Sixth Castle Coombe mess cup comes home

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kristin High
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  The sixth Castle Coombe mess cup made its way back home to the Eighth Air Force headquarters on Barksdale Air Force Base Sept. 15.

The Castle Coombe Mess Punch Bowl, or Eaker Bowl, became a heraldic symbol for the Eighth Air Force, linking the Mighty Eighth to its historical past.

The history behind the cups began in 1943 when eight officers stood with World War II Gen. Ira Eaker in England's Castle Coombe. The officers raised a toast in silver cups in hopes of victory and would continue reuniting after victory was achieved.

Retired General Eaker donated the bowl, ladle and his cup to the Eighth Air Force April 28, 1981. Later, three additional cups were donated.

According to Lane Callaway, Air Force Global Strike Command historian, one of the remaining cups was lost in a house fire and another one was stolen from its family.

The fifth of the nine cups was donated by Charles Jones Jr. in 2007. His father, Lt. Col. Charles A. Jones Sr., served with Eaker and was one of the nine original members of the Castle Coombe Group. Jones discovered the cup among his father's wartime mementoes after his father passed.

Until this year, the whereabouts of the last two known cups were thought to be with family.

Col. Kevin Raybine, Eighth Air Force director of safety, reached out to Dean Boles, a veteran, who indicated he acquired one of the original Eaker cups, belonging to Maj. Clarence O. Mason.

"He told me he read the 2007 article about the fifth cup being donated and was familiar with the Eaker cup heraldic device," said Raybine. "Boles wanted to reunite it with the others. He wanted nothing in return, just the fact he knew it was home."

After receiving the cup, Raybine had its authenticity validated by Callaway.

"The key to verifying was based on the measurements of the sixth cup through a physical comparison with the other five cups in possession of Eighth Air Force," said Callaway. "Other decisive points of verification were the lot number, trademark, weight and the style of font used in the engraving of each officer's name into the cup. Even the rings engraved near the top of each cup by the craftsman in 1944, is unique to each cup and Mason's cup reflects this uniqueness."

After receiving approval from AFGSC's legal office and coordinating with the Air Force museum, the cup was ready for its homecoming.

"Everyone in the process of attaining the sixth cup kept it under wraps in hopes of surprising Maj. Gen. Scott Vander Hamm," said Raybine.

The Eighth Air Force consultation committee luncheon was held Sept. 15. Vander Hamm, Eighth Air Force commander, was accompanied by Air Force retired Lt. Gen. Edgar Harris, prior Eighth Air Force commander, Col. Thomas Hesterman, Eighth Air Force vice commander, Col. Patrick Matthews, Eighth Air Force chief of staff, Mayor Lorenz Walker, Bossier City, La., and others.

After presenting a replica cup, Vander Hamm received his own gift, the sixth cup.

"I was absolutely astonished," said Vander Hamm. "Harris said he had a gift for me, and then he pulled from his coat pocket an original Eaker Cup. I was in disbelief! This piece of Eighth Air Force history has been absent for decades, and now here it is in my hands."

Thanks to Boles, the sixth cup is now present with the Eaker Bowl alongside five other cups at Eighth Air Force headquarters. The Eaker Bowl and all six cups are kept inside a protective display cabinet, on a wooden base engraved with the name of each Eighth Air Force commander back to Eaker.


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There were nine members of the Castle Coombe Mess when it broke up in 1943, and whose names are engraved on the Eaker Bowl. They are listed by military rank.

Lt. Gen. Ira C. Eaker: (Cup is present) He departed England to become commander-in-chief of Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (composed of 12th and 15th U.S. Army Air Forces, British Desert Air Force and British Balkan Air Force). He served as deputy commander of Army Air Forces and as chief of the Air Staff from April 1945 until 1947. He retired on Aug. 31, 1947, becoming an executive of an aircraft manufacturing company and author of a weekly newspaper column on aviation and several books. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1978 for his contributions to aviation development. By special Congressional legislation, he was promoted to full general in 1985, 38 years after his retirement. He passed away in 1987 at the age of 91.

Col. Peter Beasley: As a Major, he was one of the six officers accompanying Eaker to England in 1942. He was recruited from the executive ranks of Lockheed Aircraft Company. Beasley initially fulfilled duties as a plans and liaison specialist but later became chief of supply for the VIII Bomber Command and later accompanied Eaker to Eighth Air Force headquarters.

Col. Robert G. Ervin: (Cup is present) He joined the Castle Coombe group and later became a brigadier general and chairman of the Joint Air Commission, fielding P-47 and B-26 aircraft to the reconstituted French Air Force.

Col. Cecil P. "Brick" Lessig: (Cup is present) He arrived in England as a major in the advance party in January 1942, and subsequently became a brigadier general. Initially, he was Eaker's division chief for organization and movements in the VIII Bomber Command and later moved with him to Eighth Air Force headquarters. In 1943, Lessig was reassigned to Washington, D.C., to work directly for Gen. Hap Arnold.

Lt. Col. Charles A. Jones Sr.: (Cup is present) Until recently, no biographical information was known about Jones. His son, Charles Jones Jr., also a World War II veteran, recently donated his father's cup in memory of his father's wartime service.

Lt. Col. Glenn Jackson: He was a businessman from Medford, Ore. who impressed Eaker at the start of the war with his energy and talents in getting tasks done. By mid-1943, Jackson became a member of the Castle Coombe Mess. He departed England for the Mediterranean Command where he became Eaker's headquarters commandant in Italy, attaining the rank of colonel. Upon his death in 1980, Jackson was saluted as "Mr. Oregon" for his great successes in business (newspapers and utilities) and public service. Jackson nurtured Eaker's desire to take up journalism after the war.

Lt. Col. Beirne Lay, Jr.: (Cup is present) As a lieutenant, he was one of the six officers accompanying Eaker to England in 1942. He initially fulfilled the roles of senior aide-de-camp and historian at the VIII Bomber Command. Lay accompanied Eaker to Eighth Air Force headquarters. His first-hand observations of Eaker and the buildup of Eighth Air Force in England, and his eye-witness reports of aerial combat in August 1943, as an observer accompanying Col. Curtis LeMay on the air strike against the ball-bearing plants at Regensburg became the basis for a post-war book he co-authored titled Twelve O'Clock High. On Feb. 24, 1944, Lay became the commander of the 487th Bomb Group, a B-24 unit of Eighth Air Force. He was shot down over France May 11, 1944. He parachuted to safety and evaded capture. After the war, he was a co-screenwriter of the movie, "Twelve O'Clock High" starring Gregory Peck.

Lt. Col. James Parton: He was one of Eaker's aide-de-camps in England. Later in Italy, he became secretary to the general staff and historian. Parton was with Eaker at the VIII Bomber Command, and moved with the general to Eighth Air Force. Later, he accompanied the general to the headquarters of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces. Parton became Eaker's confidant and authorized biographer and wrote the book, Air Force Spoken Here, General Ira Eaker and the Command of the Air. Also after the war, Parton became the west coast editorial director for Time, Life, and Fortune magazines.

Maj. Clarence O. Mason: (Cup is present) He initially served as the mess officer at Pinetree, the wartime codename for Headquarters, VIII Bomber Command, and later Eighth Air Force. Mason also served on the team writing the history of the Eighth Air Force during Eaker's tenure as commander. He later served as aide-de-camp when Eaker became commander of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces.

Information in this article provided by Capt. Rob Goza's article "Castle Coombe Mess" cup donated and Mr. Lane Callaway, AFGSC historian.