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Col. Thomas M. Seymour, 387th Bombardment Group
Thomas M. Seymour
Born in Dubuque on Sept. 27, 1916, Tom was the son of Victor Seymour (making him
Alan’s first cousin) and had his early education at St. Anthony’s School and
then attended Loras Academy from where he graduated in 1934. Four years later he
completed his college course at Loras College and received his Bachelor of
Science degree with a mathematic major and a physics minor. He attended CMTC
Camp in Des Moines, Ia., for four summers, and was commissioned a second
lieutenant in the reserve in 1936 just after completing his second year of
college. At Loras College, Tom was a member of the vested choir for four years,
on the staffs of the Spokesman and The Loran, and played in the band.
On July 11,1939, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces at Des Moines, and was sent
to Spartan Aeronautical School, Tulsa, Okla., for a three months course.
Following completion of this, he was transferred to Randolph Field, Tex., and
from there to Kelly Field, Tex., where on March 23, 1940, he was commissioned a
second lieutenant in the regular Army and awarded his fighter pilots wings.
For three months following his graduation, Tom served as an instructor at Kelly
Field, and then was sent to Mitchell Field, FL. for two months instruction on
the two-motored bomber school located there. In November 1940 he completed his
course as a bomber pilot, and was transferred to Langley Field, Va. for four
months further study.
An article in the Telegraph Herald described one of Tom’s missions:
Dubuquer Aided Hunt
For Lost CAF Plane
Lieut. Seymour Flew One of 9 Bombers Sent to Canada
The dramatic search by U. S. Army bombers for six Royal Canadian Air Force
fliers, who bailed out of their Atlantic Patrol plane just before it crashed in
the desolate bush country near East Lake, Quebec, Nov. 17, was described in
letters received here from Lieutenant Thomas M. Seymour, of Dubuque, who aided
in the hunt.
The son of Mr. and Mrs. Victor F, Seymour, of 1710 Asbury Street, Lieutenant
Seymour piloted one of nine U. S. Army Douglas bombers that scoured the rugged
terrain under difficult flying conditions in search of the missing men.
Three Still Missing
Three were found and three are still missing.
It was the U. S. plane in which Major H. L. George, commander of the American
squadron, was riding, that caught the first glimpse of the wreckage of the
Canadian plane just inside the United States. A member of the plane’s crew saw
the marked tail of the crashed plane, but so dense was the forest and underbrush
that the Americans could not confirm the fact that the wreckage was below for
another 20 minutes.
“In order to obtain a sufficiently clear view of the terrain it was necessary to
fly very low so that the propellor blast of the searching plane would blow aside
the tree tops, permitting a view of the ground,” according to a story of the
search received here from Lieutenant Seymour.
Long Flights Made
Lieutenant Seymour was one of 4 officers and crew members who flew to Canada
from Langley Field, Va., in nine bombers to join in the search at the request of
the Canadian government.
The squadron was grounded the first day by low ceiling and scattered snowfalls,
but on the second day Lieutenant Seymour covered 300 square miles in his plane.
Similar long flights were made during the next two days.
Canadian newspapers said one of the squadron narrowly averted a crash Nov. 22,
just before returning to the airport at Montreal. Following a valley in the East
Lake area, and flying close to the ground, the man at the controls took a sharp
turn to the right. Suddenly the valley ended and a steep climb was necessary to
avoid hitting a hill.
.
One of the officers was quoted as saying: “For a moment, it seemed that the hill
was gaining altitude faster than the plane.”
“Million Parachutes”
The difficulty of spotting a parachute was very great “With the snow on the tops
of the fir trees, it seems as if there are a million parachutes down there,” one
of the pilots remarked.
The Canadians were forced to jump from their big Digby bomber when they ran out
of gas and iced up badly, just inside the Maine border. The crew jettisoned the
plane’s load of bombs over desolate woodlands before they jumped.
Lieutenant Seymour’s last letter from Montreal said hope for the three men still
missing had virtually been abandoned.
In March 1941, he was sent to the Jackson, Miss., Army Air Base, where he was
stationed as an instructor and operations officer until December, 1941, when he
was transferred to San Francisco, Calif., to go overseas. His orders were
changed, however, and after three months in California, he was transferred to
Wright Field, Dayton, Oh., where he served as test pilot on B-26’s for three
months. From Wright Field, he went to Barksdale Field, La., where until January
1943, he served as group operations officer. From Barksdale Field, Tom was
promoted to Major and sent to MacDill Field, Tampa, Florida. There he joined the
387th Bombardment Group (M) with its four member squadrons, the 556th, 557th,
558th and 559th as group S-3.
