LT COL BEIRNE LAY, JR.
HQ, 8TH BOMBER COMMAND
COMMANDING OFFICER, 487TH BOMB GROUP (H)
WRITER: SELECTED ARTICLES AND BOOKS

• I WANTED WINGS (BOOK AND MOVIE)
• I SAW REGENSBURG DESTROYED (SATURDAY EVENING POST)
• WHAT IT TAKES TO BOMB GERMANY (HARPERS)
• WHAT IT TAKES TO BOMB GERMANY (READERS DIGEST)
• "A COMRADE'S TRIBUTE TO BRIGADIER GENERAL FREDERICK W. CASTLE:" (WASHINGTON POST)
• I'VE HAD IT (BOOK ABOUT HIS EXPLOITS BEING SHOT DOWN AND EVADING)
• TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH (BOOK AND MOVIE w/ SY BARTLETT)
• STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND (MOVIE)

Biographical Summary

8th AF 487 BG group commander; shot down in Europe, but evaded capture and made it back to England.
In 1942 Capt. Beirne Lay Jr. (retired as Col.) was one of the officers who helped to form the bombing arm of the USAAF – the 8th Air Force, and in 1944 he alluded capture after his B-24 was shot down in Nazi-occupied France. When he returned to America, Lay captivated audiences with his flair for storytelling and by writing highly successful screenplays that captured the spirit of his time in Europe, and the lifestyle of American pilots, without giving way to any of the “usual Hollywood errors.”

Lt Col Beirne Lay, Jr. and the 100th Bomb Group Connection
By Michael Faley - 100th Bomb Group Historian

Achieving national prominence for his first book "I Wanted Wings" in 1936, Lt Col Beirne Lay Jr. will be best remembered as the co-author of the book and Academy Award winning film "Twelve O’Clock High". Premiering Dec 21, 1949, the movie would earn Lay the gratitude of 8th Air Force veterans and legendary status among B-17 aficionados. He earned his wings in 1932 and served with the 20th Bomb Squadron at Langley Field and later would be a staff/bombardment/pursuit pilot with the General Head Quarters, USAAC. Brigadier General Ira C. Eaker selected, then Captain Lay, to be one of the "original" seven staff officers to accompany him to England on Feb 20, 1942 to set up the Eighth Air Force, later to become more affectionately referred to as "The Mighty Eighth" (courtesy of historian Roger Freeman). Capt. Lay was VIII Bomber Command historian and film unit chief but was tired of his desk job and was granted permission to obtain combat experience. He was sent as an observer to fly missions with the

100th Bomb Group (Stationed at Thorpe Abbotts in East Anglia) in August 1943. By this time he had achieved the rank of Lt Colonel.

On August 17, 1943, Lt Col Beirne Lay flew his 3rd mission with the 100th BG, target-REGENSBURG! This would go down in the annals of aerial warfare as one of the fiercest air battles ever fought in World War II. He would write about this mission in the November 6, 1943 issue of the Saturday Evening Post. The article, entitled "I Saw Regensburg Destroyed" is posted here in its entirety. Had it not been for the suggestion of a certain squadron commander, Lay may have never written the article much less "Twelve O’Clock High". "As sweat poured off his forehead, Lt Col Lay watched wave after wave of enemy fighters swarm through the group. The first wave wiped out the second element of 3 planes in the low squadron, right where he was originally assigned!" Prior to the mission, Maj Gale "Buck" Cleven (CO of the 350th Bomb Squadron) moved Lay from the low squadron to a better-protected position in the high squadron. That small change most likely saved his life. Lay was assigned to Lt Thomas Murphy’s Crew who flew a

B-17 nicknamed "Piccadilly Lily". From his vantage point in the "Lily", Lt Col Lay would witness the loss of nine aircraft from the 100th BG.

