Service Games in Europe

1942 1943 1944 1945

Eighth Air Force - Ground Forces All-Professional Game
Wembley Stadium, London, England August 7, 1943
Eighth Air Force 1 Ground Forces 0

Bill Brech Hurls No-Hitter as Fliers Triumph, 1-0

21,500 See Air Force Hurler Blank Ground Force Pros

Comes From Behind Plate To Stem Rally By Airmen

By Charles F. Kiley

Stars and Stripes Staff Writer

If there is such a thing as a baseball Hall of Fame in England, the name of Bill Brech today occupies a prominent place in that institution.

Brech, a willowy right-hander whose pitching talents in the past were exhibited chiefly for the benefit of semi-pro followers around Secaucus, NJ., fashioned a stylish no-hit, no-run performance for the Air Force All-Stars when they subdued the ground force pros, 1-0, Saturday afternoon in a seven-inning mid-summer US Army diamond classic at spacious Empire Stadium, Wembley.

Before Brech unfurled his splendid effort for the edification of 21,500 people who contributed to the British Red Cross and St John Fund, the CBS Clowns captured their 36^th victory in 39 starts by overpowering Canadian Military Headquarters, 6-3, in a preliminary seven-inning tilt.

Faces Only 23 Batters

High-ranking American and British officials, including Lt Gen Jacob L Devers, ETO commander; Maj Gen Ira C Eaker, Eighth Air Force chief, and Maj Gen John C H Lee, commanding SOS, were on hand to see Brech come within a shade of hurling a perfect game for and against lineups studded with ex-professional players.

The 23-year-old sergeant retired the ground force in order in six of the seven frames, faced only 23 batters, issued one base on balls, struck out six and permitted only three balls to be hit out of the infield.

The Air Force manufactured its winning margin in the second inning against Lt Ralph Ifft, and it was Brech who drove in the deciding run. After two hits went to waste in the first, Hugh Gustafson and [Larry] Toth led off the second with singles. Gustafson moved up to third after Stan Stuka flied deep to center and scored when Taggert erred on Brech’s double play bounder. Taggert made a fine play to trap the ball, but threw wildly to Korisher in an attempt to force Toth at second.

Thuman Replaces Ifft

After yielding five hits in the first two frames, Ifft settled down, but retired after the fourth in favor of Lou Thuman, another right-hander.

Ground Force - 0					Air Force - 1
	AB	R	H	E		AB	R	H	E
Taggert, 3b	2	0	0	1	Dzuris, ss	3	0	0	0
Hemperly, 3b	1	0	0	0	Gradisher, 3b	3	0	2	0
Korisher, 2b	3	0	0	0	Campbell, 1b	3	0	1	0
Kelly, cf	2	0	0	0	Thompson, cf	3	0	1	0
a-Fontana	1	0	0	0	Gaston, lf	3	0	0	0
Pavich, ss	3	0	0	0	Gustafson, rf	3	1	1	0
O’Donnell, rf	3	0	0	0	Toth, 2b	3	0	2	2
Jacobs, lf	3	0	0	0	Stuka, c	3	0	0	0
Burns, 1b	2	0	0	0	Brech, p	2	0	0	0
Novick, c	1	0	0	1
Ifft, p	1	0	0	0
Thuman, p	1	0	0	0

Totals	23	0	0	2	Totals	26	1	7	2

a – batted for Kelly in 7th

Score by innings:

Ground Force 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0

Air Force 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 – 1

Stars and Stripes (London Edition) August 9, 1943

ETO World Series
London, England September 30, 1943
116th Infantry Regiment Yankees 6 Fighter Command Thunderbolts 3

Yanks Top Thunderbolts to Take Diamond Crown

Gillette Pitches Field Force Nine To 6-3 Victory

Comes From Behind Plate To Stem Rally By Airmen

By Ray Lee

Stars and Stripes Staff Writer

EIGHTH AIR FORCE HQ. Sept 30 – Led by their peppery captain, Cpl. Douglas Gillette, of Springfield, Mass., who came from behind the plate in the fourth to hurl his way into the hearts of the spectators, the field force Yankees copped the ETO World Series by defeating the Fighter Command Thunderbolts, 6-3, in the final played here this afternoon.

The Thunderbolts’ stickmen got to Elmer Wright, of Bedford, Va., for a single in the second and third innings, but without success. However, they shoved one run across in the fourth on a free pass, a single and a double. Gillette then took over on the mound and let in two more on wild pitches.

The bases again were loaded on a single and two free passes, but Gillette promptly whiffed the next batter to get out of another tight spot.

The Yankees tied up the game in their half, scoring three men on two doubles, a single and a base on balls.

