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Do you think Fred was Jack's first love?

That's an interesting question, dear anon. To be honest, I don't think I've ever thought about it before!

Considering that he appears to be in his late twenties at the time of the story, it's quite likely Jack has been physically attracted to other men before Fred. I believe Duane was (subconsciously) in love with him, but Jack seems to only consider him a friend — of course, things might have turned out differently if Duane had chosen to act on his feelings. Perhaps at some point Jack found himself in a situation similar to Fred’s:

He had had this problem quite recently. The teacher was an instructor in Primary Flight Training, in which Fred received eighty hours of flight time in that classic craft known lovingly as the Ryan Yellow Peril. He had wanted almost desperately to be closer to the man, but the teacher had other students as well and hardly noticed Fred. When he was off duty, he drove home to a wife and three kids, leaving Fred in a barracks full of noisy flight students, many of them bullies, who spent their spare time telling dirty, untrue stories and gaping at poorly composed pictures of girls with cleavage showing.

Which means he probably never fell head over heels in love, but he did experience a few unacknowledged crushes that didn’t lead anywhere. I imagine this was a common occurrence among gay/bi people at the time. But Fred was the first guy he really devoted himself to.

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Queer Historical Fiction Book Bracket: Round 1B

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

Affinity by Sarah Waters

Endorsement from submitter: "When the twist came my jaw was on the floor."

An upper-class woman recovering from a suicide attempt, Margaret Prior has begun visiting the women’s ward of Millbank prison, Victorian London’s grimmest jail, as part of her rehabilitative charity work. Amongst Millbank’s murderers and common thieves, Margaret finds herself increasingly fascinated by an apparently innocent inmate, the enigmatic spiritualist Selina Dawes. Selina was imprisoned after a séance she was conducting went horribly awry, leaving an elderly matron dead and a young woman deeply disturbed. Although initially skeptical of Selina’s gifts, Margaret is soon drawn into a twilight world of ghosts and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions, until she is at last driven to concoct a desperate plot to secure Selina’s freedom, and her own.

Setting: Victorian England

Historical fiction, mystery, gothic, Victorian, adult

Wingmen by Ensan Case

Endorsement from submitter: "One of the first historical queer fictions to ever be openly published (1979), tells a tale of two pilots from WW2, who feel more than friendship between them. Lot of tension, action, and truthful look on how queer men operated during world wars and in the army."

First published in 1979 by Avon books, this World War II novel, with overtones of From Here to Eternity, was a precursor to the gay romance genre. Jack Hardigan's Hellcat fighter squadron blew the Japanese Zekes out of the blazing Pacific skies. But a more subtle kind of hell was brewing in his feelings for rookie pilot Fred Trusteau. While a beautiful widow pursues Jack, and another pilot becomes suspicious of Jack and Fred's close friendship, the two heroes cut a fiery swath through the skies from Wake Island to Tarawa to Truk, there to keep a fateful rendezvous with love and death in the blood-clouded waters of the Pacific.

Setting: 1940s / World War II and later

Historical fiction, WWII, 1940s, war novel, adult

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I would love more of your thoughts on Beach Head! Particularly the way some of the themes from Wingmen were used and expanded upon in different ways 😊

Hey,

I guess it's best to start by pointing out the similarities between the two novels: both Beach Head and Wingmen are written in the same realistic and concise style. They have a very similar structure, with chapters separated between books/parts. And, of course, much of Beach Head also shares the same setting as Wingmen. It's not even hard to imagine they are part of the same universe (and, as far as I remember, their plots never contradict each other!).

Wingmen, however, is a very straightforward tale: it’s a novel about Fred Trusteau’s time in the Navy. Epilogue/scrapbook aside, it never strays from this path (and does so brilliantly). Beach Head, on the other hand, is a much more ambitious and daring work: it’s military historical fiction, but it’s also a journalistic and mystery story that touches on politics, tradition, sailing, architecture, and cuisine, among other things! As you said, it’s wacky, and I can understand why someone would think it needs an editor to trim things down, but I enjoyed the journey. Case was a smart guy and his writing is never dull, so it’s nice to read him rambling on about subjects he clearly had a personal interest in.

