If you are interested in the history of the Second World War, or interested in aviation, you may have been watching Masters of the Air, a new television series on Apple TV+.
A companion to Band of Brothers and The Pacific, Masters of the Air focuses on the 100th Bomb Group (the “Bloody Hundredth”) of the Eighth Air Force during the daylight strategic bombing campaign during WWII. If you are like me, you may have also been surprised to hear Austin Butler’s character, Gale Cleven, introduce himself as being from Casper, Wyoming, during the first episode.
Even more surprising, in a later episode of the show, a second character from Wyoming is also introduced, George Niethammer, played by Josh Dylan. Upon further research, both men were students at the University of Wyoming, and were even college friends before the war. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at these two men and their connection with Wyoming and the University of Wyoming (UW).
Gale Cleven was born on December 27, 1918, in Lemmon, South Dakota. As a child, he and his family moved to Wyoming for his father’s work in the oil fields. Cleven attended Midwest School for high school. After graduation, Cleven began attending UW around 1937, first appearing in the 1940/1941 Wyo yearbook as a junior, studying mathematics.[1] In the summers, Cleven worked as a roughneck in the oil fields around Casper to pay for school.
Cleven seems to have been quite active in student life, appearing multiple times in the Branding Iron student newspaper, attending social events such as dances and in the Wyo as an interfraternity council member for Phi Theta Delta. Cleven appears to have had an early interest in military service; he is reported in The Sheridan Press of December 4, 1938, as being a first alternate choice for one of Wyoming’s appointment slots for the service academies.
Cleven enlisted in the Army in 1940 and proceeded to train as a flying cadet.
George Niethammer[2] was born September 12, 1919, in Red Lodge, Montana. He graduated Natrona County High School in 1937 and attended UW afterwards. Like Cleven, Niethammer was active on campus and was also frequently mentioned in the school newspaper. He was elected president of the freshman class in 1937 and was involved in a committee to investigate a subpar whitewashing of W Hill.[3] He ran track and won low hurdles at a meet against Denver in April 1939.[4]
In October of that year, the Branding Iron reports that another student had been elected to class president, as Niethammer was not returning to school that semester. His draft registration card dated October 1940 listed him as living in Casper and being employed at the Casper Packing Company, a meatpacking plant his family owned. He was a member of the Wyoming National Guard before the war, and after activation for wartime service at some point transferred to the Army Air Corps for training as a bomber pilot.
Flying B-17 or B-24 heavy bombers, the crews of the US Army Air Forces flew missions over German-occupied Europe to bomb strategic targets such as submarine bases, industrial factories, railroad yards, etc. with the goal of disrupting the German economy and war machine to hasten the end of the war. While the British RAF flew at night to bomb targets, the USAAF flew during the day, suffering heavy casualties from anti-aircraft artillery and German fighter attacks.
Both Cleven and Niethammer flew combat missions as pilots in their units, Cleven as a B-17 pilot, and Niethammer as a B-24 pilot. Niethammer was mentioned again and quoted in the Branding Iron of May 4, 1944, recounting in a letter home being shot down and having to ditch in the Adriatic Sea and being rescued.
Cleven and his crew were shot down October 8, 1943, and became prisoners of war. Niethammer and his crew were shot down in May 1944, and crash-landed in Germany, also becoming prisoners of war. The two friends were reunited when they were interned together in Stalag Luft III in modern day Poland, a German prisoner of war camp for downed allied airmen.[5] As the Soviet army advanced westward, the Germans force marched prisoners west to be interned in different camps. During one such march, Cleven and Niethammer escaped. During the escape bid, Cleven and Niethammer were separated.
Cleven successfully made it to Allied lines, not knowing what had happened to Niethammer. He was repatriated to England to continue service. After the war, he resumed his studies at UW, graduating in 1946 and returning in 1956 to acquire a master’s degree. He remained in the Air Force throughout the Korean and Vietnam wars, before retiring from the service and holding a range of other jobs, including in aeronautics and as the president of Webber College in Florida. He died November 17, 2006, in Sheridan, Wyoming.
Tragically, Niethammer was shot and killed during his escape attempt. His remains were located in 1949.[6] Niethammer is buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Liège, Belgium.[7]
Gale Cleven was a pallbearer at his memorial service in Casper.
Post contributed by Marcus Holscher, Toppan Rare Book Library, American Heritage Center.
[1] The 1940/41 Wyo yearbook was the first produced after a hiatus of several years due the Great Depression.
[2] George Niethammer’s name is spelled varyingly “Niethammer” and “Neithammer” in newspaper publications, the former is used on his draft card and used throughout this post.
[3] Branding Iron, Volume 43, Number 3, October 7, 1937.
[4] Branding Iron, Volume 14, Number 26, April 27, 1939.
[5] The same camp made famous by the British “Great Escape” of May 1944.
[6] The Casper Tribune Herald, October 11, 1949.
[7] George F. Niethammer | American Battle Monuments Commission. (n.d.). https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/niethammer%3Dgeorge (accessed March 29, 2024).
Sources Used:
Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016 [online database]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Memorial page for Col Gale Winston “Buck” Cleven (27 Dec 1918–17 Nov 2006), Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave Memorial ID 18089976, citing Santa Fe National Cemetery, Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, USA; Maintained by Paula and Dale (contributor 46489742). (accessed March 29, 2024.
American Battle Monuments Commission website.
Miller, Donald. Masters of the Air. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006.
WYO Yearbook, 1940/41.
Very interesting article. I wonder if wyohistory.org would post it?
In the 30s some other paperback publications were produced as a substitute for yearbooks. My dad is mentioned in a publication called Swingout in 1936 and in WYO Magazine in 1937 Winter Edition. I wonder if these publications are digitized.
Peggy Tobin, mentioned in the first BI article, was UW Dean of Women for many years, as you probably know. Glenn Mullens, mentioned in a Niet… article, was a long-time UW Engineering Professor. He married a member of the Corthell family.