William Isham Davis was born in Topeka, Kansas in March 1921. His father worked in a large furniture store and Jack Krisner, the store owner and a World War 1 [Annotator's Note: World War 1, global war originating in Europe; 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918] veteran, took a liking to Davis. When Davis’s father died, Krisner encouraged and helped him to apply to the aviation cadet program. Davis passed the test by one point and was accepted into the program. Davis was on leave as a private when he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He received orders to report to classification school in Santa Ana, California. After completing several tests, he was classified as a pilot and sent to primary pilot training school in Glass, California [Annotator’s Note: Glass Beach, California] which was taught by civilian pilots. During his training, he would get sick while flying. He was told to visit the flight surgeon, and as he waited to see him at his office, he decided to leave. He returned to the hangar and told his commander that the doctor recommended Davis to receive a new instructor. The commander assigned a new instructor to Davis, and he improved immensely, even soloing in three hours. After primary school, Davis was sent to Mariana, Arizona for basic flight school, and then to Luke Field in Phoenix, Arizona where he trained on the AT-6 [Annotator's Note: North American AT-6 Texan advanced trainer aircraft]. He received his wings upon completing training. After graduation, he signed up for night training to be near his friend and fly A-20s [Annotator's Note: Douglas A-20 Havoc medium bomber]. When he received his assignment, it was to March Field [Annotator’s Note: March Field, California] to fly P-38s [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft]. Davis was relieved that he was not selected for night flying. He went to Portland, Oregon to join a new fighter group flying P-39s [Annotator's Note: Bell P-39 Aerocobra fighter aircraft]. His group was issued jungle equipment and boarded a train to New Jersey. He then boarded a ship and went overseas in a convoy. He and the rest of the pilots shared a cabin, and he slept in a bunk. He was given K rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals] throughout the trip. During the voyage, six boats in the convoy were sunk by German submarines.

[Annotator’s Note: There is background noise throughout this segment.] William Isham Davis [Annotator’s Note: assigned to the 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force] arrived in England and was sent to Reading, England where he lived in a tent for several weeks. He got more flight time in a Spitfire [Annotator’s Note: British Supermarine Spitfire] while he waited for orders. On 1 December 1943, he flew his first P-51 [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] mission, flying across the English Channel for a “feel good flight.” While he was on this mission, he saw some German 109s [Annotator's Note: German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft] attacking B-24s [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber]. His engine quit while he went over to help the B-24s, but his motors came back on after he figured out what he had to do. His missions required him to rendezvous with the bombers 30 minutes before the bombers hit the target area. He flew with the bombers to the target area and then flew back home with the bombers. On another mission, he saw two 109s attacking two P-51s. Davis went over to help them even though he was running low on gas. He was able to successfully chase the 109s off. He later met the P-51 pilots at a bar in London [Annotator’s Note: London, England]. It was difficult to get a kill while on missions because he could not leave the bomber planes he was protecting, and the rules required that two witnesses had to be present, even though pilots were given only one wingman. Dogfights are generally confusing. His group was officially credited with 796 kills. Davis claimed three of those kills, but he was only credited with one and half. Davis was sent home because he fell ill and the doctor could not figure out what was wrong with him.

[Annotator’s Note: There is background noise throughout this segment.] William Isham Davis [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force] returned home after 61 missions because of an illness. He wanted to go back overseas, but there were too many other pilots that wanted to have a chance to go and fight the Germans. He was placed in a program teaching combat tactics to instructor pilots. He flew P-47s [Annotator's Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft] while training the pilots. He spoke about one of his commanders, by the name of Major Howard [Annotator’s Note: United States Air Force General James Howell Howard]. He had fought with the Chinese, but came over to England later as a squadron leader. He received a Medal of Honor [Annotator's Note: the Medal of Honor is the highest award a United States service member can receive who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor] when he fought 15 German 109s [Annotator's Note: German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft] and shot down five of them. Davis was driving with some friends to go fishing when he first heard the news of Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] over the radio. He and his friends knew that they were going to go to war. After Davis joined the Army Air Force, primary school was the most difficult part of training because he had never touched an airplane prior to the training. He spoke about his son joining the Air Force and explained how he was proud of him. Davis remained in the Reserves after the war and had a laid-back life. He went into active duty for two weeks. After he received his commission during World War 2, he was sent to Portland [Annotator’s Note: Portland, Oregon] to form the 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force. He was sent overseas to England to a base outside of London [Annotator’s Note: London, England]. He recalled observing the buzz bombs [Annotator's Note: V-1 pulse jet flying bomb, German name: Vengeance Weapon 1; Allied names: buzz bomb, doodlebug] flying over them and heading for the city. Davis spent most of his free time going into town and staying at the Rose and Crown Hotel.

