SECOND AIR DIVISION ASSOCIATION

URNALVol. 22, No. 4 SECOND AIR DIVISION ASSOCIATION December 1983

Second Air Division Association

Eighth Air Force

OFFICERS

President . COL. CHARLES FREUDENTHAL, (Ret.)8421 Berea Drive, Mienna, Virginia 22180

Executive Vice President J FRED THOMAS8933 221H Biscayne Ct., Huntington Beach, Calif. 92646

Vice PresidentMembership EVELYN COHEN

Apt 06410 Delair Landing, 93001 State RoadPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania 19114

Vice PresidentJournal WILLIAM G. ROBERTIE

PO. Drawer B. Ipswich, Mass. 01938Treasurer DEAN MOYER

549 East Main St., Evans City, Pa. 16033Secretary FRANK THOMAS

118 Lakeview Dr., Carlinville, III. 62626

DOD00

GROUP VICE PRESIDENTSHeadquarters JAMES H. REEVES

Box 98, Thomasville Rd., Moultrie, Georgia 3176844th BG HOWARD C. HENRY, JR.

1648 Portland Lane, Rossmoor, Jamesburg, N.J. 0883165th FW COL. GEORGE M. EPPERSON (Ret.)

2369 Oak Crest Drive, Riverside, California 9250693rd BG CHARLES J. WEISS

21 Moran Dr., Waldorf, Md. 20601355th FG RALPH A. McDONOUGH

Box 240, RD 2, Adena, Ohio 43901389th BG E. KOORNDYKE

867 Reynard SE, Grand Rapids, Mich. 49507392nd BG J. FRED THOMAS

8933 221H Biscayne Ct., Huntington Beach, Calif. 92646445th BG FRANCIS J. DiMOLA

390 Madison AVe., New Milford, N.J. 07646446th VERE A. McCARTY

740 Ventura St., N. Salem, Oregon 973034481h BG LT COL. LEROY J. ENGDAHL, (Ret.)

1785 Wexford Dr, Vidor, TX. 77662458th BG E. A. ROKICKI

365 Mae Rd., Glen Burnie, Md. 21061466th BG G. C. MERKET

716 Top Hill Dr., Tyler, Texas 75703467th BG JAMES COFFEE

39 Hardscrabble Hill, Chappaqua, N.Y. 10514489th BG COL CHARLES H. FREUDENTHAL (Ret.)

8421 Berea Dr. Vienna, Va. 22180491st BG CARL I. ALEXANDERSON

RR2, Pawling, New York 12564492nd BG E. W. (Bill) CLAREY

2015 Victoria Court, Los Altos, Calif. 94022

GROUP CHAIRMAN

453rd DONALD J. OLDS1403 Highland, Rolla, Mo. 65401

JOURNAL STAFF

Editor WILLIAM G. ROBERTIEPO. Drawer B, Ipswich, Mass. 01938

Director of Public Relations FREDERICK MEYER1317 Cedar Road, Ambler, Pa. 19002

Art Dept. EDWARD J. HOHMAN695 Richmond Drive. Hermitage, PA 16148

BOARD OF GOVERNORSMEMORIAL

THOMAS C. EATON. Chairman3 Upper King Street, Norwich, Norblk. England

PAUL R. KING, Vice ChairmanNoverre House, Norwich NR2 RH, England

MRS. MICHAEL BARNECrowfoots, Sotterley Beccles, Suffolk NR34 7T2

CDR. MARK EDMONSTONE CHEYNEDitchingham Lodge

Ditchingham, Bungay, Suffolk, England

ROGER A FREEMANMay's Elam, Dedham, Nr. Colchester, Essex England C076EW

FRANK W. GADBOISDept of the A.F.

RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, England

DAVID J. HASTINGS"Westering". Salhouse. NR, Norwich, Norfolk, NR136RQ, England

ALFRED A. JENNER15 Ranson Rd., Norwich, Norfolk NR14AJ

LADY MAYHEW588 Bracondale, Norwich, NR1 2AP, England

MRS ANNE COLLINS24 Grosvenor Sq., London WIA IAE, England

PROFESSOR HOWARD TEMPERLEYSchool of English and American Studies

University of East Anglia. Earlham, Norwich, England

JORDAN UTTAL7824 Park Drive, Apt 101

Dallas, Texas 75230

LT COL. WD. WUEST14 St. Andrews Close. Hingham, Norfolk NR9 4JT

As We View Itby J. Fred Thomas (Executive VP)

Since returning from Norwich, alongwith tending the affairs of the 392nd, wehave spent considerable time becomingversed in the office of the Exec. V.P. Wehave met with Evelyn Cohen and PeteHenry, went to Dallas and met with JordanUttal, Gerry Merket, et al, and we havemet with, phoned and/or written CharlieFreudenthal, Dave Patterson, Bill Robertie,Dean Moyer, Rick R,okicki, George Epper-son, and Bill Clarey. In general, we likewhat we see. However, there are severalthings we would comment upon.

All Vice Presidents have received a veryinformative letter from Charles Freuden-thal in which he discussed the state ofthe Association's programs. We certainlyconcur and underscore the need for havinga backup person for every officer in theAssociation. The sudden loss of JoanneAffronte brought the need for such aprogram into sharper focus. If you didn'tknow Joanne, she was one of our mostenthusiastic supporters. You who were atNorwich will remember her as the lady inher WAC uniform who presented EvelynCohen with the clock at our reunion ban-quet. those who attended our So. Califor-nia mini-reunion last February willremember her as the lady at our headtable who spoke about our Association.We will truly miss her, and it was ourprivilege to represent the Association,with Betty and Harold Prouse (392nd), atthe memorial services held for Joanne.We are pleased that our mini-reunion

program is making progress. Mini-reunionsare planned for the areas of Greater Phila-delphia, Baltimore-Washington, Dallas,and we here in So. California plan one forJanuary 28. It is our hope that these mini-reunions will cause our Association tomean more to many of our members.Our Association has a situation that we

would like to have drastically improvedwith the help of all hands, that is thedearth of Fighter Wing members, bothflight and ground people. It is our opinion

we will never be a complete Division Asso-ciation without a good representativenumber of Fighter Wing members. Westrongly urge every V.P. and every memberto help George Epperson rectify this situ-ation. We keep hearing that Fighter Grouppeople are "loners", but we don't buy that;they came from the same training programsthe rest of us did. We would like to contactall Associations in which our 65th Wingpeople are active and invite those fromour Second Air Division Groups to joinwith us in our overall program. We assurethem we don't want to splinter their organ-izations, but we would dearly like to haveseveral hundred Fighter Group memberswho would attend our conventions, havetheir mini-reunions at the same time weBomb Group members have ours, and totake an active part in Association affairs.Now, we address what we see as a poten-

tial and growing problem. While we arestrong supporters of active Groups withreunions and mini-reunions, we would askour Vice Presidents, especially those whodouble in brass for other organizations, tothink Division. While our primary dutiesare to represent our own Groups, we shouldplan our Group programs on how they willmesh with the Division program. Just asour Groups and Wings formed in unisonto bomb as a Division, so should ourGroups cooperate and operate as a Divis-ion in our Association. With a new splintergroup forming every so often, we ask ourVice Presidents to make the Second AirDivision Association their first low. Wedon't expect to stop formation of neworganizations, and generally we wish themwell, in fact, we belong to other organiza-tions, but we hope and expect our VicePresidents will do all possible to coordi-nate the dates of those group's activitieswith those dates when our Division Asso-ciation has programs scheduled so thatour members aren't splintered and ourAssociation program isn't diluted. We hopeto cooperate with all dedicated organiza-tions, but our first duty is to make ourAssociation the most attractive of all sothat our members will prefer to remainloyal to our aims and programs.