The experience gained from these missions and watching group commanders and fellow "original seven" alumni Brig Gen Frank Armstrong (97th BG and 306th BG) who Gen Frank Savage is modeled after, and Medal of Honor recipient Brig Gen Fred Castle (94th BG) would serve him well in his next assignment. Lay was transferred from VIII Bomber Command at High Wycombe (code name ‘Pinetree") stateside to train with a B-24 group (490th BG) and then take command of the 487th Bomb Group. His tenure as Group CO was short lived once the 487th arrived in England. On the groups 4th mission, he was shot down and evaded capture with the help of the French Underground. He eventually made it into Spain, back to England and then was sent Stateside. His exploits about these events can be found in his book "I’ve Had It"

After the War, Beirne Lay Jr. would continue to have many articles published but it would be the continued badgering by one of Gen Spatz’s wartime aids that would prompt Lay to collaborate on "Twelve O’Clock High". Sy Bartlett convinced Lay that they had to preserve what they witnessed in the 8th Air Force by writing a fictitious book based on true events. The correlations between fact and fiction have been well documented by experts like James Farmer, Chuck Dunning, Martin Bowman and Allan Duffin. We will concentrate only on the events that definitively relate to the 100th Bomb Group from both the movie and book "Twelve O’Clock High"

1. The "Hard Luck" Group in the book and movie relates to only ONE group in the entire 8th Air Force, that is the 100th Bomb Group. The 100th BG did not lose the most aircraft in the 8th AF (that distinction belongs to the 91st BG) but they had the hard luck of losing many aircraft on individual missions

2. "Piccadilly Lily" flown by General Savage in the book and movie was a tribute to the crew of then Lt Thomas Murphy for the Regensburg mission Aug 17, 1943. Lt Col Lay flew with the Murphy Crew and on "Piccadilly Lily" that day.

3. In the book and movie, they recall a mission yet the 918th Bomb Group with General Savage goes onto the target. This is based on the 8th Air Force mission March 4, 1944 to "Big B" Berlin. This was the first daylight raid on Berlin. On that day, the 95th Bomb Group and elements of the 100th Bomb Group did not respond to the recall order (citing they felt it was a false recall order issued by the Germans) and went onto Berlin. Sgt Harold Stearns top turret gunner on Lt Granack’s Crew, shot down the first fighter over Berlin.

4. Chapter 11 in the book is based on many images and events Lay describes in his

Saturday Evening Post article "I Saw Regensburg Destroyed" which relate directly to the 100th Bomb Group

There are probably many other veiled references to the 100th Bomb Group and its personnel characterized in "Twelve O’Clock High" but they cannot be 100% confirmed. Suffice it to say that until someone makes the definitive movie on the 8th Air Force, "Twelve O’Clock High" will remain the benchmark.

LT COL. BEIRNE LAY JR. FLEW 5 MISSIONS WITH 100TH BOMB GROUP:

1. 15 AUG 43 MERVILLE-LILLE, AF (FLEW WITH CAPT. EDGAR WOODWARD JR. CREW)
2. 12 AUG 1943 WESSELING, SYNTHETIC OIL, BONN (ST) (FLEW WITH MAJ GALE CLEVEN
3. 17 AUG 1943 REGENSBURG (FLEW WITH LT THOMAS MURPHY CREW.
4. 24 AUG 1943 BORDEAUX-MERIGNAC (FLEW WITH LT THOMAS MURPHY CREW ON WAY BACK FROM AFRICA) We bombed Bordeaux on our way back to England from Africa and as we approached England Lt Col Beirne Lay Jr. called a RAF base asking for permission to land and get gas. The answer came back that they had no gas because they used petrol. They tried to divert us to another base forty miles away but Col. Lay said, "Forty miles, hell! We're coming in". Our batteries were so dry of electrolyte that we had to fly on to Thorpe Abbotts with the landing gear down to conserve electrical power"…. . from Mission Log of T/Sgt Horace Barnum
5. 27 AUG 1943 WATTEN, V-WEAPONS (FLEW WITH CAPT. CHARLES CRUIKSHANK CREW)

ESCAPE AND EVASION:

E&E 939. Lt Col Beirne Lay Jr. Pilot. 487 BG/838 BS. FTR 11/05/44. (^) France. nfd. Evaded with Walt Duer. Died 1982. Age 72.