03-22-05 Note:Evidently there's some confusion here. This is not from me, but one of the letters I frequently post for folks. As it states, it's from the daughter of Maynard Tanner. Thanks!

My father served in the 45th during World War 2 - he was a pilot - recon - and flew the piper cub-grasshopper. He served in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany - he was present when they liberated Dachau and says he can smell the stench. He was the one that flew Patton to the hospital where the slapping incident took place. He lives in kANSAS and is 93 years old and of sound mind - he is a marvel - my son interviewed him for family history on his war experiences and it is an wonderful story - not all happy of course but something I will always cherish. I was in the first grade when he went t Europe and the third when he returned and those years had a profound effect on my life. I am so interested in this part of my fathers life and of course all the American soldiers. My fathers name is Maynard Tanner and I know he is always so glad to get info that I print off for him on the 45th and world war 2. I live in Oklahoma and there is a 45th museum in Oklahoma City. l If you have any info on the recon pilots I would really appreciate it as I can't seem to find anything of them as hard as I have tried. Thank you so very much.

Marion, at last a Sicily veteran and one who played a part in one of the most famous stories from that campaign "the slapping incidents". I have gone to the order of battle in "Bitter Victory" and find - 45th Reconnaissance Troop (Mech). Does this tie in with Maynard Tanner? Are there any documents or photos of this veteran. I would very much like to have contact or hear more from him or his relatives. In a few weeks I will be passing the area the 15th and 93rd Evacuation Hospitals occupied in August 1943.

Colin.

Colin:

I am not sure, as I am still doing research into the recon pilots from the 45th. As you know, certain units are really difficult to research and not much readily jumps out at you.

Of course I will post anything here that I find. Let's hope that we both stumble upon something that will spark both our interests soon and also give some lead to his daughter.

My father served in the 45th during World War 2 - he was a pilot - recon - and flew the piper cub-grasshopper.

I am a little confused about who wrote this. But anyway, here is a good book that he might like to read. It was published in 1968 but probably didn't get distributed very much. Now it was just re-released this year. I'm selling signed copies of it.

Alone and Unarmed

Staff Sgt. Kowalik was a Army pilot for the 88th Division's artillery ---the only pilot not an officer. He flew an L-4 Piper Cub to spot for the artillery and to drop messages to forward troops. He was both pilot and observer. This is a great account of the experiences of an Army pilot in Italy.

Sgt Kowalik tells it like it was without any distracting dialogue. Good details of his experiences.

305 pages, several photos & documents, small index.

List Price: $25.00

My fathers name is Maynard Tanner and I know he is always so glad to get info that I print off for him on the 45th and world war 2. I live in Oklahoma and there is a 45th museum in Oklahoma City.

The woman above is the one who wrote this for her father Maynard Tanner. She wrote to me to obtain help in finding info on her father's recon unit with the 45th Infantry Division.

Thanks for anything you can think of. It is greatly appreciated.

I thought it was from "colinhotham", but that didn't add up, either.

Anyway, I have a few photos of Liason Pilots but I couldn't remember which book it was in. I checked my 45th Division reference books and didn't see any. Kowalik's book has a lot of details about his flights over Italy and other details about Army life in general. His primary role was artillery forward observer but on many occasions, he would spot an enemy ambush and drop messages to the unsuspecting GI's who were about to be attacked. During the rapid advance thru the Po Valley, he lead the way and flew over the route to look for enemy tanks and troops.

These pilots were considered Army pilots and not Air Force pilots. They probably were snubbed by the Air Force jockeys.

Steve

Well hopefully all these tidbits we are giving her will help her in her search. I will make sure to email her later and remind her to check out this section every now and then. Thanks for all your help. I am sure she will appreciate it too.

The nice thing about all this too? We get to learn something in the interim. The great thing about having message boards.

I find this post just now so I start to post the information I have about "L birds" and Grasshopper pilots:

• "Fighting Grasshopper" and "Lightplanes at War: U.S. Liaison Aircraft in Europe, 1943-47 both by Ken Wakefield - out of print and really difficult to find at reasonable price.
• the already cited Alone and Unarmed by Staff Sgt. Kowalik
• EYES OF ARTILLERY: THE ORIGINS OF MODERN U.S. ARMY AVIATION IN WORLD WAR II by Edgar F. Raines, Jr. - Special Publications CMH Pub 70-31, Cloth; CMH Pub 70-31-1
• Seeing the Enemy: Army Air Force Aerial Reconnaissance Support to U.S.. Army Operations in the Mediterranean in World War II by DW Dengler - 2009 -

I will check the contents of these books to find info about the 45th.

Andrea

Updtate of the 7th of June 2015:

a new book by Ken Wakefield published in 2014 "The other Ninth Air Force" - Ninth US Army Ligth Aircraft operations in Europe 1944-45 - ISBN 9781781553022

Andrea

Thanks for the wonderful information. Greatly appreciated.

Scanning posts, on a long shot,attached photo taken near Schwaigern by Captain Ward S. Yorks.

Unfortunately no names attached to photo.....

Side note, also read your grandfather liberated Dachau...by any chance was he also at the Dachau "Death Train" site? Dad took photos of "Death Train" and also a couple of german soldiers killed and one guard that had committed suicide.

Served with:370th combat engineer battalion and Company Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 3rd battalion, 253rd regiment, 63rd division, Seventh Army..I believe this unit was transferred back and forth between several commands due to "leap frogging" during the last several months of the European War.