Ira Milton Wellins
MilitaryIra Wellins's war scrapbook.
Assigned to 510BS, 351BG, 8AF USAAF. Flew 29 x missions in Europe, seven as navigator and twenty two as "Mickey Operator" (radar, then top secret) in the lead (Pathfinder) plane of the squadron or entire group.
Ira, the son of impoverished Jewish immigrants, joined to fly planes and to fight Hitler. But he washed out of pilot training for a single error (landing on a taxi strip) and got sent instead to train on the new top-secret technology: Radar. From October '44 - April '45, Ira flew 29 bombing missions-- 22 of them either as 510th Squadron Lead or "C" Group Lead -- calculating the IP and drop point for each mission.
"Mickeymen (who flew on specially-equipped planes called Pathfinders, or PFFs) quickly became a very scarce commodity in combat areas due to the staggering losses of lead crews." Ira beat the odds against survival in the lead plane and, for his service, was awarded the DFC and the Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters. Though proud of his contributions to stopping Hitler, he became increasingly remorseful as the years passed, thinking of the many innocent civilian lives that were lost because of the missions in which he had played a key role.
Awards: DFC, AM (3OLC), WWII Victory, EAME (3 x Battle Stars).
Post war: Ira came home, got married to Frankie (who hailed from Louisville, Kentucky - eerily predicted by the name of his B-17, "Kentucky Babe"), had two daughters and 3 grandchildren, served his Rhode Island community as a pharmacist and zoo docent in retirement, drove 10,000 miles to Alaska and back, camped all over the American West, and sailed a 36-foot craft from Florida to Rhode Island in a major storm. Passed away at age 89 after a full and rich life.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 510th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-767760
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 510th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-34082
- Highest Rank: Colonel
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Kentucky Babe aka Ain’t it Gruesome
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 509th Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
New York City, NY | 23 November 1919 | Son of Milton R and Anna Wellins. |
Enlisted |
Hartford, CT | 7 October 1942 | Hartford, Connecticut |
Died |
Cranston, RI | 26 February 2009 | |
Based |
Polebrook | Assigned to 510BS, 351BG, 8AF USAAF. | |
Other Remains to Medical Science |
Donated his remains to Brown University Medical School. |
Revisions
https://www.fold3.com/image/92360769
https://www.fold3.com/image/606304411
https://www.fold3.com/record/93034000/ira-wellins-social-security-death…
https://www.fold3.com/record/83429517/ira-wellins-wwii-army-enlistment-…
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/146949804
http://warwick.uber.matchbin.com/printer_friendly/2022275
Wartime scrapbooks of 1st Lt. Ira Wellins--data confirmed by 351st Heavy Bombardment Group database (351st.org).
I am the daughter of Ira Wellins and have relied on copies of my dad's citations and on the official records kept by the 351st.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / www.351st.org/ken.harbour/