A MUST READ!!!

by James Nalley

uring World War II, Operation Overlord (often referred to as D-Day) became the largest seaborne invasion in history. Occurring on June 6, 1944, this invasion began the liberation of France and laid the foundation for the Allied victory in Europe. Interestingly, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had tentatively set June 5 as the date, but the high winds and heavy seas made it impossible to launch landing craft. In addition, the low clouds prevented any aircraft from finding their targets. Thus, on the evening of June 4, Eisenhower met with Group Captain James Stagg of the Royal Air Force. Leading the U.S. team was a Bangor-born U.S. Army Air Force Officer who, as chief meteorol- ogist, helped convince his superiors to select June 6 as the date. Besides, another postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, due to an impending storm.

Donald Norton Yates was born in Bangor on November 25, 1909. After graduating from Bangor High School in 1927, he went on to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. According to William Cassidy, a classmate of Yates, he was “bright and wellliked. He was an outstanding cadet, a very outgoing and happy person with an explosive laugh.” Yates graduated in the top third of his class in 1931. After West Point, he departed immediately for pilot training at Kelly Field, Texas.

His first military assignment was with the 23rd Bomb Squadron in Luke Field, Hawaii. However, in 1938, he enrolled as a graduate student in engineering and meteorology at the California Institute of Technology. He received his Master of Science degree in meteorology in 1939.

In 1941, Yates was the Assistant Chief of Weather at the Office of the Army Air Corps. However, after the outbreak of World War II in December of that year, he was appointed Deputy Director of Weather at Army Air Force Headquarters. This led to his involvement in the planning of D-Day in June 1944. Approximately six months before the invasion, teams of U.S. and British meteorologists (including Yates) prepared by studying weather charts from the past. According to the article D-Day Meteorologists Had Pressure Everywhere (2020) by Judith Miller, “Meteorologists (weather forecasters) did not have computers or data from satellites during World War II. Instead, they used instruments on the ground, at sea, and in the air to collect weather data. For example, temperature was measured by a thermometer, wind speed was measured with anemometer, wind direction was determined by a wind vane, and precipitation was measured with a rain gauge.”

Needless to say, planning was difficult, since the ideal weather conditions were calm seas, clear skies, and light winds, none of which were regular occurrences in the English Channel. As stated earlier, British meteorologist James Stagg and U.S. Army Air Force Chief Meteorologist Yates noticed a break in the weather for June 6, after which Eisenhower set the invasion date. Stagg eventually wrote a book titled Forecast for Overlord (1971), which, according to many scholars, includes the most famous weather forecasts ever made.

Upon his return to the United States in January 1945, Colonel Yates was made Chief of the Weather Division, which was eventually transformed into the Air Weather Service. He commanded this organization at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, until 1950. In 1947, he was promoted to brigadier general and officially transferred to the U.S. Air Force. In March of that year, he flew the first scheduled weather reconnaissance mission over the North Pole. By 1952, Yates had been promoted to major general and was the Director of Research and Development at U.S. Air Force Headquarters.

From 1954 to 1960, Yates was the commander of the Air Force Eastern Test Range, which extended from the eastern United States mainland through the south Atlantic Ocean and eastward into the Indian Ocean. This included all stations, sites, ocean areas, and air space necessary to conduct missile and space vehicle test and development. In this capacity, he helped launch one of (cont. on page 14)

(cont. from page 13) the country’s first Earth satellites, the Navy Vanguard, and the Polaris ballistic missile. As stated by David Jones, a retired Air Force major general, “He was one of the pioneers in the missile business. There’s no question about that.”

In 1960, Yates was transferred to the Pentagon to become Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engineering. There, he helped formulate national policies regarding all space- and missile-related matters for the country. Upon his retirement in 1961, Yates worked for approximately 13 years with the Raytheon Co., which was (and still is) a multi-national aerospace and defense conglomerate, and one of the largest manufacturers of aerospace and defense products in the world. He rose to executive vice-president before retiring to Florida in the late 1970s.

On August 28, 1993, Yates died at his home in Longwood, Florida. He was 83 years of age. He had been suffering from emphysema and heart complications. He was subsequently buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His many honors include the Order of the British Empire, the French Legion of Honor, the French Croix de Guerre with Palm, the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and the U.S. Army Legion of Merit. But perhaps the latter award summed up his service the best: “Through Yates’s good judgment, skill, and sound leadership, reconciliation of the differences in forecasting methods were affected, resulting in a procedure capable of utilizing the talents and facilities of both nations (U.S. and U.K.) and all services in a unified manner. It has since been proven that the day selected for the continental assault was probably the only day during the month of June on which the operation could have been launched.”