FlyPast 02.2018

February 2018 FLYPAST 107

that accompanied the Douglas

A-20 Havocs during the assault on

Sicily. A colleague from this period,

Jerry Wurmser, still carried warm

memories of Barns more than 70

years later. “To be on a flight he was

leading was a plus, as we all felt the

mission would be a success and that

we would make it back safely. He

was a good pilot and an excellent

navigator.”

Moving its operations to Italy

later in 1943, the 316th developed

dive-bombing as a successful tactic.

Using different configurations of

bomb loads, varying speeds and

attack angles, they could inflict

maximum damage with minimum

losses.

The 324th FG found action

anywhere air support was needed

during the Italian campaign. For

his role in the landing at Anzio,

Barns received the US Distinguished

Flying Cross – usually awarded

for an example of ‘heroism or

extraordinary achievement while

participating

pilot and test pilot. In the first, he

fought throughout the European

theatre as the Allies sought to

destroy the German and Italian

militaries. In the second, he worked

on the cutting edge of technology,

setting records, testing more than

100 different aircraft and helping

usher in the jet age for both military

and civilian aviation.

Going to W 

William F Barns joined the armed

forces at 21, immediately after the

attack on Pearl Harbor. He earned

admission as an aviation cadet

and began training at Hawaii’s

Hickam Field in early 1942. After

completing basic instruction, he

went to Sarasota, Florida, in 1943,

where he gained his silver ‘wings’

and in June 1943 joined the 324th

Fighter Group (FG) at El Haouaria

in Tunisia. Within the group,

Barns flew with the 316th Fighter

Squadron (FS), known as the ‘Hell’s

Belles’, equipped with the Curtiss

P-40 Warhawk.

He quickly earned a great

reputation as part of

a group

T

wo photos, nine years apart,
convey the contrasts in the life
of aviator Bill Barns. In a 1944
photo, he sits in his flight jacket, his
face showing the stress of more than
200 missions in the year since his
first assignment, escorting bombers
over Sicily in July 1943.
But, even carrying the burden of
being a 24-year-old fighter pilot
in World War Two, he looks like a
Hollywood star waiting by the edge
of the set for shooting to start.
The other photo captures him at
a happier, less stressful moment,
sitting in the open cockpit of a
North American F-86D Sabre
(sometimes called ‘Sabre Dog’),
ready to attempt a new world speed
record.
Still movie star handsome, his
face appears less drawn and his eyes
gleam with pleasure, rather than
squinting through fatigue. In a few
moments, the cockpit will close and
he will launch his attempt, feeling
young and invulnerable, on the cusp
of where technology meets history.
These images represent the two
major aspects of Barns’s
life — fighter

Bottom left

Bill Barns, a seasoned

World War Two fi ghter

pilot in Italy, 1944. ALL

BARNS FAMILY COLLECTION

UNLESS NOTED

Below

Pilots and crew of the

316th FS pose with the

‘Hell’s Belles’ insignia,

Italy, 1944. Bill Barns is

in the front row, third

from left.