Alfred W. Schultz

From early 1943 to the end of the war, in Piper Cubs, especially one named Janey after his fiancee, Schultz flew missions in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, the Vosges Mountains, and southern Germany as an artillery observer attached to the formidable Third Infantry Division. He vividly chronicles a wide range of experiences--scrounging supplies from the army and friendly civilians, operating from cow pastures (sometimes sown with mines) within mortar range of the front lines, flying generals (including Patton), and the other duties that came to the unsung and unpopular (at least with their exalted brethren of the Army Air Force) little puddle jumpers. Observation pilots faced unimproved fields, enemy fighters and antiaircraft fire, accidents, weather, contaminated fuel, and enough other hazards to make their casualty rate quite formidable. Little of this has received much attention in the World War II literature, so Schultz and Neff's effort deserves a big catch-up readership.… (mehr)