Thomas R. Welsh
Paper Collection
Submitted by the Welsh Family and his son, Thomas R. Welsh, II
Paper Collection
Submitted by the Welsh Family and his son, Thomas R. Welsh, II
1st Lt. Thomas R. Welsh made his mark in the Air Force
By Thomas R. Welsh II – February 12, 2005
Moving from the lumber business to the business of war was a matter of choice for Thomas R. Welsh, a native of Grayling, Michigan.
It took him just five months after war began to get into a position to make this possible, joining the Army on May 8th, 1942. Welsh had worked for his father, Fred R. Welsh, as an assistant superintendent, at the Kerry & Hanson Flooring Mill, in Big Bay, Michigan prior to joining the army.
Once the decision was made to join up, he was inducted at Kalamazoo, Michigan. After basic training, he took the opportunity to transfer to the Army Air Force. His pilot cadet training was at Randolph Field in Texas. He transferred to Luke Field, west of Phoenix, Arizona, and gained his wings there with a twin engine endorsement, and was ready to go to war as a fighter pilot with the rank of
2nd Lieutenant by June 22, 1943. But that was not to be.
Rather then heading directly to the front lines, he was reassigned as a pilot trainer, working with new cadets for the next 14 months.
His instruction was directed towards two aircraft, both twin engine, the Martin Marauder B- 26 medium bomber, and the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter. The P-38 was the primary plane in the instruction, giving Welsh lots of experience in the unique aircraft. Training with P-38’s took place at Santa Maria Air Base, in California.
On September 1, 1944, 2nd Lt. Welsh finally did depart for Italy, as part of the Fifteenth Air Force arriving there on September 27. He was assigned to the 82nd Fighter Group, and the 96th Squadron based out of Foggia, Italy. Foggia is just east of Naples, on the Adriatic Sea, and where Welsh would remain until war’s end.
His air combat missions were virtually all in Eastern Europe, specifically in the Balkans, North Apennines, and the Po River Valley. Some photos and notes also listed Vienna, Austria and a mission over Germany in early 1945.
He also had a furlough in Switzerland, date and location unknown.
Lieutenant Welsh completed a total of 41 missions, all in the P-38, and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant circa January, 1945. He received the European-African-Middle east medal, with three stars,
the Distinguished Unit Citation with two clusters, and the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf clusters. Brig. General Dean C. Stroher, Commander of the 15th Air Force, presented him with the Air Medal. The medal was awarded in early 1945 for "meritorious achievement in aerial flight." A photo article highlighting the event appeared in the hometown newspaper. His squad consisted of 20 P-38s, as did each of the three squads in the 82nd Fighter Group.
Planes of the 96th squadron were marked with an angled black band at the end of each tail boom, just ahead of the rudders. The circular insignia of the 96th was a rather mean looking brown jack rabbit poised in a jumping position with white boxing gloves, on a desert background.
The radio call sign for the squad was"Cowtail."
Interesting news updates of Lt. Welsh appeared in his hometown newspaper, the Crawford County Avalanche, during the war. They were included in a column headed "Our Boys and Girls in the Service," and are reprinted here as written. From Thursday, December 7, 1944, came this: 15th AAF in Italy – Second Lt. Thomas R. Welsh, 26, son of Mr. And Mrs. Fred R.Welsh, 615 Michigan Avenue, Grayling, Michigan, has arrived at this 15th Air Force P-38 Lightning base and started combat flying as a pilot. Welsh flew his first combat mission escorting heavy bombers attacking important military targets in the Vienna, Austria, area, on November 4,1944. The young Lightning pilot, a former student of Grayling High School and St. Johns Military Academy, Delafield, Wis., was employed by a lumber company at Grayling before entering the Air Corps. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge in his home town. Entering the service on May 8, 1942, Welsh later received flight training and was awarded his pilot’s wings and commission as a second lieutenant at
Luke Field, Ariz., on June 22, 1943. Lieutenant Welsh is flying combat as a member of the top scoring American fighter group
in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, a veteran long range organization with over 550 aerial victories.
