, 1945." So reads the citation for the Legion of Merit awarded to him by the Navy Department for his performance of duty in connection with the development and combat use of the atomic bomb.
"My particular duty as a member of the crew of our B-29 was that of 'Weaponeer,' a term coined by our group on Tinian Island to define the specific job that I had to perform. I was in technical command of the bomb and in tactical command of the flight and was charged with the responsibility, as the presonal representative of Major General Leslie R. Groves, of insuring that the bomb was suc- cessfully dropped at the proper time and on the assigned target.
"Perhaps you have read of the completely routine and precise manner in which the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6. Ideal weather conditions throughout the entire mission and superb airmanship by all members of the airplane crew contri- buted to its success. The bomb that destroyed Hiroshima burst with- in a few seconds of the scheduled time of attack. The story of the raid on Nagasaki is a very different one.
"The bright and starry night of the Hiroshima take-off three days before was blotted out by tropical rain squalls, and flashes of light- ning stabbed into the darkness with disconcerting regularity. The weather forecast told us of storms all the way from the Marianas to the Empire.
"After a successful take-off, we climbed to 17,000 feet to cruise above the stormy weather to a rendezvous point a few miles off the southeast coast of Kyushu, some 1500 miles away. There we were to join with our two companion B-29's that took off a few minutes behind us. Skillful piloting and expert navigation brought us to the rendezvous without incident.
"About five minutes after our arrival we were joined by the first of our B-29's. The second, however, failed to arrive, having appar- ently been thrown off its course by the storms during the night. Thirty minutes later we proceeded without him to the target area.
"During the approach to the target the special instruments in- stalled in the plane told us that the bomb was functioning perfectly. We were ready to drop the second atomic bomb on Japan. But again, fate was against us, for the target was completely obscured by smoke from a nearby city, still burning from a B-29 fire raid the night before. Three times we attempted bombing runs, but without success. Then with meagre anti-aircraft fire bursting around us and
28
Wenham in World War II
far below a number of enemy fighters coming up after us, we headed for our secondary target, Nagasaki.
"You all know of the successful results of the attack. The bomb burst with a blinding flash and a huge column of black smoke towered up toward us. Out of this there boiled a great swirling mushroom of grey smoke, luminous with red flame, that reached to 40,000 feet in less than eight minutes. Below through the clouds we could see the pall of black smoke ringed with fire that covered what was the industrial area of Nagasaki.
"By this time our fuel supply was dangerously low, so after one quick circle of Nagasaki we headed direct for Okinawa for an emerg- ency landing and refueling. Back at our home base in the Marianas the next day the news of the Japanese offer to surrender was fitting proof of the success of all our efforts."
For his part in the atomic bombing attack on Nagasaki, Comman- der Ashworth was awarded the Silver Star Medal by the War De- partment.
In September 1945, Commander Ashworth returned to the United States and reported for duty in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department. Here he assisted in the preparation of the plans for Operation Crossroads and served as the Chief of Staff to Commander Task Group One Point One, Joint Task Force One during that operation at Bikini. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in February 1946 and was awarded the Gold Star in lieu of a second Legion of Merit. With the citation that, "Captain Ash- worth participated in the organization of both the military and technical staffs of Joint Task Force One from its inception and further assisted in the basic planning of the operation, including the selection of Bikini Atoll as the site of the tests. As the opera- tion proceeded he effectively coordinated the work of diverse military and civilian groups, particularly those involved in the preparation and the air and underwater delivery of the atomic bombs."
Upon the completion of Operation Crossroads, Captain Ashworth was assigned as the Executive Secretary for the Military Liaison Committee to the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D. C.
Silver Star Medal awarded by the War Department for participa- tion in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945.
Legion of Merit awarded by the Navy Department for participa- tion in the development of the atomic bomb.
Gold Star in lieu of second Legion of Merit by the Navy Depart- ment for participation in Operation Crossroads.
29
Personal Records of Those in the Armed Forces
Distinguished Flying Cross awarded by the Navy Department for combat air operations in the Solomon Islands.
