Tag Archives: Bomber

17 December 1947

Boeing XB-47 Stratojet 46-065 in flight over a snow-covered landscape. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing XB-47 Stratojet 46-065 in flight over a snow-covered landscape. (U.S. Air Force)
Robert M. Robbins
Robert M. Robbins

17 December 1947: Boeing test pilots Robert M. Robbins and Edward Scott Osler made the first flight of the Model 450, the XB-47 Stratojet prototype. It was a 52-minute flight from Boeing Field, Seattle, to Moses Lake Air Force Base, five miles north of the town of Moses Lake, Washington.

Robbins later said, “The best way to tell about the performance of the Stratojet is to say that any good crew could have flown it. It took no unusual ability or education. Neither Scott Osler nor I deserve any credit for the flight. Rather, the credit should go to the men who carried out these visions on the drafting boards and the factory workers who made the visions a reality.”

On 11 May 1949, during flight testing at Moses Lake, the canopy of 46-065 came off, killing test pilot Scott Osler. The co-pilot safely landed the airplane.

Designed as a strategic bomber, the B-47 could fly higher and faster than jet fighters of the time, and it was also highly maneuverable. The XB-47 (Boeing Model 450) was flown by a two-man crew in a tandem cockpit. It was 107 feet, 6 inches (32.766 meters) long with a wingspan of 116 feet (35.357 meters). The top of the vertical fin was 27 feet, 8 inches (8.433 meters) high. The wings were shoulder-mounted with the leading edges swept at 35°.

Boeing XB-47 Stratojet 46-065. (U.S. Air Force 061024-F-1234S-004)

The first prototype, 46-065, was powered by six General Electric J35-GE-7 axial flow turbojet engines in four pods mounted on pylons below the wings. The J35 was a single-spool, axial-flow turbojet engine with an 11-stage compressor and single-stage turbine. The J35-GE-7 was rated at 3,750 pounds of thrust (16.68 kilonewtons) at 7,700 r.p.m. (static thrust, Sea Level). The engine was 14 feet, 0.0 inches (4.267 meters) long, 3 feet, 4.0 inches (1.016 meters) in diameter and weighed 2,400 pounds (1,089 kilograms). (The second prototype, 46-066, was completed with J47 engines. 46-065 was later retrofitted with these engines.)

The XB-47 prototype had a maximum speed of 502 knots (578 miles per hour/930 kilometers per hour/0.80 Mach) at 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). The combat speed was 462 knots (532 miles per hour/856 kilometers per hour/0.70 Mach) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters). The prototype’s empty weight was 74,623 pounds (33,848 kilograms), while its maximum takeoff weight was 162,500 pounds (73,709 kilograms). It required a ground run of 11,900 feet (3,627 meters), or 4,800 feet (1,463 meters) with JATO assist. The bomber could climb at a rate of 3,650 feet per minute (18.5 meters per second) at Sea Level, at combat weight and maximum power. The service ceiling was 37,500 feet (11,430 meters). The XB-47 carried 9,957 gallons (37,691 liters) of fuel. The combat radius was 1,175 nautical miles (1,352 statute miles/2,176 kilometers) with a 10,000 pound (4,536 kilogram) bomb load.

Planned armament (though the XB-47s were delivered without it) consisted of two .50-caliber machine guns in a tail turret, with 1,200 rounds of ammunition, and 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) of bombs.

Boeing XB-47 Stratojet 46-065, the first of two prototypes, on the ramp at Boeing Field, Seattle, 1 December 1947. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing XB-47 Stratojet 46-065, the first of two prototypes, on the ramp at Boeing Field, Seattle, 1 December 1947. (U.S. Air Force)

The Stratojet was one of the most influential aircraft designs of all time and its legacy can be seen in almost every jet airliner built since the 1950s: the swept wing with engines suspended on pylons, mounted forward of the leading edge.

2,032 B-47s were built by Boeing Wichita, Douglas Tulsa and Lockheed Marietta. They served the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1977.

Right rear quarter view of Boeing XB-47 Stratojet 46-065. (U.S. Air Force)
Right rear quarter view of Boeing XB-47 Stratojet 46-065. (U.S. Air Force)

The very last B-47 flight took place 18 June 1986 when B-47E-25-DT, serial number 52-166, was flown from the Naval Air Weapons Center China Lake to Castle Air Force Base to be placed on static display.

