U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Sgt. Albin A. Rogers said bombing the refineries in Europe were the most important of the 35 to 40 missions he flew. (Photo by Petra Chesner Schlatter)

Bucks County resident saw 35-40 air missions
aboard B-24 bombers during World War II.

By Petra Chesner Schlatter
BucksLocalNews.com Editor

U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Sgt. Albin A. Rogers saw 35 to 40 air missions in Europe during World War II. He enlisted at age 19 at Grand Central Terminal, New York City.

Though he trained as a pilot, his job was to “watch the fuel consumption, take care that the engines performed correctly and to make any possible repair to damage that I could to keep the plane flying.”

Rogers was a flight engineer. He said the engineer probably knew more than anybody else on the plane, including the pilot. “He just had to fly it right.”

He flew in B-24s, which were dubbed “The Real American Bomber.” The plane was also called “The Liberator” and was a heavy bomber like a B-17.

Rogers was born in 1923 in Newark, N.J., and grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. He will celebrate his 85th birthday on June 17. Rogers and his wife, Anna, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year. They have lived in Yardley Borough since 1966.

He is a longtime member of the Knights of Columbus and is an active parishioner at St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church in Yardley.

Rogers started as a private and advanced to the rank of technical sergeant with five stripes. He was trained on B-17s before he went to B-24s “because they didn’t have any engineers for B-24’s.”

The Tuskegee Airmen, a group of specially trained black men, ‘flew cover.’ “They were fighter pilots. They were very good,” Rogers emphasized.

“Basically, we bombed targets in Austria, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and northern Italy. After Ploesti in Romania —that was after the Ploesti raids — the biggest targets were Vienna and Linz in Austria; Regensburg, Germany; the refineries in Poland, and in northern Germany.

“The worst was Vienna because they had concentrated all their Flak guns as they kept retreating. As they kept retreating, the targets became more dangerous. That’s where we lost more planes to Flak than fighters. Flak is anti-aircraft.

“The biggest gun they had was the 88-mm. That was an 88-mm gun that could be used on ground and air targets. Flak was a German gun — a deadly weapon.”

Rogers said the most important missions were “where we destroyed the refineries because they needed fuel and oil, and we knocked everything out. They had planes, but they couldn’t fly anymore because they didn’t have anymore fuel or any other materials used in flying oil, jet fuel, etc.

“We knocked the refineries out — that was part of the plan between Churchill and Eisenhower: to hit Germany through ‘The Underbelly.’ We hit them from down below. The ones from England came from the north. That’s why they called it ‘The Underbelly of Europe.’”

Beside The Flak, Rodgers said, the next thing that was dangerous was the cold.

“It was like about 60 degrees below zero or colder when you were up 26,000 feet or higher,” he noted.

“The other thing was flying over the Alps was rather dangerous — especially in winter if you had to bail out or something. There was no way you could survive.”

Rogers was in the 484th Bomb Squadron. There were four squadrons in a group.
“We tried to put up a maximum of 48 planes from the group,” hey says. “Each squadron would put up 12 planes for a maximum effort.

“We were part of the 15th Air Force, 49th Wing. We were stationed at Torretta Airfield in Cerignola, Italy. We were part of the 15th Air Force located in Foggia, Italy.”

After more than 40 years, Rogers still keeps his draft card in his wallet. He was more interested in flying rather than being in the infantry.

When asked to talk about the Nazis, Rogers said, “World domination was just a wild dream that Hitler had. The Nazis were a culture of death,” he said.

Today, Rogers is active in the Yardley-Makefield VFW Post 6393 and the Knowles-Doyle American Legion Post 317. With the VFW, he has been a service officer for about 10 years. He has been the local VFW’s chaplain since 2006. He recently became chaplain of the local American Legion.

Labels: Army, World War II, Yardley

At age 21, Milton R. Simonds (above) completed
a U.S. Navy program at Tufts University. Simonds
(below) is a past commander of VFW Post 6393.


Bucks County resident was a U.S. Navy operations
officer — the third ranking officer on the ship.

By Petra Chesner Schlatter
BucksLocalNews.com Staff Editor

U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Milton R. Simonds, USN Retired, dedicated much of his life to the Navy.

For Simonds, the Navy gave him purpose and he looks back at his strides as a humble retiree. He does not look for fanfare.

He graduated from Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. Simonds also attended the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. He later earned an MBA from the University of Delaware.

A Yardley resident, Simonds went to college under a Navy program. World War II had ended in 1945 and the Korean War had started in 1950 before he entered the active service. He was on the rolls from 1947 to 1990 in one capacity or another.

Simonds spent many a day aboard numerous vessels, starting as a midshipman in 1947. He was commissioned an ensign upon graduation from college and reached the rank of lieutenant commander. He eventually retired as a reservist in 1973.