Col. Harry Dennis (Ret) was a 2nd Lt. Bombadier in the 387th and he said he “Met
Maj. ‘Whip’ Seymour early in January of 1942 at MacDill Army Air Field, Tampa,
FLA new Bomb Group was in the process of activation to be designated as the
387th Bomb Grp (M) B-26 Martin Maruader. The Group Commander, Col Carl Storrie
had appointed Major Seymour Group Operation Officer and in the process
challenged him a low altitude skip Bombing Competition to take place on Avon
Park FL. Bombing and Gunnery range.
“My role was bombardier for Col Storrie while a former Bombardier in the RAF (tranferred
to AAF) was to fly with Whip Seymour. Col Storrie and I emerged as winner with
the lowest CEP (circular error) out of ten practice bombs each and the winner of
a bottle of good whiskey as well. The scoring personnel on the range reported
they had never seen such spectacular flying by both pilots”
The 387th was named the “Tiger Stripe Marauder Group” due to the slanted yellow
stripes painted on the vertical stabilizers of the planes. The men and planes
arrived in England in July 1943. Some of the missions that Col. Tom was involved
in were described in a history of the 387th :
“Two noteworthy missions were flown in November (1943) against a new type target
- the ‘noball’.
“These objectives consisted of rocket guns and ‘pilotless’ aircraft
installations in the Pas de Calais area of France. The installations had a
two-fold handicap for the bombardiers: (1) Because of their comparatively small
area and expert camouflage, they were very difficult to spot from the air,
especially if the weather was hazy; (2) Because of the small area covered, they
were extremely hard to hit. They required excellent ‘pinpoint’ bombing. The
first noball target hit by the 387th was Vineyesques, France near Cape Gris Nes
on November 5. The second was against Martinvast in the Cherbourg area on
November 11. Results were fair to good. The ‘noballs’ offered a real challenge
to pilot-navigator-bombardier crews in teamwork and coordination. Bombing
accuracy steadily improved; and after the invasion forces had landed on the
continent, results could be evaluated. Mediums, again, had proved the
effectiveness of ‘pinpoint’ bombing technique. “On November 3 the group achieved
its best bombing results up to that date. With good visibility and little flak,
the formation, led by Lieutenant Colonel Seymour and Lieutenant William Tuill,
hit the airdrome at St. Andre de L’Fure with excellent results. The aiming point
was a group of repair shops and living quarters. Of the forty-five buildings in
the area thirty-six were destroyed and several more damaged by the concentration
of bombs that fell in perfect pattern. Four planes were damaged by flak. “With
only fifteen operational days during April the group achieved excellent bombing
results. Targets included ‘noballs’, marshalling yards, and for the first time
since September, a number of coastal defenses. The first of these occurred on
April 10 when Colonel Caldwell led a thirty-six ship formation over Le Harve.
The bombardiers had not lost their accuracy; for all strikes were seen to hit
the target area, and one scored a direct hit on a gun emplacement. The same
afternoon Lieutenant Colonel Seymour led the attack on the Namur marshalling
yards. Following a formation of ‘window’ ships, the 387th dropped incendiaries
which started numerous fires. “The joy crews felt after the two highly
successful missions of the 10th was short-lived. Two days later, leading a
formation over coastal defenses near Dunkerque, Colonel Caldwell and his crew
were shot down by enemy flak….Colonel Caldwell was succeeded as commanding
officer by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas M. Seymour, who had been with the 387th
since MacDill Field.”
Bill Redmond kept a diary against regulations and here is one excerpt:
“Mission #56 – May 24, 1944: In the afternoon we went after 6 – 88mm naval guns
north of Le Touquet. We bombed in 6’s. 1st 6 hit military installations north of
guns. 2nd (our high flight) hit 2 guns and disabled 3rd gun. 3rd 6 poor and 2
other flights got fair results. Col. Seymour rode as our co-pilot. No flak.”
“…On the social side the various squadrons staged several enjoyable parties.
Accommodations at the field were being improved, and the presence of English
girls and American nurses continued to be a welcome change. A decided uplift in
the morale of the combat crews at this time was felt by the return to the United
States of several veteran combat teams for well deserved rests.”
Col. Gayle L. Smith recalls his association with Col. Tom. Smith was born on a
farm near Arlington, Iowa and graduated from Upper Iowa University where he
majored in Math and participated in baseball, basketball, football and band and
orchestra.
