This Military Service Page was created/owned by
A1C Christopher Carter
to remember
Carter, James, Col.
If you knew or served with this Airman and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town Pullman, WA
Last Address las Cruces, NM
Date of Passing Apr 06, 1996
Location of Interment Fort Bliss National Cemetery (VA) - Fort Bliss, Texas
Colonel Carter was born May 2, 1919 in the small town of Pullman Washington. He studied mechanical engineering at Washington State University and pre-medicine at the University of North Carolina. He joined the United States Army Air Force on September 30, 1941. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on July 3, 1942. He was first assigned to Stat Fighter Squadrons 56th Fighter group at Stratford Connecticut for six months training in the P-47B. The fighter group sailed for England on January 6, 1943. The group flew its first combat mission in April 1943. The 56th FIghter Group known as Zemke's Wolfpack was one of the most decorated fighter groups of World War II and had the two leading Aces in the European theater, Robert S. Johnson and Francis Gabreski. Colonel Carter was stationed in Halesworth, Suffolk, then to Boxted in Colchester. He was promoted to flight leader of the 61st Squadron,then to Deputy Group Operatrions Leader under Francis Gabreski, then to Commander of the 61sr Fighter Squadron in December 1944. Major Carter became a Fighter Ace on July 4, 1944. He flew the test which resulted in less fuel consumption and helped enable increased range for the P-47 fighter. He dropped the first bombs from a P-47 and took the first bomb-strike photos from a P-47 using a K-17 camera installed in the radio compartment. He piloted a two seat P-47 flying General Kepner, Commander 8th Air Force Fighter Command, on the General's first combat mission. At a later date in the same two-seater he made a "Radar" intercept of a German 7Me-26Z jet, probably the only such intercept by a P-47. At the end of the war he became the Scholl's Officer and established the Technical Training Institute at Headdquarters for U.S. Air Force- Europe Wiesbaden Germany. Colonel Carter was reassigned to the States as Commander 56th Fighter Group Selfridge Air Force Base. He attended Squadron Officers Scholl at Tyndall Air Force Base, and graduated from the University of Florida as an Aeronautical Engineer. He was then assigned as Chief , Air Defense DIvision of the Air Proving Ground Command in Eglin, Florida. He attended Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base and was promoted to Colonel. Colonel Carter served as Director Operations and Training Alaskan Command, Chief, then to the Pentagon as Chief, Air Defense DIvision, Directorate of Requirements, U.S. Air Force Headquarters, then as Commander ,Tactical Reconnaissance Combat Training Group, Shaw Air Force Base in south Carolina. Colonel Carter's last flying assignment was as DIrector for Operations 7th/13th Air Forces, Udorn, Thailand and as supervisor of air-rescue Operations in North VIetnam. Colonel Carter's last military assignment was as Chief of the Athena Test Field Office of the Space and Missile Systems Organization, at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.There his group tested in one- tenth scale, the payloads for the Polaris, Poseidon, and Minuteman missiles. Colonel Carter retired from the military in July 1968 after 27 years of service.
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Air Offensive, Europe Campaign (1942-44)
From Month/Year
July / 1942
To Month/Year
June / 1944
Description Air Offensive, Europe Campaign 4 July 1942 to 5 June 1944) Pre-war doctrine had held that waves of bombers hitting enemy cities would cause mass panic and the rapid collapse of the enemy. As a result, the Royal Air Force had built up a large strategic bomber force. By way of contrast, Nazi German air force doctrine was almost totally dedicated to supporting the army. Therefore, German bombers were smaller than their British equivalents, and Germany never developed a fully successful four engined heavy bomber equivalent to the Lancaster or B-17, with only the similarly sized Heinkel He 177 placed into production and made operational for such duties with the Luftwaffe in the later war years.
The main concentration of German raids on British cities was from September 7, 1940 until May 10, 1941 in the most famous air battle of all time, known as the Battle of Britain. Facing odds of four against one the RAF held off the mighty Luftwaffe forcing Hermann Wilhelm Göring to withdraw his forces and more importantly indefinitely postpone invasion plans. This proved the first major turning point of the War. After that most of the strength of the Luftwaffe was diverted to the war against the Soviet Union leaving German cities vulnerable to British and later American air bombings. As a result of the victory, Great Britain was used by U.S and other Allied forces as a base from which to begin the D-Day landings in June 1944 and the liberation of Nazi-occupied Western Europe.
From 1942 onwards, the efforts of Bomber Command were supplemented by the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces, U.S. Army Air Forces units being deployed to England to join the assault on mainland Europe on July 4, 1942. Bomber Command raided by night and the US forces by day.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1943
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories The 56th Fighter Group (Zemke's Wolfpack) flew its first combat mission in April 1943. It was one of the most decorated groups of World War II. James was stationed at Halesworth, Suffolk, then to Boxted in Colchester. He was promoted to Flight Leader of the 61st Squadron, then Deputy Group Operations Leader under Francis Gabreski, then to Commander of the 61st Fighter Squadron in December 1944.