INDIANA in WORLD WORLD II
The HOOSIER TRAINING GROUND

A History of Army and Navy Training Centers, Camps, Forts, and other Military Installations Within the State Boundaries During World War II
Compiled by Dorothy Riker
Indiana Historical Bureau
Indiana War History Commission - 1952

Used with permission of the Indiana Historical Bureau

Chapter 6
THE FREEMAN ARMY AIR BASE
CHOOSING The SITE

"The actual history of Freeman Field is a record of true American enterprise, ingenuity, team work and enthusiasm—a record that can't be written in words as it has been in deeds and action."(1)

It was on December 1, 1942, a little less than a year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, that Freeman Field, located south of Seymour, Indiana, had its official beginning. The weather was cold and murky when at ten o'clock on that day a small group of military personnel gathered at the field to witness or take part in the activation ceremonies which were to add another airfield to the Eastern Flying Training Command.

The morning headlines had told of our troops battling in Africa and on the Solomon Islands. The gloomy day echoed the feeling of uncertainty for the future, but the raising of the Stars and Stripes for the first time over the new post proclaimed that a new link had been forged in the chain of offense that would one day crush the Axis powers. Construction work at the field, however, was only about 75 per cent completed at this time. There was still much to be done before the field could begin its mission of training pilots of two-engine planes.

Steps which led to the final decision to locate an airfield on the above site included an official visit made to the area on April 1, 1942, by Lieut. Col. Paul Preuss, a native of Seymour, and a group of Army men. A week later a number of Army officers made an official visit to the site. Earl Wilson, congressman from the Ninth District, wired the editor of the Seymour Daily Tribune on May 6 of the War Department's decision to build an airfield near Seymour. Its proximity to the Baltimore and Ohio and to the Pennsylvania Railroad lines as well as to U. S. Highways 31 and 50 was a leading factor in the choice. Also, climatic conditions were considered favorable for an air base. The air site board reported, how-ever, that the housing situation would be totally inadequate to take care of the influx of population expected to come into the area.(2)

When news came of the War Department's decision, the farmers who lived on the site were busy planting their spring crops. The children of the community gathered each school day at the township schoolhouse. The near-by town of Seymour was a typical American community of 7,500 population, with its civic dubs, churches, and schools. The coming of the war had not greatly affected the every-day life of its citizens. In a few weeks all this was to be changed. The farm families had to seek a home elsewhere; the work of clearing the land was begun even before the deeds were signed.(3)

Problems of housing and of providing for additional business, educational, and recreational facilities immersed the town of Seymour.

Col. R. L. Winn, of Maxwell Field, Alabama, was placed in charge of construction. He made several visits to the site while work was getting under way, but his assistants, Capt. George Weiland and Lieut. William H. McLeod, looked after the many details. Col. Elmer T. Rundquist, commanding officer of the Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland, succeeded Colonel Winn as project officer on October 14 and served in that capacity until December 1, 1942, when he was placed in command of the new base.

Plans called for construction of some 400 buildings. All were modified versions of two distinct types used by the Army: the "theater of operations" type and the "mobilization" type. The majority of those built at Freeman were of the former type with the substitution of celo-siding, a prefabricated product, for tar paper and wood lath batten construction. The work was done under the direction of the U.S. Army Engineering Corps. The firm of Warren & Van Prange, Inc., Decatur, Illinois, served as architects-engineers in designing various phases of the construction.

Wartime shortages made it difficult to get materials. Delay in obtaining railroad iron to extend the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad into the site complicated the delivery of construction materials. The summer of 1942 proved to be an unusually rainy one. The water level was less than one foot below the normal ground surface, thus making the grading and construction of runways very difficult. Some concrete was laid under the protection of circus tents.

The possibility that the field might at some future date be expanded was not overlooked by the construction engineers. The ratio of building area to site area was fixed at approximately 14 per cent in the populated portions of the field, leaving ample room for expansion.

Freeman Field

AT-10 Trainers in Flight

 The new field was to be headquarters for one air base group comprising 7 school squadrons, 500 aviation cadets, 256 air corps and 27 other officers, 25 nurses, 2,086 enlisted men of the air corps and 350 in other arms of service, together with 260 AT-10 aircraft. The personnel, however, was usually below its full strength. Advance units of the squadrons began arriving in late October, 1942. These included the 1077th, 1078th, 1079th, and 1080th Two-Engine Flying Training squadrons and the 447th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron from Napier and Craig fields, Alabama. The latter included the medical and signal corps detachments as well as those who would handle the administrative work of the post. The 907th Quartermaster Company (Service) arrived on December' 5. On them fell the burden of feeding, clothing, and equipping all Army personnel on the field. Until facilities at Freeman were ready, the new field relied heavily on Camp Atterbury, located some thirty miles to the north, for food supplies and clothing, laundry facilities, etc.