Boeing XB-47 Stratojet 46-065. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing XB-47 Stratojet 46-065. (U.S. Air Force 061024-F-1234S-003)

XB-47 45-065 stalled while landing at Larson Air Force Base, near Moses Lake, Washington, 18 August 1951. The crew of three escaped uninjured. The airplane suffered major structural damage. It was returned to Boeing at Seattle, Washington in 1953. The second prototype, XB-47 46-066, is in the collection of the Air Force Flight Test Museum, Edwards Air Force Base, California.

Boeing XB-47 Stratojet 46-066, Sandia. (SDASM)

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes

13 December 1918

Handley Page V/1500. (Royal Air Force)
Handley Page V/1500. (Royal Air Force)
Archibald Charles Stuart MacLaren.
Archibald Stuart Charles Stuart-MacLaren, Squadron Leader, Royal Air Force.

13 December 1918: Major Archibald Stuart Charles Stuart-MacLaren, Captain Robert (“Jock”) Halley, D.F.C., A.F.C., accompanied by Brigadier General Norman D.K. MacEwan (later, Air Vice Marshal Sir Norman Duckworth Kerr MacEwen C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., R.A.F.), who would be the new Air Officer Commanding in India, left Martlesham Heath, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, for India aboard a Handley Page V/1500 heavy bomber, J1936, HMA Old Carthusian. Also aboard were Flight Sergeant Smith and Sergeant Crockett, fitters, and Sergeant Thomas Brown, rigger.

N.D.K. MacEwan, Lieutenant Colonel, Royal Air Force
N.D.K. MacEwan, Lieutenant Colonel, Royal Air Force

The route of flight was Rome, Malta, Cairo, Baghdad, and finally, Karachi. They would arrive on 15 January 1919.

2nd Air Mechanic Archibald Stuart Charles Stuart-MacLaren was issued Aviator’s Certificate No. 1310 by The Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom, 4 June 1915. He trained in a Caudron Biplane at the British Flying School, Le Crotoy, France.

Group Captain Robert Halley, R.A.F., had been a cyclist with the Royal Highlanders. He requested flight training and was accepted as a probationary Flight Officer. He was trained at RNAS Vendome. During World War I, Halley flew more than twenty long range night bombing missions over Germany, for which he was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses.

On 24 May 1919, during the Third Afghan War, Halley flew Old Carthusian through the Khyber Pass in pre-dawn darkness with observer Lieutenant Ted Villiers and the three sergeants, Smith, Crockett and Brown.

The Handley Page V/1500 was armed with a bomb load of four 112 pound (50.8 kilogram) and sixteen 20 pound (9.1 kilogram) bombs. The target was the royal palace of Amanullah Khan in Kabul. The bombs were released from an altitude of 700 feet (213 meters) and did little damage, but with the resulting panic, the Khan surrendered. The single bombing raid is credited with ending the war.

Cockpit of a Handley Page V/1500.
Cockpit of a Handley Page V/1500.

The Handley Page V/1500 first flew 22 May 1918. The designation comes from the original name, Type 5, combined with the total horsepower of its engines. It was a three-bay biplane with four engines mounted in two nacelles between the upper and lower wings. The bomber was 64 feet, 0 inches (19.507 meters) long with a wingspan of 126 feet, 0 inches (38.405 meters) and was 23 feet, 0 inches (7.010 meters) high. Empty weight was 17,600 pounds (7,983 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight was 30,000 pounds (13,608 kilograms).

The engines were water-cooled, normally-aspirated, 1,240.536-cubic-inch-displacement (20.329 liter) Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII single overhead cam (SOHC) 60° V-12s, each rated at 360 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m. Maximum engine speed was 1,900 r.p.m. The Eagle VIII had a propeller gear reduction ratio of 0.6:1. Two of the engines were at the forward end of the nacelles in tractor configuration, and two were at the rear in pusher configuration. The propellers were two-bladed units with fixed pitch.

Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII aircraft engine (serial number 5272) at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. (NASM)

The V/1500 had a maximum speed of 99 miles per hour (159.3 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level, and its service ceiling was 11,000 feet (3,353 meters). It carried fuel to remain airborne for 17 hours. Maximum range was 1,300 miles (2,092 kilometers).

The V/1500 was armed with three .303-caliber Lewis machine guns. The maximum bomb load was 7,500 pounds (3,402 kilograms).

