Frank A. Nolan
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Frank A. Nolan served in World War II in the European Theater.
He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces beginning on March 17, 1943. He reported to Camp Grant, Illinois, and was sent to Keesler Field, Mississippi, for training. He was sent to Lowry Field and then Buckley Field in Colorado, and then to Wendover Field, Utah, where he practiced firing machine guns. He was instructed in the use of a system utilizing a pair of film projectors named after filmmaker Henry Jamison “Jam” Handy. The Jam Handy machine created a simulation of enemy airplanes attacking. Next, he was part of a crew that was transferred to Mountain Home, Utah, and ordered to construct a target field.
Mr. Nolan was assigned to a flight crew on a B-24 bomber that flew to the United Kingdom, to North African, and finally to Venosa, Italy, where the unit was based. He flew eighteen combat missions and was assigned to the center of the fuselage, where it was his job to start the camera that photographed the plane dropping its bomb load. He also filmed other aviation events using a handheld camera as a visual aviation record. After his time in Europe, Mr. Nolan was assigned to MacDill Field, Tampa, Florida, where he was the administrator of the base PX. His unit was slated to be transferred to a B-29 squadron, but this did not happen because the war in the Pacific ended. Mr. Nolan was discharged on October 31, 1945.
Mr. Nolan was an armorer and worked in the field of military cinematography.
Source: Veterans’ Memorial Hall veteran history form; veteran’s account (below)
“I was inducted into the service March 17, 1943. I reported to Camp Grant in Illinois. From there I was shipped to Keesler Field in Mississippi. From there I learned the value of volunteering. There were several hundred of us on the tarmac, and the officer in charge wanted somebody who knew how to type. After several minutes I stepped forward and said I could type. I was told to go to a certain tent to do the typing for one of the officers. I can recall the many times I saw groups of men coming back from basic training dirty and tired out.
“After several weeks, I was shipped to Lowry Field in Colorado. I spent some time there and then shipped to Buckley Field in Colorado. From there I was shipped to Wendover, Utah. I chose the classification of armorer. At Wendover we practiced the firing of machine guns. It was also at this time that I was told to learn how to operate the ‘Jam’ Handy machine. This was two projectors that simulated airplanes attacking other planes.
“After several weeks I was I was assigned to a fight crew. We picked up a B-24 bomber in Topeka, Kansas, and proceeded to fly overseas by landing at several places. First was Manchester, New Hampshire, then Goose Bay in Labrador. Then Greenland, Iceland, Wales in England, and then to Marrakesh, Africa. From there we flew to Venosa, Italy, where we were based. I flew eighteen combat missions prior to the end of the war. I was assigned to the waist section of the plane, where it was my duty to start the camera that photographed the bomb drop. I also had a hand-held camera to photograph anything unusual: planes that were hit, people that were bailing out, and anything else that would shed some light on what was going on.
“We were selected to fly a B-24 back to the States. Since we did not get our rest period at the isle of Capri, near Vatican City after fifteen missions, the pilot flew us over Vatican City on our way to Africa. From there, we proceeded to fly the southern route to South America, Puerto Rico, then Savannah, Georgia. Eventually I ended up at MacDill Field in Tampa, Florida. I was put in charge of a PX at this place.
“Although we were slated to be transferred to a B-29 Squadron, this did not materialize, as the war ended in Japan. I was discharged October 31, 1945.
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“After we had left Africa, we landed at Bari, Italy. Upon landing, we were advised to steal--yes, steal--a tent, or we would be sleeping under the stars. We finally found a nice one, so we took it down and loaded it into our B-24. Upon arriving at Venosa, Italy, our base, another group of officers tried to take it away from us. Our officers intervened and told them to go and steal a tent from someone else.
“That became our home for the time we were in Italy. Another item I forgot to mention, when we left Wendover, we were transferred to Mountain Home Air Base. About 20 of us were assigned to get our food and lumber supplies from Mountain Home.