The housing problem was acute from the beginning. There were only six vacant houses in Seymour at the time the field was begun. Three hotels had a maximum capacity of 125 persons. The business-men's association of Seymour made a survey of private homes and found that 1,080 rooms might be made available; many of these were in houses that had no modern conveniences. The civilian personnel alone was expected to reach 1,280. Many of the military personnel expected to bring their families with them. When the field was first activated officers and enlisted men went from door to door seeking temporary accommodations.

Plans were made as early as August, 1942, for a civilian housing project adjacent to the field, but it was not until the following February that work was started. The Tovell Construction Company was awarded the contract for 350 housing units together with a central building to house administrative offices and recreational facilities. Twenty-seven acres were purchased for the community which was known as Ridgeview. The first houses were ready for occupancy on August 15, 1943. By October almost all the units were occupied. Civilian personnel were given priority in renting, and no Army personnel over the rank of captain was permitted to live there. The units were furnished with basic furniture such as beds, chairs, stoves. The rent was very reasonable, $14.50 for a two-room unit. The administration building was a low, modern white brick structure with a clubroom for parties, dances, and indoor games. There was also an auditorium with a stage. One room was fitted up as a kindergarten.

FLIGHT TRAINING

The new field had a three-fold mission to perform in the war: to train pilots in the operation of two-engine planes; prepare students for service as junior and flight officers by the necessary indoctrination in military subjects, honor, and discipline; and to pre-pare them for active combat by the necessary mental and physical training. Prior to their arrival at Freeman the aviation cadets had passed through pre-flight, primary, and basic schools. They had a working knowledge of a single-engine plane and its capabilities. Freeman was to give them advanced training in two-engine planes, after which they were expected to be able to handle aircraft of any type. Duration of the course was nine weeks, during which time the cadets had to complete a minimum of seventy hours in the air. At the end of the period they received their wings and the rank of second lieutenant. Those completing the officers' training course were given ratings as flight officers or junior Air Corps officers.

Activation of the flying training department was ordered on January 6, 1943. Capt. William B. Poe, then acting as post operations officer, was appointed director of training. On receiving the appointment, Captain Poe went to the Columbus (Miss.) Airfield to study various phases of training and to become acquainted with the forms and techniques necessary in the operation of a flying school. The new director was not a stranger to Indiana; prior to the war he had been a pilot for Eastern Air Lines on the Chicago-Atlanta run which passed over Indiana.

Flying instructors began to report at the base the latter part of February and 131 students arrived the first of March. Before any flights could be made much work had to be done in clearing runways of snow and mud. All areas between the runways and taxi strips were a veritable sea of mud, at times deceptively covered with a thin layer of snow. The auxiliary airfields were not ready for use, so the number of ships that could be handled at one time was limited. Because of the cold weather much trouble was experienced by this group of students in the operation of the AT-10 type of planes. They were difficult to start unless they were kept in heated hangars. The gaskets in the oleo landing gear system shrank, causing loss of oleo fluid which seeped down and soaked the brake drums, making safe operation of the planes practically impossible. Many planes ran off the runways and got stuck in the mud. The gaskets were replaced only after much effort on the part of the engineering officers at the field and representatives of the factory where they were made. The two-engine planes had many features different from the planes the students had been accustomed to flying; then, too, these training ships were made of plywood, in order to save critical materials for combat planes. The first training plane to leave the runways at Freeman was piloted by Arthur H. Crapsey, Jr. The date was March 3, 1943.

It was indeed a momentous occasion when members of this first class received their wings on April 29. One hundred and twenty-two out of the 131 were graduated; 8 were held over; 1 cadet was eliminated. As the chaplain said at the graduation exercises, the cadets had already had combat experience—combating mud, rain, sleet, snow, cold weather, and new planes on a new field. April 29 was also the occasion for the official dedication of the field. Up to this time it had been known simply as Army Air Base, Seymour, Indiana, but was now given the name of Freeman in honor of Capt. Richard S. Freeman, of Winamac, Indiana, who was killed in a plane crash in Nevada, February 6, 1941.

Captain Freeman was a pioneer in the Army air mail flying service. He had made several famous "mercy" flights: one to the Hawaiian leper colony to get the body of the colony's founder and take it to Belgium for burial; another was to Chile with relief supplies for the earthquake sufferers. He was given the Distinguished Flying Cross for pioneering a flight to Bogota, Colombia. Army and government officials had proclaimed him as "one of the U. S. Army's finest and most expert Flying Fortress pilots." It was indeed fitting that an Indiana field for training bomber pilots should be named for this heroic airman.

