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fugio ergo sum
A TRIBUTE TO A QUIET MAN By Todd Blomerth
He is 91 years old now. When he speaks about his life you sense that despite his chronological age he is much younger at heart. He is a quiet and modest man, not prone to boasting. He tends to minimize a series of events that few of us can imagine living through. His is a story worthy of recalling.
His name is Thomas C. Holland. Tom, or Tommy, as he goes by, was born in Lockhart in 1922. He has been a resident of Caldwell County almost all his life. Tommy?s dad, Cleveland (he went by ?Cleve?) was a respected construction supervisor for Holland Page, a large construction company and traveled extensively to job sites in Texas and Oklahoma. Tommy and his younger sister Georgia were mostly raised by Albert and Myrtle Schneider. The Schneiders lived at 1217 Woodlawn Street in Lockhart. Cleve often helped Caldwell County men get jobs during the late 30s and during World War II. During summer breaks and after high school graduation, Tommy would travel with his dad and work with construction crews. Georgia would occasionally travel with them. Bridge City and Lubbock were two of the places he worked. Slight and wiry, Tommy shoveled a lot of sand and gravel for concrete jobs. He had to be tough. There was no pre-mix in those days.
In 1942, Uncle Sam sent an invitation to Tommy to join his armed forces. In other words, he was drafted. When he was three, he had fallen into a wash pot. The burns scarred an arm. Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Army thought the scarring had limited his strength and mobility. Much to his disgust, after basic training he was assigned as a clerk at an army airbase in Mississippi. In December of 1942 he was reevaluated. He reiterated to the Army doctors that there was absolutely nothing wrong with him, and that he wanted to be allowed normal duties. He got his wish. Knowing it was a quick way to earn sergeant?s stripes, he opted for gunnery school. After graduation from gunnery school in Harlingen, Texas, the Army sent him to aircraft mechanic school as Keesler Army Air Base in Mississippi. Then, because he applied to be a pilot, he was enrolled in the University of Alabama under the Army Air Force aviation cadet program. Designed for young men with only high school educations, it was intended to help turn them into ?officers and gentlemen.?
After six months of college level courses, he was transferred to an airbase in San Antonio. Pilot graduation rates often depended on the number of pilots needed. With an over abundance of pilots at the time, Tommy did not become ?an officer and a gentleman.? Instead, he was assigned as a tail gunner on a B-17 and sent to MacDill Field in Florida to begin crew training.
S/Sgt Bernard Duwel, ENG Lt. Charles Pearson, B Lt. WIlliam Hoyer, P
Lt. Joseph Syoen, CP Lt. John Riddell, N
Kneeling, L-R:
Sgt. Thomas C. Holland, TG Sgt. Floyd Broman, WG S/Sgt Walter Degutis, WG Sgt Edward Thornton, WG S/Sgt Thomas Burke, BTG
His ten-man crew began training on Boeing Aircraft?s B-17. Dubbed the Flying Fortress, it was a magnificent aircraft, and was rightly loved by those who flew in her. The crew became close, as one would expect. They trained as if their lives depended on it-because it would. The life expectancy of a bomber crew in Europe was about two weeks.
In late May, 1944 the crew received its orders assigning it and their bomber to the U.S. 8th Air Force?s 709th Bombardment Squadron, 447th Bombardment Group based at Rattlesden, England near Bury St. Edmunds. Lt. Hoyer?s crew was given a brand new B-17 at Hunter Field outside of Savannah, Georgia. Because the B-17 was a four-engine aircraft, the crew flew the extremely hazardous northern route across the Atlantic, through Newfoundland and Greenland. Weather was problematic to say the least. Along with other aircraft, their bomber was grounded in Greenland by winds so violent the crew had to feather the propellers to keep the engines from being damaged. In the midst of the horrific weather, word came on June 6, 1944 that the Allies had invaded German controlled Europe. Despite the weather, base officials told the many stranded crews to head to England. And so they did.
Much to the crew?s disappointment, upon arrival in England, their brand new B- 17 was taken away from them. It would be used by more experienced crews. They would be stuck with whatever aircraft was assigned them. Like all fresh aircrews, the Hoyer crew was split up for its first missions, in order to ensure the crewmen and pilots were familiar with combat formations and tactics. Tommy?s first mission, on June 24, 1944, was either to Blanc Pignon Ferme or Wesermude ? he can?t recall which as there were simultaneous attacks planned. Neither was successful, and both bomber formations came back with their bombs, as neither target was visible through heavy cloud cover.
His second mission, on June 25, 1944, again with another crew, was to Area #1 of Operation ?Zebra.? After a 2 a.m. briefing, the Group?s B-17s flew to Vercors, west of Grenoble, France. Instead of dropping bombs, the planes dropped 420 canisters containing ammunition, supplies, and weapons
for the French resistance fighters in the area. Several OSS (the forerunner of the CIA) agents also parachute jumped in.
On June 28, 1944, and again with another crew, Tommy manned the tail guns for a run toward a target in France. Weather obscured the primary target so an airfield at Denian/Prouvy, France was hit instead.
On June 29, 1944, the Hoyer crew was reunited for their first combat mission. The target was an oil refinery at Bohlen, Germany. The crew briefing was at 2:30 a.m. At 4:50 a.m. dozens of Flying Fortresses, loaded with 100 pound bombs, started taking off. With the intercom-connected crews donning oxygen masks and heated clothing, the B-17s lumbered to an altitude of 24,000
feet. They were supported by fighter aircraft.
German Bf 109s and Focke Wulf190s shot down many bombers during the war, but the greatest danger by far was anti-aircraft artillery.