93rd Bombardment Group (H)WW H, Hardwick, Norfolk, England

Mission incidents, crew pictures, mission completion lists, diaries,

Form-5 data and other memorabilia sought for inclusion in a Group

History. Former members please contact Carlos and Nadine M.

Vasque 6341 Samoa Way, Carmichael, California 95608 ( Phone:

916-944-0192). Note: Major Vasque4 USAF, Retired, is a 2nd AD

Association member and served as a pilot in the 330th Bombard-

ment Squadron (H) from August 1944 to February 1945.

2

445th Reportingby Frank DiMola (445th)

One cold Sunday afternoon I read anarticle in the New York Times about a75th birthday celebration to be held inIndiana, Pa. honoring Jim Stewart. It wasplanned for May 19-20, 1983 — just oneweek before our departure for our 37thReunion, Norwich, England. I started tomake plans for attending the affair bymaking phone calls to people residing inthe area and contacting the Chamber ofCommerce of Indiana, Pa. A group of usgot together and made arrangements tocelebrate this event.

Elizabeth and I drove from New Jerseyto Philadelphia to pick up Evelyn Cohenand proceeded to the Wakefield Farms,owned and operated by Lucille and MiltonStokes (453rd). The next morning we werepicked up by Michael Benarcik (453rd)and off we went. Milton may have beenlost while flying over England, but thistime as our navigator, he did an excellentjob. The dinner party was held Fridaynight, May 19th and we met some more2nd Air Division members—Helen andAndy Low, a very close friend of Jim,Dorothy and John Nortavage and DeanMoyer and his wife. Almost every one inattendance either talked or danced withJim. It was a picturesque site to see bothof them blowing out the birthday candleson a huge cake which was also surroundedby "Harvey".The following day, Saturday, May 20th,

as we entered our breakfast room, I spotteda group of people chatting and one ofthem had a 2nd AD envelope in his pocket.I introduced myself and we picked upanother 12 men and women who had alsocome to join the parade to be held in town.Andy Low met one of his navigators, A.Edward VVilen (453rd). What a small world.Some 25,000 people were on hand at the

County Courthouse for the dedication of anine foot bronze statue. At noon there wasa prearranged call from President Reagan,a close friend, phoning from Washington.A moment later, two Air Force jets roaredinto view, sweeping loud and low overPhiladelphia Street, making four passesin tribute to Brig. Gen. Stewart, USAF( Ret. ).

Later that afternoon, we had a smallgathering with the members of the 2ndAD along with Jim and Gloria Stewart. Itwas beautiful to have partaken in thiscelebration in a typical American home-town — Indiana, Pa.Now about the Reunion— Bill Robertie

will not give me enough space in theJournal. It was just a warm remembering,heart-filled event. Just too descriptive forwords. I received many letters from mem-bers of our Group that attended. I amquoting from Mary Kennedy Bernard, "Ithink that the glider flight over the Tiben-ham Air Base is a scene which few children

have ever see as their father's eyes hadseen it 40 years ago—from the air—fromthe take off and to thank God for the homecoming... I was pretty emotional up there:'From Don Myers "I enjoyed the Reunion

and hope to see you and Elizabeth again inPalm Springs in '84. I certainly appreci-ate what you are doing for the 445th andespecially want to thank the PlanningCommittee"From Val and Richard Boucher, "We did

enjoy the trip down to Tibenham verymuch. The Norfolk Gliding Club did agood job entertaining. That little chapin the wheel chair was so enthusiastic.'Twas the least I could do but get mypromised air mail letter off to him:'

Val Boucher went to see her brother andfamily in Yorkshire, England. She was alsoa member of the ATS who might havebeen the culprits of the ack-ack fire. Theydid not recognize the Libs from our FOE.From Chuck, "I must say it was quite a

thrill to get back to the Norwich area andsee the old base. It brought back memories38-39 years old:' It was a great sight tosee Bob Springer, all six foot four of him,trying to get into those small gliders —but he did.Many comments were made about the

thrill they all got when Jim got up toconduct the Glenn Miller Band. Goosepimples and tears, I am sure.Our old Air Base is now occupied by the

Norfolk Gliding Club, presided over byEric Ratcliff of Norwich. They would liketo keep this operation going, but aremeeting some problems about having theentire operation moved to another location.Our Director of the Air Base Tour, KennethFox, Norwich, would like to hear from uswith letters directed to the Town Hall,Norwich.

