Hi all; Here is the new link to Louis' photos taken during the Pacific War Louis WWII photos; The Pacific War; USAF pictures from history photos on webshots Here also is my communications with Chuck Varney-who's father was in the 20th Combat mapping Squadron. JeffinMNUSA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Varney" <chuck.varney@yahoo.com> To: kgrablgsw@comcast.net Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 8:19:05 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: Re: 20th CMS in Australia Thanks, Jeff. Now that you've told it, it does sound familiar. It's pretty unlikely it was on Guam as the 20th was never there. They were on Okinawa when the war ended. Prior to that they were at Clark Field on Luzon. Before that Tacloban, Leyte. Chuck --- On Tue, 6/30/09, kgrablgsw@comcast.net <kgrablgsw@comcast.net> wrote: From: kgrablgsw@comcast.net <kgrablgsw@comcast.net> Subject: Re: 20th CMS in Australia To: "chuck varney" <chuck.varney@yahoo.com> Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 8:59 PM Chuck; I posted it here; Webshots - Page Not Found There was a lone Japanese plane-"bedcheck Charlie- buzzing the base at a certain time of the night and nobody thought much of it. Well Louis was watching a movie one night and the alarms went off and the guy next to him told him not to worry it was only BedCheck Charlie. Well it wasn't and the Japs hit the base big time. I don't know where or when this happened but I have no doubt that it did happen-lots of people lie about their military experiences but not Louis. Jeff ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Varney" <chuck.varney@yahoo.com> To: kgrablgsw@comcast.net Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 7:03:18 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: Re: 20th CMS in Australia Bedcheck Charlie? No, I don't think so. Chuck --- On Tue, 6/30/09, kgrablgsw@comcast.net <kgrablgsw@comcast.net> wrote: From: kgrablgsw@comcast.net <kgrablgsw@comcast.net> Subject: Re: 20th CMS in Australia To: "chuck varney" <chuck.varney@yahoo.com> Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 7:36 PM Chuck; Thanks. Did you ever hear the "Bedcheck Charlie" story? Jeff ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Varney" <chuck.varney@yahoo.com> To: kgrablgsw@comcast.net Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 4:17:56 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: 20th CMS in Australia Jeff, There are a couple photo examples of 20th CMS personnel "in Australia" that I provided to Peter Dunn's website, here: 20th Combat Mapping Squadron, 6th Photographic Group, Reconnaissance, 5th Air Force, Far East Air Forces, in Australia during WW2 Chuck --- On Tue, 6/30/09, kgrablgsw@comcast.net <kgrablgsw@comcast.net> wrote: From: kgrablgsw@comcast.net <kgrablgsw@comcast.net> Subject: Re: SGT Louis Kemm of "The Cherokee Strip" To: "chuck varney" <chuck.varney@yahoo.com> Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 4:30 PM Chuck; Then Louis was somewhere other than the 20th in the earlier times-but he was in AUSTrailia. I am not sure which unit he was in before that. Jeff PS. Feel free to help yourself to whatever on the Webshots site. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Varney" <chuck.varney@yahoo.com> To: kgrablgsw@comcast.net Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 8:52:06 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: Re: SGT Louis Kemm of "The Cherokee Strip" Jeff, I made a mistake in estimating Louis' time overseas. I meant to say July '44 to June '45, adding a month either side of his first and last combat missions--which were between August '44 and May '45. Crews didn't fly immediately upon arrival overseas and usually had to wait some time to return to the states after they'd accumulated 300 hours of combat zone flying time. The 20th's first aircrews didn't arrive overseas until March and Apri 1944, and Louis' crew wasn't among the first to arrive. (My father's crew was actually the first of the initial 12-crew deployment to arrive and that was on March 16th, 1944.) Check the Chronology page on my website to get a feel of how this all progressed. Chuck Chuck --- On Tue, 6/30/09, kgrablgsw@comcast.net <kgrablgsw@comcast.net> wrote: From: kgrablgsw@comcast.net <kgrablgsw@comcast.net> Subject: Re: SGT Louis Kemm of "The Cherokee Strip" To: "chuck varney" <chuck.varney@yahoo.com> Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 7:37 AM Chuck; Interesting that all the photos are from AP 44 to June 45-Louis was in the unit from the start and spoke of Australia as the one place he really would have liked to have gone back to. Do you have anything on the Pre AP 44 period? Jeff ----- Original Message ----- From: kgrablgsw@comcast.net To: "chuck varney" <chuck.varney@yahoo.com> Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 5:26:45 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: Re: SGT Louis Kemm of "The Cherokee Strip" Chuck; Thanks for your assistance in this matter and feel free to use whatever you want off my Webshots site. Jeff ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Varney" <cmvf7@yahoo.com> To: kgrablgsw@comcast.net Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 1:30:04 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: Re: SGT Louis Kemm of "The Cherokee Strip" Jeff, I can help with a few of the photos. First, see the attachment which gives all the combat missions S/Sgt Kemm flew. From the entries you can see who the other crew members were and what plane they flew. The AIRCRAFT entry is the last 3 digits of the aircraft's serial number. You can check them against this table on my website: 20th Combat Mapping Squadron F-7A and F-7B Aircraft You can use the same table to link the nose art photos you posted to the 20th's aircraft. From the dates in the attachment you can assume that the photos you posted date from about April 1944 through June 1945. DSC00671 crew photo Back Row, L-R: S/Sgt Kemm - Flight Engineer, Lt. Craig - pilot, Lt. Simaytis - co-pilot, Lt Worrell - navigator, S/Sgt Stewart - radio operator Front Row, L-R: Sgt Boyd, aerial gunner, Sgt Kirchoff - aerial gunner DSC002444 This outlines the process steps for obtaining aerial photographs that ultimately were used for invasion planning. Photos DSC02452 through 02458 These were the aftermath of an air raid on Morotai Island, where several of the 20th's aircraft had stopped for refueling on the way to a mission to the Philippines. See the 25 Nov 44 entry in this table: 20th Combat Mapping Squadron F-7, F-7A, and F-7B Aircraft Losses That's about all I can help with. Chuck Varney son of 20th CMS gunner Mel Varney --- On Mon, 6/29/09, kgrablgsw@comcast.net <kgrablgsw@comcast.net> wrote: From: kgrablgsw@comcast.net <kgrablgsw@comcast.net> Subject: SGT Louis Kemm of "The Cherokee Strip" To: CMVF7@yahoo.com Date: Monday, June 29, 2009, 8:13 AM Dear sirs; My late father in law served in the 20th mapping squadron. Here is a link to a photosite where I posted all of his WWII shots that I could find. If you could help me with names, dates and locations it would be appreciated. There is a comments box on each photo entry. Webshots - Page Not Found Jeff Grab Bayport MN
