Page 39
Whoever stood on board the escort carrier
USS Cabot in April 1945 and had the opportuni-
ty to see the Hellcat flown by VF-29 commander
Lt. Cdr. “Bill” Eder, probably stared in disbelief
at the score that was marked on both sides of
the fuselage under the cockpit overlay. In addi-
tion to the symbols of nearly forty bombing mi-
ssions, there were seven Japanese aircraft shot
down, nine other Japanese planes destroyed on
the ground, and, rather unusually, three French
flags added.
Behind Eder was clearly a successful combat
career that had taken him beyond the Pacific.
From VF-29, which was reformed in the spring
of 1944, he built an outstanding unit that notched
113 certain victories and lost only five missing
and two killed pilots. Eder was not only the com-
mander of VF-29 at the time, but he also led the
entire Carrier Air Group of the USS Cabot.
Willard Ernest Eder was born on September
27, 1916, in Buffalo, Wyoming. He was descended
from German immigrants on his father's side.
Grandfather Olof was from Darmstadt, Upper
Hesse, and grandmother Dorothea, née Rehder,
was born in Holstein. On his mother's side, Eder
had Irish and probably German ancestry.
In 1938 he graduated from the University of
Wyoming with a degree in political science, in-
terrupted his service in the Army and joined
the Navy. At the beginning of the Pacific War, he
served in VF-3 aboard the USS Saratoga. After
she was torpedoed he was transferred to the
USS Lexington. This gave him the opportunity to
train and fight with the best naval fighter avia-
tors of the time, as the unit commander was Lt.
John S. Thach and other officers included Edward
H. O'Hare.
During the Battle of Bougainville on February
20, 1942, Eder shared destruction of G4M Betty
of 4th Kōkūtai´s 2nd Chūtai, led by Lt. Masayoshi
Nakagawa. The formation of nine bombers was
completely destroyed and Eder received a DFC.
The legendary combat fought by Lt. O'Hare on the
same day, took place during a skirmish with the
1st Chūtai of the 4th Kōkūtai.
Eder became a member of VF-2 aboard the
USS Lexington in April 1942 and received the
Navy Cross for his performance in the Battle of
the Coral Sea, during which he scored one Zero
in combat with fighters from Shōkaku on May 8,
1942, and also scored one probable kill of a fixed
gear aircraft.
Eder's next unit became VGF-29, which was
established in July 1942 at NAS Norfolk under the
command of Lt. J. T. Blackburn, who later beca-
me commander of VF-17, a unit with Corsair fi-
ghters in the Solomon Islands area. VGF-29 em-
barked aboard the escort carrier USS Santee in
early October 1942 and became part of the task
force involved in the North African landings.
Allied forces landed in North Africa as part of
Operation Torch on November 8, 1942, including
Free French forces. Canada, the Netherlands and
Australia also participated with their naval ve-
ssels. The landings occurred in northwest Moro-
cco and in the Oran and Algiers areas of Algeria.
The aim of the operation was not only to land and
open a second front on African soil, but also to
pressure the forces of Vichist France to change
sides. The Americans were in a very strange si-
tuation. Not only were the French their traditio-
nal ally, but the U.S. government in 1940, unlike
the British, recognized the Vichy government. In
the Moroccan area, their opponents were French
pilots with Curtiss H.75 fighters, and the Ame-
ricans soon noticed emblem of a Sioux head on
their fuselages, the symbol of the American La-
fayette Squadron of World War I.
Experienced U.S. Navy aviators aboard four
aircraft carriers met unexpected resistance and
lost 46 aircraft during the three days of fighting,
albeit in part due to accidents or crews losing
their bearings. For instance Tom Blackburn
spent two days at sea after running out of fuel.
The USS Santee's suffered the highest losses,
losing ten Wildcats, four Dauntlesses, and se-
ven Avengers. One airman was killed, two were
wounded, and four were taken prisoner. Three
fighter pilots from VGF-29 received Silver Stars
for this operation, including “Bill” Eder, who de-
stroyed three French bombers on the ground.
VGF-29, later redesignated VF-29, participated in
anti-submarine patrols in the South Atlantic for
one year beginning in December 1942.
A large number of Vichy units switched to
the Allied side in the second half of November
1942. , but some naval officers, for example, did
not share this decision. The commander of the
submarine Le Tonnant attempted to torpedo an
American aircraft carrier, probably the USS Ran-
ger. The submarine then headed for Cadiz, Spain,
where its crew sank it.
Text: Jan Bobek
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
African intermezzo
#82203
BOXART STORY
INFO Eduard
39
April 2024