Case's boldness wasn’t limited only to the diversity of subjects he addressed but also to some particular themes that were present in Wingmen and had their scope expanded in Beach Head:

Anti-war/anti-establishment sentiment

It angered and confused Jack to think that in the coming clash (and he knew there would be opposition) aircraft and pilots might be lost just so that the brass back in Hawaii would have a better idea as to how many carriers could operate in a single task group. The entire affair sat wrong with Jack, even though he knew it was wrong to question orders, even to himself. [Wingmen] Jack sat and listened and was chilled by the casual manner the briefing officer used when referring to aircraft losses. It was as though the aircraft flew themselves, unaided by human hands; it was as though men were not involved at all. The briefing officer was a paper-shuffling war technician—cold, impersonal, calculating. He didn’t have to fly the planes out to the enemy-held island of Marcus. [Wingmen] “How many Marines will get killed, General?" he asked. Silence hung awkwardly for several seconds, and the general answered. “Too many," he said. The reporters scribbled away. "I could lie and say none. I could be philosophic and say that one was too many. I can be completely truthful and say that some will, most definitely, get killed, whether by getting their brains blown out by an enemy bullet or from an infected mosquito bite. I'm afraid that's just the nature of our business." [Beach Head] Stiff loglike bodies still floated there, bumping in the waves against the wrecked landing craft and tanks, becoming entangled in the pilings of the pier. Carl wondered if anyone knew their names, or even that they were dead. […] He went back over to the battlement and sat alone, distressed beyond words. [Beach Head] "You're disgusting," said Waters. He pulled the door closed behind him, thinking he heard the associate say, "And you're not?" But he couldn't be sure. [Beach Head]

Anti-war/anti-establishment themes are clearly present in Wingmen, but in a more subtle way compared to their inclusion in Beach Head. In the former, we hear about them through Jack’s occasional complaints. It’s important to note that despite its war setting, Wingmen is not a violent novel. There is really only one bloodshed scene in the novel, and it isn’t even that gruesome.

Beach Head, on the other hand, has some extremely graphic passages. It plainly shows the reader how little regard there is for human life in the battleground, and how both government and military leaders are willing to sacrifice hundreds of their own men for the slightest chance of a strategic advantage. And then there's Dave Waters, who represents the faceless agents whose job it is to clean up any incriminating evidence from the dirt.

Homosexuality

“You know,” Jack was saying, “I really thought we’d lost you once back then.” “At Wake?” “Before that. When you came down on the Essex. It was not knowing that was hard to take. And the thought of getting along without you…” “I, I…” Fred stammered. “You mean a lot to me,” said Jack quietly. Fred felt his arm stiffen slightly as he said it. [Wingmen] "There aren't many people in the world," said Tom, "who would know about me and Gordon and just accept it, without any judgments." "I know," said Augie. "I guess I'm just lucky." [Beach Head]

Wingmen is notable for presenting a gay couple who are not only capable and competent, but also free from major self-loathing issues. In Beach Head, we meet another gay couple among the novel’s supporting characters: Tom and Gordon. Tom, unlike Case’s other gay characters, is portrayed as having a more stereotypical personality, but this is never considered a negative trait, and like Wingmen’s couple, their relationship is solid and enduring. I consider them Case’s most explicit plea for sexual tolerance.

"I think that may have been one of the reasons I wrote it," said Carl. "To quiet the goddamn snoopers. Hell, if something like that happened today, the headlines would read, 'My Eight Years Without a Woman.' Everyone wanted to ask the question when I got back, but, being 1952, it wasn't considered the proper thing." He laughed. "And then again, the real prudes never even thought about it. It never occurred to them that two men could have sex." [Beach Head] He had heard about, and, yes, done some things with other Navy personnel, particularly before the war, which made the episodes with Randall seem rather tame. [Beach Head]

We've already talked a bit about Duane Higgins in the past, so I won't bother you with the same book passages again; what’s important is the point about him being a “grey area”/bisexual type of man. Carl Randall and Nelson Briles basically fall into the same category. With them, Case explores the reality of two men who would never have a romantic/sexual relationship with each other (or with any other man, for that matter) if they weren't in a very peculiar situation. It's a quite interesting scenario that can probably be interpreted as part of the situational homosexuality phenomenon, in which the usual heteronormative norms of society break down. In my opinion, this is the most groundbreaking aspect of Beach Head, as there are few examples in literature of relationships like this one being portrayed as tactfully and sensibly as Case did, and the prime example of his desire to portray “gay characters, in minor and major roles [...] as simply minor or major characters, whose sexual orientation is only one facet of their characterization.”

Female characters

“You’re a shameless woman,” he said. “Yes,” she said, smiling. “But is there a Navy regulation that says women aren’t supposed to enjoy it, too?” [Wingmen] The car was as much a statement of Augie Warrender's independence as was her apartment, her job, and her stubborn refusal to marry. […] She drove it imperiously, perhaps haughtily, irritated with the looks the businessmen on the freeway gave her when she passed them: knowing they thought it was her husband's car; knowing they assumed she was a slightly silly, mostly incompetent housewife who spent her afternoon with the soap operas and worried about ring around the collar. Her twisting thought process revealed to her that this was the reason she had gone to Vietnam. Other times she told herself that she did things for positive reasons only, to please herself. She could not bear to think that her entire career had been prompted by what she thought men thought of her. [Beach Head]

Due to its particular historical setting, Wingmen is a novel with very few female characters. Eleanor Hawkins, a “rich, attractive, and single” secondary character, fills this gap. Eleanor defies expectations: she isn’t a helpless damsel who is presented only as a prize. She is smart and incisive, but kind. Spicy, but not as a tactic to please men—Duane is uncomfortable with her advances, but he’s still smitten by her uniqueness. You finish the novel wanting to know more about her.

