"When they got them back;"
Danny, you posed the question:
When they got them back; how did they compare with the home grown product ?...
I can't answer that question, but I can confirm where the vast majority of them served. Not in Pursuit (Fighter) Squadrons nor Bomber Squadrons but in the ATC (Air Transport Command).
Now I don't buy into the 'Gung Ho' Fighter jocks taunt that ATC stood for "Allergic to Combat," as anyone who flies a defenceless C-47 (or whatever) into a combat zone would seem to me to be very brave indeed. But I digress.
The Clewiston News of May 28 1943 reports on the graduation of my father's course (12) and concludes with:
"The group (U.S. and RAF) left on Tuesday for unannounced destinations and new assignments by the Royal Air Force and the Air Transport Command."
Now ,as I have stated in a previous post, these U.S. cadets were selected for BFTS by means of College and University credits and most of them had civilian flying experience to PPL level and were "the best of the best" of the USAAC cadets. But their future as ATC pilots seems to be preordained - despite the fervent desire of some of them to be P-51 aces.
In Will Largent's 7 interviews with the U.S. cadets (3 from course 12, 2 from course 18, 1 from course 17 and also a gent from No 3 BFTS (how did he get in here?) everyone of them said that all their graduates went to ATC.
Now here's the nugget: Blaine H. Schultz of my father's course 12 said:
"I was sent to Maxwell Field, Alabama, for preflight training. The word came down that volunteers with previous flying experience were needed to attend the BFTS in Clewiston, Florida. In return for volunteering, we were told that we would be placed in the noncombat Air Transport Command. That seemed to be a good idea at the time."
Blaine, and the rest of the course 12 Americans went from Clewiston to Alpina, Michigan for reassignment within Air Transport Command. Blaine was sent first to Texas to Braniff Airlines to learn the DC-3. Then to St Joseph, Missouri for instrument training. He was then assigned to the 3rd Ferry Group and checked out on the P-39, P-40, P-47, and P-51. (The P-39s were mainly ferried up to Alaska where they were handed over to Russian pilots). He was later checked out on the C-46 which he flew on the southern route to Europe (down to Natal, Brazil, then Ascension Island to Dakar and then up to Marrakesh. He spent the the rest of the war based in Tripoli and Casablanca. This career path was typical for the U.S. graduates of BFTS.
So Danny, I don't know what the USAAC thought of them - but that's what they did with 'em.
Do ut des
IanBB