“Our mission in combat was to attack missile sites, coastal fortifications,
military air fields, anti aircraft installations, ammo and fuel supply points,
transportation facilities, research and manufacturing facilities and after the
invasion assist our army by denying access on escape by destroying roads,
bridges, and railheads. In other words prevent the enemy from advancing as well
as retreating to regroup.
“...Col. Thomas Seymour. He was the Group Operations Officer for a B-26 training
group at Barksdale Field, Shreveport, LA. when I first met him. He was a Major
then (Aug. 42) and was responsible for establishing and monitoring combat crew
training in the B-26 Martin Marauder. In this position he had already
established himself as an excellent pilot in the B-26 and was highly regarded as
an authority in its operation. My contact with him, as a 1st Lt., was in the
capacity of an assistant Squadron Operations Officer and an instructor pilot. I
would have meetings with him a couple times a week until late Jan. 43. At that
time we both received orders to report to the 387th Bomb Group-a unit that was
in the early stages of formation for overseas. His orders specified his
assignment as S-3, Group Operations Officer-my order specified as Asst. Group
Operations Officer. (I have often wondered as to whether he was instrumental in
selecting me or not. He never said and I never asked) I don’t know if Tom knew I
was from Iowa or not. He would have access to my records when I would not have
access to his. A discussion of our backgrounds never took place.
“Now in our new jobs, I worked directly for him from Feb. 43 until 17 April 44
at which time he elevated to be Commander of the 387th.
“In his position of Group Operations Officer he was responsible for organizing
all of our combat missions, ie. crew briefing, airplane formations, routes to
target, assembly procedures and emergency procedures. The two of us worked
together as one-catching sleep in the office. A typical day would consist of
receiving the next day’s targets from 10pm throughout the night. We had to work
with intelligence for route information; material for aircraft availability;
squadron operations for crew availability; armament for loading of guns in the
specific aircraft; ordnance for bomb loads in these a/c; lead crew assignments;
specific position of each aircraft in the formation; plane takeoff time to make
a specific time over target; and brief the crews on what to expect in the way of
enemy action.
“In addition to working all night Col. Tom would fly lead aircraft for the
entire group (periodically). That would normally consist of two 18 ship
formations and sometimes three 18 ship formations. He never asked anyone to do
anything that he wouldn’t do. Statistics as to the number of mission that he
flew; the targets etc. are unknown to me but should be reflected in his
personnel records…
“Col. Seymour developed the confidence in my capabilities to the extent that he
was instrumental in my promotions to Capt. and Major, plus becoming the Group
Operations Officer when he took over command of the entire group.
“Col. Seymour was an outstanding pilot. He knew the B-26 and the potential
dangers involved. I really don’t know the cause of his crash. I do know that he
passed over the airfield on single engine (the other engine was feathered-shut
down). He made a 180 degree turn to fly downwind parallel to the run way and he
crashed on that downwind leg. I don’t know why he didn’t land instead of flying
on single engine over the runway. I don’t recall any radio transmission that
indicated he was in trouble and can only surmise that he flew over the field to
alert the crash crew-fire wagon to be on alert and to let the tower know that he
will be making an emergency landing.
“His death was a great loss to out group, and to me personally, since we had
worked together so long. I experienced three of these tragedies during my tour,
Col. Seymour and two of my 4 man tent mates. You never forget having to pack up
the personal effects of your close buddies.”
Col. Robert Keller was a squadron C.O. (a Capt.) in Col. Tom’s Bomb Group. He
recalled:
“We first met when he (Tom) was assigned to the 387th Bomb Group as Group
Operations Officer, in charge of all the flight training and operations of the
group. He was a handsome officer, always meticulously dressed, and a very
capable and demanding officer. He was later promoted to the position of Deputy
Group Commander.
“On April 12, 1944 the Group Commander, Col. Caldwell, was leading the Group on
a mission to Dunkirk when he was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and all hands
were lost. Col. Seymour was selected to be the new Group Commander.
“Not much is known about the accident on the night of July 17 when about 1030
hours he (Tom) crashed near the airfield while flying on one engine.”
The Telegraph Herald ran a front page article on Tom’s death which in part read:
Col. Seymour Dies In Crash
27-Year-Old Dubuquer Killed In England
Col. Thomas Martin Seymour, 27, United States Army Air Forces, son of Mr. and
Mrs. V. (Victor) F. Seymour, 1710 Asbury Street, a B-26 Martin Marauder pilot
and commanding officer of the Tiger Stripe Marauder Group “Somewhere in
England,” was killed July 17 while returning to his base after an administrative
flight to another airdrome, when his plane developed engine trouble and went out
of control into a crash three miles from the field.