From January 22, 1945,came this: 15th AAF in Italy – First Lt. Thomas R. Welsh, 615 Michigan Avenue, Grayling, Michigan, has been given official credit for the destruction of an enemy locomotive at this 15th AAF P-38 Lightning fighter base in Italy. Lt. Welsh destroyed the enemy locomotive, in addition to shooting up enemy rail cars and equipment, in an attack on German rail, communication, and transportation in the Klagenfurt, Austria, area. The formation of Lightnings of which Lt. Welsh was a part,
destroyed a total of six enemy locomotives, 14 box cars, and inflicted severe damage upon more rolling stock, two railroad station houses, and a small power plant. The mission was a part of the 15th AAF aerial offensive to tie up Nazi ground movements thru-out southern Europe.
Veteran of 28 combat missions against the enemy over Europe, Lt. Welsh flies his Lightning with the top scoring fighter group in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations, a veteran unit has been credited with more than, 1,050 enemy aircraft destroyed or damaged in combat.
A photo article, noted above under the medals awarded to Welsh, highlighting the presentation of the Air Medal appeared in the March 1, 1945 issue.
After returning from the war, Welsh received his relief from active duty on December 14, 1945. He remained in the Air Force Reserve into the 50’s, receiving his Honorable Discharge on November 27, 1956.
He resumed working in the lumber industry in Marquette, Michigan, after the war. In February, 1948, his father purchased the Ford Dealership in Grayling. He joined the family business as a mechanic, expanding it to a gas business in 1956. Welsh moved to the gas station as a mechanic in 1962. He moved to Scheer Motors, a full line GM dealer in Grayling, as a "Heavy Technician," in March, 1967,
where he remained until his retirement 1983.
Lt. Welsh was born in Grayling, Michigan on May 14, 1918, and passed away on July 12, 2002, at the age of 84, after suffering a stroke.
He is survived by is wife, Marion, and two children, Thomas II (Lynn), and Joanne (Frank) Doty, five grand children, and two great-grandchildren.
His love of airplanes, and his beloved P-38, remained strong right to the end. And, although he did not remain a pilot after the war, he flew with friends when he could, taking in the EAA event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, two times, and enjoyed the many fly-ins at the Grayling Army Airfield and other northern Michigan airports.
AAF # 0-749555
By Thomas R. Welsh II – February 12, 2005
Moving from the lumber business to the business of war was a matter of choice for Thomas R. Welsh, a native of Grayling, Michigan.
It took him just five months after war began to get into a position to make this possible, joining the Army on May 8th, 1942. Welsh had worked for his father, Fred R. Welsh, as an assistant superintendent, at the Kerry & Hanson Flooring Mill, in Big Bay, Michigan prior to joining the army.
Once the decision was made to join up, he was inducted at Kalamazoo, Michigan. After basic training, he took the opportunity to transfer to the Army Air Force. His pilot cadet training was at Randolph Field in Texas. He transferred to Luke Field, west of Phoenix, Arizona, and gained his wings there with a twin engine endorsement, and was ready to go to war as a fighter pilot with the rank of
2nd Lieutenant by June 22, 1943. But that was not to be.
Rather then heading directly to the front lines, he was reassigned as a pilot trainer, working with new cadets for the next 14 months.
His instruction was directed towards two aircraft, both twin engine, the Martin Marauder B- 26 medium bomber, and the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter. The P-38 was the primary plane in the instruction, giving Welsh lots of experience in the unique aircraft. Training with P-38’s took place at Santa Maria Air Base, in California.
On September 1, 1944, 2nd Lt. Welsh finally did depart for Italy, as part of the Fifteenth Air Force arriving there on September 27. He was assigned to the 82nd Fighter Group, and the 96th Squadron based out of Foggia, Italy. Foggia is just east of Naples, on the Adriatic Sea, and where Welsh would remain until war’s end.
His air combat missions were virtually all in Eastern Europe, specifically in the Balkans, North Apennines, and the Po River Valley. Some photos and notes also listed Vienna, Austria and a mission over Germany in early 1945.
He also had a furlough in Switzerland, date and location unknown.
