Frederick
L. Steinberg - Paper Collection
( Submitted
by his niece, Mary )
WORLD
WAR II RECORD OF:
FREDERICK
LEWIS STEINBERG
Enlisted: U.S.
Army Air Corps on January 27. 1941, in Mason City, Iowa. Serial
No. 17027259.
Basic Training:
Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, from February to July 1941.
Technical School:
July to December 1941.
Unit Assignment:
41st Bomber Group, Hammer Field, Fresno, California,
from January
to March 1942. Transferred to newly formed 82nd Fighter
Group in Mojave,
California. To the Glendale Air Terminal, California, from
April to September
1942. Unit then transferred to Europe.
I took the troop
train with my unit to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, in September
1942, boarding
the English liner turned troopship "Queen Mary" on
September 27,
1942. She took five days and nights, unescorted, to get to
Scotland. We
disembarked at Gourock, Scotland, then took a ferry to Ireland
where we went
by train to Londonderry. There we lived in Quonset huts
during October
and November. Sent to England by train and boat and
boarded H.H.S.
Samara. We spent 21 days at sea, landing at the North
African port
of Oran. This was a few days after invasion by Americans which
had been made
after pre-arrangement at a secret meeting by Col. Mark
Clark and the
"Free French" forces in North Africa. Thanksgiving was spent
on the ship.
Our first night
was spent at a French airport (Lassnia) and I slept outside on
a porch in the
open. I went to North Africa as part of a 38-man detachment
from 82nd and
96th Squadrons to maintain aircraft when they arrived from
England. The
next day we went to Tafaroui Airport about 60 miles from Oran.
We stayed in
an old bombed-out hanger. When the P-38's arrived, we
maintained them
the best we could. A few missions were flown from here.
In December
1942 or January 1943 we moved by "40 & 8" train to
"Telegrama"
grass strip outside Constantine, N. Africa, where we again
maintained P-38's.
We slept in pup tents here. Missions were flown every
day; many victories
and losses. In June-July 1943 we moved farther east to
Souq-El-L'Arba
outside of Bone, N. Africa. In August-September 1943 we
moved to Grombalia
outside of Tunis. Had good leave trips to Tunis and
surrouding areas.
Went into Field Hospital while here and spent two weeks.
Unite moved
into Italy, after detached party went to Sicily for two weeks
(I
caught up later).
In January or
February 1944, went to a grass field at San Pan Gracia, Italy
(in the "heel
of the boot"). Stayed about one week. This field is where the
unit was strafed
by a German aircraft. Early one morning at daybreak he
went over, turned
and back again across us, strafing with his guns. No
damage to aircraft;
one man was wounded. The plane was intercepted over
the Adriatic
Sea and shot down.
Moved up the
"heel" to Leece, a regular Air Force Italian airport. Stayed in
permanent tents
here. This after spending my first whole year in Africa in a
pup tent. Cold
winters! About spring of 1944 we moved as a unit to about six
miles west
of Foggia (Airport No. 11) on a grass strip. We lived in permanent
tents here
also. Later we made houses (sheds) out to tip tank fuel crates
which were
warmer and more comfortable. Went to a one-week Rest Camp
at Mandredonia
on the Adriatic coast. There were English sailors there too. I
liked them,
and their PT-type rescue boats were fast!
We stayed at
Foggia, Field No. 11, with P-38's until May 1945. At Foggia we
had the first
NCO club in the 82nd, in 1942-43. I returned to the U.S.A. after
32 months.
I was one of the first men from the unit to return home, due to
having the
most "points" (service time).
The 82nd had
participated in Escort, Bombing, Strafing, Mercy Drops, Skip
Bombing, Medical
Supply Drops to Warsaw, shuttle flights to Russia-all over
North Africa,
all over Europe, all areas! The 82nd shot down 556 enemy
aircraft, destroyed
many others on the ground, many trains, vehicles, tanks,
etc. Had many
fighter aces in the unit throughout the 32-month period. The
North African
campaign was very severe! In the middle of February 1943
during the Kasserine
Pass Battle, we had an all-night enemy parachute troop
alert. On April
10, 1943, over Cape Bone, we lost seven P-38's.
The 41st Bomber
Group was the parent of groups of fighters formed at the
start of WW
II, as follows: 31st, 52nd, 58th, 80th and 82nd Fighter Groups.
Our 82nd Fighter
Group had 3 squadrons which were 95th, 96th and 97th.
My squadron,
the 96th Sq. of the 82nd, was the first unit to land an aircraft
in
enemy territory
and pick up a pilot of the same unit who had been shot down
and had to bail
out. Two men in one P-38 cockpit without chutes! Major
General Twining
decorated both on their return! The 82nd was the unit used
to escort President
Roosevelt to a North African meeting, and it was also
used several
times to escort Prime Minister Churchill.