I would like to add to my report that mywife, Elizabeth was one of the two womenthat ventured thru the air—engine-less.Wanda and Buddy Cross made the balanceof our trip in England as we toured Scot-land and the London area.

I would like to thank all of you foraccepting me again as your Group VicePresident. I also want to appoint BuddyCross, Amarillo, Texas as my AssistantVP of the Group.The Memorial Fund Drive was a great

financial success —We donated $750.00 forthe Memorial Library placques. It wasagreed that we set up a $1000.00 endow-ment in the name of the 445th BombGroup—within the Trust— for the pur-pose of buying books each year with theinterest. Such books purchased will con-tain a bookplate indicating that the bookswere donated by the Group in memory ofthe 445th BG casualties. The balance of$195.00 will be used to purchase books inour name. The Association and the Trustare indebted to the 445th for being amongthe first to participate in the endowmentplan with the excess funds.

My objective for 1984 is a tree plantingceremony to be held at the Air ForceMuseum at Wright-Patterson Air ForceBase, Ohio. We are planning to have asection set aside for us so the Groups fromthe 2nd Combat Wing, 389th, 445th andthe 453rd can honor our Groups in thesame area. We left our mark in Norwichand at the fields in England. We need toleave a mark here in the States, becausenot everyone will be going to Norwich.Any one wishing to donate, kindly submityour check addressed to me.On the Memorial Placque — What we

are planning, along with Milton Stokesand Don Olds, 453rd; Fred Thomas, 389th;and our 445th Group, is to place ourMemorial bronze placque and plant thetrees along the Commemorative Walk atthe U.S. Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson in Dayton, Ohio. The cost andmaintenance of this project is $1200 to$1500. By the time you read this article,you should have a letter from me request-ing your contribution. This article was tohave been published in the Septemberissue, but things went wrong somewhere.(Ed: They sure did!!)We are arriving at the end of another

successful year of the 2nd Air DivisionAssociation — broke the 5000 mark formembership; another glorious reunion inNorwich, England; many mini-reunionsheld in various parts of the contry. Onemini-reunion that I was involved in washeld in Philadelphia, Pa. on November 5,1983. The Dinner Chairperson was H. C."Pete" Henry, 44th BG and the Commit-tee included Milt Stokes ( 453rd), EvelynCohen ( Hdq. ) and myself.At this writing (October 5, 1983), we

have received reservations for 155 people.More details as to the outcome of thisaffair will be published in the March '84issue.

I received a wonderful letter from EricRatcliff, President of the Glider Club,Norwich. He sent a photo of the Tibenhamairfield as it looks today. Any requests fora copy, I'll have some made up. Eric alsotold me that since our last visit, he hasescorted quite a few more visitors aroundthe base.As most of you may know, our 37th

reunion will be held at Palm Springs, Cali-fornia, October 1984. More informationwill be published in the following issues.Once again—Elizabeth and I extend

seasons greetings to all — A veryMERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPYand HEALTHY NEW YEAR to all.

FOLDED WINGSJack R. Bowker — 389th

Dan S. Blumenthal — 489th

3

About the Memorialby Jordan R. Uttal

The article written for the Septemberissue on or about 15 July stated that twoGroups fell slightly short of the $750.00per Group goal for the Individual Memo-rial Project. I hasten to advise you now,that wry shortly after writing that tomeet Bill's deadline, both Groups not onlycaught up, but exceeded their goals, justas all the other Groups did. Congratula-tions to both of these units, and to all theGroups for making this project a success.At the Board of Governors meeting in

