In 1937, young John Prescott entered the doors of Cranford’s newly constructed high school on West End Place. As part of the rising class of 1941, John was a member of the first freshman class of students who would spend all four years in this brand new, state of the art high school. Little did anyone know that John and many of his classmates would soon be called upon to defend our nation against the fascist regimes which threatened global freedom. Tragically, the fates of John Prescott and four of his fellow freshman classmates would forever be bound together in the sacred brotherhood which we now call the Cranford 86.

Reaching for the Skies

John Prescott, or “Jack” as he was known, was an ambitious, active student involved in a broad array of activities. His athletic endeavors included participation in the football, baseball, track and hockey teams. In the 1941 yearbook, his future plans simply stated “College”. After graduation from Cranford High School, it seemed that everything was moving along as planned for 18-year-old Jack Prescott, as he was accepted and began his studies at the University of Maryland. But, just three months into his freshman year, on December 7th, 1941, the world was turned upside down. The Japanese Imperial Navy Air Service launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and the United States was at war. Jack Prescott finished his first year of college and like so many others of this unique generation, chose to join the U.S. Armed Forces. His sights were set on becoming a United States Army Air Force (USAAF) pilot.

At the time, the United States had allowed its arsenal of war hardware to become antiquated. To rectify this, American manufacturing plants were adapted and went into high gear to produce 300,000 aircraft in a four-year period, an historically epic feat. The Army Air Force recruited from colleges, cities and towns across the country, off the farm, or just off the street. Successfully obtaining and training enough personnel to man all of these airplanes that were coming off the line is an incredible story to be told here through the experiences of Jack Prescott. 

We would love to know what drove young Jack to pursue such a lofty career choice, one that just a year earlier would not have yet been possible for him. Prior to 1942, aviator applicants were required to be 20 years of age and needed to have completed two years of college. In January of 1942, reacting to the urgent need for flight crews, the Army reduced the applicant age by two years, the college prerequisite was eliminated and replaced with a rigorous written examination. Apparently, Jack Prescott tackled the entrance exam with little or no problem, and on June 27th, 1942, he reported for duty at Fort Dix, New Jersey, as an Aviation Cadet. It was right around this time that the USAAF began its program to train American pilots for night flying, to assist the British squadrons that were currently fighting to obtain night air superiority for the Allies. This early in his career, Jack was maybe wondering if he even had what it took to get his wings, not realizing that he was destined to become a special breed of aviator, known as a night fighter.

Preflight Training

Jack began the demanding journey to attaining his pilot’s wings at Preflight school in Santa Ana, California. It is here where a classification board determined whether an applicant had the aptitude for the job they had selected: pilot, navigator or bombardier, or would be classified as “none of the above”. Hand sensitivity, eyesight, and adaptable reactions were some of the characteristics which were probed by intense testing of complex coordination, reaction time, finger dexterity, steadiness and rotary pursuit, to name a few. One veteran pilot stated that in his class, 40% “washed out” (were eliminated) during the classification process, placed into the none of the above category, and went on to less demanding jobs. Conquering another sizeable obstacle, Jack’s test results allowed him to be classified for pilot training. 

An article from the Cranford Chronicle archives told us that Jack Prescott found a familiar face in his Preflight training class, Bruce Nostrand, a fellow Cranford resident. Bruce and Jack attended Preflight training together, which was half classwork and half outdoor military training. The men studied aerodynamics, military customs and courtesies, aviation physiology, navigation, Morse code, aircraft and naval recognition, math, physics, chart interpretation and more. It was said that another large percentage of washouts occurred here, due to lack of aptitude for any subject that was physics related and surprisingly, Morse code. Outdoor training consisted of shooting and studying all types of hand weaponry, rigorous physical fitness and endless marching drills, in all of which, perfection was constantly sought. 