By the time the second class arrived for training the first of April, many of the early difficulties had been ironed out. The supervisory and instructor personnel which had been drawn from various airfields were able to work out a standard operating procedure which combined the better features of the fields where they had gained their experience.

The cadets were required to attend ground school in addition to their flight training. Here they studied the mechanical features of the planes they were learning to fly, took courses in such subjects  as navigation and meteorology, practiced instrument flying by use of the Link trainers, and learned to identify at a glance planes of other countries.

A War Room was established dealing with the various theaters of war. Here were maps, statistics, and detailed accounts of operations secured through radio and teletype reports. Models of guns, cannons, bombs, and aircraft were displayed. The latest magazines on military equipment, particularly aircraft, were available. An intelligence library, housing secret and confidential material, was open to cadets and officers. This was in addition to the Post library where books and magazines of a technical nature as well as general books were available to all the Army personnel at the field.

The efficiency of the ground school program was hampered at first by insufficient and inadequate facilities. There was little equipment and few teaching aids. The scope of the courses was not well defined and there was overlapping of subject matter with courses taught in basic school. Instructors generally had excellent back-grounds of educational experience but lacked specific training in the fields to which they were assigned. It became necessary to send the instructors to school for two months of intensive study in the subjects they were to teach. In time the instructors were able to assemble charts, pictures, films, and to prepare student guides to supplement the textbook material.

In the beginning, the training in flying by instruments was given by the flying instructor as a part of the general course. When it was found that a majority of the eliminations at Freeman as well as at other training fields were caused by a deficiency in instrument flying, a regular instrument school was established at Bryan, Texas, to co-ordinate instrument instruction and make possible a standard course to be given the cadets in a minimum of time. Instructors who took this special training returned to their respective fields to teach instrument flying and nothing else. All cadets were required to complete the course within four weeks after their entrance and prior to doing any night flying or navigation.

There were a number of Link trainers at the field. These were miniature airplanes containing all the instruments and controls common to a bomber or pursuit plane. The student was given a course to fly, then enclosed in the trainer, and started blind flying to try to reach his destination by instruments alone. A flight log charted all the movements made by the "pilot" and indicated whether he was doing the things necessary to reach his goal. This training saved gasoline and wear and tear on airplanes and at the same time gave the instructor definite knowledge of what the student could do when on his own. Students, however, disliked the training and it was necessary to devise various methods to break down the resistance to it. In 1944 a "little Bryan" instrument school for instructors was set up at Freeman.

When Class 44-C was graduated in the spring of 1944, the quota called for was so much larger than the number of graduates that a considerable number of instructors were sent overseas with them. Those with the lowest instructor experience level were chosen. This loss necessitated giving up the special classes in instrument flying and the assigning of those teachers to the regular flying training sections.

After July, 1944, the demand for pilots decreased, and it became possible to increase the period of training to ten weeks. When it came time for classes 44-I and 44-J to leave, there was no call for them, and it was decided to hold them over for an additional five weeks. This permitted an extension of the pilot course to include simulated combat missions including briefing, rendezvous, bombing run, and return to the base to report on what they had observed. Before the five weeks were up, a request came for half the graduates in Class 44-I. It was during this period that Major Poe, who had directed the training at Freeman since the beginning, was transferred to Smyrna, Tennessee. Maj. Robert J. Du Chaine, post operations officer, succeeded him. During the last two months of 1944 the weather was so bad that very little flying could be done. The students concentrated on ground school work when they were unable to use the planes.

Those cadets who wished to graduate as flight or junior Air Corps officers took special courses to fit them for the work they would need to do.

Pre-aviation cadets were sent to Freeman in 1944. They studied administration, supply, and aircraft engineering and performed various duties around the field.

The third objective of Freeman Field, to prepare the cadets mentally and physically for the strenuous days that lay ahead, was carried out through a rigorous program of physical exercise, including long hikes across country and participation in active sports; through training in parachute landings and in the use of firearms; and through information on protection against chemical warfare and procedure in the event of being taken prisoner.

Nineteen classes in all received their wings at Freeman Field, the first on April 29, 1943, and the last on February 1, 1945. The exercises were usually held in one of the hangars, but sometimes they were in the Post theater. Air Corps officers or men high in government circles were often the speakers. On a number of occasions the speaker was the father of one of the graduating cadets.

At the first graduation, which was also the dedication of the field, the Freeman Field March, composed by Sgt. Richard W. Bowles, of Culver, Indiana, was played for the first time. Bowles was director of the 405th AAF Band stationed at the field.

