WWII DOCUMENTS
Explore real documents from WWII. This page contains actual documents from the years 1940 to 1945 and beyond. Here you will find actual flight logs from Marilyn's father Eugene F. Phillips, a P-38 fighter pilot during WWII. You will also be able to view Newspaper Articles from this era along with chilling personal letters sent back home from a POW in the Nazi Camp, Stalag Luft III, famously depicted in the film "The Great Escape."
Marilyn's Father's Pilot Training Timeline Before Entering WWII
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1940 graduates from High School
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1941 January enlists in Army Air Corps
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1941 Puts off induction till he completes civilian pilot training (CPT) at Harrington Airport in Mansfield, Ohio. A scholarship pays for flight school.
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1941 works at Fate-Root-Heath Co tool room as a machinist.
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1942 Jan. 21 leaves Fate-Root-Heath Co
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1942 Jan. 26 Inducted into Army
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1942 April 30 sent to Santa Ana, CA, then King City, CA and finally Chico, CA
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1942 Oct. 30 receives Silver Wings and Commissioned as 2nd Lt.
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1942 Camp Pendleton Air Base, Oregon
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1942 Dec. 15 given the P-38 to fly and train
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1943 Feb. 21 sent to North Africa, Tunisia
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History of WWII
It takes strategy to win a war. Leaders study the enemy’s locations, spies bring intelligence, and pilot reconnaissance missions gather information In World War II, it was the Axis powers of Germany, Japan, and Italy against the Allied forces of Europe, Russia, and the US. The US began working closely with England even before Pearl Harbor was attacked. Once plans are set in place, military leaders evaluate how these strategies are working. In WWI, there was some use of air power, but not to the extent it would be utilized in WWII. Some American pilots had volunteered to fly for England even before the Pearl Harbor attack. One of these pilots was then Lieutenant Colonel Albert Clarke. Albert Clarke went to England as second-in-command of the 31st Fighter Group, the first American fighter unit in the European Theater of Operations. He was shot down over Abbeville, France, in July 1942 and was a prisoner of war until April 1945.
In January 1943, a conference was held among the Allied forces called the Casablanca Conference. The leaders evaluated the air strategies at this time. Operation TORCH was the name of the invasion of French North Africa in November 1942; it was the first time the British and Americans had jointly worked on an invasion together.
My father finished his flight training at the end of 1942. At that point, the Allied leaders decided that the strategies of flying out of North Africa were important. Ground forces had secured Tunisia in North Africa, and the US had set up an airbase there. Tunisia was an ideal location for an airfield to provide air power over Sicily and the southern part of Italy.
The Eighth Air Force was merged into the Twelfth Air Force under the command of General Carl Spaatz. General Carl Spaatz was head of the Northwest Africa Air Forces (NWAAF).
When my father arrived in Tunisia, the airmen were set up to fly 25 missions before they could go home. Many of them would do US tours for bond drives. Bond drives were a way for the American people to support the war effort. However, that never came to pass. As as my father finished his first 25 missions, he was given leave but had to stay in North Africa. Then he started his second round of 25 missions.
General Jimmy Doolittle had been assigned after his Tokyo raid to prepare the Fourth Bombardment Wing for service with the Air Force on July 30th. Doolittle arrived in England on August 6 to take on this considerable task. After conferences with Doolittle and Spaatz, Eisenhower built his plan, announcing he meant to form the Operation Torch Air Force around a nucleus taken from the Eighth with additional units drawn directly from the US. The initial combat force comprised heavy bombardment groups, two P-38, and two Spitfire fighter groups. Planning for this new Air Force, they named it Operation JUNIOR; however, most of the Twelfth commands were activated in the US.
Awards Given To Eugene F. Phillips
WWII Air Combat Missions 1943
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Eugene's Heroic Missions and the Fall into Enemy Hands
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Progress of WWII
Mussolini was not prepared for a long conflict. He stayed in the war for the Imperial ambitions of the fascist regime which aspired to restore the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean.
Ultimately the Italian Empire collapsed after disastrous defeats. The Allied forces' campaigns in Eastern Europe and in North Africa caused their defeat by July of 1943.
After arriving in North Africa, Gene saw plenty of action, a member of the 95th fighter Squadron, 82nd Fighter Group. His letters home revealed that he participated in the North African campaign including Tunis and Bizerette. The last letter Gene wrote to his mother dated August 20th he was working for a promotion and stated he had been on 42 missions. He had seen service in the capture of Sicily and the invasion of Italy.
