Lost Gallery: Piper Cub with Bazookas

anyjazz

	There seems to be some question from some groups as to whether this operation was completed or even possible. This page shows the actual sequence and titles of the negatives found in the file from 1944. Apparently it was possible and at least tested on a firing range. Here are some similar pictures from Major Charles Carpenter and Rosie the Rocketer. Thanks to the bulletin boards Warbird Information Exchange ArmchairGeneral and The Miniatures Page for their friendly links. 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 The AAF Slide show 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 Hawk914 says: Piper L-4 Grasshopper, an adaptation of the Piper Cub. The emblem on the tail is interesting, and I think it indicates that this warbug was assigned to the 1st Bomb Division's 1st Combat Bomb Wing. Not entirely sure on this, but I think the symbology goes as follows: The small triangles with letters in them indicate the three groups of the 1st CBW... 'A' for the 91st BG, 'L' for the 381st BG, and 'W' for the 398th BG. I believe that the '1' in the middle indicates the 1st CBW itself, and all of these come together inside of a single larger triangle that indicates the 1st Bomb Division, or 1st Air Division as it was later known. Neat series of shots of this bazooka-armed warbug... Fade to Black...
	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

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