The record of the different cadet classes with the dates of graduation is as follows:(4)

It was the policy of the field to hold students over for another class prior to eliminating them unless they were so poor that further instruction would be a waste of time. The accident rate for Free-man Field was the lowest for the type of training given of all fields in the Eastern Flying Training Command.

BASE PERSONNEL

Freeman Field was a city in itself with its own administrative set-up, its hospital, doctors, and nurses, its engineers, its mess halls and service personnel. In addition, there were the flying instructors and teachers of special subjects, and the men who kept the planes in condition.

Two Engine Flying Training Squadrons (TEFT). It has been said that for every man in the air, 15 men are needed on the ground to keep the planes running. Four squadrons were assigned the task of servicing the planes at Freeman. These were the 35th, 36th, 1079th and 1080th TEFT squadrons. The 35th and 36th were first designated as the 1077th and 1078th. Later they became the 466th and 467th.
The 447th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron was the largest unit on the field. Its main task was administrative. To it were attached many small units such as engineering, ordnance, chemical warfare, signal corps, finance, weather, airways communications, and special duty.

The 447th had the job of organizing the field and putting it on a smoothly running basis—a task of no small proportions at any new field and especially so at one which was only 75 per cent completed at the time the soldiers moved in.

Of the attached units, the ordnance men maintained the guns and ordnance equipment at the field, supervised the firing of all weapons on the range, and took care of some 130 general-purpose vehicles required for administrative use and also all special vehicles and equipment.

The chemical warfare section had the responsibility of training each man at the field to defend himself against chemical warfare. The regular activities included gas alerts, gas chamber exercises, anti-incendiary and decontamination demonstrations, and the wearing of gas masks by personnel while performing their regular duties. Localized tear gas attacks were staged. A special room was set aside for showing various types of gas masks, bombs, and gas detectors, and films were shown dealing with chemical warfare.

The 907th Quartermaster Company handled the food and clothing supplies for the field, also the motor transportation department, heating system, and requests for rail transportation.

The field ration system was used in all the mess halls at Freeman with the exception of the hospital where the garrison ration system was used. Each month the Fifth Service Command sent out a master menu accompanied by a table showing the exact number of units of food to be used per 100 men for each mess hall. For example, 45 loaves of bread and 60 pounds of meat was the basic allowance for 100 men for three meals a day. A record was kept in the mess halls of the number of men eating each meal, and from this daily figure the number of men rationing with each mess hall was compiled. Using past averages, each mess submitted the estimated number of men rationing with it five days in advance. On this basis, the quartermaster commissary delivered the amount of food on the day before it was required with the exception of bread and milk.

They had their own quarters, ran their own orderly and supply rooms and mess halls, but were attached to other organizations on the field according to the work they were doing.

Two Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) were assigned to the field in January, 1944. Qualifications for entrance into this branch of service included thirty-five hours of civilian flying. At Freeman they served as test and utility pilots, testing planes after repairs had been made, and piloting planes carrying military personnel and cargoes on short trips.

By a sweeping reorganization measure of the AAF Training Command, which became effective May 1, 1944, all of the old designations were wiped out and all organizations on the field were made a part of the 2139th AAF Base Unit. Colonel Rundquist remained as commander; three deputy commanders were named to direct the field's three main activities, namely (1) administration and services; (2) training and operations; (3) supply and maintenance. A fourth officer, the air inspector, was made responsible to the deputy commander for administration and services.

Sections A-H replaced all the former squadrons and companies. Section A, the administrative unit, was made up of the former 447th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron, the 1087th Guard Squadron, the provost marshal, the finance department, and mess detachment.

Section B included the flying instructors, the administrative personnel for line organization, i.e., the men connected with the ground school, instrument board, and Post operations office.

Section C, which was responsible for maintenance, included the 466th, 467th, 1079th, and 1080th TEFT squadrons, the 366th sub-depot, the 907th Quartermaster Company, and the Signal Corps.

The 742d WAC detachment became Section D.
The medical and veterans' detachment became Section E. The 320th Squadron became Section F.

Section H was made up of the aviation cadet groups.

The band continued to operate as a separate unit but was assigned to Section A for rations, quarters, and administration. Apparently there was no G Section.

In February of 1944 the military personnel of the field was made up of 367 officers, 2,161 enlisted men, 448 cadets, and 139 WACs. The civilian personnel was approximately 600.

SPECIAL SCHOOLS

The cadets were not the only persons who attended classes at Freeman. A visitor at the field, especially during the first year, would have found classrooms and students wherever he looked. Men were assigned to tasks in the Army for which they had no training or preparation. Some needed refresher courses or specialized work. On-the-job training was going on continually.

