“Rendezvous Over Berlin: A Texas Cowboy’s Life and Death in the Skies Over Berlin, September 3. 1943,” a paper to be presented to the West Texas Historical Association annual meeting, April 2020, Lubbock, Texas.
Over three quarters of a century ago, a Texas cowboy named Fred Hugh Davis found himself in a desperate battle for survival with his Royal Air Force bomber crew in the night skies over Berlin. The journey that had carried him to that frantic fight began on the family ranch in Throckmorton, Texas where he grew up. This paper will examine the story of Davis and his journey from his ranching world in Throckmorton to Canada and finally, to the skies over Berlin in September 1943.
In the early twentieth century, Throckmorton, Texas, was home to families who lived the western life, surrounded by cattle, range land, and a people dedicated to Texas ranching traditions, long held dear. It was here in 1918, in the ranch headquarters, that Fred Hugh Davis was born and raised to be a cowboy.
Fred’s early life was devoted to learning to be a cowboy. Everyone in the family was involved in working cattle and horses. Western hats, boots, and spurs was a part of ordinary life on the Davis Ranch. Even his mother rode horses and worked cattle, so Fred looked to his family to learn the ranching business. By the time Fred grew up, being a ranch hand was all he knew. He had been a Texas cowboy all of his life.
The story begins in Throckmorton, Texas in the days leading up to war, when life seemed clear and unchanging, with a future filled with hope and promise. The growing war clouds building in far distant Europe seemed too far away to be of any consequence for the Davis cowboys. But soon that would change, and the war would reach across the sea and change the Davis family forever.
World War II began in Europe on September 3, 1939, long before Pearl Harbor or America’s entry into the war. The war news soon reached Throckmorton, and Fred began a plan that would take him to training in Canada and later to England where his crew formed up for combat. Four years later to the day that war was declared in Europe, in the early evening hours on September 3, 1943, Fred Davis and his British Lancaster bomber crew took off from their Grimsby airdrome for the last time. They would never return.
Past Papers, Articles, and Exhibits
“Oral History and New Scholarship on the World Championship Rodeo at Dublin, Texas,” a paper presented to the West Texas Historical Association annual meeting, April 12, 2019, Canyon, Texas.
“The 62nd Army Band, Community, and Military Music in Far West Texas, 1865-1966,” a paper presented to the West Texas Historical Association annual meeting, April 14, 2018, San Angelo, Texas.
“Documentary Film, Memory, and the New Military History: The East Anglia Air War Project and History of the Air War in Wartime England, 1942-1945,” a paper presented to the Texas Oral History Association annual meeting, March 25, 2017 at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas.
“Patton and Pancho: A Clash of Cultures–A Research Journey Across the Decades,” Luncheon Keynote Address, Patton and Pancho, A Clash of Cultures Conference, March 11, 2016, Tucson, Arizona.
“The First Aero Squadron and the Beginnings of American Air Power in the Twentieth Century,” presented at the Patton and Pancho, A Clash of Cultures Conference, March 10, 2016, Tucson, Arizona.
A photographic exhibition, “The 416th Bomb Group in World War II,” a twenty-panel exhibit (24″ x 60″ floor banners) containing scenes and data over the World War II history of the 416th Bomb Group in the Eighth Air Force in England and beyond. The exhibit was unveiled during the 416th Bomb Group runion and gifted to the 416th Bomb Group Archives, Albuquerque, New Mexico, September 2015.
“Pyote Army Air Field: A Sense of Place and Community in World War II,” a paper presented at the West Texas Historical Association annual meeting, April 4, 2014, Odessa, Texas.
“Documentary Film and Oral History: A New Film’s Link to Texas and Oral History in the Preservation of Memory and Community in World War II,” a paper presented at the Texas Oral History Association annual meeting, April 5, 2014, Nacogdoches, Texas.
“Innovation and Emerging Medical Realities in High Altitude Daylight Bombing: Group Surgeon Thurman Shuller and Military Medicine in the Eighth Air Force in World War II,” a paper presented at the Medical History of World War 2 Conference, San Antonio, Texas, February 2014.
“Glenn Miller, the Jitterbug, and the Big Band Invasion of Britain in World War II,” a paper presented to the Association for American Studies Annual Conference, University of Essex, Essex, United Kingdom, April 21, 2013.
“The Built Environment: Military Architecture, Design, and Place in Support of the Air War in World War II England,” a paper presented to the Southwestern Historical Association annual meeting, April 6, 2012, San Diego, California.
“Film, Memory, and Collaterals: New Patterns of Scholarship for Historians in the 21st Century,” Keynote presentation, Phi Alpha Theta Texas Northeast Regional Conference, Abilene, Texas, April 16, 201.1
“A Growing Calamity: Race and Conflict in Wartime England, 1942-1945,” Southwestern Historical Association, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 18, 2011.
“Beginnings and Beyond: The Air War, Collaterals and Memory in World War II Texas, 1941-1945,” Texas Historical Association, El Paso, Texas, March 3, 2011.
“Crucible of Change: Race and the Shifting American Landscape in World War II England, 1942-1945,” British American Studies Association, Norwich, England, April 10, 2010.
“Spearpoint to Empire: Early American Military Expansion in Haiti, 1915-1916,” Southwestern Council for Latin American Studies, Santa Fe, New Mexico, March 24, 2010.