The array of assignments started on the battleship USS Iowa in 1948. “We went to Pearl Harbor out of the west coast.” In 1950, the year before he graduated from college, he was a midshipman on the destroyer USS Basilone out of Norfolk, Va.

From 1951-54, he was an ensign on the destroyer USS Compton out of Newport, R.I.

“We kept coming back to Newport and going back out again and again to Europe, usually for four- to six-month cruises.”

Next it was the light cruiser USS Roanoke from 1954-55 out of Norfolk, Va., as a lieutenant junior grade (LTJG), as the Combat Information Center officer. As a lieutenant, Simonds was on the minesweeper USS Adroit in 1957. The minesweeper went to the Virgin Islands out of Charleston, S.C. In 1959, it was a training cruise on the attack cargo ship USS Capricornus out of Norfolk, Va. to Ft. Lauderdale.

Simonds remembers being on the USS Compton which took him to Suda Bay, Crete, an island south of Greece. “We were visiting various European ports in Italy, Greece, Algiers and Spain.”
At one time, he was in Spain, Triest and Turkey. “When I was over there in 1951, it was under the rules and regulations of a U.S. Navy organization. There was a lot of antagonism at one point.

At that time, most of the people liked the Navy to visit and spend their money, but that isn’t why we were there.

“We were there to bolster the support of the people who had lived through the WWII era,” Simonds said.

“Some of the places I wouldn’t have believed existed,” Simonds said. “Turkey, for instance, was in very poor shape when we were there. I’d call it the infrastructure and organization.

“Southern France was beautiful —Cannes, Nice, Villefranche. They had pretty much recovered their livelihood in those areas. Villefranche is where the headquarters of the Sixth Fleet were at that time and is near Monte Carlo.”

Simonds said one of his most important jobs was when he was on the destroyer. He was operations officer, which is the third ranking officer on the ship. “The operations officer supervises the radar people, the communications people, the anti-submarine warfare and warfare and electronics people.”

He supervised court-martials and disciplinary efforts. “I was also an air controller on the destroyer collaterally — you do a lot of things at the same time. The air controller is a specific person who controls air strikes and searches from aircraft.”

About being in the service, Simonds said, “It was the proper way to serve the country. I was brought up in a Naval Air environment in my hometown of Brunswick, Maine. I just learned to love it, that’s all.”

Talking about the world in the 1950s, he said, “We were really getting into the Cold War era from the end of WWII. We were always kept aware of the possibilities that we would go back to war. The Korean War started the year before I graduated in 1950. We were at war in one area of the world already.”

About the Iraq War, Simonds said, “My personal opinion is that with all of the terrorism that is going on in the world, that it becomes our necessity to combat it wherever it occurs and to keep it away from our shores.”

Now, at age 77, he is involved as a leader with the VFW Post 6393 in Yardley-Lower Makefield as well as at the District level. The Post, with its 176 members, is located on Yardley-Newtown Road. District 8 comprises the 21 posts in Bucks and Lehigh counties.

While Simonds was commander of VFW Post 6393, his organization was awarded the title of All-Department (State) Post for two years. The Post met and exceeded what is required by the District.

Belonging to the Post means brotherhood to Simonds. “We’re all supposed to be comrades of the organization and as such we try to support each other in terms of operations and what their situations are,” he said. “Comradeship is the main theme because all the members have gone through a specific war or conditions of war that binds them together.”

Labels: Korea, Navy, Yardley

Pfc. Danny Quill (top) was with the 91st Division. James Wilkinson, division
command sergeant major of the 91st Division, pins Quill with the insignia
of the 362nd Infantry Unit, the unit Quill fought in during World War II.
(Photo by Jeff Werner)

Longtime Yardley resident who now makes his home in
Morrisville took part in one of World War II’s largest, bloodiest
and most bitter battles — the fight over Monte Cassino in Italy.

By Petra Chesner Schlatter
BucksLocalNews.com Staff Editor

U.S. Army Pfc. Danny Quill, a longtime Yardley resident who now makes his home in Morrisville, has the distinction of being the recipient of three bronze stars and has been described as a "valiant soldier" with the 91st Division.

Quill participated in one of World War II’s largest, bloodiest and most bitter battles – the fight over Monte Cassino in Italy.

Quill celebrated his 93rd birthday on Feb.10. For his 91st birthday in 2006, the Yardley community rolled out the red carpet for a celebration with 150 friends and relatives.

“They had a big party at the Elks (Lodge 2023 in Morrisville),” Quill said. “Three came from my old outfit and celebrated my birthday with me.”

Those three special military guests, representing the 91st Division, flew in from the west coast especially for the occasion. They presented Quill with gifts of appreciation for his service to the nation and to the division.

“I cannot tell you how honored I am to be here tonight,” said Division Command Sgt. Maj. James Wilkinson, who had delivered greetings in 2006 from the major general of the 91st. “We wanted you to know that the 91st never forgets a veteran of our rank.”

