Sgt. J.Q. Frierson, Crew Chief
I first joined Marauder Group, I believe, in late September 1942 at MacDill Field near Tampa, Florida.
In January of 1943 the 344th was transferred to Lakeland and I was assigned to the 497th Squadron. The combat crews were sent to Lake Charles, Louisiana, but I stayed in Lakeland where work was scarce from March until June when we were assigned new combat crews to train.
In July I was made Crew Chief and flew as aerial engineer, training the new combat crew engineers.
I went to England on the Queen Elizabeth and while stationed at Stansted was awarded the Bronze Star for my work as crew chief on a B-26 named the “Terre Haute Tornado.”
42-95906 Terre Haute Tornado 71-H was the first B-26 in the Group to fly 50 missions without an ‘abort.’ It is my understanding that this airplane went on to fly a total of 83 consecutive missions without an abort.
I departed the 497th on September 1, 1945 and was discharged from Camp Shelby, Mississippi on October 9, 1945.
Frierson wrote an excellent book, The Widowmaker: Featuring the Terre Haute Tornado. The book tells about the B-26 medium bomber and the Terre Haute Tornado in particular. Frierson being the crew chief who was responsible for keeping the plane airworthy tells about his experiences.
Deborah Goldenstein comments, “This book is amazing in the true stories it tells of these brave pilots and what they faced in flying during World War II. The details are unnerving of their courage in the face of constant danger, when they were all at a very young age. It is especially touching to me as my father was Robert E. Wilson, for whom the Terre Haute Tornado was named. He only started to talk about his war experiences in the last years of his life, and then only because so much was coming out regarding the war right before the 50th anniversary of D-Day, in 1994. Sadly he died in 1993, and only then did I discover that he had flown the Tornado in on D-Day as one of the lead planes. I must thank Mr. Frierson for making all these men live on for us. He has contributed to preserving a part of history just as he preserved the Widowmaker.”
As the book is out of print, you may have some difficulty finding it. Here is an excerpt of the book.
