WWII Bomber Co-PilotInterviewed by:

Corina Cervantes, Baylee Bush ,

Donnie Mallory, andCharles Miller

Roy Test was born in Kansas City.

He lived in Los Angeles since he was 4 years old.

He is an only child Mr. Test’s parents

separated when he was young.

He lived with his mother and had little communication with his father.

Roy wanted to join the military before the draft started

Roy was sworn in July 1942

Active duty began February 1943

The 1st place Roy went for training was nicknamed “The Sack”

Located in San Antonio, Texas The Sack provided basic pre-flight training

Next Roy went to Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Primary flight training

Fly 1 hour with instructor and 1 hour by your self everyday

Then, Roy went to Coffeyville, Kansas Basic flight range training

From Kansas Roy had to choose whether he wanted to pursue single or multi-engine planes

He chose multi-engine planes and off to Altus, Oklahoma he went!

Roy Test graduated December 1943

He got his wings and 2nd Latent

Next Roy went to Salt Lake City, Utah Distribution Center

And Off to England he went !

Roy Test has been on 32 missions. Mr. Test was a bomber co-pilot who saw combat a

lot through his time in the war., although he said it was nothing like what you see in the movies

He flew in a group of 28-40 bomber planes and were spaced out about 1 minute apart.

He fought against the Germans in 1943. There were thousands of bombers in the air at

one time and Mr. Test stated that it was “Horrific.”

Roy Test said that the missions were scary.

He said, “We were very lucky, none of us were injured,” about him and the crew.

He also said that there was a lot of flack in the air and gunners often tried to shoot them down.

Most of the missions would take 10 hours so he barley got sleep.

2 Green flares shot out and that was the signal for them to attack.

Someone would tell them it was time for a mission, so they got dressed, ate, met with the rest of the crew to find out were they were going, and then they quickly got on the plane.

Sometimes the weather would stop them from flying.

They would throw “chaff” out of the plane to destroy the enemies calculations of how high they were

When the war ended Roy and the rest of the crew left to the states individually and didn’t see each other for 40 years.

Roy received - ETO Ribbon - Battle Star (more

than 1)

-Air Medal -Distinguished

Flying Cross

One of the things that Mr. Test remembered the most was the “flack holes” that would disturb piloting.

Another thing he remembered was flying a B11 in tight formation. He said it was hard work and it was physically and mentally tiring, therefore, he would have to trade off with other pilots after a while.

Some interesting moments that we remember from our time with Mr. Test was hearing the pledge over the loud speaker. He said he loves that it come on every day because its important to remember that we are a free country.

Another thing that we thought was memorable was when Roy Test told us about his, “constant worry.” He told us that we joined the war because he didn’t have money to go to college, but he always worried about falling behind and not being a good enough pilot. We can all relate to this because we all worry about things too.

Mr. Test informed us that there was not much for him to do during the war.

While he was training in Candice, he did go to a couple USO dances.

He fell in love with his first wife, Christine at one of the dances.

Most of the time, he was in action and that was entertainment for him.

He was married to his first wife, Christine, for 25 years but unfortunately she is no longer with us.

He remarried and has been with his present wife for 35 years.

Roy Test has a son that lives in Salt Lake City who is a pharmacist.

He also has a daughter that has been a school teacher at West Covina High School

for 35 years. Mr. Test joined the Army Air

Force in July, 1942. He attended active duty in

February, 1943.

Today, Roy belongs to Riverside Air, he does presentations at air shows. He is happily married to his second wife and lives in Baldwin Park, California.

Roy believes that Obama has the potential to take the U.S. into socialism

He says that back in WWII the United States was much more united!