Benjamin Giles
Details Of The Artifacts
Green four pocket service coat with orginal stars, shoulder sleeve insignia and direct embroidered U.S. insignia. (ribbon bar added)
A Bit Of History About General Benjamin Giles
With war inpending during the fall of 1941 General Giles was asked to investigate several sites for Arctic Air bases. By June 1942 he was commanding the Greenland Base. He urged the establishment of an American-controlled airway all the way to Great Britain. With the new North Atlantic Wing established at Presque Isle, Maine, Colonel Giles became the it's commander and later was promoted to brigadier general in August 1942. Because of his Arctic flights, he was awarded the Air Medal for "meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flights when he personally volunteered to undertake a hazardous survey with untried navigational facilities and lack of flying aids." In October 1943 Brigadier General Giles became the Ninth Airforce Troop Carrier commander in Europe, and in March 1944 he was appointed commanding general of the United States Air Forces in the Middle East, stationed in Cairo, Egypt, where he showed his talents for administration and diplomacy.