William Aumick Slade

Military
media-21504.png UPL 21504 5BFTS Clewiston Annual Inspection

5BFTS Anniversary Book

Object Number - UPL 21504 - 5BFTS Clewiston Annual Inspection

William Aumick Slade “Bill” was born in Troy, Pennsylvania. Bill graduated from Cornell University and joined the Army Air Corps as a pilot in the ferry service. He was one of seventeen US Air Force cadets in Course 12, the first course training US and UK pilots together. He learned to fly at 5 BFTS with the RAF. He flew every type of propeller aircraft in WW2, from C-47 Goony Birds to the top fighters of the era, ferrying aircraft all over Europe and Africa. At 22 years of age he was teaching 18 year olds to fly from Casablanca to Cairo using rivers and trees as landmarks. He was eventually invited to join the elite pilots flying the president in Air Force One. He later became a film producer and director for the US government.



In 'RAF Wings Over Florida' William wrote, "The British taught flight training in Florida as though they were in England, simulating the wartime conditions over there. Our night flying was done under blackout conditions. No lights were permitted at the base—no floodlights, no runway lights and no landing lights used on the aircraft. Oil flare pots were lit—about six on each side of the runway—and we had to land by that amount of light only. Although approaching a completely dark ground and horizon with only those flare pots to guide you (they seemed like Zippo), we got used to the British system and it worked out successfully. After training in the British low-light conditions, I would get confused when night landing at U.S. fields. The tremendous and I was assigned to instrument school in St.Joseph, Missouri.



Later I started ferrying all types of military aircraft. First the C-47s and B-24 Liberators; the fighter transition school in Brownsville, Texas; and then back to Dallas to fly P-38 Lightnings, P-51 Mustangs, P-39 Airacorbras, P-47Thunderbolts, P-63 King Cobras, and other aircraft. Eight months later I was picked as pilot on a C-47 group being transferred from Nashville to Great Britain. There were 150 crews with 100 new C-47s flying to England by way of Greenland and Iceland. We went over in October, 1944, on the last flight over the northern route before winter set in. Large reserve tanks of gasoline were placed in the fuselage, enabling us to fly that long haul from Goosebay, Labrador, to Reykjavik, Iceland. At one point in the flight, we received weather reports to expect hurricane force conditions. My own navigator told me we would make landfall in Scotland in forty-five minutes. We were still looking for land one hour and thirty minutes later. We learned that we were facing head winds of more than sixty miles an hour. Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! That chilling international signal of ships or aircraft in distress crackled over our radios.





But the raging storm prevented ships from going out and nothing more was heard from the C-47, the third plane lost in our crossing. Worn, weary, and reeling from the fierce North Atlantic operation, we arrived in England thankful that our losses were minimal— unacceptable to us, but minimal nevertheless.



There was no time lost before we were assigned to several bases in England and France. My group was sent to Cherbourg, France. We were stationed in what had been a prisoner-of-war camp for French soldiers held by German forces. We flew cargo back and forth between France and the UK, usually with gasoline and ammunition up to the front area and then returned with wounded to be treated or damaged war materiel to be repaired.





We flew without radio because our transmissions could be intercepted and would lead German aircraft to our C-47s. Upward of 90% of our flights across the English Channel were by instrument. On the rare clear day, we were constantly ducking other aircraft doing similar maneuvers. Better to be on instruments and not see a thing. As we said, we were better off flying “fat, dumb, and happy”. It didn’t take ME-109s or FW-190s to knock out so many of our aircraft during the Battle of the Bulge. Heavy fog and generally inclement weather caused heavy losses on the ground. The fighter shortage grew so acute that transport command pilots with experience in fighters were sent to Scotland to ferry aircraft from Prestwick to forward bases in France. These were hazardous flights, as the whole of France and most of the United Kingdom were covered with thick layers of clouds at low levels and dense fog on the ground. There were no radio transmissions to lead you to your destination—you had to fly dead reckoning.



After the surrender of Germany I was sent to Oran, Algeria, and picked up and flown to the China, Burma, or India Theatres for war against Japan. I moved around a great deal: Oran, Casablanca, Tunis, Cairo, and Marrakech until the Japanese gave up and we were gradually sent home. I made the trip by Liberty ship. Liberty ship—you would not want to book a cruise on that ship. I boarded at Casablanca and had the good fortune to make it across.”







Connections

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Units served with

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 5 British Flying Training School
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: British
  • Unit: 5 British Flying Training School
  • Highest Rank: Flight Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: British
  • Unit: 5 British Flying Training School
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot / Instructor
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Civilian
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 5 British Flying Training School

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Troy, PA 16947, USA 26 March 1920

Died

25 May 2013

Other

Served

Cairo, Cairo Governorate, Egypt

Based

Riddle Field

Enlisted

Other

Served

Cherbourg, France

Revisions

Date
ContributorAnne Hughes
Changes
Sources

5 BFTS

Date
ContributorAnne Hughes
Changes
Sources

5 BFTS Archive

Date
ContributorAnne Hughes
Changes
Sources

RAF Wings over Florida - Will Largent

Date
ContributorAnne Hughes
Changes
Sources

RAF Wings over Florida - Will Largent

Date
ContributorAnne Hughes
Changes
Sources

RAF Wings over Florida - Will Largent

Date
ContributorAnne Hughes
Changes
Sources

RAF Wings over Florida - Will Largent

Date
ContributorAnne Hughes
Changes
Sources

RAF Wings over Florida - Will Largent
Orlando Sentinel Obituary

Date
ContributorAnne Hughes
Changes
Sources

5 BFTS Archive

William Aumick Slade: Gallery (1 items)