The Man Behind the Name
Alexander transferred from the 12th Field Artillery to Aviation Cadet training, graduating as a pilot in Class 43-A. He completed B-24 transition training at Alamogordo, NM, then joined Ted's Travelling Circus in the 330th Squadron in May 1943. The group deployed to Benghazi, North Africa, and on their third mission covering the invasion of Sicily, the crew missed the airdrome on return and bailed out over the Libyan Desert. Six of the ten-man crew survived ten days before rescue.
Alexander completed 25 missions (including one as waist gunner to Wiener-Neustadt, Austria) by February 28, 1944, then rotated stateside. In 1945 he flew as co-pilot on C-54s transporting occupation troops into Japan. He was discharged as master sergeant at Randolph AFB. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart, European Theatre Ribbon with three Battle Stars, Pacific Campaign Medal, China Service Medal, and Distinguished Unit Citation with one Oak Leaf Cluster.
Service record.
Missions flown.
The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.
Before and after.
Bert F. Alexander was born June 23, 1918 in Checotah, OK. He served in the 12th Field Artillery before transferring to the Aviation Cadet program.
Alexander married Shirley in 1947. He was recalled to active duty as a first lieutenant C-47 pilot in support of the Berlin Airlift, reverting to master sergeant at Waco, TX in November 1950. He rose to captain flying TB-50s at Mather Navigator School, then progressed through B-29s at Lake Charles, SA-16s in Air Rescue in Okinawa, B-36s at Biggs AFB, and B-52s at Seymour-Johnson, NC. He retired from the Air Force in November 1960, then worked as an administrator for Sacramento County, CA, retiring in 1979.