Flight Simulators, Solos and More

In early 1943, after successful completion of Preflight School, Jack Prescott and Bruce Nostrand together moved on to Fort Stockton, Texas for the next round of training and tests and finally, what they had all been waiting for…planes. We are not sure if either of these two Aviation Cadets from Cranford had ever even been near an aircraft before, as was the case with many of their fellow trainees. However, here in Primary School at Fort Stockton they would fly trainer aircraft, take their first solo flight and begin to become proficient in the art and skills of a battle bound pilot. 

At night and in bad weather, pilots needed to know how to fly using instrumentation. A man from Binghamton, New York named Ed Link, whose father owned a piano and organ manufacturing company, was the inventor of the “Link Trainer”. With his knowledge of pumps, bellows and valves, which he gained from his family’s business, Ed created a flight simulator that responded to a pilot’s controls and provided the correct corresponding readings on its instruments. In WWII, countless numbers of U.S. pilots were safely schooled on Link Trainers, another example of American ingenuity that helped to achieve victory and save lives.

In Primary School, the pressure to achieve readiness and complete a solo flight in the required timeframe was immense, and missing that goal would result in washing out. Despite this, and their demanding course and flying schedules, the cadets did have some time for weekend socialization. It was during this time that Jack met and fell in love with a young lady from Galveston, Texas, named Anna Tennant, a graduate of Sul Ross State Teachers College (now Sul Ross State University). In a whirlwind romance, the couple’s engagement was announced in May of 1943, but considering the circumstances, a wedding date was not set. What a full and exciting time of life this was for Jack Prescott.

Flight crews advanced from Primary to Basic to Advanced Training, each at a new air base with more challenging instructors and larger, faster and more powerful aircraft. Instead of sitting in the rear seat, they were now situated up front. As the weeks went by, the cadets struggled to keep their heads above water and lived in daily fear of washing out. They watched their class size shrink by large percentages, which was evident when they lined up out on the parade field, and many felt that pilot’s wings were perhaps an unattainable goal.

Jack Gets His Wings

In Advanced School at Williams Field in Arizona, the training and testing continued and would reveal any physical, emotional or mental tells which might prevent a cadet from performing at the highest level needed to lead a flight crew. Cadets proceeded on to live action exercises which made the rigorous hurdles of simulated training look pale in comparison. Here, flying in formation was constantly practiced and perfected and this skill was an absolute requirement for a fighter pilot. Jack Prescott forged ahead, met every challenge and was successfully commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. Finally, in a graduation ceremony in July of 1943, at Williams Field, he was awarded his silver wings and pilot certification. A WWII veteran described graduation day as the crowning moment in a military pilot’s life. 

Night Fighters—A Special Breed of Aviator

Jack continued with additional advanced training and in October of 1943, on his way to Orlando, Florida, he was able to make a surprise visit home to Cranford. He had not been home for 16 months and was now walking through the door of 4 Doering Way as a U.S. Army Air Force pilot. In Orlando, Jack would attend the Fighter Command School, Night Fighter Division, AAF School of Applied Tactics. The role of night fighter was a difficult and dangerous assignment, so much so, that it was staffed by volunteers only. The excitement of the mission appealed to many, one of those being Jack Prescott. Already a highly-trained airman, Jack went on to master twin-engine flying, night formation flying, night gunnery, night recognition, night navigation, ground control radar, and blind landings. He was assigned to the newly formed 414th Night Fighter Squadron (known as the four-one-four in military terminology) that was based in the Algerian capital city of Algiers. In early 1944, Jack traveled to Hammer Field in Fresno, California to train with his squadron. 

We were so fortunate to locate members of the Prescott family, who reside in Massachusetts. Jack’s niece, Betty Prescott Gray, told us that before heading off to his assignment in Algeria, her uncle broke off his engagement to Anna Tennant. She explained to us that this was an act of compassion as her uncle so loved Anna. Jack, knowing the odds, did not want to leave Anna as a widow in the likely case that he may not return from war. In some fighter and bomber units, only one in four would survive, a 75% mortality average, unlike other units that had less than a 10% expected mortality rate. Jack and Anna remained a couple throughout Jack’s term of service and hopefully he lived in her heart long beyond that. The 414th Night Fighter Squadron ended up losing 25 airmen and had one POW by war’s end.