Wilkinson had attended the event with Catherine Pauley, public affairs operations NCO, and Maj. Kerrie Hurd, public affairs operations officer.

“You are a member of what today is called the Greatest Generation, but I want you to know that another great generation still serves the American people in the 91st,” Wilkinson had continued.
Wilkinson had said that the 91st had been mobilized for the “Global War on Terrorism since January 2003” and that soldiers had been deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait. The 91st is the oldest division of the U.S. Army.

Members of the 91st Division during World War II earned 33 Distinguished Service Crosses and 564 Silver Stars for heroism. One of the Medal of Honor recipients served in Quill’s regiment, the 362nd Infantry.

“You are linked to all the history of our great division and we want you to know how proud we are of your service and the legacy that you and your brothers in arms left for those of us who still serve proudly in the 91st,” Wilkinson aid. “You have a place in our history, but more importantly you have a place in our hearts.”

In a gesture of respect and thanks for Quill’s service Wilkinson had presented Quill with a letter from Maj. Gen. Bruce E. Zukaukas, the commanding general of the 91st Division, expressing a debt of gratitude for Quill’s selfless service.

The 2006 birthday celebration was a surprise. “Who the hell ever expected something like that?” Quill had said about the three representatives from the 91st who flew across the country to celebrate with him.

“See what he gave me?” Quill said, proudly holding up a military decoration given to him by Wilkinson. “Just before he left, he took it off his tie and gave it to me.

“I don’t know whether I deserved all that or not,” said Quill.

Two years later, Quill talked in an interview about missing his fellow soldiers upon his return home from World War II. “We all left and I didn’t see any others. There wasn’t anyone around here that served with me. I joined the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) the American Legion.
“I guess I’m the oldest. My buddies treat me great. I can’t find anybody like ‘em.”

Quill is well-known and well-loved in Yardley as the outgoing singer of traditional Irish music. He said on Feb. 15, he would be heading to the Legion for a party at 8 p.m. “I will probably sing, ‘Danny Boy.’ I am going to raise Cain!”

On Memorial Day in Yardley, Quill rides in the parade on Yardley Borough’s South Main Street. “I love the parade. Everybody knows me. I worked in Pennsbury schools. All of them (students) are grown up now and they have children. When I come through the Yardley parade, they’re yelling, ‘Danny Boy!! Danny Boy!!” Before working for the school district as a custodian for 11 years, Quill was a rose grower for 40 years with Heacock Florist in Yardley.

On the more solemn Veteran’s Day, Quill said he thinks of “what happened during the war, why I was in the war, and coming home, and how everybody treated us. God Bless the ones that didn’t come home.

“I wish they were here with me to have the good time, but they can’t be here…I have a good time on Veteran’s Day. I go over to the Vets’ (building). They have a party. They have all the veterans down from the manor. I sing ‘Danny Boy’ and ‘Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral (The Irish Lullaby)’.

“My wife (Ann Burke Quill) and I used to go to the Vets’ when she was living. She’d play the piano and I would sing on meeting nights and for little parties. She was Irish -- a beautiful lady. I miss her.”

At the end of the war, Quill was anxious to get home. His future wife was waiting for him. They were married in 1946.

Today, the former rose grower prides himself on being a top seller of red poppies around Memorial Day. He and his fellow veterans set up a table each year in McCaffrey’s Supermarket in Yardley. “Last year, I sold over 5,000.”

When asked why he devotes so much of his time selling poppies, Quill said, “I think of those boys and I like to do it. I’m doing it for a good cause. I like to raise money for disabled vets. I’ve seen a lot of them wounded.”

Each year around Memorial Day, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) members and American Legion Auxiliary volunteers distribute millions of bright red poppies in exchange for contributions to assist disabled and hospitalized veterans.

At age 93, Quill still keeps busy raising funds for the community and putting smiles on people’s faces when he greets them.

For Yardley’s Garden of Reflection, the memorial built in remembrance of those who perished in 9-11, Quill sold chances and collected donations for the cause. He raised “thousands and thousands of dollars.” Quill has also raised money for cancer research.

One of Quill’s favorite pastimes is visiting McCaffrey’s Supermarket — just to see friends and to be around people. When he walks through the store, the employees greet him by name. The store is located down the street from his former residence.

Jim Murphy of Levittown often drives Quill to the store. “He’s the best friend I have. I have no license or cars. He takes me all over.”

What does freedom mean to Quill? “To be happy go-lucky, love everybody and have a good time — and good health. That’s freedom to me.”

Having served in World War II, Quill has been outspoken about the Iraq War. “I think it’s a shame. I just wish they’d settle it and come home.”

What advice would he give to people serving in Iraq and Afghanistan? “Be careful. Good luck and God bless them.”

Labels: Army, World War II, Yardley