“The Air War and Military Medicine in the Eighth Air Force: Developing Technology and the Impact of the High Altitude Daylight Bombing Campaign on American Forces in East Anglia in World War II,” a paper presentation to the Southwestern Historical Association annual meeting, Denver, Colorado, March 2009.
“The East Anglia Air War and the New Military History: Oral History, Collaterals, and Film in the Preservation of Memory and Community in World War II England,” a paper presentation to the Military Oral History Conference, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, February 21-23, 2008.
“From Pyote to Fortress Europe: Film, Oral History, and the 381st Bomb Group in World War II,” a paper presentation to the Texas Historical Association annual meeting (co-sponsored by the Texas Oral History Association), Corpus Christi, Texas March 6, 2000 .
Film Lecture, “‘Liberators Over East Anglia’ and the East Anglia Air War Project-A Decade-Long Journey,” 2nd Air Division Association annual meeting, Gaylord Conference Center, Grapevine, Texas, October 17, 2008.
A photographic exhibition, “The Second Air Division in World War II England,” 30 four-color presentation panels (18″ x 24″) exhibited on easels, 2nd Air Division Association annual meeting, October 17, 2008, Gaylord Conference Center, Grapevine, Texas. After the exhibition in October, the exhibition was shipped to the 2nd Air Division Memorial in Norwich, England for use in their outreach programming with rural schools in East Anglia. The exhibition continues to appear in various public events in villages and towns throughout the region.
A photographic exhibition, “Shalford at War,” a thirty-panel exhibit (24″ x 36″) containing scenes and data over the World War II history of Shalford Village and the 381st Bomb Group crew that crashed into the village on August 4, 1944. The exhibit was unveiled during a program where I spoke about the events in the village during the war and presented a short clip of the forthcoming documentary film “Dry Gulcher Down.” The exhibition with a set of thirty easels was gifted to the Shalford community, Shalford Village Hall, May 2008.
A photographic exhibition, “Deopham at War,” a thirty-panel exhibit (24″ x 36″) containing scenes and data over the World War II history of the four villages that surrounded the American base at Deopham Green. The exhibit was unveiled during a program where I spoke about the events in the villages and Deopham Green during the war and presented a screening of the documentary film “Deopham Green.” The exhibition with a set of thirty easels was gifted to the Little Ellingham community, Little Ellingham Village Hall, May 2008.
“Keep the Home Hearth Burning: The Cross-Atlantic Cultural Exchange in WWII East Anglia, 1942-1945,” a paper to be presented to the Oral History Association annual meeting, Little Rock, Arkansas, October 2006.
“A Time for War, A Time for Community: Anglo-American Relations in East Anglia, 1942-45,” a paper (based on new data) at the Britons at War: New Perspectives Conference, University of Northampton, Northampton, United Kingdom, April 21, 2006.
“The Documentary Film & the Anglo-American Home Front in East Anglia, 1942-1945,” a paper/film lecture presented at the British Association for American Studies Annual Conference, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom, April 22, 2006.
“Liberators Over East Anglia: The Second Air Division in World War II,” a film lecture presented at the Second Air Division Memorial Library (a Fulbright/Second Air Division Association Trust institution), Norwich, United Kingdom, April 26, 2006.
“Oral History and the British Land Army Girls,” an oral history interview workshop for women in two Land Army units stationed near Thurleigh, England during World War II, hosted by Bedford Library, Bedford, United Kingdom, April 28-29, 2006.
“Prelude to Daylight Bombing: The Eighth Army Air Force and Early Base Development in East Anglia, 1942-1943,” a paper presented to the Southwestern Social Sciences Association annual meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 24, 2005.
“The Historical Documentary,” a paper presented to the National Broadcast Society Regional Conference, Houston, TX, November 13, 2004.
“The Eighth Air Force in England and the Impact on Community in East Anglia, 1942-1945,”a paper presented to the Ohio Valley History Conference, Cookeville, TN, October 22, 2004.
“A Time for War, A Time for Community: Anglo-American Relations in East Anglia, 1942-1945,”a paper presented to the Southwestern Social Sciences Association annual meeting, Corpus Christi, TX, March 19, 2004.
“The Eagle and the Anchor in China: Littleton W.T. Waller and American Marines in the Relief of Peking,”a paper presented to the Southwestern Social Sciences Association annual meeting, San Antonio, TX, April 18, 2003.
A Soldiers from Nyon: The African American Combat Experience in the European Theater of Operations, a paper presented to the Southwestern Social Sciences Association annual meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 29, 2002.
“The Samar Ordeal: Littleton W.T. Waller and Expressions of American Imperialism,” a paper presented to Mid-America Conference on History, University of Kansas, September 2000.
“A Virginia Aristocrat in the Caribbean: Littleton W.T. Waller and the Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1916,” a paper presented to the Fourteenth Naval History Symposium, U.S. Naval Academy, September 25, 1999.
“Southern Colorado Coal Mining Towns: Photographs, Maps, and Plats,@ a paper presented to the 19th Annual Conference of the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association, Lubbock, Texas, January 29-31, 1998.
Chair, a session titled AThe Culture of War: Technology and the Production of Historical Resources,@ 19th Annual Conference of the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association, Lubbock, Texas, January 29-31, 1998.
