Oral History: Edwin Cottrell 22-Jul-14, 20140722.

Format:

Book

Language:

English

Genre:

Internet videos.

Nonfiction films.

Physical Description:

online resource (video file 1:19:22) : Sound, Colour

Place of Publication:

22-Jul-14,

Summary:

Edwin (Ed) Cottrell was born on 17 January 1922 in Oklahoma City. In February 1943 he received notice of induction into the US Army Air Force for training. He went through training and became a fighter pilot flying P-40s at first and then P-47s, which is what he ended up flying in combat. He was assigned to the 493rd Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Group and arrived in combat around September 1944 and stayed until May 1945. At one point, Cottrell was shot up pretty badly by the Luftwaffe over Germany. As he slowly made his way back to the border with a badly damaged engine and oil all over his cockpit, he noticed two Bf-109 aircraft zipping around him and he thought he was about to get shot down. Instead, they pulled up right along his left and right wings and escorted him back in the direction of his base. Just before they reached Allied airspace, they signaled "ok" to him and peeled away. He went on to wish he could have met those men after the war to thank them for not shooting him down and for giving him an escort.

Notes:

Description based on online resource (viewed on 12 June, 2019).

Archive Reference: OH.3259.