Life and Career of Colonel Earle Lynn Hormell. 

  Earle Lynn Hormell 

_{Errata: In the book Earle L Hormell's photograph was incorrectly labelled Tom Hulings pilot}

Earle Lynn Hormell was born in 1914 in Knoxville, TN. Graduated from University of Tennessee in 1937 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

He immediately enlisted as a flying cadet and graduated Flying School as a 2nd Lt. Air Corps in 1938.

Once enlisted he served in the 16th Observation Squadron until May 1940, when he became Aide-de-Camp to General Devers at Fort Bragg, NC.

He was his pilot and Aide, flying General Devers all over the U.S. as a result of the General being appointed C.O. of Armored Forces. General George Marshall indicating that at some point my father was the pilot on several of his tours of England during the war. He also piloted Generals Grover, Ira Eaker and Hap Arnold.

In May of 1943, General Devers was ordered to England as Commander of American Forces. He remained in England until January. In 1944 Eisenhower was made CO of All Allied Forces for the impending invasion of Europe.

General Devers was sent to North Africa as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander of all troops.

Earle Lynn Hormell had continued as the General’s senior aide and pilot throughout… up until 1943, when he went to the 15th Air Force and the 12th Air Force to get combat experience.

In 1943 he was appointed as Commander of AFHQ airfield at Caserta, Italy. After the war he returned to the U.S. in August 1945. His army career ended in February 1946 and was retired a full Colonel.

Having spent his post WWII life in Spartanburg SC where he and his wife raised three daughters and no son, Earle Lynn Hormell passed away on 31st December 1997 …aged 83 years...His online obituary states 2nd of January 1998 as the date of his death but his daughter informs me that the 31st December is the correct date.  Perhaps to do with New Year's Day and the holiday.  Earle out lived his wife Francis McClain Hormell by almost 9 years, she had died on the 19th October 1989.

A letter (copy) written by Earle Lynn Hormell to Brendan O’Hagan…Brendan who resides in Albuquerque NM USA is a nephew of Major James Timoney, Irish Army. It was Major Timoney who took charge of the stricken plane, passengers and crew. Earle’s daughter states he always found it difficult to talk of his experience right throughout his life…half regretful and half complying with secrecy so we are lucky to have this account

Dear Sgt. O'Hagan,

What follows is, to the best of my recollection, an account of the forced landing of B17#419045 on Jan. 15, '43 at Athenry, South Ireland.

Our mission was to evaluate American tanks in N. Africa. At that time, the Germans with their 88mm guns were knocking out the American tanks with ease. Gen. Devers, along with 8 other officers of the Ordinance and Armored Forces, went to N. Africa to get first-hand observations of this equipment.

The British had stopped Rommel at Marble Arch, just west of Cairo. We stayed with the Brits for2 days and then flew to Constantine, where we stayed with American troops for 3 days and then drove to Algiers. There, arrangements were made for the B17 assigned to Gen. Eisenhower to take our party back to Eng. We were to fly to Malta for refueling, and then to Lambs End, England. We were stuck in Malta for 5 days due to the weather in England.

We finally left Malta at dark for a night flight to England under blackout conditions (no running lights or cabin lights), because the Germans were patrolling the area day and night. The path was to be 100 miles west of the coast of Portugal and France.

We flew for 8 hours with no landfall in sight. Our fuel was running low, we were way overdue, and frankly, I was getting nervous. As the Senior Air Force Officer on board, I went to the cabin to check on our situation. Due to faulty instrument lighting, the pilot had placed flashlights to shine on his compass. I told the pilot to remove the flashlights, and the compass bearing fell back to an accurate reading. I then ordered the pilot to take up a heading of 90 degrees east. I did not care where we ended up; I just wanted to see land.

About an hour later landfall was made. We did not know were we were as no maps of South Ireland were on board. To add to the confusion, the "Mayday" from our aircraft went unanswered. 2 engines of the craft were feathered to conserve fuel. We circled for about 20 minutes and selected a likely field for forced landing. All fields in that part of Ireland were bordered with stone fences. With wheels down, flaps fully extended, landing was made. Our brakes were useless because of the green turf. The B17's nose went over the fence at the end of the selected field. The plane was damaged, but there were no injuries to personnel. We were greeted by several of the local Irish people. (As a note - the plane was carrying a quantity of citrus fruit to troops in England. This was distributed to the on-lookers and made quite a hit).

All baggage and personal effects on board were confiscated by the Irish Army and held until our so-called "liberation" was arranged. After dark that night we were loaded into vehicles, taken the border, and turned over to the American troops in N. Ireland. At Belfast, we were put aboard a boat and proceeded to Prestwick, Scotland. The aircraft was disassembled, taken to Belfast, and then returned to the U.S. The crew of the B17 was sent back to the states, disposition unknown.

Colonel Earle Lynn Hormell receives the Legion of Merit medal from General Jacob Loucks Devers