Edwin Duty was a mechanic in Salinas, CA in the 1940’s. He was newly married with the outset of World
War II. With a skill set that was highly
sought after, he was drafted into military service even though his age at the
time would have normally excluded him.
Through many trials, including basic training in Florida, he
was eventually assigned to the Army Air Force, where he worked on the Boeing
B-29, the Super fortress as a mechanic.
He achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant in the Army Air Force, serving in
the 10th Maintenance Battalion.
The 769th Bombing Squadron, 462nd Group was
stationed in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, British India. They flew over “The Hump,” the Himalayas, to
China.
I have heard a few stories about Edwin Duty and the time he
spent in India and China. Although he
never spoke much about his time there, there are little bits and pieces that
can be placed together about this mechanic who serviced one particular B-29.
There is now only one flying, operational B-29 left in the
world, and she is called “Fifi.” After
World War II, she eventually made her way to the China Lakes Range in
California, where she was used as a bombing target. In 2010, she was fitted with engines form
another type of airplane, and now she goes on two month tours of the country.
On the Vigil of the Feast of St. Joseph, our family was
blessed with the opportunity to see Fifi fly and land at Camarillo Airport,
about an hour north of Los Ángeles.
After Holy Mass for Passion Sunday, we got ready, and made our way down
to Camarillo, about a four drive.
Camarillo is the Southern California base for the Commemorative Air
Force, a group that has as its mission to preserve antique aircraft. Fifi surely is an antique, as she will turn
68 years old this year. She rolled off
the assembly line on the 31st of July, 1945.
It was a nice pleasant drive on over to Camarillo, home to
the Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Los Ángeles, and nearby in Simi Valley
is the Ronald Reagan Library.
From about Camarillo on, it seems like it is all strip malls
and auto dealers until you reach San Clemente two hours later. We had a room with a balcony, and it had a
nice view of the very busy Highway
101. Traffic just seemed to be going on
all day and night.
Monday came, and we got ready for Fifi. The CAF website said that Fifi would be
getting in around Noon, and that it would be ready for viewing around
1400hr. We had a quick lunch at Costco,
and then made our way on over to Camarillo Airport. We got a spot on a side street by the runway
and waited for Fifi.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
We called the CAF at the airport, and they informed us that
Fifi was indeed running late, about 2 and a half hours late. It was like waiting for a regular
flight. We had a laptop, so we watched
Rifftrax shorts to pass the time. People
who knew Fifi would be coming were milling about, some with rather nice lenses
on their cameras.
Just about everyone in our family has sharp eyesight. At around 1438hrs. they could spot this HUGE
plane with several smaller planes surrounding it.
It was Fifi!
Then we could hear the roar of the engines. Gradually,
we could see that Fifi has an escort of various fighter planes like British
Spitfires, and American P-51 Mustangs.
It was a magnificent sight!
It overflew us going west, and then circled off in the distance. About 20 minutes later, the escorts started
to land, and then it was Fifi’s turn.
Here is a video we shot of Fifi landing. For some reason or another, it does not want to embed within this post, so here is the link to it at youTube:
After waiting for two and a half hours, it was time to
freshen up a bit, and then head on over to the airport. There was a bit of a line to see Fifi, but it
moved along at a nice clip.
Here are some pictures of Fifi when we took our tour. As I am not familiar with the intricacies of
this or any type of plane, I will just post some pictures here. I would probably make errors in identifying
the various parts anyways.
It was a good experience to witness a part of American military history, especially to see this plane fly.
I never got to meet Edwin Duty, which is my loss. I would like to think that we would have
gotten along well, and I would have loved hearing some of his stories from
China and India. I believe that he would
have enjoyed seeing the four great-grandchildren his granddaughter had.
Thank you for your service to our country, Mr. Duty. Thank you as well for the beautiful
granddaughter you gave me as a wife, for I love her very much. We will meet in the next life.
Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua
luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.
(Back row, furthest right)
1908-1982
