The Sub Threat Subsides
Coastal Patrol Stands Down August 31, 1943

By summer 1943, Germany moved sub operations to the mid-ocean “air gap,” removing the U-Boat threat from the coasts – or so the strategists believe.

German Admiral Doenitz was said to have admitted, “It was those damned little red and yellow airplanes!”

Even with factory paint jobs, those little private planes (and their volunteer pilots) made a name for themselves – CAP Coastal Patrol – that resonated all the way back to Berlin.

It Wasn’t Easy

Once bases were established, CAP pilots were paid $8 for each day they flew, but no salary or other compensation. Mechanics and observers (the latter just as “out at sea” as the pilots) got less than that.

Government or
military support
was little and
usually late.
-------------------
Telegram (above): 29 July 1943, HOPE TO MAIL CHECKS IN A FEW DAYS DOING ALL WE CAN BUT CAN MAKE NO PROMISES. EVERYTHING BEING DONE TO EXPEDITE PAYMENT.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Early in Coastal Patrol, pilots at Base 1 in Atlantic City were evicted from their boarding houses for non-payment of rent. The Sun Oil Company, founder of the Tanker Protection Fund, had to dispatch a driver to empty the cash registers of their nearby filling stations to get the pilots back in their rooms!

One pilot calculated that after six months and 40,000 miles of over-water flying, he cleared $10 a month! Most pilots lost money.

Altogether, CAP personnel spent $1,000,000 of their own money to fight WWII on the home front.

 

I.    The Gathering Threat II.   The CAP Subchasers of WWII III.   Many Other WWII Missions IV.  Post-War: Now What? V.  The Cold War Years VI.  Search & Rescue VII. CAP Today		NEXT >>
	Exhibit III: Other MIssions