[Annotator’s Note: There is background noise throughout this segment.] William Isham Davis [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force] flew P-51s [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] while overseas in Europe. He had issues with his oxygen tank and ammunition, but other equipment and guns worked well. Once he flew around London [Annotator’s Note: London, England] for a very lengthy time waiting to get the okay to land. He had to urinate really badly, but he did not want to use the relief tube. His missions typically lasted around eight hours.

[Annotator’s Note: There is background noise throughout this segment.] William Isham Davis [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force] flew P-51s [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] while overseas in Europe. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 0:58:51.000.] He named his airplane “Sport” after his family’s hunting dog. He was once given 200 dollars to buy new uniforms and the tailor made his blouse and trousers too tight. He wore his cadet blouse. He also flew the Spitfire [Annotator’s Note: Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft] for training and flight time, but he did not like it. His P-51 was a model B but had a bubble canopy on top. He flew 61 missions in the same plane. In October 1944, on his last mission, he was strafing a beach when 109s [Annotator's Note: German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft] came out from the clouds. Davis made three kills that day. One German began waving at Davis, so he shot around the German to scare him. The German continued to wave at him, but Davis eventually shot him, and he still won. Davis received credit for one kill, although he claimed more. His plane “Sport” was shot down the following afternoon with another pilot in it.

[Annotator’s Note: There is background noise throughout this segment.] William Isham Davis [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force] flew P-51s [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] while overseas in Europe. There were many extraordinary German pilots, some even making 30 kills during their time in service. Davis explained some of his strategies to trick the German pilots. He believes that, overall, the Americans could outrun the German pilots. Davis flew the night before D-Day [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944] to support the planes transferring glider units. He was nervous flying at night when he had to use only instruments. After D-Day, he did some dive bombing missions into Germany. He practiced dive bombing in an English swamp, and he also practiced strafing in France, accidentally killing a farmer’s cows. Davis was awarded one of his two Distinguished Fly Cross medals [Annotator's Note: the Distinguished Flying Cross, or DFC, is awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight] for chasing two Me109s [Annotator's Note: German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft] off that were attacking a crippled B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber].

[Annotator’s Note: There is background noise throughout this segment.] William Isham Davis [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force] flew P-51s [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] while overseas in Europe. After 13 months overseas, he returned home in the fall of 1944. He stopped in Blackpool [Annottor’s Note: Blackpool, England] for departure, but also to speak with the girlfriend of a friend who had been shot down and killed. He boarded the Queen Mary and was transported home in three days. The food was delicious and he was given a suite to share with one other person. The ship arrived in New York and Davis boarded a train to St. Louis [Annotator’s Note: St. Louis, Missouri], and then took a bus to California where he waited for reclassification. He was sent to Kingman, Arizona for more flight time. He punched a guy out after he snapped at Davis when he was trying to take off. He did some gambling while he was stationed in Kingman and lost 1,500 dollars. Davis left active duty at Fort Leavenworth as a first lieutenant. He returned home and went to school on the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] and worked part time in Topeka [Annotator’s Note: Topeka, Kansas] until he graduated.

[Annotator’s Note: There is background noise throughout this segment.] William Isham Davis was awarded two Distinguished Flying Cross medals [Annotator's Note: the Distinguished Flying Cross, or DFC, is awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight] while he served overseas in World War 2. One medal was for guarding bombers and chasing off German planes and making a kill. The other medal was awarded when he chased two Me109s [Annotator's Note: German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft] off that were attacking a crippled B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber]. He served in World War 2 because he had to, and if he did not volunteer, he would have been drafted. His experience of being overseas made him grow up and became worldly. Davis believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations because of nostalgia.