Community Corner
World War II Planes and Pilots Share Experiences at Palomar Airport
The Wings of Freedom tour landed in Carlsbad, giving people of all ages a chance to see, touch and tour World War II aircraft.
The Wings of Freedom tour, sponsored by the Collings Foundation, flew into May 2-4 to show off their World War II aircraft. On display were the B-17 and B-24 bombers and a P-51 Mustang fighter.
There was no shortage of veterans at Palomar Airport to tell their amazing stories and experiences.
Ed Davidson, of La Jolla, recounted his WW II experiences as a pilot of a B-17 on a bombing run. After dropping his bombs in Bordeaux, France, his bomber group was heading back to Norfolk, England, when they were attacked by German fighter planes and he was forced to ditch his plane in the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France.
Three hours later, a German seaplane landed next to Davidson’s raft and greeted him with, “For you, the war is over.”
From that faithful day, on Jan. 5, 1944, Davidson was a POW until he was liberated by the Russians on May 1, 1945.
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Also at Palomar Airport was Carl Silber Jr, from San Diego, a volunteer tour-stop coordinator for the Collings Foundation. Silber lost his father when his father’s airplane went down on Hitchenbrook Island on Dec. 18, 1942, while on a mission from Australia to New Guinea. In July 1997, Silber visited the crash site to see, for himself, the wreckage of his father’s airplane.
The Wings of Freedom tour will be in until Friday. For a complete schedule, click here.
