February 3, 2006

Oroville Mercury Register June 17, 1944

Chico Training Plane Missing
A basic training plane that left Chico army air field yesterday morning on a local routine training flight is missing and has been presumed lost, Chico Army airfield officials announced today. On the plane were Lt. David C. Hayes, Chicago, and Lt. N. J. Sidaris, Omaha, Neb. Residents of the upper Sacramento valley were asked to communicate with the field should the plane be found. The plane left the field at 7:20 am with sufficient gasoline to last until approximately 12:30 pm the public relations office said.

Allan Keith Risdon, son of Mrs. R. A. Risdon, of Pomona avenue, must have thought having his picture taken was something like a game of tag. Anyway, he took off in a hurry and the photographer had to shoot on the run. Allen, who was born June 17, 1943, has blond hair, blue eyes and six teeth. He weighs 27 pounds. His father is a member of a military police unit at Fort Custer, Mich. (It was rare to see a first year birthday photo in the paper at this time)

A U.S. NINTH AIR FORCE BOMBER STATION, ENGLAND
Carrying on the “behind the scenes” work making attacks on enemy targets successful are the squadron operations clerks of the Ninth Air Force B-26 group based in England. Through their hands must flow the endless reports and loading lists which form the groundwork for each mission. In charge of this work for his squadron is Staff Sgt. Arley M. Liming, Chico, Calif., a former resident of Oroville, Calif. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. DeArley V. Liming of Cadiz. Before entering the air force in March, 1943, Sgt. Liming was employed by the Diamond Match Company of Chico, as a bookkeeper. After receiving his army training he was assigned to the B-26 group and came overseas early last summer.

Mustang Fighter Visiting Father
Captain Henry Billie, Mustang fighter pilot and wearer of the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, is visiting his father, John S. Billie, on Wagstaff Road in Paradise. Billie has been on more that 50 missions. He was cited for his part in destroying a six-engined German transport.

Leonard Baby Named Stephen Ingram
Capt. and Mrs. Raymond Leonard became the parents Monday, of a son born at Oroville Curran Hospital. The baby has been named Stephen Ingram Leonard. Leonard is with an infantry division in Burma. Mrs. Leonard is the former Barbara Ingram, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Ingram of Gridley. Mrs. R. J. Leonard of Quincy road is the paternal grandmother.

Stu’s Notes: So many plane crashes around this area. It totally amazes me that all this happened and so little was reported. At least it should have come out after the War. I can see the Army keeping it quiet at the time,(the middle of War, not wanting to give any information to the enemy). All these young men came here, so far from their homes. We know of at least 18 crashes in the Oroville area and the names of the pilots. We will find out if they died and if so honor them as they should be. Daryl Autrey has found most of this information from the internet. Hopefully Chico and other towns will honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in their area. I have met two people thanks to Randy Fowler, who witnessed a couple of these crashes. More on their story coming soon. Allan Risdon (Petie when we were kids), has been a friend since then. He is now retired, as is his wife Tina and they live in Nevada. Allan worked for the Oroville Mercury when he was in the 8^th grade, delivering papers. In high school he worked at the Mercury Plant down town at various jobs, one was to lock up at night. Only once forgetting, which he heard from Dan Beebe Sr, the Editor, about that. Then he was off to college, marriage and the army. He made the Newspaper business his career, recently he retired from the Reno Gasette. Like his father, Allan served in our Armed forces. I have written about his dad before. To me he was always Mr. Risdon a most generous man, who served in the Philippines. For those who don’t know their planes, the P-51 Mustang came to service toward the end of the war. It was probably the best fighter plane. Bill Dunbar, my friend a P47 Pilot in WWII might have a few words about that. Oroville’s Samuel Broadax flew one training to be a Tuskegee Airman. Could Billie Rd. in Paradise be named for Captain Henry Billie. The six-engined German transport he shot down was a giant of a plane. I have written about the amazing exploits of Capt. Raymond Leonard, see our web site for his and every other man and women’s story that I have written about going on 4 years. Stephen is the brother of Ray Leonard, a school friend of Allan Risdon’s.