In the early morning of November 16 1944, the Sam Hamilton’s B-24 was the pilot plane of the second attack group, which departed at Spinazzola Field in Foggia, Italy. Their goal for the day was the railway marshalling yards located in Munich, Germany. The plane they flew was named “White L” (for love) as well as piloted and controlled by captain Clifford W. Stone. Captain Clifford W. Stone was the copilot. Samuel M. Hamilton.
This was the 10th mission of the air crew. Sam Hamilton had been the pilot for the initial nine missions, but he was co-pilot for this mission so to ensure that Captain Stone could finish his 50th mission, and return home.
The ship was beginning the bombing course the ship continued to move from side to side as the pilot attempted to keep the ship on track. Another pilot from the nearby bomber told me that when the bombs were removed, the ship began to swerve abruptly towards the left. The speed of the plane suddenly dropped which caused the other planes to disperse. The plane also started losing altitude of around 26,000 feet.
The other planes of the formation tried to keep the lead however, they gave up after the plane flew over 15,000 feet. The Yellow Dwas the plane operating on White L’sleft wing, and had been desperate to get in touch with the White Ls on VHF. Then, he heard “Any ship belonging to the Yellow Squadron, this is White L, please acknowledge.” The Yellow D pilot immediately acknowledged by saying, “Go ahead.” The reply was directly from White L, “I have two engines on the go, and I can’t maintain altitude, so I’m going down, but I want to go as high as I can.”
Samuel Marlin Hamilton was born on the 15th of September 1922 at the Wiggins community of Covington County Alabama. Parents were Mary Edna “Mollie” Woodham and William Richard “Bud” Hamilton. The family tended to their farm to earn an income. Marlin or Marlin as he was called by his friends and family was the middle of three older siblings: William Aubrey, Annie Laurie and Percy Leon, and a younger brother named Robert Coleman.
The Hamilton family relocated from their home in Opp, Alabama, in 1936. There, Marlin was a student in the Opp schools. The Hamiltons was a graduate of Opp High School in 1940. He briefly worked for the construction company located at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida and then enrolled in the University of Alabama in the autumn of 1940. He enrolled in the Army ROTC and worked on the staff of the university’s student newspaper the Crimson and White, while at college.
Following an attack on Pearl Harbor, Hamilton was a few days later Pearl Harbor attack, Hamilton joined Hamilton’s unit in the Army Air Force and was called to active duty on the 1st of February 1943. He was posted into an Army Air Force basic training base in Miami Beach, Florida. After completing the basic training requirements, he was enrolled in an Army Aviation Cadet program and was sent for training at the Army Air Forces Training Command at the University of Tennessee.
Hamilton finished five years of of instruction within his Aviation Cadet program, then completed nine weeks of education in the role of an Aviation Cadet at Maxwell Army Air Base in Montgomery, Alabama. After completing the flight school at Maxwell Hamilton, he was transferred for a flight training at Greenwood Army Air Field, Greenwood, Mississippi, for further flight instruction, such as night-flying and navigation.
After completing the training in Greenwood, Hamilton received his Pilot’s wings and was commissioned to the rank of Second Lieutenant within the Army Air Corps. Hamilton was then sent to multi-engine training, where he was able to qualify as B-24 Liberator bomber pilot.
Once he had been certified for The B-24, Hamilton was sent to Westover Field near Springfield, Massachusetts and was assigned a new aircraft and crew. Samuel “Sam” M. Hamilton was the pilot. Joe Rudolph was the co-pilot, Emmett W. “Bo” Barger was the navigator, John Murphy was the bombardier. Robert “Bob” Seidel was the nose gunner. John Bills Jr., was the tail gunner. Harold “Hal” Adams served as the chief flight engineer, and top turret gunner. Otto “Tex” Mattiza was the left waist gunner. Richard “Dick Weber” was the right waist gunner, and Delbert “Dana” Satterfield” was the ball gunner.
In Westover, Hamilton and his team were sent for Chatham Field near Savannah, Georgia for Combat Crew training. Arriving at Chatham on July 15, 1944. The course usually ran for several weeks. The flight of the B-24 was a tough job and required intense physical effort as well as constant monitoring of the multitude of gauges. Sam Hamilton and Joe Rudolph formed a strong team and earned the admiration of their crews and were preparing for forthcoming combat missions.
In August the same month, the plane and crew was sent for transport to Mitchell Field, New York in preparation for their trip overseas. On the 26th of August, Hamilton as well as his team were given a brand new B-24 with serial number 42-50010. Hamilton sent a letter to family back home, stating that they had decided to call the plane “The Opp Daily” – Strictly Front Page,””in honor of his hometown and the local newspaper. It is unclear whether the name was scribbled onto the aircraft.
After taking in the sights and sights of New York for a few days, the crew returned at Grenier Field, New Hampshire. They stayed there for until a couple of days prior to flying towards Gander, Newfoundland, which was their last stop before heading to the other side of the world. They were informed that they were placed in the 15th Air Force but did not know the place or the name of their new squadron.
They set off from Gander towards the Azores but had to turn back towards Goose Bay, Labrador because of mechanical issues. After a few repairs, they left on the following day to head heading for the Azores. Following a short stop in the Azores before departing to Marrakesh, Morocco. After a few days they were escorted out with sealed orders that were to be unveiled upon taking off. The new order sent their crews for Tunis, Tunisia, which was the headquarters of the 15th Air Force commanded by General Nathan F. Twining.
Tunisia was the final destination on the itinerary of “Opp Daily – Strictly confidential” before they reached their destination of choice, Gioia del Colle Airbase situated about 35 miles to the north of Taranto. Hamilton and his team were part of the 460th Bomb Group, 763rd Bomb Squadron, and ordered to travel to their base of Spinazzola Field near Foggia, Italy. They were devastated to discover they were given the new plane and needed to depart their old plane “Opp daily Strictly Confidential” behind. They landed on Spinazolla Field, Foggia, Italy on the 29th of September and were among the 24 replacement crews that arrived in the month of September.
October was a difficult time to start the work at Foggia. The rain and dirt made it hard to put up tents. There was no power or a floor to set up the tents, and no heaters. The men in the enlisted ranks created the heater using an iron drum, and an additional steel drum mounted on a platform to allow the heat to enter. By using copper tubing that was stolen and a shut-off valve they were able to control the temperature. They managed to connect electricity to the tent in order to power the light bulb.
Sam Hamilton and Joe Rudolph quickly began learning the art of formation flying and combat techniques often without the rest of their crew aboard. In a short time, they finished their check-out flight to prepare their crews to fight. On the 10th of October, Hamilton and his crew discovered they would be flying an attack mission the following day. The briefing for the early morning would take place around 8:30 a.m.
[To be further developed[To be continued John Vick
Note from the Author: The source will be listed at the conclusion of Part 2 However, this author wishes to point out that some of the material came from the blog post “The The Story of White For Love,”by Michael D. Weber the father of Richard “Dick” Weber, who was the person who was Sam Hamilton’s waist gunner. B-24.
The article “COLUMN”: Mission over Munich on November 16, 1944 Samuel Marlin Hamilton, First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Force The post COLUMN: Mission Over Munich – November 16, 1944 – WWII Part 1 was published by The Andalusia Star-News.
