The Touch of Greatness

Colonel William C. Bentley is one of the unsung heroes of the Army Air Corps and the US Air Force. A scion of an old Virginia family, rooted in the Southern traditions of the military, he was an aviation pioneer and the first commercially licensed pilot in the state of Virginia. A man of tremendous talent and drive, he pushed himself and others hard. A physically towering and imposing man, the Bull could be abrasive, thin skinned and hot tempered; he could also be charming, erudite and diplomatic. He was as much at home in the salons of 1930s era Washington social circles as he was in the cockpits of the fledgling Army Air Corps’ (and later U.S. Air Force) aircraft such as the B-17, C-47, C-123 and F-86.The Bull was a multi-rated pilot before and during WWII, but spent the majority of the war either in the Air Staff Intelligence Division in Washington or in the Pacific as an Air Liaison Officer to the 10th Army under General Simon Buckner. He started his career as a pursuit (fighter) pilot at Langley Field and then had been selected to test fly B-17s at Langley Field in the 1930s. Later in his career, he would get checked out on fighter jets. But his first combat action involved being the key planner and then the commander and lead pilot of the air unit that carried the Paratroop Task Force during Operation Torch in November, 1942. He flew the lead C-47, on the longest airborne combat flight carrying American paratroopers into Algeria to capture vital airfields during America’s first ground combat action and invasion of World War Two. The Bull’s pre-war career as a military attaché in Italy and Africa had given him on the ground experience and language abilities that no one else in the Air Corps possessed. That experience and his diplomatic skills not only ensured the success of the Paratroop Task Force’s mission, but they also saved his life after he had been captured by the French.