Gets Out of a Tough One

With one away in the next inning, the Thunderbolts loaded the bags when Pfc James Blackwelder, of Taylorsville, NC., singled and went to third on a safety by Cpl. Orval Letsinger, of Littlefield, Texas, and the next man up got a free ticket. Gillette fanned the next hitter and the next was out, third to first, killing the only other threat by the airmen. The Thunderbolts failed to hit for the balance of the game and were set down in order.

The winners took the lead in the sixth when two men were safe on errors and scored when a betted ball got past the second baseman and went into right field. They tallied again in the seventh, Sgt. Frank Draper, of Bedford, Va., getting his send triple of the game, but was out at the plate trying to score when Pfc. Joe Gubernot, of Shamokin, Pa., hit to second. Gubernot came home on an error at first for the final tally of the game.

Wright allowed four hits and struck out five, while Gillette, who worked on the batters all the way, was touched for three blows and fanned five.

Thunderbolts - 3					Yankees - 6
	AB	R	H	E		AB	R	H	E
Darrell, 3b	4	0	0	0	Draper, cf	4	1	3	0
Woleslagle, lf	3	1	0	0	McManus, rf	4	1	2	0
Blackwelder, rf	3	0	1	1	Gubernot, ss	4	1	0	0
Letsinger, 1b	4	1	3	1	Alberigo, 3b	4	2	1	0
Yerke, cf	3	1	1	0	Cleer, lf	4	1	1	0
DeLiest, 2b	2	0	0	1	Proffitt, 1b	4	0	0	0
Rouselle, 2b	1	0	0	0	Keller, 2b	4	0	0	0
Davidson, ss	4	0	1	0	Gillette, c-p	4	0	1	0
Kopperud, c	4	0	1	2	Wright, p	1	0	0	0
Duca, p	2	0	0	0	Marsico, c	3	0	0	0
Petty, p	1	0	0	0
(a) Sepich	1	0	0	0

Totals	32	3	7	5	Totals	36	6	8	0

(a) Batted for Darrell in ninth

Score by innings:

Thunderbolts 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 - 3

Yankees 0 0 0 3 0 2 1 0 x - 6

Stars and Stripes (London Edition) October 1, 1943

988th Military Police Company (Aviation) - 1943 Season
Date	Location	Result	Winning Team	Losing Team
May 3, 1943	Watford, England	9-5	988th MP Fliers	8th Fighter Command
May 9, 1943	Orpington, England	12-0	988th MP Fliers	423rd Signal Corps
May 17, 1943	Norbiton, England	8-6	988th MP Fliers	901st Eng Company
May 19, 1943	London, England	16-0	988th MP Fliers	2013th Eng Company
May 22, 1943	Kingston, England	15-0	988th MP Fliers	952nd Eng Company
May 30, 1943	Maidenhead, England	4-1	988th MP Fliers	8th Air Force Service Company
Jun 7, 1943	Hounslow, England	10-0	988th MP Fliers	Canadian All-Stars
Jun 9, 1943	London, England	2-0	988th MP Fliers	CBS Clowns
Jun 13, 1943	Horley, England	9-5	988th MP Fliers	Canadian General Hospital
Jun 16, 1943	High Wycombe, England	2-1	8th Air Force Bomber Command	988th MP Fliers
Jun 21, 1943	Norwich, England	10-4	8th Air Force Bomber Command	988th MP Fliers
Jun 24, 1943	London, England	7-3	952nd Engineer Company	988th MP Fliers
Jun 27, 1943	Southall, England	13-5	988th MP Fliers	423rd Signal Company
Jun 30, 1943	London, England	8-4	CBS Clowns	988th MP Fliers
Jul 4, 1943	Watford, England	6-4	8th Fighter Command	988th MP Fliers
Jul 9, 1943	London, England	3-2	988th MP Fliers	55th Supply Depot
Jul 14, 1943	Hurst Park, England	8-2	988th MP Fliers	1982nd Truck Company
Jul 16, 1943	Addlestone, England	6-4	988th MP Fliers	8th Air Force Service Command
Jul 23, 1943	London, England	3-2	988th MP Fliers	901st Engineer Company
Jul 28, 1943	London, England	9-4	988th MP Fliers	8th Air Force HQ
Jul 30, 1943	Horley, England	19-6	988th MP Fliers	Canadian General Hospital

Eighth Air Force - Ground Forces - All PEngland - 1943
Date	Location	Result	Winning Team	Losing Team	Highlights
Aug 8, 1943	London, England	1-0	Eighth Air Force	US Army Ground Forces	Bill Brech no-hitter