News From Our Boys
To Get Wings Soon
Edward R. Mitchell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Mitchell, 419 Jackson Street, soon will graduate from the advanced flying school at Mather field, Sacramento, California. He will receive his wings and a commission as second lieutenant in the army air force.
Mitchell was accepted as an aviation cadet by the air force January 3 and has taken his complete pilot training on the Pacific coast. He was graduated from Trinity High School and attended Trinity College. He also took an aeronautical course at Morningside College. His cousin, Lieut. John Corcoran, 1320 Helen Street, is stationed at Mather field.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, July 27, 1942 (photo included)
Sioux City Youth Wins Air Medal
First Lieut. Edward R. Mitchell, 24, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Mitchell, 201 Webster building, Fifth and Jackson Streets, was one of eight Iowa members of the United States Army Eighth Air Force in England awarded decorations for valor and exceptional performance against the enemy, the war department announced Thursday night.
The young Sioux City officer received the Air Medal. In a letter written from England Easter Sunday and received Saturday, Lieut. Mitchell said that more recently he had been assigned to ferrying and test hops, but wished to “get back into combat and get the war over with.” He expressed enthusiasm for having been recipient of “handmade shoes and a tailor-made blouse.”
Mrs. Milton Miller, a sister residing at the same address here, said she had no idea what the nature of the “exceptional performance against the enemy” may have consisted of.
Lieut. Mitchell was accepted as an aviation cadet by the air force January 3 and took pilot training on the Pacific Coast. He was graduated from Trinity High School and attended Trinity College. He also took an aeronautical course at Morningside College.
Also receiving the air medal were Technical Sergeant Lawrence J. Brandenburg, LeMars; Staff Sergeant Robert G. Lentz, Fort Dodge and Staff Sergeant Kenneth R. Morse, Eagle Grove.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, May 14, 1943
Sioux City Man Pilots Bomber in Air Victory
Cario.—(AP)—The gunner of a Liberator bomber piloted by Lieut. Edward Mitchell of Sioux City was credited with shooting down an Italian transport plane following the heavy raid on Naples last Saturday.
Mitchell was on his homeward run when the transport was sighted flying at 14,000 feet. Staff Sergeant Jack P. Shepherd of Benton, Ill, swung his guns into action and the Italian plane was seen to crash on a beach.
First Lieut. Edward R. Mitchell, 24, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Mitchell, 201 Webster building, Fifth and Jackson streets, last June was one of eight Iowa members of the United States Army Eighth air force in England awarded decorations for valor and exceptional performance against the enemy. At that time he received the air medal.
Lieut. Mitchell was accepted as an aviation cadet by the air force January 3, 1942, and took pilot training on the Pacific coast. He was graduated from Trinity high school and attended Trinity college. He also took an aeronautical course at Morningside college.
Source: Sioux City Journal, July 22, 1943 (photo included)
Sioux City Army Pilot Now Interned in a Neutral Country—Highly Commended.
First Liet. Edward R. Mitchell, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Mitchell 201 Webster apartments, may not know it, but he has been commended by Gen. Henry H. Arnold, chief of the army air forces, for his part in bombing the Ploesti oil fields of Rumania, August 1.
After the raid, several American bombers, including the one piloted by Lieut. Mitchell, were forced to land in neutral territory (presumably Turkey) and the crews were interned. Since the incident, Lieut. Mitchell’s parents have received two letters written from an interment camp in some unidentified neutral country.
Both letters were thoroughly censored and conveyed little more thatn the facts that he was safe, well and eager to get back to fighting. In addition to the letter from Gen. Arnold, the parents have received letters from Brig. Gen. V. H. Strahan, commanding officer of the Ninth air force, and Brig. Gen. U. G. Ent, commanding officer of the Ninth bomber command, praising Lieut. Mitchell for his part in the raid.
Far Reaching Effect.
Gen. Arnold’s letter to officers and men of the bomber command reads in part:
“The destruction of these oil wells will be far reaching in its effect on the German ability to carry on their operations, in fact, it might well be the straw that broke the camel’s back and caused the dislocation of the German war effort.
“The dogged determination to reach and destroy each of those vital installations, and the utter disregard for personal safety which characterized the action of officers and men of your striking force evoke my profound admiration.
“You were assigned the tremendous taks of destroying in one city a target that could have been reached by surface forces only after many months of combat, involving great losses of men and material, and you carried your attack home in spite of the strongest kind of opposition uilt up by the axis forces. The officers and men of the army air forces all over the world take pride in your achievement.”
Proud of Exploits.
Brig. Gen. Strahan wrote the parents as follows:
“To the words of Gen. Arnold, neither Gen. Brereton nor I can add further praise for the courageous action of your son. Gen. Brereton, all officers and enlisted men of the air force join me in expressing our pride in having served with one who has rendered such heroic and unselfish service to our country.”
Brig. Gen. Ent wrote:
“Lieut. Mitchell is one of the great heroes of this war, his name has been indelibly written in our country’s history. I am the proudest commander in the world.”
Lieut. Mitchell was born and reared in Sioux City. He attended Trinity high school and college. He also took a course in aeronautics at Morningside college and later attended Creighton university. He was well known here before the war for his fancy figure skating. He also took part in skating tournaments in other cities.
Photo by Youngberg.
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Lieut. Mitchell enlisted in the army January 1, 1942, and received his aviation training on the west coast. Letters written from Africa before the Ploesti raid mentioned several bombing missions over axis territory and contained numerous references to aerial combats with enemy fighters.
Source: Sioux City Journal, October 3, 1943 (photo included)
LIEUT. MITCHELL AGAIN MISSING.
Mother Here Informed of Disappearance Over Norway.
For the second time in recent months, First Lieut. Edward R. Mitchell, 201 Webster apartments, has been reported missing in action by the War Department.
His mother, Mrs. Ida Mitchell, recently received the following telegram:
“The secretary of war desires me to express his regret that your son, First Lieut. Edward R. Mitchell, has been reported missing in action since November 18 over Norway. If further details or other information are received, you will be notified promptly.”
Lieut. Mitchell first was reported missing soon after he took part in the air raid on the Ploesti oil fields August 1, 1943. According to late reports from the War Department, he was interned in a neutral country, presumably Turkey.
Mrs. Mitchell was notified October 6 that her son had returned to his former unit. A letter written by Lieut. Mitchell November 6 stated that he had completed 50 flying missions and was eligible to return home, but that he had signed up for another 50 missions.
Lieut. Mitchell already has been awarded the distinguished flying cross and the silver start. A native of Sioux City, he attended Trinity high school and college and took a course in aeronautics at Morningside college before enlisting in the air corps January 1, 1942.
Source: Sioux City Journal, Thursday, December 2, 1943
Edward Raymond Mitchell was born Feb. 25, 1920 to Arthur Charles and Ida May Limback Mitchell. He died Nov. 18, 1943 and is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England.
Capt. Mitchell served in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps 67th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomb Group, Heavy and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters.
Sources: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