Perhaps the most important of these special schools was that for mechanics. The men who were to service the planes received their training at AAF technical training schools but needed to keep up-to-date on technical changes and improvements in methods; they often needed special instruction on the two-engine planes. At first the mechanics' school was conducted by voluntary instructors, men who had had practical experience in the care and maintenance of aircraft at other fields as well as the technical training in mechanics offered in Army courses.

In October, 1943, the newly organized Post school system took over the training. A mechanics' course of seventy-five hours duration was set up and equipment obtained to make the course as comprehensive and complete as possible. Instructors were graduates of an AAF mechanics' school. In 1944 a B-25 plane was sent to the field to be taken apart and reassembled. "Mock-ups," actual mechanical instruments made from property condemned as not salvageable, were used to show the mechanics of landing gears, engines, and fueling systems.

An eight-weeks course in radio mechanics was one of the first on-the-job training classes to be offered at Freeman. The only equipment available when the course opened was a blackboard. Many of the men had never seen the inside of a radio, much less repaired one. Residents of Seymour came to the rescue and donated four radios to the class for study. Early in 1944 a three-months course was given designed to make radio mechanics more proficient in their assigned duties. All men and women assigned to radio maintenance were required to take the course. By this time the equipment included some of the latest types of radios used in Flying Fortresses and Liberators.

Classes for mess personnel were attended by cooks, bakers, mess sergeants, officers and supervisors of the 320th Corps, and of the consolidated, cadet, and WAC messes.

As already mentioned there was special training for the men of the medical detachment and the 1087th Guard Squadron. Other special classes were for the supply and administrative personnel and for the photo laboratory personnel. Men from all groups who were deficient in the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic were given an opportunity to improve their knowledge of these subjects. A non-commissioned officers' school covered all phases of military training and was designed for those who wished to become instructors.

Freeman Field was one of the first airfields to have a control tower school for WACs. Both the theoretical and practical phases of control tower procedure were taught. The course ran for two-month periods and was attended by WACs from other fields as well as from Freeman.(5)

PUBLICATIONS, RECREATION, RELIGIOUS SERVICES

Spot News, the Post's first newssheet, was issued daily except Sundays in mimeographed form, and carried news of the post, national and international affairs. Later it carried official announcements from Post headquarters. The first issue was February 11, 1943. A weekly paper, The Twingine Times, appeared almost simultaneously. During the first four months it was published by John H. Conner, owner and publisher of the Seymour Daily Tribune, who assumed financial responsibility for it. In July, 1943, it came under the financial sponsorship of the field and could then use syndicated material sent out by camp newspaper service. It was increased at that time from four to eight pages, but was reduced again to four pages in the summer of 1944 due to the shortage of newspaper pulp. The circulation was approximately three thousand.

In addition to these, the station hospital issued a sheet known as Weekly Wardscope, while the civilian personnel was kept in-formed of happenings at the field through the Civilian Personnel News Bulletin. Both of these were mimeographed and the latter appeared semimonthly.

In May, 1944, a souvenir picture book of Freeman Field was issued showing activities of a cadet class from the time it entered training until graduation day.

On learning that an Army airfield was to be located in their midst, the people of Seymour and the neighboring communities began at once to plan activities which would help ease the strain and tension of military life in off-duty hours. The programs carried on by the mothers, dads, and friends during the following months helped a great deal in keeping up the high morale that was always evident at the field.

Colonel Rundquist voiced the sentiments of all the Army personnel when he said in his final message to the community: "Regardless of where we go, I am sure we shall retain many fond memories of Seymour and southern Indiana. To many of us it has been 'home' for over two years. When I came to Seymour early in October of 1942, it was apparent that I had come to one of the most hospitable sections in the United States. During the months that have passed since then, I have become more convinced that my first impression was correct. . . . You have accepted us into your homes, your schools, your churches and your organizations. In fact we feel as though we have become a part of your community.

"We attribute much of the success of the training programs at Freeman Field to the help and support that you have given us. ... We are leaving here with many pleasant memories and a very warm spot in our hearts for southern Indiana."(6)

Public recreational facilities in Seymour consisted of two parks with playgrounds for tennis, volley ball, etc. One of the parks had a swimming pool. None of this was much help in December, 1942, when the Army officers and enlisted men began pouring into camp. Under the direction of the Reverend Alvin A. Cohn, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Seymour, a Soldiers' Hospitality Center was opened in the recreation hall of the church on December 8, 1942. This continued in operation throughout the war.

