- Life & Times of the 341st Bomb Group -
"Preserving the memory of their sacrifices!"
From the Collection of
William 'Bill' DeVries
( 491st Bomb Squadron )
page 2 of 4
Click on any image to see a larger version of that image!!
Capt Bill and two of his three favorite things, the jeep and the pipe, in the hostel area atop 'Red Dust Hill', Yangkai Air Base, China, 1944. What, you ask, was his third favorite? Well, his number favorite was Betty, his beautiful wife!
On a cooler Yangkai day, Capt de Vries visits with his line chief, Bo Noe, then returns to 'the jeep' as he surveys his domain.... the maintenance areas and aircraft revetments. Note the distant "hills" which surround the base.
A Chinese boy, intrigued by being around all the 'mei gwa.'
Typical day at a Chinese families farm yard, all but the tiniest at work.
Shouldn't Capt Ron Shirlaw, a pilot, know that the engines are equipped with electric starters??
According to Bill De Vries, Shirlaw loved to work on the line! However, he posed for this picture. Each morning before engine start, the propellors of the enines would be rotated backwards to clear the oil which had drained into the cylinders while the engine was not running. This was done by both maintenance men and flying crews.
And here we see several of "Willie's" boys including Sgt William Butler, TSgt J.D. Light, outside the Engineering Supply Shack following a spirited volley ball game. Bill DeVries still speaks of his pride in the accomplishments of all these men!
And what of the overburdened medical folks?
Well, here we see 'Doc' Robinson, 491st Flight Surgeon committed to an indepth study of the medical journal (??) in his right hand. We are told that in his spare time 'Doc' assisted many of the local Chinese women in delivering their babies.
And what about recreation??
Well, there's a demanding game of horseshoes on the left.
Paul Sjoberg enjoys a walk in the hills surrounding a lake near the field at Yangkai. It was discovered by the aircrews flying over it, and nearly everyone in the 491st Squadron would 'take a break.' 
Capt Ron Shirlaw and 2Lt Jack Bishop having a chat. Discussing a neighborhood improvement program for 'Red Dust Hill', perhaps?? The Chinese made the bricks on the spot and piled them between the buildings to dry. After placing the bricks on the walls of the huts, they were covered mud stucco.Yangkai, 1944.
The Chinese houseboy who took care of Bill Devries and his roommate, in front of one of the 'huts' on Red Dust Hill at Yangkai. Each building had a room on each corner, with a central hall containing a pot-bellied stove for heating the building.
