Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID number |
2013.25 |
Title |
George Bancroft Oral History |
Date |
2011 Apr 4 |
Scope & Content |
George Bancroft, born in 1922, was an engineer at Hamilton Standard in Windsor Locks, CT. A life-long resident of South Windsor, CT, he was a P-38 fighter pilot during World War II, where he saw action in North Africa. He was also a P-38 flight instructor in California. Bancroft attended Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, in 1941 before signing up for the Army Air Corps accelerated training program. He joined the First fighter Group in 1942 and was sent to Casablanca. After the war, he finished his undergraduate work in engineering at the University of Connecticut. He was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He is a member of the Quiet Birdmen Club, a secret organization for male aviators in the United States. Members must be invited to join and are members for life. He and his wife Beverly, also a licensed pilot, have three children, Steve, Grant (deceased), and Kimberly, and one granddaughter. In this oral history interview Bancroft discusses his childhood growing up on the family farm in South Windsor, CT, his early education, and the shade tobacco farming in South Windsor and East Windsor. There is detailed information on his military service as a P-38 fighter pilot in World War II and Korea as well as his work as a buyer at Hamilton Standard in Windsor Locks, CT. His century old family homestead on John Fitch Blvd (Route 5) in South Windsor includes a landing strip in his backyard on the flood plain, where he still flies a Cessna 183 single propeller aircraft. At the time of the interview Bancroft was 89 years old. |
Creator |
Bancroft, George |
Collection |
Oral History Collection |
Interviewer |
Kennedy, Jan |
Interview date |
2011-04-04 |
People |
Arnold, Henry Harley, 1886-1950 Bancroft, Beverly Bancroft, George, 1922-2017 Bancroft, Grant Bancroft, Kimberly Bancroft, Steve Breeding, Bob Burden, Carol Burgdorf, Doris (Pelton) Case, Albro, 1907-1971 Dwyer, Jack Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969 Gamble, Dick Godfrey, Arthur Gray, Harry Greer, Hugh Levak, Harvey Mitchell, William, 1879-1936. Musgrave, Story Noble, Lizzie Obama, Barack Shepard, Charles Shepard, Jean E. Shepard, Jean E. Shepard, Jean E. E. Sullivan, John Tibbets, Paul W. (Paul Warfield), 1915-2007 Whittier, Jim Wolfe, Heimlich Wood, William J. Wood, William Russell, 1859-1944 |
Subjects |
Collins Defense Communications Connecticut River Cornell University Deere & Company Delta Tau Delta Fraternity East Windsor (Conn : Town) General Electric Company Hartford (Conn.) Montauk (N.Y.) Perry Capital Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company South Windsor (Conn. : Town) United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. United Technologies Corporation. Hamilton Standard Division Washington, Mount (N.H.) Wellesley College Windsor Locks (Conn. : Town) Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (Ohio) |
Search Terms |
Broad Brook, CT Daggett Air Force Base (California) East Hartford Racquet Club Ellington Airport Ellsworth High School Ellsworth Memorial High School Essex, CT Farm Tek (Engineering Services) Hartford Hospital Hartman Tobacco Company John Deere Kimberly Hall Main St South Windsor Main Street Newberry Road, South Windsor, CT Nu Way Tobacco Company (Rockville, Conn.) Nu-Way Tobacco Company NuWay Tobacco Company Olds and Whipple Otis Reservoir (Massachusetts) Pleasant Valley Road, South Windsor, CT Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company Quiet Birdmen Club Rye Street, South Windsor, CT Scantic River Scantic Road, East Windsor, CT Schank Family Sikorsky aircraft South Windsor Town Hall Strong Road, South Windsor, CT Studebaker automobile Sullivan Avenue, South Windsor, CT Trumble Electric Union District School United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. |
Year Range from |
2011 |
Year Range to |
2011 |