Handley Page built 63 V/1500 bombers. J1936, being constructed primarily of wood and fabric, finally succumbed to termites.

Handley Page V/1500 (Bain News Service/Library of Congress)
Handley Page V/1500. (Bain News Service/Library of Congress)
Handley Page V/1500 with wings folded. (Royal Air Force)
Handley Page V/1500 (Bain New Service/Library of Congress)

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes

11 December 1945

Bell-Atlanta B-29B-60-BA Superfortress 44-84061, the Pacusan Dreamboat. (U.S. Air Force)
Bell-Atlanta B-29B-60-BA Superfortress 44-84061, the Pacusan Dreamboat. (U.S. Air Force)

11 December 1945: Three days after Lieutenant Colonel Henry E. Warden and Captain Glen W. Edwards set a transcontinental speed record flying a prototype Douglas XB-42 from Long Beach, California, to Washington, D.C., in 5 hours, 17 minutes, Colonel Clarence S. Irvine and the crew of the B-29 Pacusan Dreamboat also set a record, flying from Burbank, California to overhead Floyd Bennett Field, New York, in 5 hours, 27 minutes, 8 seconds. The average speed for the 2,464-mile flight was 450.38 miles per hour (724.82 kilometers per hour).

Lieutenant General Clarence S. Irvine, U.S. Air Force

Irvine was Deputy Chief of Staff, Pacific Air Command, 1944–1947. He flew the Pacusan Dreamboat on several record-setting flights, including Guam to Washington, D.C., and Honolulu, Hawaii to Cairo, Egypt. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general in the United States Air Force, and served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Materiel.

Pacusan Dreamboat was a Bell Aircraft Corporation B-29B-60-BA Superfortress, built at Marietta, Georgia. The B-29B was a lightweight variant of the B-29, intended for operation at lower altitudes. It did not have the four power gun turrets and their .50-caliber machine guns. A radar-directed 20 mm cannon and two .50-caliber machine guns in the tail were the only defensive weapons. Much of the standard armor plate was also deleted. Pacusan Dreamboat was further lightened. The tail guns were removed and the tail reshaped.

The B-29B was equipped with four air-cooled, fuel-injected Wright R-3350-CA-2 Duplex Cyclone two-row 18 cylinder radial engines and specially-designed propellers. The engine nacelles were modified for improved cooling.

The Superfortress had been lightened to an empty weight of 66,000 pounds (29,937 kilograms). A standard B-29B weighed 69,000 pounds (31,298 kilograms) empty and 137,000 pounds (62,142 kilograms) fully loaded. Additional fuel tanks installed on the Dreamboat were able to carry 10,000 gallons (37,854 liters) of gasoline.

Colonel Clarence S. Irvine (standing, left) with the crew of Pacusan Dreamboat: W.J.Benett, G.F.Broughton, Dock West, W.S. O’Hara, F.S. O’Leary, K.L. Royer, F.J.Shannon, J.A. Shinnault, G.R. Stanley. (FAI)
Colonel Clarence S. Irvine (standing, left) with the crew of Pacusan Dreamboat: W.J. Benett, G.F. Broughton, Dock West, W.S. O’Hara, F.S. O’Leary, K.L. Royer, F.J. Shannon, J.A. Shinnault, G.R. Stanley. (FAI)

© 2015, Bryan R. Swopes

2 December 1936

Boeing YB-17 Flying Fortress 36-149. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing YB-17 Flying Fortress 36-149. (U.S. Air Force)

2 December 1936: The first Boeing YB-17, U.S. Army Air Corps serial number 36-149, made its first flight.

Although the prototype Boeing Model 299, X13372, had crashed at Wright Field, Ohio, 30 October 1935, the Army had ordered thirteen Y1B-17 service test aircraft, serials 36-149–36-161. Prior to the model’s first flight, this designation was changed to YB-17. (The “-1-” in the original Y1B-17 designation indicated that the service test bombers were ordered using funding other than the normal appropriations for new aircraft.)

Boeing YB-17. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing YB-17 36-149. (U.S. Air Force)

The YB-17 had several improvements over the Model 299, which was retroactively designated XB-17. There was a long carburetor intake on top of the engine nacelles which visually distinguishes the YB-17 from the follow-on YB-17A. The main landing gear has one strut rather than the two of the Model 299. A vertical radio mast is just behind the cockpit.

