Ennis C. Warren was born in Wilmer, Alabama in September 1923. His mother died when he was born. He was raised by his grandparents. At the age of 12, he was sent to live with his father. He graduated high school in 1942. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] on 7 December 1941, he was in high school. He could not understand why a small country like Japan would attack the United States. He was drafted into the Army Air Forces [Annotator’s Note: in 1943] and went from Anniston, Alabama to Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia. He was given notice that he would be selected for the Army Air Force and was sent to Tampa, Florida. He lived in unsatisfactory conditions in a tent city. There was so much sickness with trainees going AWOL [Annotator's Note: absent without leave], that the group was moved to the Biltmore Hotel in Clearwater, Florida. There, the accommodations were very nice. His basic training was on a golf course following the Army assuming control of it. His next assignment was in Amarillo, Texas where he attended A and E, aircraft and engine, school. He learned about the airframe, engines and all the components of the airplane [Annotator’s Note: he was being trained to be a flight engineer for the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber]. Completing that training, he was transferred to Kingman, Arizona. He went through gunnery school there. Next after a ten-day delay en route [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a specified period of time], his crew was assembled in Tampa, Florida. He was selected to be the crew’s flight engineer. The crew went through a three-month training period. Another crew was lost and never found during those activities. Following that period, the crew went to Savannah, Georgia to pick up its airplane. After working with the aircraft and its instrumentation, the crew flew to Presque Isle, Maine and then Newfoundland where it was dark all the time. When a proper jet stream became available, the crew flew to Ireland in 12 hours. The runway was not visible for landing. The base was surrounded by mountains. The navigator directed the pilot by instrumentation to make a safe landing. The plane was taken from the crew so that it could be upgraded for combat. The crew stayed in huts until transferred to Scotland. The airmen had gunnery training at The Wash in the northeast of England. When the crew was reunited, they were sent to their permanent base at Podington, England with the 92nd Bomb Group [Annotator’s Note: 92nd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force].

Ennis C. Warren and his crew had an experienced officer fly their airplane on the first combat mission [Annotator’s Note: Warren was flight engineer on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber when he deployed to Europe with the 92nd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force flying out of Podington, England. New crews typically had an experienced pilot fly the first mission while the crew’s pilot assumed the copilot position.]. They flew to Munich, Germany. He now has friends in European cities that he bombed, so he prefers not to name the targets individually. His crew bombed oil fields, Peenemünde [Annotator’s Note: Peenemünde, Germany was the site for Germany’s secret weapons programs involving rocket flying bombs and missiles.], and submarine pens. A German officer revealed the location of some of those submarine pens. Warren and his crew bombed Berlin [Annotator’s Note: Berlin, Germany] twice. No one was hurt on the missions, though the bomber was peppered with flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] holes. On his first mission, he was not worried about the flashes of the flak detonations until he returned to base and saw the over 100 holes that punctured his B-17. That put the fear of flak in him [Annotator’s Note: he chuckles]. The plane flew at about 34,000 feet or higher where it was very cold. The crew flew with insulated suits and helmets. The top turret gunner could not wear his helmet because there was no room [Annotator’s Note: Warren’s position during enemy aircraft attacks was in the top turret]. His .50 caliber machine guns [Annotator's Note: Browning ANM2 .50 caliber machine gun] had bullets on both sides of his turret that turned with it. The gunsights were adjusted to fire in front of incoming aircraft [Annotator’s Note: he motions with his hands to show the difference in positions]. As engineer, Warren would call out the plane’s airspeed on takeoff. Nearing 100 miles per hour, the plane was at proper speed for takeoff. He did the same for landing. The longest mission was a nine-hour flight to Austria. Mountains could be seen nearby. He dropped bombs 35 times. Triangle missions using varying operational bases were flown by some planes, but not his. His aircraft always returned to its original base. Warren liked the B-17. It was sturdy and safe with its four engines. Once, an engine malfunctioned causing transformer problems. The flight was aborted. The crew that took their place in formation was killed on that mission. Flak was always a problem. The enemy guns were on railroad cars and could be moved. There was little to do after the missions because of fatigue. A 72-hour pass usually resulted in a trip to London [Annotator’s Note: London, England] or to one of several other places. The British knew the Americans were there to keep them safe since they lost so many men at Dunkirk [Annotator’s Note: The British Expeditionary Forces were driven from the port of Dunkirk, France in late May and early June 1940 by German Wehrmacht forces.]. Britain had nothing but females and old men there. The young men were largely dead. The old British aircraft had canvas skins. The British Lancaster could carry a 10,000-pound bomb. Warren flew a bombing mission over Frankfurt [Annotator’s Note: Frankfurt, Germany]. After the war, he was thanked by someone who had been underground during the mission. The second mission over Berlin was relatively safe because it was over the outskirts of the city. South of Berlin, the crew bombed a ball bearing plant. Ball bearings were important to keep moving equipment operating. Tanks would burn up without the oil destroyed by his bomb runs. Everyone in his crew stayed together without injury. They were fortunate. A tail gunner had a close call with shrapnel, but no one was hurt. The plane’s oil cooler was hit once, but Warren kept an eye on it and they returned home. If the plane had to separate from the formation, they would have flown to Switzerland [Annotator’s Note: Switzerland was neutral during the war and offered a safe haven for stricken aircraft]. The crew would have been interned for the duration of the war had they landed there, so Warren was glad that was not required. After 35 missions, Warren returned to the United States. The requirement went from 25 to 30 and then 35 missions before returning home. Warren could have quit at 30, but he wanted to stay with his crew which resulted in him flying 35 missions.