Norwich on 31 May, a good deal of atten-tion was devoted to developing the imageof our Memorial as a source of education,and as evidence of the American desire forworld peace. It is the feeling of the Boardthat funds in Britain, to supplement thosewhich we hope to be able to continue tocontribute, will be easier to come by ifthese aspects are emphasized.We of the Association embarked on the

first steps in this direction prior to thestart of the convention. The first step wasthe 2AD Living History Cassette programabout which Hathy Veynar wrote in lastDecember's Journal. We and our friendsat the Library, and the University of EastAnglia were delighted with the 40 or morecassettes that we presented to them, andwe, and they, want more, many more,hundreds more. Those that have beendelivered so far are being edited, someof them transcribed, and they are beingoffered for listening in the Memorial Room.

It is felt that students, and older peopleof all ages will be most interested in yourreports of the history you helped makeduring your stay in East Anglia. As Hathyannounced at the Convention businessmeeting on 28 May, the project is anongoing one, and I repeat her request herethat each of you take the time to make arecording, and send it to her. You were apart of that history, whatever your job,whatever your rank, and your promptaction along these lines will be appreciat-ed. If you are bashful, or do not havea recorder, write it, and send it to her( with one buck for a cassette), and eithershe or her husbandwill tell your story.The next step also took place before the

start of the Convention, when five of usgave talks at two schools in Norwich onthe subject, "The Americans in WartimeNorfolk by those who were there:' Inmentioning this in the minutes of thebusiness meeting, the name of one of theparticipants was inadvertently left out.In addition to Dave Patterson and CharlieCooper of the 445th, and J. D. Long of the392nd, Gordon Bishop also made a valu-able contribution to the story on behalf ofthe 446th. The audiences were groups ofboys and girls in the 10-12 year range.

University of East Anglia TV. Depart-ment televised both hour long presenta-tions, and these will be edited down, andin all probability we will receive a copy.This past summer, as you may have readin Colin Sleath's letter in the Letterssection of the September Journal, the Uni-versity of Maine sent over a team toNorwich to work with the U. of E.A. on

school talks for children in Norfolk, andthis probably will have appeared on NewEngland T.V. stations this October orNovember. We hope, if it did appear, manyof you "down easters" caught it.

If any of you are planning a trip toNorwich in the future, and you would bewilling to undertake a school talk, whynot write me with the details, and if thereis enough time, I will try to work out thedetails with the University.

Mr. David Cleveland at the Audio VisualCentre, University of East Anglia, Nor-wich, Norfolk NR47TJ, England will ap-preciate receiving any WW II motionpicture film that you may have. He is inter-ested in film of any kind, combat, social,or whatever, and promises to copy them,and return the originals to senders.

Finally a few words on the subject ofIndividual Endowments which you sawmentioned in the September issue. Theidea is still in development stage, and whenthe Board of Governors has completeddiscussing the mechanics of how the fundswill be handled, a more definite presenta-tion will be made to the membership. This

idea was born just before the Convention.It involves a contribution (to the Asso-ciation) of a minimum of $1000.00, whichwill be conveyed to the Trust, in the nameof the donor to be kept within the CapitalFund as a separate entity, and each year,the interest or income from each individ-ual endowment will be used to buy books(or anything the donor stipulates) in thename of the donor, dedicated to the mem-ory of anyone the donor specifies.The concept was approved, in principle

by the Executive Committee of the Asso-ciation and then by the Board of Gover-nors, but details still have to be workedout. To date we have received six endow-ments, two from Groups ( who exceededtheir $750.00 target by more than $1000 --445th and 44th), and four from individualsMore details will follow as I receive themfrom England and I hope to be able towrite up the program for the March issue.If in the meantime any of you have anyquestions, please to write or phone.Once again, on behalf of the Association,

and Trust, I sincerely thank you for yourgenerosity, understanding, and support.

