A gripping panorama: World War II pilot is military museum s 2,000th Veterans Oral History Project subject

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Charles P. Evans got a bird’s eye view of Normandy the day before D-Day while on one of 30 harrowing bombing missions he was assigned to during World War II.

The 94-year-old Wilton resident recounted those missions and other incredible stories during a fascinating Veterans Oral History Project session at the New York State Military Museum on Lake Avenue.

An Army Air Corps pilot, Evans was the 2,000th person interviewed for the program that began 12 years ago.

“I can remember being interested in airplanes when I was 4 years old,” he said. “I did what I wanted to do. I was very lucky. Besides all that, I survived. That was the amazing part.”

A Texas native who grew up in California, Evans already had a civilian pilot’s license upon joining the service in 1941, shortly before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

“Everybody wanted to be a fighter pilot,” he said. “I never did fly a fighter plane. I went right into heavy bombardment.”

Trained in an AT-6, Evans quickly moved up to the famous B-24 Liberator that flew by the thousands in the skies over Europe. “It would stand a lot of abuse,” he said of the durable airplane. “I’ve seen them with the rudder knocked off, with a section of the wing knocked off. It still made it home.”

“It carried a big bomb load,” he added. “That was the main thing, and it could carry a lot of fuel so you could go on long missions — up to 500 miles.”

Flying at altitudes of 20,000 to 30,000 feet, his 10-man crew encountered everything from deadly flak to enemy fighters and only sustained one serious injury.

“We kept pretty much the same airplane throughout,” Evans said. “It got shot up, patched and put back on line.”

One time, on a mission to Belgium, he suddenly felt a blast of cold air on the left side of his head.

“A piece of flak came through the window and missed my ear by 12 inches,” he said. “There was always 88-millimeter guns firing at you. As you were on your bomb runs, you’d see black, sooty clouds from these shells exploding. All you could do is look. You couldn’t avoid them.”

A captain, Evans belonged to the 409th Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group of the 20th Combat Wing, Eighth Air Force. One of his longest flights was to Politz in northwest Germany to destroy a strategic oil refinery.

His first-ever mission was the one over Normandy.

“It was the easiest mission I ever had,” he said. “It wasn’t a very long mission. We flew across to Pas de Calais. I could look down and see the landing vessels down below. We dropped bombs in the immediate area of the landing to soften it up.”

The next day, thousands of Allied soldiers rushed ashore for the greatest invasion in military history.

Evans first flew to Europe in 1944, the same year he and his wife, Elsie, were married. The two-day trip ended in Scotland following a layover at Reykjavik, Iceland.

As an Air Corps cadet, he trained at a California flying school owned by famous stunt pilot Tex Rankin. Later, as he moved up to bigger aircraft, Evans went to the same school as legendary screen star Jimmy Stewart.

“He and I must have graduated within a month of each other,” Evans said. “I was told that Clark Gable had been there, also. He was a gunner.”

When his combat tour concluded, Evans stayed in Europe to train other pilots. Returning home in 1945, he was in California when the Japanese surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Resuming civilian life, Evans became an American Airlines pilot flying all over the world in the early days of commercial aviation. He flew almost every plane the company ever used — the DC-3, DC-6, DC-7, DC-10, Lockheed Electra, 727 and 707, whose early models he described as marginal at best.

“It was the first big four-engine plane,” Evans said. “Sometimes it barely got off the ground. How they kept it from the public I don’t know.”

Forced into mandatory U.S. retirement at age 60 in 1978, he briefly flew for Pakistan International Airlines using second-hand 707s.

“Which was an adventure because they were underpowered, too,” Evans said.

After retiring for good, he still flew a small plane — the Cessna 172 — mostly for fun outings such as fishing trips in the Adirondacks.

Evans corresponded with some crewmates after the war, but eventually lost all contact and doesn’t know their whereabouts.

“I wish you could tell me,” he said. “I was a little bit older than the rest. There should be a few.”

The year he spent flying bombing missions is just one chapter in a long and colorful life dedicated to aviation and filled with heroism, sacrifice and bravery.

“I wanted to fly airplanes,” Evans said. “I didn’t care where I went. It was my life.”

Charles Evans’ interview was conducted by Wayne Clarke, a historic site assistant at the museum. For information or to participate in the program, call 581-5117 or go to dmna.ny.gov/historic/veterans/vindex.htm.

Monday, February 13, 2012
By PAUL POST, ppost@saratogian.com, Twitter.com/paulvpost