ERA | WORLD WAR TWO
A "New Horizons" account of the Pan Am's Sikorsky S-42 Hong Kong Clipper II (aka Bermuda Clipper), destroyed at Hong Kong during WW2.
Echoes of Wake Island, by Bonnie Gilbert tells the story behind her 2012 book, "Building for War" and the civilian contractors and marines on Wake Is.
Marine Air Terminal (MAT) at LaGuardia, still in operation, was New York's first true airport where Pan Am's Clipper ships flew.
1937, Glenn Martin’s Birds of a Feather, Two Branches of the Family Tree: “Russian Clipper" & the “Tadpole Clipper" at the Martin Company in MD.
Engaging accounts by Ed Dover, former Pan Am Flight Radio Officer & author of "The Long Way Home," on his career with Pan Am during World War Two.
After the Pearl Harbor attack, Churchill sailed to Washington DC to meet with FDR, but flew home on the B-314 Clipper Berwick due to safety concerns.
War Claims a Clipper: Six hours after the Pearl Harbor attack, at Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, December 8, 1941: 6:50 a.m., local time (Dec. 7, 1941, 12:20 p.m.)
The Commodore and the President, from John C. Leslie's memoir: Arranging Pres. Roosevelt's daring WW2 flight to Casablanca on B-314 Dixie Clipper.
Service Aboard Clippers in Wartime: A few notes on Pan Am's flying boat operations during World War II, from Pan Am Transpacific Newsletter 1942.
"The Day Wendell Willkie Chose To Fly Pan Am" by Tom Culbert: Willkie's tour around the world for FDR, and a story about an unusual WW2 mission.
Air Mail & Pan Am History: China Clipper Endnote, a cover from Ken Sanford's impressive collection of stamps, courtesy of Jon Krupnick. Read the PDF.
Clipper Cargo background notes: A timeline of the history of Pan American World Airways Cargo operations 1930-1940.
The M-130 China Clipper was the first out of the gate, but it was the Philippine Clipper that saw WW2 up close on Wake Island in 1941 for Pan Am.
A Mighty Design: The story of the development and construction of Pan Am's famous Boeing B-314 flying boat, written by Doug Miller. Read the PDF
NYC's 1965 Landmarks Preservation Law preserved the Interior at the MAT, LaGuardia with its Art Deco Design and stunning WPA Mural by James Brooks.
"When Passengers Were News." Pan Am's flying clipper ships were a lifeline in June 1941, prior to United States' involvement in World War Two.
Pan Am Capt. I. Wayne Eveland flew the notorious Hump between India and China in World War Two & experienced the 1942 Evacuation of Burma. PDF.