Market Garden MemorialTed Parker (491st)

On September 18, 1944 the Second Air Division dropped supplies to theAmerican and British airborne troops who had made their landings the previousday. This hazardous low level mission was flown with great success by thecourageous aircrews of Second Air Division as their part in "Operation MarketGarden:'To commemorate this invasion and liberation of Holland the American 82nd

and 101st Airborne divisions along with the Dutch are building a museum.Through the efforts of my good friend, Father Gerard Thuring, a well knownhistorian, is supplying the photos and other memorabilia to be permanentlydisplayed there.

Over the Netherlands—Supplies are dropped from the air to paratroopersfighting in Holland.

This project is being financed by both private and public donations. Whereaswe are to have an honored space dedicated to our participation in "OperationMarket Garden", we should contribute some funds. Will you give something tohelp finance this costly project? .1‘tx deductible contributions can be madepayable to The 82nd Airborne Division Historical Institute Inc., Box 1882,Boston, MA 02205. For further information, etc. write me, Ted Parker, 491st BG,297 Proctor Avenue, Revere, MA 02151.The museum is to be dedicated on September 17, 1984 with elaborate cere-

monies on the 40th anniversary of "Operation Market Garden."

4

392nd Bomb Group Reportby J. Fred Thomas (392nd BG)

Oct. 7 — It seems a little early to besaying Merry Christmas and all thosegreetings we hear toward years end, but inorder to get the Journal out to you beforethe Christmas rush, Bill has asked us tosubmit our reports by October 10. We dowish you the best of holidays and all goodthings for 1984!

Since this is the last issue of the Journalfor 1983, we feel it is a good time to make areport on the state of affairs pertaining tothe 392nd. Rick Rokicki sent us an up-to-date roster last week, and as of September19 we had 330 members. We have a senseof pride in the progress made the pastyear, and we thank those who have helpedus, both people of other Groups as well asour 392nd members. We recently mailedanother 150 letters to men who servedwith our Group and we hope the next newmembers list will show another increase.We haven't found all our people by anymeans, so we continue to need your helpin finding every member possible. Wehave had a flurry of new members the pastfew months.

Just as we have urged our members oflonger standing, we invite our new mem-bers to feel an important part of ourAssociation, to take part in our activities,and get the enjoyment of the camaraderieto be had by being reunited with friendswith whom they served while with the392nd. We have members from nearly everystate, a number in Britain, and we evenhave one, Pete O'Neill, in Hong Kong. So,wherever you are, you are never far fromfriends with whom you have a lot in com-mon. And that's just the 392nd; when youinclude all the thousands of members ofthe other Groups of the Division and thefolks with similar backgrounds who areon the fringe of our Association, you havemore friends than you can imagine.As an example of friends on the fringe,

when we were in Britain in June, we wentback to Nutts Corner, the old airbase

outside Belfast where we landed the B-24in May 1944. We were directed to contact agentleman, Mr. Ernie Cromie, who had usout to their home for tea and gave us a lotof information about Nutts Corner. Heinvites any Americans who go back tothe area to contact him. His address:27 Woodview Cresent, Lisburn, CountyAntrim, Northern Ireland, BT28 ILE Mr.Cromie is now a social member of ourAssociation and looks forward to mail.As we have said to all hands in our

letters, you are invited and urged to writesomething for the Journal. While we like agood combat story, we have been short ofstories by most other people who made itpossible for us to get in the air and getshot up, shot down, and scared witless. Itwould have been a sad effort had you notawakened us, fed us, briefed us, loaded ourbombs, maintained our planes, and all theother things that had to be done to man acombat outfit. Too, we have an idea thatyou guys back at the base had just asmany adventures as we flyers did, and it'stime you told us about them. Should youthink you can't write, just send the story.

