Documentary Tells Airmens' Untold Story

Historian Claudio Meunier has spent a decade looking up World War II veterans and their forgotten stories for a book and a new documentary. But this one's a different twist on the theme of The Greatest Generation -- these veterans were young men from Argentina who went to Britain and Canada to fly missions against the Nazis.

Reuters observes that until now, historians have focused on pilots from Czechoslovakia, Poland, France and Norway -- all of which were occupied by German forces. But more than 800 young men from officially-neutral Argentina -- some of them schoolboys -- rushed to sign up as pilots. The first danger many faced was the long boat trip to Europe through U-boat-infested waters.

About 400 of the volunteers eventually became pilots with the Royal Air Force. One of them, Donald McLarty, was shot down over Libya on his 199th mission of World War II.

"It was a very stupid operation," he recalled. "... The moment we crossed the coast I could see the soldiers waiting. I was hit immediately by ground fire in the engine and had oil all over my windscreen. All I could do was fly in formation with the guy next to me and then my tail was blown off."

McLarty needed two more missions to qualify for extended leave, but that wasn't to be. He was taken prisoner by German forces, and sent off to an internment camp. He was one of the lucky ones, though... as 150 of the 800 didn't live to come back home to Argentina. Those who did found an atmosphere in which Nazi war criminals had found refuge... which made telling stories of fighting Hitler's forces risky.

Meunier notes a few of the World War II veterans fought again in 1982... ironically, against Britain in its battle for the Falkland Islands.

"People in World War Two wanted to keep the world free," Menuier said. "They didn't want Hitler to take over Argentina. They were fighting for others. In the Malvinas [the Argentine name for the Falklands], they were fighting for Argentina."

His book, written with Carlos Garcia, is titled "Wings of Thunder." The Spanish-language documentary, "Voluntarios," was shown recently in Canada to honor Argentine volunteers who flew with the RCAF, but is not in commercial release.

"Without Meunier, the story would have been lost ... it is very significant to help keep the memory of courageous people living forever," said Argentine ambassador Arturo Bothamley before the viewing of the documentary.

Meunier described the process of unearthing stories of the Argentine airmen trying, but rewarding in the end. "No one had asked them, no one remembered them," he told Reuters. "The memories were painful.... The pilots didn't feel comfortable."

FMI: www.fuerzaaerea.mil.ar/index_win.html