The Eagle Squadrons, America's outlaw heroes.

           Nineteen thirties America was a place obsessed with aircraft. Pilots were the heroes of story and screen. If it could be flown, then Americans flew it. Barnstormers performed for rapt crowds weekly. Airshows held the attention back then that today could maybe be held by Victoria's secret models playing in the World Cup. Thus America was fertile ground for European recruiters. European air forces had been decimated by the Luftwaffe and hitler's blitzkrieg. Experienced pilots and ground crews were worth their weight in particularly shiny gold. The light of freedom was being extinguished in Europe, and only America had the key to its defense.
          There was only one problem, America's strict neutrality acts. Isolationism was the buzz word. George Washington had warned of European entanglements, and by god congress would heed his words. No American citizen would be allowed to fight for either side, or risk charges back home. America was perfectly content to sit at home and watch Europe blow itself to pieces.
          However, as the say "where there is a will, there's a way." A London businessman and some say mercenary,Charles Sweeney, had the will. Along with Canadian flying Ace William Bishop and an artist named Clayton Knight they made the way. They established an underground railroad of sorts for U.S. pilots. They would be recruited from airfields, flying circuses, and even from washouts from the Army Air Corps. They would then face a dangerous train ride over the border into Canada. The Canadians were under orders to arrest any American fliers bound for Europe. Any American found guilty of going mercenary would be sentenced to a lengthy jail sentence and loss of passport.
          Once in Canada they would make their way to Nova Scotia. Then the real fun and danger would begin. German subs were sinking shipping throughout the Atlantic, and the pilots would have to make their way across in French or English convoys. After passing flight schools they would be given the chance to strike at the Germans in the famed Super-Marine Spitfighters and Hawker Hurricanes (insert tone of great envy here.)
          These pilots stiffened the backbone of the English resistance. They fought in the Battle of Britain. They fought all across Europe. And at the onset of US hostilities they were eagerly snapped up by the Army Air Corps that had rejected them. These men are true American heroes.
          I have always been fascinated by ww2 fighter aircraft, and the men and women who flew them. So this story definitely piqued my interest. Imagine leaving behind everything you have ever known, assuming a fake identity, and fighting for people you have never even met. They knew that the Germans wouldn't stop at Europe, and no matter what their government said, they wanted to help stop them.
          The exploits of the "Greatest Generation" fill movies,books,TV, and video games. The men of the Eagle Squadrons should be at the forefront of this publicity. Sadly, they don't receive nearly the credit they deserve.
          If my bungling of these events has kept your interest then please check out The Few by Alex Kershaw. I picked it up at BooksAMillion for only five dollars.
This post is in memory of Vernon "Shorty" Keough, Andrew Mamedoff, and Eugene "Red" Tobin. The first three Americans to serve with the RAF. Veterans of the Battle of Britain. Men to be looked up to for generations.