Embarking on his first overseas assignment, our Cranford 86 hero flew himself to Algeria, in North Africa, in May of 1944. His squadron was used in a variety of combat missions which included reconnaissance, protection of allied traffic in the Mediterranean Sea, ground strafing attacks and psychological warfare efforts in which leaflets were dropped from above, encouraging surrender of enemy forces. The squadrons would be moved gradually north to the large islands of Sardinia and Corsica, located off the west coast of Italy, in the Mediterranean Sea. Sardinia and Corsica were both strongholds for the Nazis earlier in the war. Control of these two islands gave military superiority due to their proximity to northern Italy and southern France. Allied successes in battle would move the squadrons from Sicily, north to Salerno, then Anzio, and then further up the Italian peninsula. After the Allied forces were able to repair the island airstrips that were destroyed by the retreating Nazi forces, air support could be set up for the advancing Allied troops in France for the invasion of D-Day on June 6th, 1944 and the continued advance of battling forces in Italy.

The concept of night bombing was not the norm for the U.S. Army Air Force. American-made aircraft were not designed for flying in the dark of night. In the war drama, Masters of the Air, there was a memorable scene where British and American pilots were talking over drinks at the Officers’ Club. The British pilots were mocking the Americans for their plan to head out daily over enemy territory, in broad daylight, a strategy deemed crazy by the British. The Americans typically performed precision bombing visually, utilizing the Norden bombsight, instead of wide range night attacks using radar. Inspired by those scenes, we researched the facts and found them to be mostly true. The Americans had attempted night bombing and strafing attacks for a short period, only to suffer greater losses than in day raids. This nonsuccess was due to the lack of equipment necessary for night flying, such as lighted control panels in the cockpit and flash guards on guns. These were features that could be found in the English-made Bristol Beaufighter aircraft.

The four American night fighter squadrons that were first based in North Africa were the 414th, 415th, 416th, and 417th and were equipped exclusively with the Bristol Beaufighter aircraft. Over 100 “Beaus” were manufactured for the USAAF by Britain and it was considered the most fortified and well-armed airplane of its time. The Beaufighter only had 2 seats, one for the pilot and directly behind, under a glass dome, was the navigator/radar operator seat. The pilot would need to fly the plane and control the .303 caliber wing-mounted machine guns and the four 20mm explosive shell cannons that were mounted on both sides of the fuselage. The Beaufighter was converted from the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber and the nose, formerly glass, now housed its massive early generation radar unit. Its increased size and weight required an upgrade from two smaller 1,000 horsepower engines to two huge 1,500 horsepower Rolls Royce or Hercules engines. This made takeoffs and landings a difficult and acquired skill set. The Beaufighter had a maximum speed of 335 mph. It was not considered fast for a fighter plane, but it was fast enough to keep up with and attack slightly slower bomber aircraft. Its long range of 1,750 miles and ability to fly successfully in the dark of night, were Beaufighter traits that made it the right aircraft for the long two-way missions over the Mediterranean Sea to the Italian peninsula and the European mainland.

Tragedy Strikes

Jack was promoted in September of 1944 to 1st Lieutenant. Shortly after, on September 25th, he was on a mission indicative of the skill level to which our hero had risen. In an expert low-flying strafing attack that left his targets in flames, he successfully neutralized a traveling convoy of supply trucks and destroyed a key railroad station in the western Po River Valley. The Po River is the longest river in Italy. It runs east to west across the northern Italian industrial manufacturing region, an area which was crucial to the Nazi war machine during WWII. A couple weeks later in early October of 1944, Jack was in contact with his parents and he reported to them that he had completed 25 missions and was doing well. Had Jack accomplished this in 1943, successfully completing 25 missions would have sent a U.S. Army Air Force flight crew member home. Unfortunately, by 1944 that number had been raised to 30, and further increased to 50 in 1945. 

