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Grenier Field

In October of 1927 the newly formed Manchester Board of Aviation and Recreation approves construction of an airport on an 84-acre tract of land near Pine Island Pond. Robert S. Fogg is the first pilot to take off from the new airport a month later, after two 1,800 foot runways are cleared. Passenger service began as early as 1928 when wartime flier W. Russell Hilliard formed Northeast Airways in Manchester. It continued until the Great Depression when flights ceased temporarily in 1933. By 1934, air service was increasing again as airlines added Manchester to their list, offering flights to Montreal. Sometime after 1938 Alan B. Shepard, Jr. (first American in space) of Derry takes flying lessons here.

On Oct. 3, 1940, the War Department selected Manchester Airport as an air base. The government spent $1.5 million to turn the rural airport into a base. Twenty-four hours before the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, the first squadron of A-20 attack aircraft arrived at the air base. At its peak, about 6,000 troops were stationed at the airport, including the 45th Bombardment Group and an anti-submarine squadron that destroyed at least two Nazi subs off the U.S. Atlantic coast. Longtime residents remember seeing soldiers at country stores in town. It was like having a small town move in next door. The Army also started running buses from Londonderry to Manchester so soldiers could go see a movie or visit a department store.

armyacMO (Army Air Corps Mail Operation) was one of the largest projects - and in many ways the most important - of the years between world wars. It was the first troubled step in a chain of events that ultimately led to an independent US Air Force. The Air Corps decided not to draw personnel from the training schools, where most of the experienced pilots were assigned. Thus, the great majority of armyacMO pilots were lieutenants with limited flying experience. More than half of the 260 pilots had less than two years' flying experience. Only 31 had more than 50 hours of night time; the great majority had less than 25 hours of actual weather or hood time. Most of their flying would be done at night, in fog, snowstorms, and extreme turbulence. The winter brought the worst and most prolonged bad flying weather in many years. In route-familiarization flights over the Rockies, caused crashes in bad weather and three were killed before the operation actually began. As the toll rose (the final count was 12 deaths and 66 crashes), the Air Corps came under harsh criticism from the public and Congress. The young pilots, who often cleared themselves for a flight, continued to fly into weather they should not have attempted. Despite all these hardships and hazards, there were more volunteers to fly the mail than there were spaces available. These young men were out to prove the Air Corps could do the job. With the coming of spring weather and with experience, crashes and casualties declined. The Air Corps was relieved of all responsibility for the mail. Its operation, labeled a fiasco or a victory depending on one's point of view, had focused attention on the Corps's inadequacies in equipment, training, and organization. It was largely responsible for appointment of the Drum and Baker Boards that led to the establishment of the General Headquarters Air Force in March 1935 - the first long stride toward an independent Air Force - and for more generous appropriations beginning the following year. The young lieutenants who suffered and too often died during that terrible winter of 1934, deserve a large share of credit for an outcome that few had foreseen. Valor takes many forms in peace and in war.

In 1942 the Manchester Air Base is renamed Grenier Field by the War Department, in honor of Manchester native and West High School graduate Lt. Jean D. Grenier, who died in a training mission in Utah in 1934. Old-timers still refer to the airport as Grenier Field.

In 1966 the Air Force transferred control of Grenier Field to the municipalities of Manchester and Londonderry. In 1978 Grenier Field/Manchester Municipal Airport is officially renamed Manchester Airport. In January of 1994 a new 158,000-square-foot passenger terminal opened. More additions and improvements, including a parking garage have been made since then.

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Shipment No. FM-  -AA-52          Project No. 92930-R      APO No. 16974-AA-52
        B-24M                    Crew No. FM-  -AA-52            #44-50340

I don't know about the other two (2) crews sent on this Order, but; if it's going to be PERMANENT, I don't think I would have wanted to go.

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Dad's Photo Case Dad carried this Photo Case overseas with him. It contained 9 photos. These are the ones he chose. Dad's notes on photo back are in bold.	1937 or 8 Grandma
Graduation week May 1941	Spring of 1941
Spring of 1941 Jim Bramble River Bottom	Spring of 1941 My Dad and Uncle Julius in front of Skillmans Grocery.
Summer of 1941 Uncle Raymond or Dad	1942? Shirley, Grandma, Mary Louise, Snookie, Raymond Lee
1942 Raymond Lee	Fall of 1942 Aunt Bertie, Dad, Uncle Julius and Aunt Grace

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