Lt. Edward C. Jordan - The War Years

Pilot, 603rd Squadron

Return to the States

Ed finished his last combat mission on September 3rd, 1944. He then awaited orders to return. During this time he and his buddies would go to the movies and play games, such as shuffleboard. Previously, he had written Jeanne to go ahead and buy the fur coat that he wanted her to have.

While his missions were over, he still flew a few times at Nuthampstead. On September 5th for 4 hours and on the 10th for 45 minutes. Perhaps he was checking out new pilots or perhaps they just let him go up a few last times in Nuthampstead.

On September 15th Colonel Hunter wrote that 1st Lt. Edward Jordan had completed 30 missions (it was really only 28, but it was pro-rated from 30 so perhaps they wrote 30) and Colonel Hunter recommended him as a flight instructor. Records show Ed left England by air on the 19th and arrived on the 23rd at Washington National Airport. Though these dates don't precisely match the departure dates of September 21 on a C-54 with an arrival of September 24 stated on his audio recording. Perhaps he meant arrival in Washington on the 23rd and arrival in Chicago on the 24th by train. Overall, he was overseas just under 5 months.

He then traveled to Chicago via the train. Grandpa and Grandma Filipek drove mom to the train station, and even though it was only late September, Jeanne wore her fur coat. She says she will never forget the moment she saw Ed with his pipe getting off the train. She hugged him for so long.

After Ed's return to the States, he was given R&R leave and was then to report to Santa Monica, California on October 20th. He and mom traveled to California by train in early October 1944. They had a delayed wedding party at his parent's home in North Hollywood with dad's California relatives. The house had a badminton court in the backyard. One of the days they went to Knott's Berry Farm in California with dad's relatives.

Dad's Uncle Chuck had a phonograph recorder (they didn't have tape recorders then) and recorded a phonograph record where Ed talks about the war. In one part, Ed talks about how the P-51s protected him and the other B-17s. He referred to the P-51's as the "Little Friends" and the B-17 as the "Big Friends." He also mentions that it was "pretty rough" over there. After reading some of the detailed diaries and mission reports I can understand. It's pretty clear that the people back in the States didn't realize how terrifying the missions were. Enemy fighters closing at high speed would be shooting right at you, flak was exploding all over, planes all around you were being blown out of the sky and the flak was poking holes all over your plane.

After visiting the relatives, they traveled to the Santa Monica AAF Redistribution Center where Ed was due October 20th. There they met up with Anthony Jellen and his wife. Anthony Jellen was the Navigator on Bob Hopkin's original Crew 65. We still have a picture of their stay. On the 26th, Ed was transferred to Lockbourne AAB in Columbus.

On November 2nd 1944, Ed reported to Lockbourne in Columbus, Ohio and began a 9-week B-17 Instructors Course that he finished in mid-January 1945.

On March 15th, 1945, Ed was transferred to the Boca Raton Army Air Base in Florida. the From the end of March until early May he trained new B-17 pilots. On March 29th he flew five hours in a B-24, the only time he flew in that plane and on May 11th 1945, he flew 5 hours in a B-17, the last time he flew in that plane which did so much for his life and his career. On May 15th he was transferred to the Fort Sheridan Separation Center in Illinois where he was discharged from the Army Air Corp on May 31, 1945. He was awarded early discharge on points even though the war was still on in Japan. He had 71 total points. These were totaled as: (26 months of service x 1) + (5 months overseas x 1) + (8 decorations x 5).

Jeanne says they still hear from friends they made in Pompano Beach where they rented a lovely unit on the beach. The friends were Bob Hurley of Cleveland Ohio and Bob Davis of Rochester. Bob Hurley became an air traffic controller and Ed met him once on a flight there.

After return to Chicago in late May 1945, Ed went looking for a job with the airlines, as he wanted to continue to fly. He made a list of all the airlines in Chicago and picked United Air Lines first because they had the nicest looking building at Midway Airport at the time. United hired him immediately. He told us they almost jumped over the desk they were so happy to get new hires. He began June 1, 1945, the day after his honorable discharge and left for training the next week and mom followed a week later.

 

  1. Return to Lt. Edward C. Jordan - The War Years Index
  2. Edward Jordan, 398th Pilot - 603rd Squadron Audio Interview Transcription

 

Personal History Information
  1. Veteran: Edward C. Jordan
  2. Position: Co-Pilot/Pilot
  3. Squadron: 603rd
  4. Date of Personal History: February 2003, updated October 2008
  5. Author: Dave Jordan
  6. Submitted to 398th Web Pages by: Dave Jordan