A local United Service Organizations (USO) board had been set up in August of that year. After correspondence with the national council of the organization, a large two-story building on Chestnut Street was secured for a USO center. This was opened on December 12, 1942. The Salvation Army, one of the co-operating agencies in the USO, supplied directors for the club. The first of these, Maj. William Jobe, obtained by borrowing and by donation furniture and equipment for the building. Games, magazines, and books were given by the schools and civic groups. Girls' and mothers' service organizations were formed to take care of various recreational and entertainment features. The success of the club depended in great part on the willingness of the townspeople to contribute to it both their time and their money. Other than the salary of the director, it was financed by local agencies and by funds from the War Chest Drive.

Major Jobe was succeeded by Bramwell Lundgren on May 25, 1943, and he in turn was replaced by E. H. Tieman in April, 1944.

A second USO club for Negro personnel at Freeman Field was established by the Reverend C. D. K. Wright with the help of the local council and director.

Recreational facilities on the field became available after a few months. The Post theater was opened on April 13, 1943, to all the military personnel and their families and to the civilian personnel residing at the Post. Movies were shown daily at 6:30 P. M. and 8:30 P. M. with an extra matinee performance on Sunday. The admission was 15 cents straight or $1.20 for ten tickets. The theater had a seating capacity of 650. Wooden benches were used at first but in time these were replaced with upholstered seats. The theater was used for camp shows, for showing training films, and for various official functions as well as for movies.

After deducting operating expenses of the theater, the balance of the money taken in was sent to the U. S. Army Theater Service Headquarters in Washington which controls all Army theaters. A portion of the fund sent in was used for buying films, for publicity, and for staffing the national office, and the balance went to the Field Recreation Fund which was used to provide further recreational facilities at the Army posts.

In the summer of 1943 a four-acre recreational area for the enlisted men was opened on White River, just off Highway 258, about four miles west of Seymour. This was leased by the government for the duration of the war. Army trucks were used to trans-port the men to and from the area. In addition to swimming, the area offered an opportunity for such other sports as baseball and badminton.

The enlisted men's service club at Freeman was opened in February, 1944. It offered a variety of entertainment including dances, floor shows, contests, musicals, and art exhibits. The cadets and officers also had club rooms at the field.

Newspapers from all parts of the United States and all the well known magazines were available in the Post library. There were also some 7,000 books of a general nature in addition to technical volumes.

Each organization at the field had its athletic teams. Softball, basketball, baseball, and bowling were the most popular sports. There was considerable friendly rivalry between teams at the field. The best athletes in various sports were chosen to make up Free-man Field teams which competed with teams from other schools, both civilian and military.

Religious services were conducted at the field chapel for members of the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish faiths. Churches in Seymour and the neighboring communities welcomed the men and their families to their services and church activities and ministered to their spiritual welfare in every way possible. The field chapel was the scene of many weddings.

Another organization that did much for the morale and personal comfort of the men was the Women's Volunteer Branch composed of the wives of men stationed at the field. Mrs. Rundquist, wife of the commanding officer, directed its activities which included Red Cross services, Army Emergency Relief, chapel aid, welcoming and sewing committees, a day nursery for children of field personnel, and a canteenmobile which served hot coffee and doughnuts to the cadets when they came in from their flights.

HELICOPTER TRAINING

The helicopter training detachment at Freeman which was activated on January 29, 1944, was the first of its kind in the AAF. Like any new organization, it met with many problems and difficulties. Aim of the helicopter training program was twofold: the training of student officers to fly the helicopter and the training of enlisted men to service and maintain them. Mechanics had to be trained before classes in flying could be undertaken.

As early as November, 1943, a group of enlisted men was sent to the Sikorsky factory at Bridgeport, Connecticut, to take a course in helicopter maintenance. Other groups were sent at later dates, and in March of 1944, the first of these returned to help initiate the training program at Freeman. A mechanics course was opened on April 26 and continued until June 5.

The first students arrived for the pilot training on May 22. In the meantime, Maj. John J. Sanduski, director of the training pro-gram, and Lieut. Norbert T. Guttenberger made aviation history by flying two of the R4-13 type of helicopters from the factory in Connecticut to Freeman Field. Little was done during the first few weeks because of failure to obtain more of the aircraft. On June 30 the detachment included 8 officers, 43 enlisted men, 2 WACs, and 28 noncommissioned officers. The first class of pilots was graduated August 11, 1944. Two days earlier a helicopter orientation day had been held at Freeman to demonstrate to all the personnel the possibilities of the helicopter in bringing wounded from the battlefields, in going to the scene of an accident to bring out the injured, and many other uses. On November 20, four officers from the detachment staged a demonstration at Oklahoma City in connection with the national aviation clinic being held there. The training program was proceeding satisfactorily when word came the first of December, 1944, that the detachment was being transferred from the Eastern Flying Training Command to the Eastern Technical Training Command with headquarters at Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois. The transfer was made on December 9; by this time there were eleven helicopters at the field.

