Flew 30 missions to Europe, 8 August 1944 - 17 March 1945; 14 Lead plane missions 12 Dec. 1944 - 17 March 1945; Survived 3 crashes of B-17's in England; Discharged at Fort Dix, NJ, 25 June 1945.



A navigator with the 603rd Sqdn flying in the lead plane of the low Sqdn they were returning to base after a mission to Merseburg only to find it 'locked in' by bad weather. With only 10 minutes fuel left, darkness approaching and unable to get a 'fix' the situation was critical. They finally broke through cloud over the Thames and spotted what appeared to be a landing strip, but no sign of any other aircraft. It proved to be a non-active RAF field currently occupied by a barrage-balloon unit who, fortunately, at the time had no balloons in the air. Two fires were lit to mark the runway and they were finally able to land. The crew were treated royally by the RAF - quarters far more sumptuous than Nuthampstead - with soft down-filled mattresses and white sheets. A WAAF brought him a morning 'cuppa' and his shoes were polished! Three days in luxury before they were finally trucked back to base.



An article written by Ken Wright "When ya Gotta Go ya Gotta Go" - Answering Nature's call at 26,000 Feet discusses "bodily functions" of combat aircrew during WW2. Bill Frankhouser contributed the following:

“No matter how scared I was, my retention capacity had been sufficient during early missions to get me back to the grass around the parking revetments at Nuthamstead without urination. On one long mission, however, my capacity for retention was exceeded and I filled and overfilled the relief tube. The mess left on the bottom of the fuselage was the subject of considerable discussion during subsequent flights. Another necessary caution on urination was to warn the ball turret gunner if the relief tube was to be used. The stream of urine from this tube impacted onto his turret while flowing in the air stream. At high altitudes, it froze as a yellow cloud on his turret. The instruction was to warn him about your intention so that he could turn his view screen away from the relief tube. When not warned, his guns were useless since he had no visibility until the yellow cloud melted at lower altitudes. Often, forgetful urinators were cursed roundly by the ball turret gunners.”



From http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/Ar…





Awards: AM (4OLC), WWII Victory, EAME (4 x Battle Stars).