Lieutenant Welsh completed a total of 41 missions, all in the P-38, and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant circa January, 1945. He received the European-African-Middle east medal, with three stars,
the Distinguished Unit Citation with two clusters, and the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf clusters. Brig. General Dean C. Stroher, Commander of the 15th Air Force, presented him with the Air Medal. The medal was awarded in early 1945 for "meritorious achievement in aerial flight." A photo article highlighting the event appeared in the hometown newspaper. His squad consisted of 20 P-38s, as did each of the three squads in the 82nd Fighter Group.
Planes of the 96th squadron were marked with an angled black band at the end of each tail boom, just ahead of the rudders. The circular insignia of the 96th was a rather mean looking brown jack rabbit poised in a jumping position with white boxing gloves, on a desert background.
The radio call sign for the squad was"Cowtail."
Interesting news updates of Lt. Welsh appeared in his hometown newspaper, the Crawford County Avalanche, during the war. They were included in a column headed "Our Boys and Girls in the Service," and are reprinted here as written. From Thursday, December 7, 1944, came this: 15th AAF in Italy – Second Lt. Thomas R. Welsh, 26, son of Mr. And Mrs. Fred R.Welsh, 615 Michigan Avenue, Grayling, Michigan, has arrived at this 15th Air Force P-38 Lightning base and started combat flying as a pilot. Welsh flew his first combat mission escorting heavy bombers attacking important military targets in the Vienna, Austria, area, on November 4,1944. The young Lightning pilot, a former student of Grayling High School and St. Johns Military Academy, Delafield, Wis., was employed by a lumber company at Grayling before entering the Air Corps. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge in his home town. Entering the service on May 8, 1942, Welsh later received flight training and was awarded his pilot’s wings and commission as a second lieutenant at
Luke Field, Ariz., on June 22, 1943. Lieutenant Welsh is flying combat as a member of the top scoring American fighter group
in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, a veteran long range organization with over 550 aerial victories.
From January 22, 1945,came this: 15th AAF in Italy – First Lt. Thomas R. Welsh, 615 Michigan Avenue, Grayling, Michigan, has been given official credit for the destruction of an enemy locomotive at this 15th AAF P-38 Lightning fighter base in Italy. Lt. Welsh destroyed the enemy locomotive, in addition to shooting up enemy rail cars and equipment, in an attack on German rail, communication, and transportation in the Klagenfurt, Austria, area. The formation of Lightnings of which Lt. Welsh was a part,
destroyed a total of six enemy locomotives, 14 box cars, and inflicted severe damage upon more rolling stock, two railroad station houses, and a small power plant. The mission was a part of the 15th AAF aerial offensive to tie up Nazi ground movements thru-out southern Europe.
Veteran of 28 combat missions against the enemy over Europe, Lt. Welsh flies his Lightning with the top scoring fighter group in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations, a veteran unit has been credited with more than, 1,050 enemy aircraft destroyed or damaged in combat.
A photo article, noted above under the medals awarded to Welsh, highlighting the presentation of the Air Medal appeared in the March 1, 1945 issue.
After returning from the war, Welsh received his relief from active duty on December 14, 1945. He remained in the Air Force Reserve into the 50’s, receiving his Honorable Discharge on November 27, 1956.
He resumed working in the lumber industry in Marquette, Michigan, after the war. In February, 1948, his father purchased the Ford Dealership in Grayling. He joined the family business as a mechanic, expanding it to a gas business in 1956. Welsh moved to the gas station as a mechanic in 1962. He moved to Scheer Motors, a full line GM dealer in Grayling, as a "Heavy Technician," in March, 1967,
where he remained until his retirement 1983.
Lt. Welsh was born in Grayling, Michigan on May 14, 1918, and passed away on July 12, 2002, at the age of 84, after suffering a stroke.
He is survived by is wife, Marion, and two children, Thomas II (Lynn), and Joanne (Frank) Doty, five grand children, and two great-grandchildren.
His love of airplanes, and his beloved P-38, remained strong right to the end. And, although he did not remain a pilot after the war, he flew with friends when he could, taking in the EAA event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, two times, and enjoyed the many fly-ins at the Grayling Army Airfield and other northern Michigan airports.
AAF # 0-749555