MISSION COMPLETED

As the demand for additional pilots of two-engine aircraft slackened toward the end of 1944, it became evident that some change in the status of Freeman Field was likely to be made. Each day brought word of the transfer of officers and enlisted men to other fields. Finally, on January 24, 1945, came the War Department order that Freeman was to be placed temporarily on an inactive basis following graduation of the last class on February 1.(7) By that time all the military personnel with the exception of a few officers had gone.

Much had been accomplished since that cold December day in 1942 when the field was activated. Some 4,000 men had received their wings and gone out to fight the Axis on a far-flung battle front. Some of these would never return. The task for which the field had been built was now almost completed. Those responsible for its administration could look back with satisfaction on the weeks and months that had passed. A high standard of achievement had been set and had been attained. Both the civilian and military personnel were willing to give much of the credit for this success to Colonel Rundquist who had come to the post as project officer during the period of its construction and had remained to take command on the field's activation. His leadership, they believed, had been the greatest factor in keeping up the high morale and in making Freeman Field an ideal place to be stationed. In addition to his careful attention to the business details, Colonel Rundquist was interested in the general welfare of the men and women stationed at Freeman. He knew in detail the work of the various departments.8
Colonel Rundquist, on the other hand, attributed much of the success of the field to the people of the community who had given their whole-hearted support to the training program.(9)

THE AIR TECHNICAL SERVICE COMMAND

Freeman Field was not to be inactive for long. Word came that it would be reactivated about March 1, 1945, as headquarters of the 477th Bombardment Group, then stationed at the Camp Atterbury Airfield. This group was a unit of the Air Technical Service Command ( ATSC) of the First Air Force and consisted of approximately 1,000 Negro troops who had completed their preliminary training and were ready for training in medium type bombers. The 387th Air Service group and the 115th AAF base unit, in charge of the service and administrative work of the unit, were also transferred. Then to further consolidate similar training groups, all AAF units at Godman Field, Fort Knox, Kentucky, were sent to Freeman Field. Col. Robert Selway, commander at Godman, was placed in command of the combined group. The transfer was completed about April 1. A number of civilian workers who had been employed at Godman followed the troops and created a new housing crisis in Seymour.(10)

Before it was possible to establish much of a working relationship between these new groups, trouble developed. On the evening of April 5, three Negro officers attempted to enter a recreational facility not assigned to them and were stopped by a military police-man. When they tried to push the guard aside and enter, they were arrested. Other Negro troops protested the arrest, claiming that Army rules prohibited segregation of races. Army officials denied that race discrimination was the cause of barring the men. They pointed out that recreational facilities were operated with the

view of obtaining the highest degree of morale and efficiency among all members of the command, and that they had found by experience that it was unwise to have personnel in training utilize the same recreational facilities with those who trained them. The same officers involved in the affray at Freeman had been involved in a similar incident two years earlier at Selfridge Field near Detroit. At that time they had been arrested, but were later released. The club to which they had sought entrance had been set aside for base personnel and instructors, all white. Another club was in operation for the officers in training, who were all Negroes.(11)

In the meantime, the war in Europe was nearing the end. Trained members of the Air Corps would soon be available for transfer to the Pacific. With this in mind, Freeman Field was placed again on a temporary inactive basis beginning May 1, 1945,(12) and all the above units were transferred elsewhere. The three officers under arrest were sent to Godman Field and went on trial there in July. Two were acquitted by a court martial consisting entirely of Negro officers; the third was fined $150 for "offering violence to a military policeman," but was acquitted on the second charge of "disobedience of a direct order."(13)

The next episode in the history of Freeman Field came a month later when it was classified as an assembly center for captured enemy aeronautical equipment. Planes and equipment of both the German and Japanese armies were to be brought here, taken apart, and studied. Various types of U.S. aircraft were to be stored at the post.(14) Col. H. C. Dorney was in command during this period. Several hundred officers and enlisted men of the Air Technical Service Command and a number of civilians made up the personnel of the field. In November, 1945, the glider branch of the Air Training Service Command's laboratory was moved to Freeman. Its duties consisted of testing and developing new types of gliders and glider tow methods."15

POSTWAR PLANS

Reduction of War Department appropriations in 1946 made necessary a further reduction in its establishments. Freeman Field was among those declared excess to the needs of the Army. The field and its physical assets were transferred to the Louisville district of the U. S. Army engineers who in turn transferred it in April, 1947, to the War Assets Administration. Much of the equipment was moved to other airfields. Some three hundred barrack-type buildings were sold for civilian housing.(16)