Now in a more unrestrained setting, Case introduced Augie Warrender as the protagonist of Beach Head's latter part. Augie is an intrepid working woman with a somewhat messy personal life. She is even more headstrong than Eleanor, and very charismatic. For a guy whose work seemed to focus on male-oriented environments, Case knew how to write women well. Neither Eleanor nor Augie are two-dimensional ingénues or vixens, nor stereotypical girlbosses. His servicemen characters can often be misogynist, but this is never a position endorsed by the narrator.

The Japanese

“He knew, almost from instinct, that he didn’t personally hate the Japanese. A sort of professional hatred was a part of the job of fighting, but that didn’t mitigate the respect he felt for their pilots. Without exception, they were professional and devoted and fought with a tenacity of purpose that he hoped his own pilots would display.” [Wingmen] "He told me what he thought. He said he felt a great relief that he didn't have to hide himself any more. It was like being let out of prison, he said, but then he came to miss us. We were his link to the rest of the world, even if we were the enemy and he couldn't talk to us. He missed us so much that he returned the things he had stolen. The only way he could do that was to take them over to my hut on the oceanside." [Beach Head]

As with the female characters, I feel that Case tried to write a sympathetic portrayal of Japanese people. There are no Japanese characters in Wingmen, but he made sure to include a passage where Jack reflects on the Japanese pilots and his lack of hatred for them (see above).

In Beach Head, he decided to risk a more personal approach. Most of the novel is split between American and Japanese perspectives. The Japanese protagonists are neither traitors nor toxic nationalists: they are ordinary people who love their country and are willing to fight for it, even if they don’t agree with everything that’s happening around them and have to wander through bureaucratic hazards to do so. I admit I don’t know enough about Japanese culture to say whether or not his description of it is accurate, but it seemed to me a quite sensible one: Beach Head's Japanese society isn’t much more or less flawed than the American one.

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Ensan Case 1980 Interview

Published in the April 1980 issue of the newspaper Mom... Guess What!

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It’s so wild when you see a photo of a person from history who looks so much like a Hollywood archetype of whatever they did that you’re like “this must be made up.” “This must be an actor.” NO! This is actually what World War II Flying Ace Urban L. “Ben” Drew actually literally looked like in life. Went around looking like this, shooting down jet-powered Luftwaffe aircraft from his lil Snoopy-looking propellor-nosed Mustang. Hopped triumphantly down from the plane wing, pulled off his flying cap, ran a hand boyishly through his sweat-darkened hair, face lookin like that the whole time. Can you imagine???  

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Wingmen mentioned! 😃

For those who are curious about it, here's a download link to the ebook. It's an epic novel!

I will never forget the day I discovered “wingmen” was already used as a euphemism for gay lovers before the Top Gun fandom got ahold of it.

Oh, but hey, it’s probably just a coincidence, it’s not like there’s any proof the cast or filmmakers were aware of this, by all accounts, obscure queer historical aviation romance. It’s not like the top half of the cover art mirrors a famous scene from the fil… wait…

“You can be my wingman anytime”

“Bullshit, you can be mine” indeed Tony Scott.

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Been looking for an excuse to post more Wingmen......

You will need to read the book to find out all the many different ways this scene is so painful.......

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Queer Fiction Free-for-All Book Bracket Tournament: Preliminary Round

Book summaries below:

Wingmen by Ensan Case

First published in 1979 by Avon books, this World War II novel, with overtones of From Here to Eternity, was a precursor to the gay romance genre. Jack Hardigan's Hellcat fighter squadron blew the Japanese Zekes out of the blazing Pacific skies. But a more subtle kind of hell was brewing in his feelings for rookie pilot Fred Trusteau. While a beautiful widow pursues Jack, and another pilot becomes suspicious of Jack and Fred's close friendship, the two heroes cut a fiery swath through the skies from Wake Island to Tarawa to Truk, there to keep a fateful rendezvous with love and death in the blood-clouded waters of the Pacific.

