Secret Mission

Page Field was also the site of an important and top secret development in the war against Japan. Col. Carl Creel, who returned to Fort Myers to live after WWII, was the commander of the 310th Aviation Squadron, an all-black squadron stationed in Fort Myers. He remembered it well.

In an oral history done for the Fort Myers Historical Museum, Creel related how war hero Gen. Jimmy Doolittle and his crew worked at Page Field to strip a B-25 to "practically nothing." Anything that wasn't absolutely essential was eliminated to lighten the plane's load and thus increase the plane's flight range.

While at Page Field, Doolittle and his crew also practiced taking off on short runways. The pilots were training to take off from the decks of carrier ships.

After months of covert training, Doolittle led the squadron of B-25s that took off from the deck of the USS Hornet on the first bombing raid on Tokyo. That raid carried off on April 18, 1942 was successful and, for the first time, the Japanese realized that they were decidedly vulnerable to U. S. air raids.

Fatalities at Page Field were not unusual. In August of 1944, Second Lt. Robert Winslow, Jr. fatally crashed on a routine training mission and Private Joseph Kotlarchiek of Squadron O was instantly killed when struck by lightning while walking in the squadron area.

The following month two more pilots died. Second Lt. Robert F. Dustman died instantly in a mid-air collision while piloting a P-40 in a training mission off Pine Island. His death was attributed to pilot error. Nine days later, Second Lt. Lawrence C. Meader was killed when he crash landed following engine failure on take off.

With Page Field now a military installation, a separate air field was needed for private and commercial planes coming into Lee County. The chosen piece of property was a strip just south of the Farmer's Market bounded by Ford and Canal Streets and Edison and Palm Avenues in Fort Myers.

The runways were short, but the field was adequate for use until Page Field would again be available. Known as the Municipal Airport, it was well used by the local pilots.

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