Bronze Star Medal awarded by the Navy Department for partici-
pation in amphibious operations, Central Pacific Campaign. American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with stars for Southern Solo- mons, New Georgia, Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, Air Offensive Japan.
World War II Victory Medal
WINTHROP FOSTER ASHWORTH entered on active duty in the U. S. Naval Reserve as Apprentice Seaman on March 3, 1943. He went to boot camp at Newport, R. I. and then attended Quarter- master School, graduating QM 3/c October 1943.
His first assignment was to the USS Halsey Powell (DD 686) on shakedown cruise to Bermuda. "During the shakedown cruise we received orders to proceed to Barbados off the coast of Brazil and pick up the Iowa (BB 61) en route to Norfolk, Va. President Roosevelt returning from Teheran was aboard. The trip was un- eventful ; battleships travel too fast for subs and, as a matter of fact, almost too fast for our destroyers in rough weather."
He transferred to the USS Breckenridge (DD 148) a destroyer which was acting as escort to the baby flat-top Croatan (CVE 25), part of an anti-submarine task group operating in the Atlantic. As Leading Quartermaster, Winthrop Ashworth was in complete charge of the Navigation Department under the Navigator.
"In April 1944, the Breckenridge was one of the escorts convoy- ing a hundred ships carrying troops and supplies from Norfolk, Va. Some were for Bizerte and some were to go on under British convoy to Port Said. After entering the Mediterranean we came under attack by German planes off Algiers. The twenty-odd German planes that attacked us managed to score several near misses with the newly developed German glider bombs (upwards of 2000 pounds in weight), and scored a hit with an aerial torpedo on a DE (de- stroyer escort) the Holder, which was later awarded a commendation for damage control, for they managed to get into Algiers harbor. The escorts got credit for 14 planes and a possible five more, three of which my ship scored. There was little or no damage done to the convoy, probably because the Germans mistook an empty convoy heading out of the Mediterranean for us, and dumped most of their
30
Wenham in World War II
bombs on them. The time of engagement was about 45 minutes."
In July 1944 he was asigned to Pre-Midshipman School, (V-12) at Asbury Park, N. J. for officer training, but was rejected on account of defective vision and assigned to the Net Tender Shaka- maxon (AN 88) as a member of the commissioning crew at New- port, R. I.
In August 1944 he was again assigned to V-12 School at Asbury Park but was rejected on account of his subsequent marriage. In July 1944 he made QM 1/c and his final assignment was in the Pacific, where he was sent to the Port Director's Office at Ulithi. As Leading QM at the PDO he was in charge of charts and naviga- tional supplies.
Ashworth was honorably discharged with the rate of QM 1/c at the U. S. Naval Separation Center, Boston, on November 26, 1945. American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with star for Convoy UGS-37.
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
NEIL RICE AYER entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, N. Y. on June 4, 1944. He will graduate, com- missioned as a second lieutenant, United States Army, on June 8, 1948.
ROBERT ALLEN AYLWARD entered on active duty as a Private in the Army of the U. S., Air Corps, on March 10, 1942. He was sent to Airplane Mechanics School, Keesler Field, Miss. and to North American Aviation Corp. Factory School (B-25) Inglewood, Calif. for training.
On October 7, 1942 he sailed from Newport News on SS Maure- tania via Rio de Janeiro, Durban, Suez and Colombo to Karachi, India, where he landed December 1, 1942. He was promptly as- signed to 491 Bombardment Squadron (M) AAF (B-25) and served with them for eleven months. During that time the squadron was stationed at Karachi, Chakulia, Gaya and Calcutta. The duty of the squadron at this time was to attack Japanese airfields and lines of communications in northern and central Burma (the general area around Mandalay), and he worked with them airplane mechanic. He was made a Corporal in June 1943.
On November 1, 1943, he was transferred to the 22nd Bombard-
31
Personal Records of Those in the Armed Forces
ment Squadron (M) AAF (B-25), 341st. Bombardment Group, sta- tioned first at Chakulia, India and later at Yang-kai, Yun-nan-i, and Lao-ho-k'ou, China.