Historical fiction, WWII, 1940s, war novel, adult

The Cradle of Eternal Night by Ladz

In a land lit only by the counterfeit warmth of magical technology, the Kler prays for the return of the sun, the moons, and the stars. Ceaseless night and the beasts lurking in the darkness keep the congregation within the Kolebka Wiecznej Nocy trapped in mirthless vigil. Their towns remain quiet as graveyards as they wait for day to come again. What no one knows about this ceaseless night is that the Kler themselves can end it. But they haven’t, and they won’t.

Long ago, the Kler banished the sun worshipers, but a heretical sect made the journey back to the land of darkness. Now, only one remains carrying their purpose heavy on her shoulders: a maverick technomancer named Basia. She alone will bring back the light, or no one will.

Armed with naught but her own cleverness and a sword imbued with sun-embraced charms, she searches for the Kler’s secrets and finds herself in Tawerna. With the Kler on her heels, she infiltrates a private feast and catches Hanka, a docile bard, in the middle of planning her own escape into the world beyond. Hanka wants nothing to do with the heretical outsider until she discovers that her purpose aligns with the darkness buried inside herself. Hanka knows the secrets the Kler keeps, and she knows just where to go to expose their lies.

With only each other and their heretical magic to rely on, Basia and Hanka face the eternal night and wonder, are they truly enough to bring light back to the world?

Fantasy, horror, dark fantasy, adventure, secondary world, adult

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Remember that playing card....

I know it's the wrong suit but....imagine if Fred had done this version......

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December 24, 1943: Fred Trusteau and Jack Hardigan spent their first night together.

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Guy Madison in Honeymoon, 1947 dir. William Keighley

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There are also some interviews with Mr. Ilfrey available on Youtube:

Captain Jack "Happy Jack" Ilfrey 1920-2004. Check out the swastikas on the side of his plane. He was shot down twice but evaded capture and returned to his squadron. In the final decade of his life he confirmed to Christopher Case that his life paralleled the story of Jack and Fred in Wingmen, but sadly he had never felt able to be open with his family or peers. His autobiography "Happy Jack's Go Buggy" arrived in the post today. I can't wait to dive into it.

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My intention in this novel, and subsequent mainstream novels, is to portray gay characters whose orientation is not the central problem to be overcome. Future novels, assuming I live that long, will include gay characters, in minor and major roles, portrayed as simply minor or major characters, whose sexual orientation is only one facet of their characterization. Maybe gay people will come to be seen simply as ordinary people with the same problems, aspirations, and everyday lives as anyone else.

— Ensan Case in 2015.

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Christopher E. Case (July 3, 1950 – October 1, 2024) Our brother Chris took his final rest on October 1, 2024 after an extended illness. He was born in Savannah, raised on Tybee Island, and retired to Claxton. He served twenty years in law enforcement, retiring as Major of Police on Tybee Island. He was instrumental in certifying and modernizing the Tybee Police force, and as a member of GPAC and CALEA, worked to train and certify a number of small municipal Police forces across the state. He received numerous commendations for his work. Chris loved music and was a talented musician; The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Jackson Browne, and Tom Petty were among his favorites. He enjoyed playing in a band of police officers, Signal 29, on Tybee and in Savannah. He rescued and adopted many stray cats over the years. Everyone on Tybee knew to take injured and pitiful cats and kittens to Major Case, and he would care for them. He especially loved "Mrs. Peel" and "Ed". Chris was a graduate of Georgia Tech, a Naval Officer, and a published author.

Thank you again, @leadchain, for being so kind as to send me this.

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I remember looking through Wikipedia's category “United States Army Air Forces Pilots of World War II” to find a name that matched the information Case had given; I was very happy when I found Ilfrey! At the time, there was absolutely nothing about his sexuality on the internet, so it was like finding an ancient buried treasure. 😄 I wrote the Wikipedia article on Wingmen and made sure to include a mention of him, and wrote a post about him on this blog too. I also have a good guess as to who his pilot boyfriends were. As you said, these life stories need to be rescued from these scarce historical documents and brought to life. I wish you luck in your research, it sounds very interesting!

Hello, I have only recently discovered the story of Jack Ilfrey, and am eagerly awaiting the delivery of a 1st edition paperback copy of Wingmen that I sourced in a bookshop in London. I am researching the lives of WW2 airmen in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia. I wondered if you know what became of Christopher "Ensan" Case? I can find no bibliographic information on him after 2015 (the GLBTQ archive letter). All the best, Allan

Hello and thank you for the message, Allan.

Unfortunately, there has been no recent news about Ensan Case. In 2015, Case announced on his website (which has since been taken down) that he was finishing writing a Wingmen spin-off novel, which he planned to release the following year. He was active online at the time but has since gone radio silent.

At this point, I think it wouldn't be inappropriate to say he probably passed away shortly after that. I have had no success in trying to find any other information about him; in fact, I don't even know his full actual name.