Subscribe Today

• Subscribe to Armchair General Magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!
 

Shortly before D-Day, Albert Sabo’s L-4 was replaced by a Stinson L-5 Sentinel – a more powerful, faster and better equipped light aircraft that was becoming standard equipment for USAAF liaison squadrons. On June 13 (D-Day + 7), Albert Sabo joined forces with six more L-5s for a low-level formation flight across the English Channel to Normandy.

Throughout the Normandy campaign, Sabo led a nomadic existence. Looking back to that period he recalled: “Spares for the aircraft were hard to come by, and bullet holes were patched with whatever we had on hand. We often ate, slept and wrote letters home in our planes, and when it rained or got foggy we slept under a wing. The Germans were always shooting at us, and we had to keep a good lookout in all directions.”

The unit history of the 153d Liaison Squadron reveals that Staff Sergeant Albert S. Sabo of “A” Flight was awarded the Air Medal on July 31, 1944. It appears that for some reason – most likely due to his detachment to V Corps – details of his promotion did not catch up with him, and the accompanying pay raise was hidden by increased deductions and a compulsory savings scheme.

Despite his true grade, it was still as a private airman that Sabo continued to fly hazardous missions. He suffered his first serious crash during the battle for Luxembourg City, but luckily he escaped unhurt. Sabo flew missions during the Battle of the Bulge, followed by missions along the Rhine River, during which his L-5 was once more badly damaged by ground fire. Again luck was on his side and he escaped serious injury.

When promotion finally caught up with Sabo, it was only to the rank of corporal. Yet on February 5, 1945, when Sabo was awarded the Oak Leaf Cluster to his Air Medal, his unit records again showed him as a staff sergeant. Shortly thereafter Sabo was withdrawn from operations. At the same time he received the welcome news that he was now a technical sergeant and that he was to return to the United States for a rest period prior to reassignment.

In March of 1945, Sabo was reassigned to the Third Air Force in the China-Burma- India Theater of Operations, but his orders were cancelled when the war ended. On August 11, 1945, Sabo was discharged from military service, bringing to an end the unique career of a pilot who flew in the uniform of a private for most of his four years with the USAAF.

Ken Wakefield, author of “The Fighting Grasshoppers” and “Lightplanes at War,” is a leading authority on U.S. Army liaison aircraft operations. He served with the Royal Air Force and the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and then later became an airline pilot. Wakefield is now retired but still flies his restored Ninth U.S. Army Piper L-4H cub.

Help Armchair General by bookmarking to