Boeing YB-17 36-149. (U.S. Air Force)

The Boeing Model 299B, designated YB-17 by the Army Air Corps, was 68 feet, 4 inches (20.828 meters) long with a wingspan of 103 feet, 9 inches (31.633 meters) and the overall height was 18 feet, 4 inches (5.588 meters). It had an empty weight of 24,465 pounds (11,097 kilograms), gross weight of 34,880 pounds (15,821 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 42,600 pounds (19,323 kilograms).

Boeing YB-17 36-149. (U.S. Air Force)

Instead of the Pratt & Whitney engines installed on the 299, the YB-17 had four air-cooled, supercharged 1,823.129-cubic-inch-displacement (29.876 liter) Wright Aeronautical Division Cyclone 9 R-1820G5 (R-1820-39) nine-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.45:1. They turned three-bladed Hamilton Standard constant-speed propellers through a 16:11 gear reduction drive, in order to match the engines’ effective power range with the propellers. The R-1820-39 was rated at 805 horsepower at 2,100 r.p.m., at Sea Level, and 930 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m. for takeoff. The R-1820-39 was 45-7/16 inches (1.154 meters) long and 54¼ inches (1.378 meters) in diameter, and weighed 1,198 pounds (543.4 kilograms).

The cruise speed of the YB-17 was 217 miles per hour (349 kilometers per hour) and the maximum speed was 256 miles per hour (412 kilometers per hour) at 14,000 feet (4,267 meters). Its service ceiling was 30,600 feet (9,327 meters). The bomber’s maximum range was 3,320 miles (5,343 kilometers).

Cutaway illustration of the Boeing YB-17. (John T. Jacobsen)

The YB-17 could carry 8,000 pounds (3,629 kilograms) of bombs. Defensive armament consisted of five .30-caliber air-cooled Browning machine guns.

Boeing YB-17 36-149 nosed over on landing at Seattle, 7 December 1936. (Unattributed)

36-149 was damaged in a landing accident 7 December 1936. It was repaired and then flown to Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, 11 January 1937. After testing at Wright Field, 36-149 was delivered to the 2nd Bombardment Group, Langley Field, Virginia. By 1938 the bomber was back at Wright Field for additional tests.

“In the summer of 1938, Bill [Captain William C. Bentley, Jr., U.S. Army Air Corps, a B-17 test pilot at Langley Field] and his aircrew flew back to Seattle to pick up an additional aircraft, YB-17 tail number 36-149 from Boeing. This aircraft was different from the original thirteen. During its assembly phase at Boeing, it was packed with additional instruments for recording purposes. Once delivered to Langley, the plane was going to be subjected to a variety of stress tests in order to determine how much damage the plane could take and still operate. During its flight to Langley, Bill arrived over the field in a thunderstorm. The strength of the storm flipped the plane upside down, a stress never envisioned by the designers for such a large aircraft, much less one loaded to capacity with measuring instrumentation and a full crew. Using his fighter pilot training, Bill flew the aircraft at its maximum altitude then performed a slow roll to bring the airplane into its proper attitude. After recovering from a harrowing spin, Bill got control of the plane and landed successfully.

“Much to the crew’s amazement, the wings were slightly bent and some rivets were missing. But the measuring instrumentation had recorded all of the stress placed on the plane. . . .”

—The Touch of Greatness: Colonel William C. Bentley, Jr., USAAC/USAF, by Stewart W. Bentley, Jr., Ph.D., AuthorHouse, Bloomington, Indiana, 2010, Chapter 2 at Page 45.

(This meant that a fourteenth YB-17, which had been built specifically as a static test article, could be completed as a Y1B-17A, 37-369.)

Boeing YB-17 at Hamilton Field, California. (U.S. Air Force)

In October 1940 36-149 was transferred to the 19th Bombardment Group at March Field, California. Finally, on 11 February 1942, it was transferred to the Air Park at Amarillo Army Air Field, a B-17 training base in Texas. It was written off 11 December 1942.

After several years of testing, the YB-17 went into production as the B-17 Flying Fortress. By the end of World War II, 12,731 B-17s had been built by Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed Vega.

