foreign
[Music] During WW II fighter pilots became legends. They were heralded as the best and brightest their
respective nations had to offer and the American fighter pilots were immediate national heroes.
Their exploits became tabloid gold and those who became aces the five or more aerial victories
became public idols. Some were very colorful almost legendary in their swashbuckling lifestyles and
demeanor and one Robin olds was perhaps the best example of the cowboy in the sky a man determined
to be successful despite the odds. Who was Robin Olds? What was it about him that made him so
different from most other fighter pilots? How did he handle what he perceived to be the political
problems that impeded military effectiveness? And how effective was he as a combat leader?
Hello I'm Colin Heaton a veteran of the United States Army and Marine Corps former history
professor book author and welcome to this episode of Forgotten History [Music] foreign
[Music] Robin Olds
was born July 22 1922 in Honolulu Hawaii the son of Major General Robert olds a World War
One era instructor pilot and later an aide to General Billy Mitchell and he was a developer
of the long-range bomber program bringing the B-17 Flying Fortress to life. Oldsl mother died
when he was four years old and he grew up in the Hampton and Langley Airfield region of Virginia
where his father was assigned. He knew all of the future luminaries of American aviation men who
would be in high command positions in World War II. These familiarities would serve him well later.
At the age of eight he flew with his father in an open cockpit biplane trainer and was transfixed on
aviation. After World War II began with the German invasion of Poland on September 1st 1939 Olds
attempted to join the Royal Canadian Air Force but his father would not allow him to. Instead of
entering college right after high school in 1939 Olds enrolled at Millard Preparatory School for
West Point in Washington D.C. This was a school established to prepare men for the entrance
examinations to the military academies. He was accepted on June 1st 1940 and attended West Point
where he became an All-American football player. During this period his father Major General Robert
Olds died in 1943. Despite a rough patch with his superiors Olds graduated and was commissioned as
a second lieutenant in the U.S Army Air Corps. Olds completed the primary flight program at
the Spartan School of Aviation in Tulsa Oklahoma and later completed basic and advanced training at
Stewart Field New York. He completed fighter pilot trading with a 329th Fighter Group based at Grand
Central Air Terminal in Glendale, California. Olds was promoted to first lieutenant on December 1st
1943 and joined the cadre assigned to build up the newly activated 434th Fighter Squadron
part of the 479th Fighter Group based at Lomita California. Olds logged 650 hours of flying time
during training including 250 hours in the P-38 Lightning. After relocating to Camp Kilmer, New
Jersey his unit embarked upon the USS Argentina in May Landing in Scotland and then going to their
base at RAF Wattisham, England. His unit began bomber escort missions and he was now Captain Olds and
a squadron leader. Olds had many memorable combat events over Europe such as on August 23, 1944 he
and his wingman jettisoned their external drop tanks to engage around 50 Messerschmitt 109s.
Olds had forgotten to switch his fuel over to the internal tanks and his engines died. He was still
in dead stick glide mode when he scored the first of three kills on that mission. He went into a dive
to help a P-51 Mustang with two 109s on his tail when the g-forces and pressure despite his best
efforts to recover blew out the left window of his canopy. He experienced compressibility due to
the high-speed dive; his controls were frozen. He managed to recover control just before he would
have impacted just a few feet above a wheat field with a 109 on his tail. He stalled at a 90 degree
angle and the enemy passed by it. Olds shot him down. He had just become the group's first fighter ace.
The 479th Fighter Group transitioned into the P-51D Mustang in mid-September 1944. Olds completed
his first combat tour on November 9, 1944 logging 270 hours of combat time and six confirmed kills.
After a two-month leave he returned to Wattisham on January 15, 1945 and he scored steadily and
his final victory was on April 7, 1945. On this date he shot down a 109 and reported
a damaged Me-262 jet. In reality post-war German records show that his damaged jet was in fact a
kill; the aircraft was flown by a Captain Tronicke who landed wheels up on the two engine nacelles on
a grass field but he had been mortally wounded and was found dead in the cockpit. This was a
victory that Olds never received credit for but is chronicled in my book The Me-262 Stormbird. Olds
finished World War II officially credited with 13 German planes shot down and 11.5 other aircraft
destroyed on the ground his score should be 14 aerial victories in World War II. Olds was also the
only pilot to make ace in both the P-38 with five victories and the P-51 scoring eight victories.
He was promoted to Major at the age of 22 an unheard of accomplishment
being that he was only two two years out of West Point. Later Olds like all the other pilots
who remained on active duty transitioned into the new jets flying the p-80. He was also instrumental
in helping form the first air demonstration team for the newly created and separate U.S Air Force.
Olds competed in Air Races and was returned to England on an exchange program with the
RAF flying the Gloucester Meteor jet fighter. In fact he commanded No. 1 squadron at Royal
Air Force Station Tangmere between October 20th 1948 and September 25th 1949 and was the first
foreigner to ever command an RAF unit in peacetime. Upon his return to the United States in November
1949 he checked out in the North American F-86 Sabre the new Air Force frontline fighter while
stationed at March Air Force Base with the 94th Fighter Squadron of the 1st Fighter Group. When
the Korean War erupted Olds wanted to go and fight; that was just his nature, but his repeated
requests were all declined. What Olds did not know was that his wife at the time actress Ella
Raines had a lot of political pull due to her status and she did not want him going overseas.