It's just a year until our national con-vention and reunion at Palm Springs, andit's none too early to start planning toattend the occasion. We know it isn't likelythat everyone can attend, but we expectmost everyone. We have a lot to talk about.We have been pretty vocal in our efforts toget our reunion held here on the WestCoast, so it behooves all of us out here tomake sure we are there and are ready tomake the folks from the rest of the countryglad they came. We know of three Squad-ron CO's among our members, and we willexpect them. Everyone remembers his oldCO if he doesn't remember anyone else.Then there is Joe Bush, our Exec. Officer;we hope he makes it. I'm sure a lot of ortroops remember him. You guys have mewhere I have a lot of committee meetingsto attend which is no big loss to you, butwe need a lot of you old hands to keep the

ball rolling and to make the newcomersfeel welcome.At our mini-reunion we have to have an

election, too. We didn't have one at Norwichas we felt we needed input from more thanthe small group we had over there. Asyou know, I was made Exec. V.P. of theAssociation, and while it isn't etched instone that I will be asked to hold anotheroffice, it could be we will be given otherduties, and if that should be the case, wewill need a good assistant even if youshould choose to ask us to continue asyour V.P. Bob Powers of Escondido, CA ishelping us now. In fact, Bob has said hewould like the job of V.P. should we give itup. Bob was a member of our crew atWendling and we are sure he would givethe job his best shot. We can't just handhim the job; we need the feeling of thewhole group. It's your Group, so give thematter your consideration and prepare toexpress your desires at Palm Springs.We will say a few words to anyone who is

considered for the V.P. job; to do the jobjustice, it takes a lot of time, enthusiasm,dedication and the willingness to write alot of letters, not only to your own membersand prospective members, but one has alot of correspondence with people from alot of directions otherwise. And, it isalmost mandatory that one types or hassomeone whom he can depend on to typehis work. The pay isn't much, but onederives a lot of satisfaction for his timespent and you get to know many moremembers from other Groups.We remind you it is dues paying time

again. So, please, send your check toEvelyn, if you haven't already. We haveworked hard to get our membership whereit is and we don't want to lose a single oneof you. Remember, it is our policy thatshould any member have financial diffi-culty and feel he can't really afford hisdues, he only has to write Evelyn a noteand advise her. You will always be aSecond Air Division person, and that'sthe best kind. Write to us with your viewsand suggestions. Again, happy holidays!

Metfield Musings!by Carl I. Alexanderson (491st)

I hope all you 'Ringmasters' are on thesame frequency because I have a hot can-didate for Group Historian—Tom Rogers!He doesn't know it yet but one of thesedays I'm going to hit him with it. He hasmany facts and much trivia filed away.For instance—he says "Nichols" was the

name of the proprietor of the "Blue Lion"when we were there. Can anyone disputehim? Tom goes on to say that the 853rdsite was just beyond the 854th, nearer therailroad tracks and had an MP at theentrance. I don't remember the MP boxmuch less the railroad.

Tom wonders if the George Hotel is stillin Swaffham? I don't know as I didn't getthere this trip. Maybe Dave Mintner cananswer that one. I hear it was good for atleast three scotches. He also suggestssome of the buildings we couldn't identifymay have been from the period whenmissiles were based there.On second thought Tom's not so sharp

as he freely admits. He can't rememberwhere the base hospital was, also the PXand the theater. He remembers TractorAnnie though and asks if she is runningthe turkey farm on the base. I doubt it.She would be on in years by now.

I have had many inquiries as to crewmembers and buddies. It is difficult toanswer this type of question as it requires

a great deal of research. I'm not a verygood detective, however I want those ofyou who have written to me to know thatone way or another I shall respond.Frank Lewis, R/O on Ray Trapps' crew,

informed me that they are planning areunion in Atlanta for 1984. He would likesome things of interest. His address is900 Greenwood Dr., Dublin, Ga. 31021.

I received correspondence from MorrisJones, Dave Mautner, Royce Colby, EdNelson and our good friend, Mike Fagin.

I am forwarding a letter which I receivedfrom Mike to Bill Robertie to be includedin this column. It was written by RussTickner and must, by all means, be somesort of a record.(ed: Refer to letter section).

