Frank A . Armstrong Frank Alton Armstrong , Jr . ( May 24 , 1902 – August 20 , 1969 ) was a brigadier general in the United States Army Air Forces and the inspiration for the main character in the novel and subsequent film , " Twelve O ' Clock High . " After the war , he held a variety of senior leadership positions prior to and following the establishment of the United States Air Force as an independent service in 1947 . Promoted to major general in 1950 , he was later promoted to lieutenant general in 1956 , eventually retiring at that rank . Armstrong commanded two B - 17 Flying Fortress groups and a wing each of B - 17 and B - 29 Superfortress es in combat operations against both Germany and Japan . He personally led the first USAAF strategic bombing attack from England in August 1942 , and the last strategic raid on Japan three years later . He also led the first attack by the USAAF against a target in Germany . Early life . Armstrong was born in Hamilton , North Carolina . He played minor league professional baseball from 1925 to 1928 , after he graduated from Wake Forest College with a law degree in 1923 and a bachelor of science degree in 1925 . Military career . Air Corps . He enlisted as a flying cadet in the Army Air Corps on February 24 , 1928 , and received his flight training at Brooks Field and Kelly Field , San Antonio , Texas . He received his wings and reserve officer ' s commission on February 28 , 1929 , and his commission in the Regular Army on May 2 , 1929 . His first assignment was to the 2nd Bombardment Group at Langley Field , Virginia , where he married Vernelle Lloyd Hudson on March 15 , 1929 . His son , Frank Alton Armstrong III , was born March 7 , 1930 . Armstrong was made a flight instructor at March Field , Riverside , California , in 1930 , and at Randolph Field , San Antonio , Texas , in 1931 . In March 1934 , he was one of a group of Army pilots placed under the command of Captain Ira Eaker . On October 1 , 1934 , he was promoted to 1st lieutenant . Armstrong was assigned in December 1934 as a pursuit pilot at Albrook Field , Panama Canal Zone . In 1937 Armstrong earned the Distinguished Flying Cross in peacetime by skillfully landing an amphibian airplane whose engine had exploded . He was promoted to the temporary rank of captain on March 15 , 1936 , returned to his permanent pay grade on June 16 , and was made a permanent captain on May 2 , 1939 . In March 1937 , Armstrong transferred to the 13th Attack Squadron , Barksdale Field , Louisiana , part of the 3rd Attack Group , flying Northrop A - 17 attack planes . He became its commander on May 7 , 1939 , and continued in command of the squadron on July 1 , 1939 , when it became the 13th Bombardment Squadron ( Light ) , converting to B - 18 Bolo bombers . Armstrong commanded the 13th BS until October 5 , 1940 . Between September 6 , 1939 , and October 2 , 1940 , he temporarily relinquished command to attend the second " short course " at the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field , Alabama . From November 1940 to February 1941 Armstrong was a combat observer with the Royal Air Force in England , then returned to command the 90th Bombardment Squadron , Savannah AAF , Georgia , promoted to major on March 15 and lieutenant colonel on January 5 , 1942 . Armstrong was the Assistant Chief of Air Staff , A - 3 ( Operations ) at Army Air Forces headquarters in Washington , D . C . when he was selected on January 24 , 1942 , to accompany General Eaker to England with five other officers to establish the VIII Bomber Command , Eighth Air Force , where he became its operations officer and was promoted to colonel on March 1 , 1942 . Combat group commander . As a " trouble - shooter " for General Eaker , on July 31 , 1942 , Armstrong relieved Colonel Cornelius W . " Connie " Cousland of command of the inadequately - trained 97th Bomb Group , the first group of B - 17 Flying Fortress bombers sent to England , and put it through an intensive training period at RAF Polebrook . He then led it in combat on six of its first 10 missions from August 17 to September 2 , 1942 . Colonel Armstrong led the first daylight raid ever made by the USAAF over Axis territory , receiving the Silver Star and an oak leaf cluster to the Distinguished Flying Cross . He was also awarded the British Distinguished Flying Cross for the initial mission , the first U . S . officer to be so honored . Because he had not yet been checked out as a combat pilot in the B - 17 , Armstrong led the first mission as a co - pilot on a bomber piloted by Major Paul W . Tibbets . Armstrong returned to the staff of Bomber Command and in January , 1943 , was again used by Eaker to rebuild another bomb group performing well below standards . From January 4 to February 17 , 1943 , Colonel Armstrong commanded the 306th Bomb Group at RAF Thurleigh , England , and led the first mission by the Eighth Air Force to bomb Nazi Germany . His experiences with the 97th