On October 12th, 1944, Jack was returning from a reconnaissance mission which again had taken him over the Po River Valley. At 5:10 a.m., just after sunrise, he contacted the Corsica air base control tower. With no indication of trouble, Jack indicated that he was at 9,500 feet and was coming in to land. That was his last communication and his plane never landed. In a letter from his Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Carroll H. Bolender, to Clifton and Clarice Prescott, Jack’s parents, it stated that every aircraft on the Corsica home base was dispatched to conduct a thorough search and rescue mission. An oil slick was sighted, and a wing section and other scattered plane parts were recovered from a debris field, off the northern tip of Corsica in the Ligurian Sea. 1st Lieutenant John A. Prescott, pilot of a British Beaufighter, and his navigator and radar operator, Samuel G. Danforth, were reported missing in action, preliminarily, as hopes were still being held for a possible ejection and recovery. After 30 days, sadly, both were redesignated as killed in action. It seems impossible that, after all Jack Prescott had achieved, he was only 21 years old at the time of his death. 

Born on May 10, 1923, Jack Prescott was a native of Oak Park, Illinois. He resided in Cranford for 17 years at 4 Doering Way. In addition to his parents, he was survived by his brother Charles who was a senior at Cranford High School at that time. His former fiancée Anna Tennant eventually married and had three children. His brother Charles later married and had 7 children, with the first born son named after Jack. The family of Charles Prescott was able to provide us with a wonderful collection of photographs, mostly containing happy moments captured within the 21 years of Jack Prescott’s short, but meaningful life. 

Jack Prescott was a kid from Cranford with a dream to elevate himself into a position where he felt that he could best serve the world in the most critical of times. To get there, he triumphed over every test that was put before him and he flew up into the darkness, again and again, giving more than his share to our country and its allies. Lt. Jack Prescott’s story is one of determination, gallantry and bravery and we are honored to be the ones to tell it.

After Jack was declared killed in action, a memorial service was conducted at the First Presbyterian Church of Cranford by Rev. William R. Sloan. In a special ceremony at the Officers’ Club in Weequahic Park Barracks, Newark, 1st Lieutenant John A. Prescott was posthumously awarded the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster. It was presented to his parents by Major Aubrey C. Halsell, Chaplain of the Atlantic Overseas Air Tactical Service Command, for the aforementioned strafing attack in the Po River Valley on September 25, 1944. Lt. Prescott also received the Purple Heart.

1st Lieutenant Bruce Nostrand also completed his advanced training, received his wings, and piloted a Boston Bomber in combat, based in the Philippines. Touchingly, Bruce’s name would join Jack’s on the bronze plaque at Cranford’s Memorial Park, along with Jack’s four classmates from Cranford High School Class of 1941: Norman Sorger, Roderick Smith, Nick Vassallo and Robert Tuttle.

Our decision to create a theme for this year’s Cranford 86 stories, was inspired by Apple TV’s Masters of the Air, a nine-part mini-series that chronicles the “Bloody 100th” Bomb Group during WWII. Incredibly, amongst Cranford’s 86 plus fallen heroes, there are 13 flight crew members, of which 9 were graduated pilots. Now, with the understanding of what was required to reach that level, a new light shines on the caliber of skill, character and endurance possessed by the fine young men of our little suburban New Jersey town. Cranford delivered its very best to a country in need. 

Many thanks to the Prescott family, for providing us with the beautiful family photos, which have given a face to the name “Lieutenant Jack Prescott”. We look forward to the pleasure of their company in Cranford, for Memorial Day 2025 when Lt. Prescott’s banner will be unveiled. Additional thanks go to Cranford residents Rich and Amy Wischusen, for their sponsorship of the lieutenant’s banner.