The Build Up and Beginning

A novel about war, love, and a love of flying...

Walter Schmidt graduates from Texas A&M and goes into the Air Corps in 1936. Schmidt gets his wings and meets his future wife in San Antonio and is then posted to Wright Field. He is a junior officer working on a team to develop an auto land system for aircraft that is being pioneered at Wright.

The Air Corp, concerned by the coming conflict in Europe, selects him and several other young pilots with engineering degrees to be sent to Maxwell for the Air Corps Tactical School as preparation for duties overseas. Upon graduation in late 1937, he marries the girl he met in San Antonio and goes to London as an Assistant Air Attaché. There he studies and reports on the RAF's preparation for war, the RAF's integrated air defense set up and their current and upcoming aircraft. As part of this task he takes the RAF Operational Training course for fighter pilots and tests RAF fighters.

After the initiation of the Battle of Britain he provides information to the USAAC about the progress and prospects for the British in the Battle and the capabilities of the Luftwaffe. When the US enters the war, he is sent to fly Spitfires with the RAF in order to gain combat experience.

Six months later when the USAAF appears in Britain in force, he is transferred to 8th Air Force. His first duties involve getting the 31st and 52nd Fighter Groups combat ready. He is instrumental in getting these groups switched out of P-39D's and into Spitfires. He then helps the 31st in their initiation to combat.

His next major duty is to convince the pilots of the 4th Fighter Group that is made up of the three ex-Eagle Squadrons to give up their Spitfires and that they can be successful flying P-47C in combat. Completing this task, he is given command of that group replacing the RAF Wing Commander who has been on loan to the USAAF. While commanding the 4th he arranges for drop tanks for the P-47 so that it can escort the B-17's and B-24's further into Germany and reduce the drastic losses the bombers are incurring when unescorted.