Jim entered Douglas on April 2, 1941 and immediately engaged in what amounted to be a US war effort - having just left a different kind of war effort with the RCAF. The British and other nations had been at war with Germany since the fall of 1939. In spite of that the United States populace was determined to stay out of another European conflict. It had only been about 20 years since the end of the last conflict - the war to end all wars. However, Roosevelt and others understood that if nations like Great Britain were not somehow militarily supported then the Nazi domination of Europe would be complete. In June 1940 the remnants of the British and French armies were pushed into the sea at Dunkirk leaving only the British Isles standing to face the Axis powers. Starting in March 1941 the Lend-Lease program began where vast amounts of war material from the US were loaned or leased to those Allied countries engaged in combat against the Axis powers. A dodge to be sure but this program is now seen as the decisive step away from American isolationism.

On April 14, 1941, at Mines Field - Los Angeles, CA, Jim took the cockpit of a newly manufactured light fighter bomber of the A20 series, certificate #20. He did so knowing that the plane he was giving it's first shakedown flight would soon be engaged in combat over the skies of Europe. This would be his world for sometime to come - that of a test pilot.

The A20 Boston

He would also spend much time delivering these planes to the East coast for shipment to Europe. This is one example, beginning June 5th, of the delivery of the A20 DB-7B (certificate # W8329) to New York and Jim's return to LA via American Airlines - just to do it all over again.