Interview with Richard Dinning - OH 309
Abstract
In his October 17, 2012 interview with Robert Ryals, Richard Dinning (1922-2022) details his thoughts and memories as an Army Air Corps cadet at Winthrop. Dinning includes details of his career in the Army Air Corp during WWII.
Captain Richard Dinning (1922-2022) was a combat pilot and WWII veteran. Capt. Dinning flew a B-17 bomber on 33 missions over Germany from 1944 to 1945. Before his stint in the war his Army Air Corp training brought him to Winthrop College. In 1943 the U. S. Army established the 41st College Training Detachment at Winthrop College to train young men for assignments in the Army Air Corps. These young men took classes at Winthrop, lived in “Fort Bancroft” [Bancroft Hall] and completed flight training at Roddey Field located just south of the city of Rock Hill off of SC Highway 72. Richard Dinning was one of the young men who arrived at Winthrop, which was an all-female institution at the time, and stayed for nine weeks in the Spring of 1943.