Boeing YB-17 36-139 arrives at Langley Field, Virginia, 1 March 1937. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing YB-17 36-139 arrives at Langley Field, Virginia, 1 March 1937. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing YB-17 36-149 at Langley Field, Virginia, 1 March 1937. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing YB-17 36-149 at the Golden Gate International Exposition, Treasure Island, California, ca. 1939. (Stephen Fisher)
Two of the 13 Boeing YB-17 Flying Fortress (Model 299B) service test prototypes. This model can be distinguished from other early B-17s by the vertical radio mast behind the cockpit and the long carburetor intakes on the top of the engine nacelles. (Horace Bristol/LIFE Magazine)

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

25–29 November 1945

Colonel Joseph Randall Holzapple, commanding officer, 319th Bombardment Group, Light, at Okinawa, 1945.

25–29 November 1945: Colonel Joseph Randall (“Randy”) Holzapple, U.S. Army Air Force, commanding officer of the 319th Bombardment Group, Light, departed Savannah, Georgia, as the pilot of a Douglas A-26C Invader twin-engine light attack bomber. His co-pilot on this flight was Lieutenant Colonel Charles R. Meyers. The navigator was Lieutenant Otto H. Schumaker and Corporal Howard J. Walden was the airplane’s radio operator.

The A-26 headed west, and kept heading west. 90 hours, 54 minutes later, Colonel Holzapple and his crew arrived at Washington National Airport, Washington, D.C. They had flown completely around the world, covering 24,859 miles (40,007 kilometers). The flight time was 96 hours, 50 minutes.

The A-26C Invader was built by Douglas Aircraft Company at its Long Beach, California and Tulsa, Oklahoma plants. It was 51 feet, 3 inches (15.621 meters) long with a wingspan of 70 feet, 0 inches (21.336 meters) and overall height of 18 feet, 6 inches (5.639 meters). It was designed to be flown by a single pilot, with a navigator/bombardier and a gunner. The A-26C weighed 22,690 pounds (10,292 kilograms) empty an had a maximum takeoff weight of 37,740 pounds (17,119 kilograms).

Power was supplied by two air-cooled, supercharged 2,804.4-cubic-inch-displacement (45.956 liter) Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp 2SB-G (R-2800-27) two-row, 18-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.65:1. The R-2800-27 had a Normal Power rating of 1,600 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m. at 5,700 feet (1,737 meters), 1,450 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m. at 13,000 feet (3,962 meters), and 2,000 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m for takeoff. War Emergency Power was 2,370 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m. at Sea level. The engines turned three-bladed propellers with a diameter of 12 feet, 7 inches (3.835 meters) through a 2:1 gear reduction. The R-2800-27 was 6 feet, 3.72 inches (1.923 meters) long, 4 feet, 4.50 inches (1.334 meters) in diameter and weighed 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms).

The A-26 was a fast airplane for its time. It had a maximum speed of 323 knots (372 miles per hour/598 kilometers per hour) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). The service ceiling was 20,450 feet ( meters) and its range was 1,510 nautical miles (1,738 statute miles/2,797 kilometers) carrying a 4,000 pound (1,814 kilogram) bomb load.

Armament varied. The attack bomber could carry as much as 4,000 pounds (1,814 kilograms) of bombs in the bomb bay and 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms) on underwing hardpoints. Two Browning AN/M2 .50-caliber machine guns were mounted in upper and lower remotely-operated power turrets for defense, and as many as 14 forward-facing fixed .50-caliber machine guns were installed, with eight in the nose and three in each wing.

This Douglas A-26C-20-DT Invader, 43-22494, at the Pima Air And Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona, is marked as an aircraft of the 319th Bombardment Group, Light, at Okinawa, 1945. (Pima Air and Space Museum)
This Douglas A-26C-20-DT Invader, 43-22494, at the Pima Air And Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona, is marked as an aircraft of the 319th Bombardment Group, Light, at Okinawa, 1945. (Pima Air and Space Museum)
Randall Holzapple (The 1932 Crest)

Joseph Randall Holzapple was born 7 September 1914 at Peoria, Illinois. He was the fourth of five children of Nathaniel A. Holzapple, a blacksmith, and Annetta Ritchie. He attended Pekin Junior High School, then Peoria High School, where he was a member of the French Club, Science and Math Club, and Drama Club. In his high school yearbook, Holzapple was called “refined” and “handsome.” He graduated in 1932.

