Lt. Col. Ed Hinchliff: The Willow Run Bomber Plant and... Rats on a Plane!

And you thought snakes were bad!

We had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Homer Hinchliff of Willis, Michigan, who told us about his dad, Lt. Col. Edward Hinchliff, who was present in 1942 at the grand opening ceremony for the famous Willow Run Bomber Plant located just east of Ypsilanti. He also told us a great story about… rats on a plane!

Mr. Hinchliff says his dad was a B-24 pilot based at the Smyrna, TN USAAF Air Field. For the opening ceremony, they wanted a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber to fly over and land, to show everybody what the plant would be building. Lt. Col. Hinchliff’s job, after landing, was to stand by his plane and answer questions. There was a brass band playing, and they put him up in style at the Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit.

And we heard another great story from Homer about his dad…

This story is about what happened after the war. Ed Hinchliff was piloting his B-24 home to the U.S. after the close of World War II. They had stopped somewhere in North Africa to fuel after leaving Italy.

As they approached cruising altitude, panicked rats started swarming all over the plane! Yes, you heard me, rats on a plane! They must have come aboard during the layover. They were everywhere. The crew tied their pants legs shut with twine to keep the rats from crawling up there and biting them. The copilot said, “What the heck are we going to do?”

Ed Hinchliff said, “Get your oxygen masks ready. We’re going up to 22,000 ft!”

As the B-24 gained altitude, the rats moved slower… and slower… and slower. The crew put on their oxygen masks as they climbed, and finally, the rats were still.

They flew home, without further incident, to a hero’s welcome.