This news came Monday morning to Col. Seymour’s parents from Brig. Gen. Samuel
B. Anderson, Headquarters, Ninth Bomber Command, who was Col. Seymour’s
commanding officer. The Seymours have not had official War Department news of
their son’s casualty.
Eulogized by General Brig. Gen. Anderson’s letter read as follows: “The War
Department will have informed you by now of your son’s death in an aircraft
accident which occurred in England on the evening of 17 July. I realize that
nothing I can say will alleviate your grief but I want you to know that your
loss is shared by myself and by all your son’s many friends in this command.
Ninth Bomber Command and the Army Air Force have lost an excellent Group
Commander and an outstanding leader.
“I am sure you would like to know how the accident occurred. Tom was returning
to base after an administrative flight to another airdrome when he experienced
engine trouble. He called the control tower and reported he was going to pass
over the field, turn on his bad engine so as to take advantage of its remaining
power and make a normal two-engine landing. He did pass over the field but lost
control of the airplane shortly thereafter and crashed about three miles from
the field. He was instantly killed in the crash.
“Since Tom joined our command a year ago,” the Dubuquer’s commanding officer
continued, “1 have been in close and continual association with him. As a great
pilot for aggressiveness in combat and gentlemanly qualities, Tom commanded the
warmest allegiance and regard of the men who worked with him...”
“You have my deepest sympathy in you loss. No one can replace Tom and I shall
never forget him.”
In England 14 Months
He was last home in August, 1942. He was a member of St. Anthony’s parish where
a requiem high mass of memoriam is being said next Saturday morning at 8
o’clock.
The last two letters Col. Seymour’s parents received from him were dated July 16
and 17. In the former one, he stated that he had just found out that he was the
youngest colonel in command of a B-26 group over there. The letter of July 17,
the day he was killed, arrived in Dubuque five days after it had been written.
Surviving, other that his parents, are his wife, a Women’s Army Corps corporal
stationed “Somewhere in Australia”, a Philadelphia girl to whom he was married
there on Dec. 31, 1942; three sisters, Pat and Mary at home, and Mrs. James
(Ann) Martin, Fort Belvoir, Va.; and several aunts and uncles.
The Dubuque pilot was termed “one of the best B-26 pilots in the business”, and
Ninth Air Force headquarters had stated that, under his tutelage, many Marauder
pilots at his base “learned to handle the fast medium bomber. He had been
awarded the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Distinguished Flying
Cross and had figured prominently in the briefing of all medium bomber groups in
the invasion of France.
A recent story about Col. Seymour in the field paper. ‘The Bombay,’ applauded
the Dubuquer for maintenance of his high standard of skill and ability since his
transfer to the Ninth Air Force group in England.
In a tragic government snafu, Tom’s father learned of his death over the radio.
Victor sold subscriptions to the Dubuque Telegraph Herald to farmers in the
rural areas. He stopped alongside the road to eat his paper sack lunch and
listen to the noon news when he learned of his son’s death.
The Official Report of the accident provides little information on Col. Tom’s
crash:
Pilot’s Mission - Cross Country
Nature of accident – Crash into trees and open field.
Cause of accident – One engine feathered. Apparently there was a loss of power
in the good engine and the pilot was unable to hold altitude to land on the
airdome.
Description of accident – Pilot called in while still several minutes from field
stating that he was on single engine. Eye-witness report that the airplane
passed over field with one engine feathered and appeared to be going around for
a landing. On what would normally be a base leg, airplane lost altitude and
crashed. Cause of accident is undetermined.
This board has no further recommendation other than the memorandum which states
that a minimum crew of Pilot, co-pilot, Engineer and Radio-operator be complied
with on all flights.
Lt. Col. Wright’s father was shot down in “El Capitan” in May 1944 but was told
about Col. Tom’s crash from others when he returned after the war. Col. Wright
says: “this is unconfirmed; it is only from 50+ years’ memory: Col. Seymour took
an aircraft up and was doing a demo flight and made several low passes. The last
pass was a bit low and the props impacted the ground at approximately the 3000
foot marker and the aircraft stopped at about the 5000 foot marker and burst
into flames.”
After the war, Col. Tom’s remains were returned from Cambridge, England and
interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 12, Grave 1242 on July 23,
1948.
During the war General Jimmy Doolittle said that the Group Commander was the
most important job in the Air Force.
Three Group Commanders: Seymour, Brown & Caldwell
“Black Jack” Caldwell (left) with Col. Tom
Col. Tom (far right) at the Officer’s Club