- Born: September 11, 1920, New York
- Enlistment date: 1942, New York
- Deployments: Europe – September, 1943
- Units: 8th Air Force's Special Operations Group, the 492nd / 801st Bomb Groups,
known as the "Carpetbaggers"
- Rank: Captain
- Specialisations: Navigator
- Decorations: Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters,
Distinguised Flying Cross
We flew "special operations" in B-24s, clandestine night operations from a then-secret base in England known only as Station 179 (Harrington). The base was located about ten miles west of Kettering, Northamptonshire. We shared the base with two other bomb groups also who flew clandestine missions such as leaflet dropping, signal eavesdropping and radio jamming. Aside from our B-24s, the base also operated A-26s, B-17s and C-47s and, at one time, a few British-built Mosquitoes.
The planes were painted all black and had no identifying markings of any kind, no white star, no red-and-white stripes, not even the aircraft serial number. Except nose art. Most of those black planes did have some sort of scantily clad female painted on the nose.
All gun turrets except the rear were deleted. The nose turret was replaced by an all glass fairing and the waist and top turret positions were faired over. The engine exhausts were covered with flame dampers as these would have given us away. Heavy blackout curtains were installed behind the cockpit and the navigator's position.
We dropped munitions and supplies to underground resistance forces and secret agents ("Joes") into Nazi-occupied Europe, and sometimes did night bombing as well. Combat missions were normally selected and assigned by OSS headquarters in London.
36th/856th Bomb Squadron ''Ellis Crew''
Back Row, left to right:
Neil G. Ellis – Pilot
Glen L. Stanislaus - Copilot
Eugene Polinsky – Navigator
Herbert Goff – Bombardier
Kneeling, left to right:
Ray Green – Engineer
Ray Orwasky - Radio Operator
Pedro Pereda - Tail Gunner
Cecil Waters - Dispatcher
Not Shown:
Salvatore Luciano - Gunner (Orphaned)
Louis J. Hartman – Bombardier
Roy C. Koons - Engineer (KIA June 1944)
Picture taken: Harrington (England), Spring 1944
