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| Jack at a French cafe |
“All
over but the fighting”
D-Day ended the
anticipation about invasion and began the ground war against German forces. Now
there were Allied troops below the planes. Ground controllers called in P-51s
for patrol missions and bomber escort. Planes from Jack’s 380th
squadron continued to dive-bomb specific targets (trains, armored vehicles,
horse-drawn guns and vehicles). They also escorted a C-47 carrying the U. S.
Secretary of the Treasury and provided top cover for P-47 Thunderbolt bombers.
They circled over Morlaix while American troops expelled the enemy from the
city.[2]
Town by town,
kilometer by kilometer, Allies took back France for the French, moving eastwards.
Jack, initially stationed near the Normandy landing sites, recorded in photos vestiges of
the German occupation and a few scenes of French life. They would remind him of
what he could not tell Alice, yet.
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| Tourists Derrick, Kellar, Winkler, and two others |
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| Destroyed Renault FT tank |
 |
| Storage of the kind of artillery shells that had damaged the P-51s |
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| Warning about mines in French and German |
 |
| French children |
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| The Automobile-Club de l'Ouest, sponsor of the Le Mans 24-hour auto race, offered assistance to prisoners of war. The city had been liberated in August 1944, just before Jack's visit. |
France,
July 15, 1944
Dearest
Alice,
Honey
I never did tell you about the bread we use to get in England. They do not use bleach
bleached flour for there bread & it is a light brown. The first day it’s
pretty good but after it gets older than a day its really terrible. All the
time it’s sort of mealy and not fluffy like American. We finally got use to it
but today for the first time since being over here we had real white bread. It
sure was good. We were eating C & K rations over here which are hard
biscuits, a small can of food sugar etc. Now we are starting to eat B rations
again & it sure seems good to get potatoes, fruit etc. Today was my day off
and I spent nearly all the day building a foot locker. I got it nearly done
& I am pretty proud of it. I just got back from the show. The shows here on
the post are free the same as they were in England. The picture was “Cover
Girl.” Now I can see why you like that song Long Ago & Far Away.[3]
To see what Jack
and Alice liked so much, click here.
Brothers
Jack and Herald reunite in France
Jack’s brother,
Technical Sergeant Herald Kellar, had also moved from England to France, and
Jack had the opportunity to visit him at his base.
 |
| Herald inspected downed German planes |
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| Jack and Herald |
 |
| Herald |
August
1944
The end of
August 1944 saw big changes for Jack and his group and for France. On the 22nd
the 363rd moved down the Cherbourg Peninsula to Azeville, their
second base in France.[4]
On the 25th
French Resistance liberated the city of Paris from German occupation, a huge
boost of morale for the French people.[5]
On the 29th
the 363rd Fighter Group was converted to the 363rd
Tactical Reconnaissance Group. Its role henceforth would be to photograph enemy
positions and movements to help commanders make the best decisions for their
troops. The 363rd's history sums up the group’s losses in the six months they
were active: 103 pilots “killed as prisoners of war, evaders or due to wounds”
and 104 P-51s lost and/or destroyed, either by the enemy or by accident. [6]
They
were changing us at that time from a fighter to a tactical reconnaissance
squadron. They put big cameras in the planes, and sent them over to take
pictures of everything. They still had
their guns, so if they ran into a fight, why, they could fight. I received a
new P-51D, all silver, and I had a big, red heart with Alice’s name painted on
one side. My
new plane did not have a fuselage tank, the gasoline tank right behind the
pilot. It just had the radio on the floor. We found that we could take the
canopy off, the pilot and I would both get in, the canopy was put back on, and
I could take a ride with some of the pilots. I had numerous rides this way in
my P-51.[7]
 |
| Jack and his A9B |
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| Jack in the pilot's seat of his P-51 |
A
Promotion, a Pay Raise, and a Pat on the Back
Working meant
payday, and hard work brought Jack its rewards. Early in his stay in England he
was promoted to Staff Sergeant, which came with a pay increase. Most of his
earnings went home to Alice. Since she was living with her parents and working,
Jack’s salary went toward paying off their little “cracker box” house. They were “getting ahead.” Aside from returning home to
Alice safely, being on a strong financial footing was Jack’s greatest goal at
this point in his life.
England,
March 19, 1944
Dearest
Alice,
I
too was pretty proud when I made staff. My additional allotment to you will be
effective the first of April instead of March. The extra money I get for March
I will send you by money order.[8]
Medals and promotions were routinely bestowed on the pilots.
On 12 August 1944 twelve Staff Sergeants from the 380th received letters of
commendation from Colonel Tipton for their “splendid display of skill and
spirit” in keeping their aircraft working. Jack’s name was at the top of the
list, which included his buddies, Winkler, Derrick, and Haley.[9]
 |
| Commendation from Colonel Tipton |
The next weeks and months in the European Theater of Operations surely contributed to Jack’s lifelong love of travel and “seeing the country.”
[1] “Now that we are operating from bases on the far
shore, I hope all will do their utmost to continue the high standards of
efficiency that have been exemplified in the past. Remember that our work is
really just starting. In other words, it is all over but the fighting.” E. R.
Quesada (Advanced Headquarters IX Tactical Air Command, Office of the
Commanding General, APO 595, U. S. Army) letter to Colonel Tipton, 26 June
1944, excerpt, as transcribed in Nick Marinelli, The History of the 363rd Fighter Group, 380th
Fighter Squadron, 381st Fighter Squadron, 382nd Fighter
Squadron, 9th Air Force, ETO, IX Tactical Air Command, 70th
Fighter Wing until August 1, 1944, XIX Tactical Air Command, 100th
Fighter Wing until August 29, 1944, Reorganized as the 363rd
Tactical Reconnaissance Group, 160th Tactical Reconnaissance
Squadron, 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 162nd
Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron after September 4, 1944, and attached to the
XXIX Tactical Air Command (South Lynn, Mich.: Nick Marinelli, 1992), E-2.
[3] Jack J. Kellar (France) letter to “Dearest Alice”
(Alice [Streeter] Kellar), Santa Rosa, California, 15 July 1944.
[4] 380th
Fighter–160th Tac. Rcn. Squadron History, February 1943–August 1945 ([unknown place]:
[unknown publisher], printed by A. Roßbach, Eschwege, Germany, [1945]), 46.
[5] “Liberation of Paris,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_of_Paris
: accessed 22 June 2018).
[7] Jack J. Kellar, interview about his first years after
high school by Judy Kellar Fox, 12 April 1993; cassette tape recording and
transcription held by the author. Also, Jack J. Kellar, “Autobiography,” 1998;
two ninety-minute cassette tape recordings; held and partially transcribed by
the author. Excerpts from both interviews edited together.
[8] Jack J. Kellar
(England) letter to “Dearest Alice,” 19 March 1944.
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