Charles Carpenter (lieutenant colonel)

Lt. Col. Charles "Bazooka Charlie" Carpenter (29 August 1912 – 22 March 1966) was a U.S. Army officer and army observation pilot who served in World War II. He is best remembered for destroying several enemy armored vehicles in his bazooka-equipped L-4 Grasshopper light observation aircraft.[1]

Charles Carpenter
Charles Carpenter and his L-4 Grasshopper, Rosie the Rocketer (s/n 43-30426) mounting a trio of bazookas just outboard of the jury struts
Born(1912-08-29)August 29, 1912
Edgington, Illinois, US
DiedMarch 22, 1966(1966-03-22) (aged 53)
Champaign, Illinois, US
NationalityAmerican
OccupationTeacher
Military career
Nickname(s)Bazooka Charlie
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1942–1945
RankLieutenant colonel
Battles/warsWorld War II

Early life and career

Carpenter was born and raised in the town of Edgington, Illinois. He graduated from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.[2]

World War II service

Upon arriving in France in 1944, Carpenter was assigned an L-4 for artillery support and reconnaissance missions. Assuming a 150-pound (68 kg) pilot and no radio aboard, the L-4H had a remaining cargo or passenger weight capacity of approximately 232 pounds (105 kg).[3][4] The additional weight of radio and radio operator would often exceed this limit. Inspired by other L-4 pilots who had installed bazookas as anti-tank armament on their planes, Carpenter added bazooka launchers to his plane as well.[4][5][6]

Within a few weeks, on September 20, 1944, during the Battle of Arracourt, Carpenter was credited with knocking out a German armored car and four tanks.[6] Carpenter's plane, bearing USAAF s/n 43-30426, was known as Rosie the Rocketer (a play on Rosie the Riveter), and his exploits were soon featured in numerous press accounts, including Stars and Stripes, the Associated Press, Popular Science, the New York Sun, and Liberty magazine. Carpenter once told a reporter that his idea of fighting a war was to "attack, attack and then attack again."[7]

After destroying his fifth enemy tank, Carpenter told a Stars and Stripes correspondent that the "word must be getting around to watch out for Cubs with bazookas on them. Every time I show up now they shoot with everything they have. They never used to bother Cubs. Bazookas must be bothering them a bit."[8][9]

By war's end, Major Carpenter had destroyed or immobilized several German armored cars and tanks (he would be officially credited with six tanks destroyed).[6]

Postwar service

In 1945, Carpenter became seriously ill, and was honorably discharged from U.S. Army service in 1946. He returned to work as a history teacher at Urbana High School in Urbana, Illinois, where he worked until his death in 1966 at the age of 53.[10]

Rosie the Rocketer

In October 2017, the same L-4H that then-Major Carpenter had flown in World War II was located at the Österreichisches Luftfahrtmuseum aviation museum at Graz Airport, and was acquired by the Collings Foundation for restoration to its WW II appearance by a restorer in La Pine, Oregon,[11] with the restoration reported as complete on July 4, 2020.[12]

References
  1. Gallagher, Wes, Charlie Fights Nazi Tanks in Cub Armed With Bazookas, The New York Sun, 2 October 1944
  2. "Bazooka Charles Goes After Nazis". Lawrence Journal-World. Associated Press. 1944-10-03. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  3. Piper Cub Weight & Balance Calculation, retrieved 24 October 2011
  4. Fountain, Paul, The Maytag Messerschmitts, Flying Magazine, March 1945, p. 90
  5. Francis, Devon E., Mr. Piper and His Cubs, Iowa State University Press, ISBN 0-8138-1250-X, 9780813812502 (1973), p. 117
  6. What's New in Aviation: Piper Cub Tank Buster, Popular Science, Vol. 146 No. 2 (February 1945) p. 84
  7. Gallagher, Wes, Major Charles Carpenter, Once History Teacher, Now Legend in Patton's Army, The Rock Island Argus, 26 September 1944
  8. The Stars and Stripes, Western Europe ed., Nancy Sector (France), (September 20–30, 1944)
  9. Bazooka Charlie Becomes Tank Ace Today, Prescott Evening Courier, 11 October 1944, p. 2, retrieved 23 February 2015 from Google Books
  10. In Memoriam, Urbana High School Class of 1962, retrieved 23 October 2011
  11. Hogan, Jackson (March 9, 2019). "La Pine man restoring plane flown by 'Bazooka Charlie' in World War II". bendbulletin.com. The Bulletin (Bend, OR). Retrieved May 13, 2019. In 1944, U.S. Army pilot and artillery spotter [Major] Charles Carpenter was in France, fighting in the 4th Armored Division of Gen. George S. Patton's 3rd Army, when he had a crazy idea...Carpenter strapped three bazookas under each wing of his 1944 Piper L-4H, a frail reconnaissance plane not typically used for combat, flew over the German army and blasted multiple Panzer tanks and armored cars north of the town of Nancy. It earned him the nickname “Bazooka Charlie.”...75 years later, the Piper L-4H — nicknamed “Rosie the Rocketer” — has found its way to a rural garage near La Pine, where it's being restored by a retired engineer.
  12. Hogan, Jackson (July 4, 2020). "La Pine man completes restoration of legendary WWII plane". bendbulletin.com. The Bulletin (Bend, OR). Retrieved September 7, 2020. After a year and a half of painstaking work, “Rosie The Rocketer,” a WWII-era Piper L-4H airplane, has returned to its original 1944 condition, when it was outfitted with bazookas to blast Nazi tanks in France.
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