The United States government had received intelligence that the Germans were taking over the Italian airfields. A surprise attack was planned on the airfield outside of Foggia, Italy on August 25, 1943. Gene was in the first wave of this surprise attack to strafe the field with fighters and bombers to destroy the German planes. Strafing is one of the most dangerous actions for pilots, as they are close to the ground at fast speeds. In trying to protect his wingman Gene was shot down by a German 109 plane. He hit the trees at a speed of 300MPH. He was knocked unconscious and when he awoke his plane was on fire. He evaded capture for 30 hours before being turned into the Germans army. The first thing the German says to a captured prisoner is, “For you, the war is over”.
In a telegram dated September 18 the war department notified his family that their son was missing in action.
Gene was held in prisons in Bari, Italy, Chetti, Italy and Salmonia, Italy. The Germans would parade the airmen through the streets of these towns and let people spit on them and try to shame the prisoners.
On October 10 he arrived at Stalag Luft III, 90 miles east of Berlin. This prisoner of war camp was for Airman. The Prisoners of War were in different sections of the camp. They were still building the barracks for the American Prisoners as we had gotten into this war later then the European countries. My father was put into the British area camp first. After a while he was sent to South Camp the American Section.
In January of 1945 Hitler knew he was losing the war. On January 25th, he decided to march all 10,500 allied prisoners to a train station in Spremberg, Germany to be stuffed into cattle cars to Nuremberg and Moosburg, Germany. That night they marched out in below zero weather to march 63 miles to Spremberg. This march became known as “The Long March”. Some prisoners did not survive the march. Hitler thought he may use these prisoners as a bargaining chip, but that never happened.
The prisoners lived in terrible conditions in these camps because there were not enough barracks or tents. Many lived outside with little to no food until April 29,1945 when General George Patton’s Army came to liberate them. Some were sent to hospital ships and other helped with the concentration camp rescue, and others started the journey home by Ships.
~After World War II~
Eugene Becomes a Test Pilot for Cutting-Edge Experimental Aircraft
When Gene returned back to the U.S. He was sent to Atlantic City New Jersey for two weeks of rest and recuperation.
Then he reported to Aloe Field , TX in August of 1945. There he was put back in an airplane for the first time since his crash landing in Italy in August 1943.
Then in October he’s sent to Foster Field, Victoria TX. He gets put into the Flight Operations Division and ends up in Perrin Field, TX. Here he meets Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to fly the speed of sound.
The Army Air Corps was looking for a gifted P-38 pilot to test a new plane. Gene is transferred to Cincinnati, Ohio to test the P-82B (later to be renamed the F-82B). This was Two P-51s cut and made into one airplane.
Below are the flight logs sheets for these test flights.
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Eugene Participates in Operation "Fox Peter One" —The First MassTrans-Pacific Flight of Jet Aircraft Involving Aerial Refueling
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Fox Peter One pioneered the use of aerial refueling to fly masses of aircraft over the Pacific Ocean. It served to display to enemies of the U.S. Air Force the ability to quickly project combat power to almost anywhere in the world—technologies that are taken for granted today. This operation changed the way the Air Force operates to this day. Learn More ->
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My Father's Secrets
My Father’s Secrets
One daughter’s journey through war, secrecy, and the invisible weight of service.
Marilyn was born into a world shaped by conflict and duty. As the daughter of an Air Force fighter pilot whose career spanned WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, she lived a life of constant motion—never knowing where she’d land next, always tethered to the rhythms of war and diplomacy. Her father, once a P-38 pilot and POW, carried secrets that stretched across continents and decades.
From the Korean War to the Cold War, the Vietnam Era to the Civil Rights Movement, Marilyn grew up on the front row of history. Her memoir reveals the hidden world of military intelligence—reconnaissance flights, covert missions, and the quiet sacrifices of families who served without recognition. Through vivid storytelling and emotional clarity, My Father’s Secrets explores what it means to grow up in the shadow of national service, where love and loyalty are tested by the demands of a country at war.
This is not just a story of one man’s classified missions—it’s the story of a daughter uncovering the truth behind the uniform, and the cost of silence carried across generations.
My Father’s Secrets
Kim Gooch Gawne, A professional book reviewer said this about the book:
"For all who enjoy military history and a really good story, a new book is arriving in the form of a memoir about her father written by Marilyn Johansen. Her fathers incredible story showcases the life of an American devoted to service. He lived history that we can only read about, such as the World War II POW camps, the Nuremberg trials and the American diplomatic service. Throughout, the author includes aviation information and a fascinating section detailing the developments that arrived to us through conflict, such a s chemotherapy and our interstate highway system. This work will stand the test of time and would be a welcome addition to your collection."