John E. Osguthorpe, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Becky B. Lloyd, June 24, 2004: Saving the Legacy tape no. 667

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JOH .0 THORPE J 24 2 04 would cau e a scab, which was especially bad when it got into the n and ar . hi would not affect our ability to fly except when it got into our inner ear. It would greatly impair hearing and the equilibrium in the ears. It could rupture eardrums at high altitudes. On occasion, flight crews had to be broken up depending on the altitude the plane was to fly and substitutes made from other crews, which had men who could safely fly at that elevation. This was rather disruptive to crews, which flew together and worked easily together. To better understand how each squadron operated I shall explain more in detail its working. Each day from perhaps ten in the morning until ten at night each plane designated to fly that day was given a flight plan. The plan gave the time of take-off, direction to fly or the quadrant, the elevation, the distance to fly or flying time, and the gas load the plane carried. The plan included what to look for, like ships, subs, planes, and armament. Each plane flew low at different elevations and usually in different quadrants. Sometimes a plane left early, then another would hours later fly the same route and elevation. This was necessary to keep the Japanese confused as to what direction we were coming from. We were not in squadron. We were only lone long­range planes. If we were pursued by fighter planes, we usually had enough fire power to hold them at bay. We'd alter our course as we headed for base so they couldn't track us back to our base. This sometimes meant flying two or three hundred miles in the wrong direction until they could no longer follow us. Occasionally a plane would have to go so far, he'd barely have enough gas to make it home. Some planes were shot down by Japanese fighters. Probably some were lost at sea because they ran out of gas. This is 26