Roster of the 2nd AVG

The 2nd AVG was a bomber group, authorized by President Roosevelt and recruited by Bill Pawley's Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company in the fall of 1941. CAMCO hired 82 pilots and 359 ground crew (almost certainly including air crew) who were duly discharged from the U.S. Army in November. Lockheed outfitted 33 Hudson bombers--really little more than a militarized version of the Lockheed Super Electra transport, complete with the passenger windows--with long-range fuel tanks so they could fly across the Pacific; they were to have been used for "occasional incendiary bombing of Japan". The same number of Douglas Boston light bombers (A-20s in U.S. service) would travel by sea to Africa, and there be assembled for the flight overland through India to China.

A considerable group sailed from California on November 21 aboard Noordam and Bloemfontein, which had earlier carried members of the 1st AVG to Burma. Accounts conflict: one says 99 ground crew and 1 pilot, another says 49, and a third that Bloemfontein alone carried 2 officers (presumably pilots) and 65 ground crew (likely including air crew). Sergeants Charland, Zimmerman, and Brogden, plus the adaptible "Jimmy" Stewart, must have been among them.

Following the Japanese breakout on December 7/8, the ships were diverted to Australia, where Bloemfontein docked on December 22, and where the army men were eventually taken back into U.S. service. Their Douglas and Lockheed bombers were likewise re-inducted, as were the men who hadn't yet sailed for Asia. I'm seeking the names of those with a connection with the 2nd AVG. If you know of any such, please send email.