Learn the story behind the discovery of these negatives and also see a slide show of all 205 photographs found. CLICK HERE to RETURN to multiple bazookas installed on cub 01 | |
multiple bazookas installed on cub 02 | |
multiple bazookas installed on cub 03 navy1959 says:Perhaps the best-known instance of liaison pilots using bazookas attached to their observation planes is "Bazooka Charlie". Here is some information about the "Rosie the Rocketeer" aircraft, and Bazooka Charlie, the pilot. Charles "Bazooka Charlie" Carpenter, a native of Edgington in southern Rock Island [IL] County, graduated from Rock Island High School and Centre College in Danville, Ky. He was teaching history at Moline [IL] High School when he joined the Army in 1942. File Photo Major Charles Carpenter with his plane, ``Rosie the Rocketeer,'' somewhere in France. His battlefield exploits in the tiny plane won him a variety of nicknames: ``Bazooka Charlie'', ``The Mad Major'' and ``Lucky Carpenter.'' In 1944, by then a major, he arrived in France, where his assignment was flying a Piper Cub on reconnaissance missions in front of the 4th Armoured Division of Gen. George Patton's Third Army. Ignoring regulations against arming the tiny recon planes, Major Carpenter attached six Bazooka launchers to the wings of ``Rosie the Rocketeer'' and began attacking German armour. Threatened with court-martial, he was saved that fate by Gen. Patton himself, who not only stopped the disciplinary proceedings but awarded the major a medal for bravery. Major Carpenter was soon known the world over. The Army newspaper, Stars and Stripes, featured him and his exploits several times, as did papers as far-flung as the New York Sun and the London Times. The Associated Press reporter Wes Gallagher, in a 1945 article in Liberty Magazine, said Major Carpenter was ``a legend in an outfit where reckless bravery is commonplace.'' He told Gallagher that his idea of fighting a war was ``to attack, attack and then attack again.'' By war's end, Major Carpenter had destroyed six German tanks, participated in several ground fights (he'd land on the battlefield and lend a hand), won a Silver Star and an Air Medal and been promoted to lieutenant colonel. Discharged from the Army after it was discovered he had Hodgkins Disease, he was given just two years to live. He made it for 20 years; he died in 1966 in Urbana, where he had taught school since the war's end. He is buried at Edgington Cemetery. From "Aviation Corner" website. | |
multiple bazookas installed on cub 04 | |
multiple bazookas installed on cub 05 | |
This negative was next in line after the four Piper Cub shots. bazooka burst on butte 01 | |
bazooka bursts on firing in butte 02 Note the scrapped B-17 hulk on the right. | |
bazooka bursts on firing in butte 03 | |
bazooka bursts on firing in butte 04 | |
bazooka bursts on firing in butte 05 | |
bazooka bursts on firing in butte 06 |
Here is an old-photograph site that you should see: | All images are the property of CLICK HERE to RETURN to THE MAIN INDEX PAGE Or select one of these popular categories just below... | And don't miss |
Cleo and the Jodhpur Gang Where would we be today without Jodhpurs? | The GIRLS The girls. Always beautiful, candid or posing. The Guys Whether combing their hair or losing it, here are the guys. | Frau Fritz Bassermann Germany 1943 One woman's life in nazi Germany | Area 51 and a half. You are probably not authorized to see these photographs. |