Interview with James T. Wortham, March 7, 1985

Project: American Veterans: World War Two Oral History Project

Interview Summary

Colonel James T. Wortham volunteered for the Air Force and served as an airfield controller at the Goxhill and Halesworth bases in England. He discusses his duties guiding planes, disposing of bombs, and providing ground security. He also describes American aircraft and German weaponry, including butterfly bombs and V-1 and V-2 rockets. Wortham recounts pilots' stories of major air raids, such as the attack on a ball bearing plant in Schweinfurt, and recalls the landings of several severely damaged bombers. He describes the bombing and strafing he witnessed from the ground, and briefly mentions a German prisoner and British "ack-ack girls" (young women who manned the searchlights and anti-aircraft guns).

Interview Accession

1985oh055_ww002

Interviewee Name

James T. Wortham

Interviewer Name

Arthur L. Kelly

Interview Date

1985-03-07

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.

Restriction

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Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

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Wortham, James T. Interview by Arthur L. Kelly. 07 Mar. 1985. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.

Wortham, J.T. (1985, March 07). Interview by A. L. Kelly. American Veterans: World War Two Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.

Wortham, James T., interview by Arthur L. Kelly. March 07, 1985, American Veterans: World War Two Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.





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