He had to read about the other World War II aces such as Walker "Bud" Mahuran and Francis Gabreski
now flying against the Communists scoring kills while he remained stateside. Olds was promoted
to Lieutenant Colonel on February 20th 1951 and full Colonel on April 15 1953 and then assigned
to Landstuhl, Germany commanding the F-86s of the 86th Fighter Interceptor Wing. Later he
became chief of the Weapons Proficiency Center at Willis Air Force Base in Libya in charge of
all fighter weapons training for United States Air Forces Europe until July 1958.
Not to be deterred Robin Olds saw an opportunity as Vietnam was getting into high gear. Using his
great personal relation skills and tactical wisdom he managed to anger his superior a
brigadier general just enough to "punish" him by sending him to the war. Olds arrived in Thailand and
took command of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing based at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base.
Joining olds were Colonel Vermont Garrison an ace in both World War II and Korea and in December Olds
brought in Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. one of the original Tuskegee Airmen from World War II.
Olds and James became known as "Blackman and Robin" and the team was effective. Following up on
a suggestion to the Seventh Air Force Commander Major General William Momyer, Olds developed his
plan called Operation Bolo. This plan was to draw North Vietnamese Mig-21 fighters into a fight and
destroy them as they had been hitting the F-105 Thunderchief tactical bombers very hard. Old's
plan was to simulate an F-105 bombing formation following the same attack routes using their
radio channels and jamming pods. The ruse worked. 7 of the 16 Mig-21s in service with North
Vietnam were shot down. Other missions followed and Olds again scored three more victories.
On May 4th Olds destroyed another Mig-21 over Phuc Yen. two weeks later on May 20th he destroyed
two Mig-17s in a massive dog fight. Olds had four confirmed Mig kills but declined to shoot down his
fifth because he found out that as soon as he made ace in that war he would be relieved of command.
He was awarded his fourth Silver Star for leading a three aircraft low-level bombing strike on March
30, 1967 and the Air Force Cross for an attack on the Paul Doumer Bridge in Hanoi on August 11 1967.
As a result of his success Ho Chi Minh placed a $100,000 bounty on his head.
Robin in his own word said that he felt insulted. He felt that he was worth a lot more because he
had cost Ho Chi Minh 10 times that amount in the losses that he had inflicted upon him.
Olds flew 259 total combat missions which included 107 in World War II and 152 in
Southeast Asia, 105 of those over North Vietnam. He bitterly complained about the early Phantoms not
having internally mounted guns and being solely reliant upon missiles in air-to-air combat.
Many possible victories were lost as a result of this oversight. In an act of defiance he started
growing his non-regulation handlebar mustache in his own version of giving the middle finger
to the establishment that he believed had cost American lives and reduced their effectiveness.
Upon returning to Washington D.C. he reported to his first interview with Air Force Chief of Staff
General John P. McConnell and McConnell walked up to him stuck a finger under his nose and said
"Take it off," and Olds replied "Yes sir," and shaved off the mustache. Olds reported for duty to the United
States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado in December 1967. He served as Commandant
of Cadets for three years and sought to restore morale following the well-publicized cheating
scandal. Olds was later promoted to Brigadier General on June 1st 1968. in February 1971 Olds
assumed his last duty assignment as Director of Aerospace Safety in the Office of the Inspector
General Headquarters USAF, and after December 1971 as part of the Air Force inspection and
Safety Center at Norton Air Force Base, California. Later that year he toured the Air Force bases in
Southeast Asia on an inspection mission to assess fighter readiness for air-to-air combat and what
he reported was not what his superiors especially the Air Force Chief of Staff General John D. Ryan
wanted to hear. Olds was proven correct following the launching of Operation Linebacker. Navy and
Marine pilots who had attended Top Gun Fighter School proved the value of Olds' previous warnings.
The USN and USMC pilots flying gun equipped F-4s scored aerial kills at an average ratio
of three to one while the Air Force suffered at a one for one ratio proving Olds was right.
Brigadier General Robin olds retired on June 1st 1973. His personal Awards include the U.S
Air Force Cross, U.S Air Force Command Pilot Badge, two Air Force Distinguished Service
Medals, four Silver Stars, Legion of Merit, six Distinguished Flying Crosses, 40 Air Medals, the
Distinguished Flying Cross from the United Kingdom and Croix de Guerre with Silver Star from France.
His final score is 17 victories including four in Vietnam yet he still needs to be credited
with the Me-262 jet confirmed shot down by him in World War II from the German records.
His official record should reflect 18 victories with 14 in World War II. Robin Olds was a true
Maverick but he was a man who got things done and did so with flair. Those men under his command
loved him and that is about as good as it gets for a combat leader. I had the privilege of knowing and
interviewing Robin Olds and that interview in its entirety can be found in my book "Above the Reich."
Thank you for watching Forgotten History. Please click like subscribe and share. Send us comments
and share ideas and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Until next time [Music]
thank you