In 1938, Randy Holzapple graduated from Bradley Polytechnic Institute, also in Peoria, with a bachelor of science degree in business administration. He then worked as an insurance salesman.

Joseph R. Holzapple enlisted as an aviation cadet in the Air Corps, United States Army, 31 December 1940. At the time, he was 5 feet, 8 inches (1.68 meters) tall and weighed 146 pounds (66 kilograms). He completed his flight training and on 16 August 1941, was commissioned a second lieutenant, Air Reserve.

On 25 March 1942, 2nd Lieutenant Bradley was appointed to the rank of 1st lieutenant, Army of the United States (Air Corps). Six months later, 11 September 1942, he was promoted to captain, A.U.S. (A.C.).

Captain Holzapple was assigned as operations officer of the 319th Bombardment Group (Medium), Eighth Air Force, in England. The group was equipped with the twin-engine Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber. Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, began on 8 November 1942, and the 319th deployed to Saint-Leu Airfield, northeast of Oran, Algeria, as an element of XII Bomber Command.

The wartime military often brought rapid advancement to qualified officers, and Holzapple was promoted to the rank of major, A.U.S. (A.C.), 5 February 1943. He took command of the 319th Group 13 August 1943, then in Tunisia. Major Holzapple was promoted to lieutenant colonel, A.U.S. (A.C.), on 13 September 1943. He was advanced to colonel, A.U.S. (A.C.), on 1 August 1944.

Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Randall Holzapple in the cockpit of a Martin B-26B-15-MA Marauder, 41-31753, circa 1943–44. (American Air Museum in Britain UPL 32425)

In November 1944, the 319th transitioned to the North American Aviation B-25 Mitchell medium bomber, but the group was returned to the continental United States in January 1945. It was then equipped with the Douglas A-26 Invader and redesignated the 319th Bombardment Group (Light).

On 1 March 1945, Colonel Holzapple married Miss Lois M. Miller in a ceremony at the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Peoria. They would have two daughters, Nancy and Lynn.

The 319th redeployed to Okinawa in July 1945. It was was the first unit to be transferred from Europe to the Pacific as a complete unit.

This Douglas A-26C-30-DT Invader, 44-35281, was assigned to the 319th Bombardment Group at Naha, Okinawa, 1945. (U.S. Air Force)

Colonel Holzapple flew 91 combat missions in North Africa and the Mediterannean, and another 8 over Japan and China. For his service during World War II, he was awarded  teh Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster (a second award), and the Air Medal with 17 oak leaf clusters (18 awards). He was also awarded the British Empire’s Distinguished Flying Cross and the Croix de Guerre by France.

Colonel Holzapple remained on active duty following the war. While he continued to hold his wartime rank, his permanent rank in the Air Corps, United States Army, was advanced to 1st lieutenant, on 5 July 1946, with date of rank from 7 September 1942.

Holzapple was assigned to a number of staff positions, before being sent to the Armed Forces Staff College, 1949–50. He was next assigned to the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, the military agency responsible for maintenance, storage, security, handling and testing of nuclear weapons. In 1954, Colonel Holzaple was appointed assistant chief of staff for Operational Readiness at the Air Research and Development Command headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. He also attended the National War College.

In 1955 Colonel Holzapple was assiged as commanding offier of the 47th Bombardment Wing, then based at RAF Sculthorpe, near Fakenham, Norfolk, England. The group was equipped with the North American Aviation B-45 Tornado four-engine jet bomber, and the Douglas B-26 Invader. ¹

From England, Holzapple went to Germany as deputy chief of staff for operations at Headquarters, United States Air Forces in Europe. Promoted to brigadier general, in 1958 he was appointed chief of staff, USAFE.

Brigadier General Holzapple returned to the weapons systems management with ARDC at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

From 1969–1971, General Holzapple served as Commander in Chief, United States Air Forces Europe, based at Wiesbaden, Germany.

General Holzapple retired from the U.S. Air Force 1 September 1971.

General Holzapple collapsed and died while playing squash at The Pentagon Athletic Center, Arlington, Virginia, 14 November 1973. He was 59 years old. He was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.

General Joseph Randall Holzapple, United States Air Force.

¹ The Martin B-26 Marauder was withdrawn from service following World War II. Most of them were scrapped. In 1948, The Douglas A-26B and A-26C Invader light bombers were then designated B-26A and B-26B.

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes