Harry Birdell Winger

“The Colonel”

Yarmouth – Harry B. Winger, 88, a resident of Bay Square in Yarmouth, died at Maine Medical Center on Thursday, October 11, 2012, with his family by his side.

Harry was born in Mercer County, in Western Pennsylvania, on August 21, 1924 to Lawrence and Effie Mae Winger. He grew up on a family farm, attended church every Sunday with his family, and entered the U.S. Army Air Corp at the age of 17 in 1942. He trained as a bomber pilot. In 1944 he got his B-17 crew and plane and “buzzed” his mother in West Middlesex, PA on his way to England. He flew B-17 bombers over Germany during World War II. In June, 1944, at the age of nineteen and during his seventeenth bombing mission, his B-17 plane was shot down over Germany by the then-new and very fast German ME-262 fighter jet. His B-17 caught fire and ultimately exploded in the air, but all ten members of the crew bailed out and survived. Harry was knocked unconscious by the explosion, but he regained consciousness while in free-fall, opened his parachute, and landed in a German farm field. Harry was captured and spent the last eleven months of the war in a German prison camp located in Northern Germany. His prison camp was liberated in 1945 by the Russian Red Army. He returned to the United States and stayed in the Army Air Corp.

Harry then served as a pilot at Air Force bases in Oklahoma and Ohio. While in Oklahoma he was involved in a terrible plane accident and suffered serious injuries, but he refused to accept a Purple Heart medal for this event. While based in Ohio he took “routine navigational flights” to Boston to visit a young woman he knew named Arlene Ferver.

On December 19, 1948, in Boston, he married Mabel Arlene Ferver, whom he had known since he was a child. In 1949 he was transferred to Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Germany and flew 200 missions in the Berlin Airlift. Many, many years later Harry was awarded the Friendship Medal from the country of Germany for this service. Arlene joined Harry in Germany in 1949, but then in 1950 Harry was transferred to McCord AFB in Tacoma, Washington, and assigned to fly through the Aleutians to Japan to Korea for the Korean War. Arlene traveled to Tacoma, and in 1950 Harry’s first son, Lawrence, was born there. Harry was over the Pacific Ocean flying back to the U.S. when learned of his son’s birth from another pilot who radioed the news to him.

After the Korean War, Harry was assigned to Westover AFB in Massachusetts, and his second son, Douglas, was born there in 1952. He was then assigned to West Palm Beach, FL, where his daughter, Janet was born in 1956. Harry’s next tour of duty was in Japan 1957-1960, with his family. Harry flew around the world many times and, as Arlene often said, took many pictures of airports and his airplanes.

In 1960 Harry came to Maine to serve as the Air Force liaison officer to the Maine Civil Air Patrol. In 1962 Harry was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and forever after he was known as “The Colonel.” He served as the CAP officer, with offices on Veranda Street in Portland, until his retirement in 1965. Harry then worked for seventeen years as a pilot and later Director of Flight Operations for Maine Aviation Corporation at the Portland Airport. He finished his flying career as the pilot for many years of a Cessna Conquest for Victoria Creations, a jewelry company in Rhode Island. He really enjoyed flying that Cessna Conquest very much.

Harry always had a positive, can-do attitude. He was talkative and friendly and never hesitated to strike up conversations with strangers. In his last year at Bay Square he was always a very lively member of that community and very caring for Arlene.

Harry was always attentive to his duties to his God, his country, and his family. Harry and Arlene were active participants in their churches throughout their lives, and they were regulars at Woodfords Church in Portland from 1963 – 2012.

Harry was at various times a member of the Masons, the Shriners, the 100Th Bomb Group Foundation, the Mercedes Benz Owners of America, and many other organizations, but in his later years his favorite and most active membership was in the The Quiet Birdmen.

Harry is survived by his loving wife, Arlene, a resident at Bay Square in Yarmouth, and his three children and their families: Lawrence Winger and his wife Holly of Falmouth and their children Charlie and Tommy, Douglas Winger and his wife Kathleen of Windermere, FL and their children Meghan, Carly, Brett, and Molly, and Janet Gauvin and her husband Russell of Portland and Janet’s children Sarah Arbo and Greg Arbo.

A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 20, 2012, at Woodfords Church, 202 Woodfords Street, Portland, with Rev. Carolyn Lambert officiating. After the service a gathering at the church of Harry’s family and friends will share their memories and stories of Harry.

Memorial donations may be made to Woodfords Church, 202 Woodfords Street, Portland, ME 04103.