Robert Aylward worked as S-2 (Intelligence) Clerk and was made a Sgt, S/Sgt, and T/Sgt and in January 1945 received a field commission as Combat Intelligence Officer.
What the squadron was doing can be summarized by its unit cita- tion which was conferred "for destroying a series of strategic rail- road bridges in northern Indochina and maintaining an effective blockade on any movement of men or materiel along this land corri- dor from Malaya to North China and Manchuria."
Things did not always go well and Aylward describes the retreat from Lao-ho-k'ou :
"Early in March '45, I was assigned as Intelligence Officer to a small flight of B-25's on a special mission in central China. The planes carried 75mm. cannon with a new radar gun-sight, and we planned to scour the Yangtze for Jap shipping. Unfortunately our arrival at Lao-ho-k'ou coincided with the start of an enemy offensive in our direction. The base was a forward field which had long been a thorn in their flesh. It was the nearest 14th Air Force field to the two vital north-south railroads in China, and had been the base for weather and photo reconnaissance for the early B-29 raids on Manchuria and Japan.
"It rained for four straight days after we arrived and all planes were grounded. Originally no more than a grass and sod strip, the field became a morass of water and muddy ruts. For two more days we had to wait for the field to dry before the fighters could get off. All this time the Japs were moving nearer without interference or even aerial observation. The pitifully equipped Chinese ground forces were now streaming back through the town; one unit had an- estimated ratio of one rifle to every three or four men. Finally the planes managed to get into the air. They flew around the clock -the 'peashooters' and Mitchells by day and the Black Widows by night-hammering Jap transport, troop and supply columns. But it wasn't enough. We realized that the field couldn't be held much longer; and we waited for the too-familiar order: 'Burn, blow up, and get the hell out!' It came the next morning, just as the inter- preter and I had finished interrogating some Chinese-American crews. Chinese ground intelligence had broken down but one last report, telephoned in that morning before the wires were cut, placed
32
Wenham in World War II
the Japs only thirty miles to the southeast. This meant 100 miles in less than a week. This was it!
"C-47's, workhorses of the China war, had arrived the day be- fore and were already evacuating non-essential personnel. We abandoned the Norwegian Mission that had been the most comfort- able billet in China (but we took the cooks with us) ; a warehouse of B-29 parts for emergency landings was set afire; the graveyard of a dozen or more cracked-up planes was blown up; the radio shack destroyed its coded messages; and as the last transport took off at nine that night, the field was daylight bright as more than 50,000 gallons of high-octane gas blazed-how many Hump-trips we winced to think.
"And the next morning in Chungking, I again had that familiar war-time experience: 'Gosh, yesterday was Sunday, and I didn't even realize it.' But this time was a little different, for 'yesterday' March 25, 1945, had been Palm Sunday."
In May 1945 he was assigned to the 69th Composite Wing, 14th AF Kunming, China as Assistant A-2 (Intelligence). He was promoted to First Lieutenant August 1, 1945.
Robert Aylward returned to the United States and was released to inactive duty November 23, 1945.
Unit Citation conferred by 14th A.F. Hq. on 341st Bomb. Sq., 25 August, 1945.
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with stars for India-Burma, China Defensive, and China Offensive.
World War II Victory Medal
NELSON THOMAS BAGNELL, JR. entered on active duty in the U. S. Naval Reserve, January 14, 1942 and went through boot camp at Newport, R. I. He was sent to Aviation Machinist's School at Chicago, leaving it with the rating of Aviation Machinist's Mate 3/c. He was assigned to Acorn #10 and sent out to New Caledonia by transport in February 1943 and from there to Guadalcanal where he was advanced to AMM 2/c in July 1943.
An Acorn Unit is a Base Aviation Maintenance Unit. It is also a first wave unit and its job is to land after the Marines, carrying all equipment to put airstrips into operation and to set up and equip airfield shops. After this work is done the Acorn unit is followed by a CASU (Carrier Aircraft Service Unit) which operates the field. The Acorn, its work done, leaves.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.