The development of civilian aviation had received great impetus from the experience of the war years. Every community of any size felt the need for a municipal airport. Businessmen and aviation enthusiasts in Seymour saw the possibilities of Freeman Field as a municipal airport. The local Chamber of Commerce appointed an aviation committee to handle negotiations for obtaining the field. Application was made to the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Authority for Federal funds to do the necessary clearing, refencing, remodeling of buildings, and moving of utilities. It was estimated that $29,500 would be needed; the Federal Government was asked to supply one half this amount.(17)

)After negotiations had been going on for several months, and it became apparent that an early decision on the disposal of the field would not be reached, the Seymour Aviation Committee obtained in July, 1947, an interim use permit from the War Assets Ad-ministration to use a portion of the field, runways, and two hangars for civilian use. These in turn were leased by the city to Trans-Air, Incorporated, a local organization which wished to establish a pilot training school at the field. Edwin K. Beck, a former Navy pilot, became flight and ground instructor for Trans-Air.(18)

Announcement came in August, 1947, that $20,000 in Federal funds would be allotted to Seymour for work to be done at the field, provided this was matched in local funds. The following November the field was transferred to the Seymour Aviation Committee by the War Assets Administration, with the exception of 80 acres set aside as an industrial area and about 280 acres near the entrance. Appraised at approximately $17,500,000, the transfer was made without cost to the city of Seymour, but the government reserved the right to take over the field again in case it was needed. The city has, since 1947, used the field as a municipal airport.(19)

The Grammer, Millport, and Zenas auxiliary fields were leased for grazing and agricultural purposes early in 1945. The cities of North Vernon and Columbus obtained the use of the St. Anne and Walesboro fields, respectively, for municipal airfields.(20)

1 Quoted from Foreword of the Official History of Freeman Field, pre-pared by Maj. Paul H. Harrison, Historical Officer, with the assistance of Corp. Harold L. Miller and Pvt. Ormond L. Guyer. Microfilm copies in Indiana University Library and Office of Indiana Historical Bureau.
138

2 The information presented on the first phase of the field's history, up to February, 1945, is taken from the Official History and from the columns of the Twingine Times, the field's weekly newspaper. For the period after that date, the files of the Seymour Daily Tribune have been used.

3. The land was in sections 30 and 31, township 6 north, range 6 east and in sections 25 and 36, township 6 north, range 5 east, and comprised 25 tracts totaling approximately 2,550 acres. Additional acreage was purchased for laying of a railroad spur through sections 20 and 29, township 6 north, range 6 east. At the same time that the land was purchased for Freeman, land was also purchased for 5 auxiliary airfields. No. 1, the Walesboro field, was located in Bartholomew County, 4 miles south of Columbus and 16 miles north of Freeman Field. It contained 806 acres, 52 of which were in timber. No. 2, St. Anne field, was located in Jennings County and contained 809 acres with 173 acres in timber. Concrete run-ways were built here. Grammer Auxiliary Field was No. 3. It was situated one-half mile south of Grammer in Bartholomew County (section 14, town-ship 8 north, range 7 east) and contained 640 acres. No. 4 was the Millport airfield located in Jackson County, 14 miles south of the air base. It contained 1,100 acres. No. 5 was the Zenas field located in Jennings County, 26 air miles northeast of Freeman. It contained 640 acres.

4 No totals are given in the following table since those appearing in the official history of the field do not correspond to the sums of the figures in each column. There are also obvious discrepancies in the printed figures, the number of graduates in at least one class exceeding the number of students enrolled, etc. In spite of its errors, however, the table presents a useful picture of the relative size of classes and distribution of enrolled cadets.

5 Seymour Daily Tribune, December 17, 1943.

6 Seymour Daily Tribune, February 28, 1945.

7 Seymour Daily Tribune, February 19, 1945.

8 Twingine Times, February 9, 1945.

9 Seymour Daily Tribune, February 28, 1945.

10 Seymour Daily Tribune, January 25, February 19, 26, March 6, April 11, 1945.

11 Seymour Daily Tribune, April 12, 20, 24, 1945.

12 Ibid., May 2, 1945.

13 Ibid., July 2, 3, 5, 1945.

14 Ibid., June 2, 16, 19, 25, 1945.

15 Ibid., November 6 and 9, 1945.

16 Seymour Daily Tribune, January 23, 1947.

17 Ibid., January 24, February 6, March 3, 4, 7, 21, April 1, 2, 19, May 8, 1947.
April 1, 2, 19, May 8, 1947.

16 Ibid., June 11, 12, 26, July 10, 14, 1947.

19 Indianapolis Times, November 29, 1947.

20 Seymour Daily Tribune, January 24, 1945, September 2, 1947.