and 306th groups became the basis of Sy Bartlett and Beirne Lay Jr . ' s novel and film " Twelve O ' Clock High " . While in command of the 306th , Armstrong led the Eighth Air Force on its first mission to attack a target in Germany on January 27 , 1943 . Biographers have noted that Armstrong was superstitious about flying . He always entered the B - 17 by its rear fuselage door rather than through the nose hatch as most pilots did , and he always carried a pair of his son ' s baby shoes on all flights , for good luck in combat . Wing commands . On February 8 , 1943 , Armstrong was promoted to brigadier general and made commander of the 101st Provisional Combat Wing on February 17 , continuing to fly combat missions over Germany . On June 16 , 1943 , Armstrong advanced to command of the 1st Bombardment Wing , replacing daylight precision bombardment theorist Haywood S . Hansell , and was himself replaced at the end of July 1943 after being injured in a fire in his quarters . During his final combat mission on April 5 , 1943 , 104 B - 17s and B - 24s attacked the Erla Works , used by the Luftwaffe for manufacturing and reconditioning Me - 109 fighters , near the Antwerp suburb of Mortsel . The attack caused widespread casualties in the town and only four bombs hit their intended target . In just eight minutes 936 people were killed , including 209 children under the age of 15 when four schools received direct hits . It was Belgium ’ s worst loss of life in a single incident during the entire war . Armstrong returned to the United States where he commanded the 46th Bombardment Operational Training Wing ( B - 17 ) at Ardmore Army Airfield , Oklahoma , between September 10 , 1943 , and April 6 , 1944 ; and the 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing ( B - 29 ) at Peterson Field , Colorado , and Grand Island Army Airfield , Nebraska ( April 7 , 1944 , to November 7 , 1944 ) . On November 18 , 1944 , Armstrong was assigned command of the 315th Bomb Wing at Peterson Field , Colorado , a B - 29 Superfortress wing then in training . Between March 7 , 1945 , and April 5 , 1945 , the wing deployed to Northwest Field , Guam on to fly missions against the Home Islands of Japan . On August 15 , 1945 , Armstrong led the longest and final heavy bombing raid in the war , with the distinction of having led both the first and last USAAF strategic bombing missions of World War II , as well as the first USAAF mission to attack Germany . In November 1945 , he flew the first non - stop flight from Japan to Washington , D . C . in a B - 29 . He received an oak leaf cluster to the Distinguished Flying Cross for each of the above achievements . USAF service . Armstrong continued his Air Force career following World War II , first becoming chief of staff for operations of the Pacific Air Command on January 18 , 1946 , and then senior air advisor at the Armed Forces Staff College , Norfolk , Virginia , on September 9 , 1946 . After creation of the United States Air Force , Armstrong served as deputy commanding general of the Alaskan Air Command at Fort Richardson , Alaska ( March 31 , 1948 ) , and its commanding general ( February 26 , 1949 , to December 26 , 1950 ) . While commander , he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Aero Club of Norway , the highest civil award of Norway , for helping develop a non - stop polar air route from Alaska to Norway to New York . On January 13 , 1950 , Armstrong was promoted to major general and named base commander of Sampson Air Force Base , New York , in January 1951 . On May 13 , 1951 , he became commanding general of the Sixth Air Division , training the first B - 47 Stratojet Wing at MacDill Air Force Base , Florida , and in 1952 , commander of the Second Air Force of the Strategic Air Command ) at Barksdale Air Force Base , Louisiana , a post he held for four years . His final posting was in July 1956 , again as head of the Alaskan Air Command , and upon his promotion to lieutenant general , as commander of the joint Alaskan Command . He retired July 31 , 1962 . Armstrong ' s son , Major Frank A . Armstrong III , USAF , followed him into the Air Force as a pilot and was killed - in - action in Laos on October 6 , 1967 . At the time , he was flying a combat mission in an A - 1E Skyraider as a member of the 1st Air Commando Squadron . Awards and decorations . American Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal Army of Occupation Medal National Defense Service Medal Distinguished Flying Cross ( United Kingdom ) Belgian Croix de Guerre , with palm Philippine Independence Medal Combat Observer Technical Observer See also . His papers ( including correspondence , memoirs , reports , flight records , flight log , and speeches ) were donated to the East Carolina Manuscript Collection in Joyner Library at East Carolina University . A finding aid can be found at this link . http : / / digital . lib . ecu . edu / special / ead / findingaids / 0035 /