Ennis C. Warren finished one day before the crew did [Annotator’s Note: Warren was flight engineer on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber when he deployed to Europe and the 92nd Bombardment Group in the 8th Air Force flying out of Podington, England. He flew a total of 35 missions before returning to the United States.]. He had to fly an unanticipated mission with a different crew when that crew’s flight engineer was sick. Warren was rushed through breakfast and flight preparations. He knew nothing of the mission. There were high ranking officers manning the various positions on the plane that normally would have been manned by enlisted men. Two colonels flew the plane. They were to be lead aircraft in the formation that day. Two collapsible tanks called Tokyo tanks were on the ends of the wings. They failed to release into the main tanks after Warren was ordered by the pilot to dump them. Warren used the knife he normally carried on missions to cut the copper tubing which enabled the gas to flow into the main tanks. Warren also had to manually lower and raise the bomb bay doors on the mission. He felt good after making his last mission. Warren’s crew finished a day later after being worried that they would not make it home. It was a rough mission for them. The copilot was grateful that at least Warren had finished his 35 missions and could return home. They did make it home safely though. The copilot was still alive at the time of the interview.

Ennis C. Warren completed his missions [Annotator’s Note: Warren was flight engineer on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber when he deployed to Europe and the 92nd Bombardment Group in the 8th Air Force flying out of Podington, England. He flew a total of 35 missions before returning to the United States.]. He sailed on a French passenger liner, the Louis Pasteur [Annotator’s Note: SS Pasteur], from Southampton [Annotator’s Note: Southampton, England]. The officers were in a convoy that took 30 days in passage, but the Pasteur only took seven days because it was a speedy ship that no submarine could catch. The ship did zig-zag on the return course [Annotator’s Note: Warren indicates physically the ship movements]. The war was still raging when Warren returned home in February 1945. Warren was an instructor at A and E [Annotator’s Note: Aircraft and Engine] School at Keesler Field [Annotator’s Note: Keesler Field in Biloxi, Mississippi] when the war ended. It was pandemonium when the news was announced. He had enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] to be discharged in September 1945. After separation at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery [Annotator’s Note: Montgomery, Alabama], he went to Mobile [Annotator’s Note: Mobile, Alabama]. When political wars broke out in Korea and Vietnam, he reentered the service with SAC [Annotator’s Note: Strategic Air Command] and the DOD [Annotator’s Note: Department of Defense]. He was good friends with the wing commander and had a wonderful time. Warren’s wife, Ethel, was invited by the officers’ wives to the Officers’ Club. She did not like their bawdy lifestyle so she never went back [Annotator’s Note: he chuckles]. Prior to the war, the country was settled down. The war threw genders together in shipyards and airbases which caused problems after things happened that should not have. We are better off for fighting the war because we would not be here if we had not done so.