After I returned
home to the U.S. A. I was sent to Jefferson Barracks for
papers, then
home for 30 days of leave. That was my first leave for almost
four years.
This was in May and June of 1945. In July 1945 I was reposted
to
Santa Anna,
California, for 30 days Rest & Reassignment. Returned to old
places. But
Los Angeles was not the same.
I was assigned
to Air Training Command (ATC) at Fairfield-Susun Field (now
Travis Air
Force Base), east of San Francisco. I attended C-54 Cargo Aircraft
School. Then
I worked some on Line and Hanger Docks. I spent VJ Day in San
Francisco (WILD!).
I was then transferred to Mather Field at Sacramento
until I received
my Discharge at the end of the Japanese phase of the war.
On September
27, 1945, I was discharged!
Some Personal
Memories (Note: in these memories, "participated" means
that I maintained
the aircraft used in the flights and made any repairs
necessary after
the flights):
During pre-WW
II equipment shortage, I was issued a WW I uniform with
wrap leggings
and "choker-neck" jacket.
During Basic
Training in early 1941, I walked guard duty with a wooden rifle.
"
In early 1942,
immediately after Pearl Harbor, I flew (non-rated) in tail
gunner position
(open-air turret) on A29 "Lockheed Hudson" aircraft, during
dawn patrol
over the west coast of the U.S.
I was one of
the original members and crew chief of P-38 aircraft in the 82nd
Fighter Group
which was destined to be the leading Fighter Group in the
African-Mideastern
Area campaign during late 1942, and 1943 and 1944.
Participated
in escorting President Roosevelt to secret meetings with
Winston Churchill
and "Ike", also on Roosevelt's trip to Russia.
Talked to General
Doolittle in North African campaign after the Tokyo raid.
Saw Winston
Churchill in Italy while he was on one of his secret meetings.
Participated
in "shuttle bombing" raids from the Middle East to Russia and
back.
Participated
in mis-directed mission on which our unit shot down seven
Russian Fighter
aircraft by mistake over Romania. (This was kept secret).
Participated
in rescue mission of downed unit pilot from a wheat field in
enemy territory.
Participated
in raids on Ploesti, Romania, oil fields.
Participated
in "emergency medical supply drop" to holdout forces in
Warsaw, Poland.
Participated
in first "skip bombing" of underground Italian hangars on
Palermo Island
during early 1943.
I was aboard
the Queen Mary in September 1942 when it ran through and
sank a British
Cruiser escort off the coast of Scotland, with the loss of 365
English seamen.
This was one of the best kept secrets of WW II; the news
was released
after the war.
At the invitation
of British sailors while at the Manfredonia, Italy, rest camp,
I took a secret
night trip on an English PT boat used for Air Crew rescue and
the supply of
the Yugoslavian partisan forces. They made nightly runs to the
"Jugo" coast.
These were dangerous trips! If I'd been caught by the
Germans, I
would have been AWOL. Ah, youth! At the rest camp, we were
not supervised
by anyone and were free to do as we wanted to.
NOTE: Fred's
sister Esther Steinberg Hauer recalls him writing home from
North Africa
to his mother in Iowa asking for warm socks and a blanket as
the nights
were very cold in the desert.
After World
War II In July 1946 I moved to Oklahoma City and in January,
1947, I joined
the Oklahoma Air National Guard. I returned to active duty in
the U.S. Air
Force on April, 1, 1951, because of the Korean War. I was in the
185th Squadron
which was made part of the 118th Tennessee Group. The
unit was changed
to Tactical Recon. Sq. with camera mounted in the aircraft
nose. In January
1952 the unit was transferred to Shaw Air Force Base,
Sumter, South
Carolina. I stayed there until July 1952 when I was
discharged
from active duty.
I returned to
Oklahoma and my job with the Oklahoma Air National Guard. In
1953 I was
given the job of Line Chief, the top NCO supervisory job in ANG
maintenance.
In March 1958 I took the Officers' Qualifying Exam and passed
it. Was commissioned
a Captain in August 1958. In 1959 I was promoted to
the new maintenance
officer title of Chief of Maintenance. In August 1962 I
was promoted
to Major, and in January 1968 to Lt. Colonel. When I retired in
August 1976,
after approximately 35-1/2 years in the military, I was in our
Wing Headquarters
assigned as Director of Logistics (over Maintenance and
Supply).
Decorations
and Service Awards
3 - Presidential
Unit citations,
2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Good Conduct
Medal
American Defense
Service Medal
American Campaign
Medal
European-African-Middle
Eastern Campaign Medal
WW II Victory
Medal
National Defense
Service Medal
Air Force Longevity
Service Ribbon
Armed Forces
Reserve Medal
Oklahoma Meritorious
Service Medal
Oklahoma Recruiting
Medal
25-year Oklahoma
Long Service Medal
Air Force Meritorious
Service Medal
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