5

453rd BG Newsby Don Olds (453rd BG)

After devoting the entire last issue tothe 453rd BG Memorial Room at OldBuckenham, we won't dwell on it long thistime. However, I wanted to let everyoneknow that a picture postcard of the ParishHall showing our room addition has beenprepared and sent, or will soon be sent, toeveryone who made a donation to the suc-cessful completion of the Memorial. Sev-eral of the donors are not members of the2nd ADA, and without the Journal theyhave no way of knowing if the project wasever completed.

The photograph was sent to me withthe request it be printed in the Journal. Itwas taken outside the 453rd MemorialRoom on Dedication Day. Our additioncan be seen where the roof drops slightly.In the photo, (1 to r), are Don Olds, BG( Ret.)James Stewart and MG ( Ret. ) AndyLow. What is a three striper doing with allthat brass?

I have wry few copies of the 453rd BGHistory that has been reprinted. They havea paper cover and spiral plastic binding.We'll have to ask $4.00 for them to coverprinting, binding and mailing. If you wantone let me know.Some new members in 1980 are R. W.

Barnhart, Richard Brown, Frank Parker,George Chipman, Harold Donovan, JamesWampler, Ora Adams, Phillip Cristian,Harold Pace, Jack Armstrong, H.C. Giam-bruno, Ralph Blouch, John Burke, OrlandoRusso, Frank Kumor, John Dolan, WilliamGarrett, Aurele Veilleuur, Morgan Hartman.We learned this past July that a massive

heart attack claimed the life of Ulma Perry.Ulma was co-pilot on the original Crew 57of the 734th Sq. Charles Ward was thepilot and they flew most of their missionsin Male Call. Ulma attended the reunionin Nashville and enjoyed himself. Our con-dolences to his widow, Clemmie, and thePerry family.

Also, Stanley Kelly, another of the orig-inal pilots of the 734th Sq., has passedaway. Our sympathy to the Kelly family.I'm going to start working on you early

to come out to Palm Springs in October'84 for our reunion. We should have anothergood turnout and I'm certain you'll enjoyyourself. See some old friends and meetsome new ones. Hopefully you people inthe southern California area will be out inforce. At least try and come out on theevening of our 453rd BG banquet.The Journal editor would appreciate

receiving stories and articles from non-flying personnel for publishing. Hopefullysome of our ground personnel will writestories about some of the all night 'bomb-ing up', refueling, etc. It's easier than youthink.Anyone out there familiar with a B-45

that was used by Gen. Ira C. Eaker for hispersonal aircraft when he was commanderof 8th AF Bomber Command early in thewar? The Oklahoma Wing of the Confed-erate AF has restored one and wants it tobe as close to the configuration of theEaker aircraft as possible. they have acolor photo showing it in standard cam-ouflage paint and bright yellow under thewings with lettering, US ARMY. Did ithave a name? Where was it based? Signif-icance of the V painted on the tail? If youhave any info contact Herb Bradley, 2240NW 56th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73112.

Beautiful Gull Lake, (in the summer),at Brainerd, MN was the setting for aget-together for some ex-453rd folks inJuly. Attending were the Bob Johnsons,George Rundblands, Bob Coggeshalls, EdBebenroths, Dave Cowens, Jack Nortridgesand Elden Rhodes. They sent a photo whichI'm sending to the Journal editor to printif it isn't too dark. (Ed: It was too dark).Although it is only September as! write

this, and seems a little early to be thinkingChristmas, this is for the December issue.So, Mimi and I want to wish you all ajoyous holiday season and a happy andhealthy New Year and we hope to see manyof you in Palm Springs next October.

NOTICEThe 2nd ADA Film Library is nowunder the care and direction ofHoward C. ( Pete) Henry. A completelisting of films available appearselsewhere in these pages. If you arehaving a mini-reunion or gatheringwrite to Pete for available films.164B Portland Lane, Rossmoor,Jamesburg, N.J. 03381.

Missives FromThe 492 BG

by Bill Clarey (492nd BG)

From the standpoint of interest, a feel-ing of being welcome, general comradeshipand having one of the best visits ever;that is my description of the 36th 2ndADA convention in England in 1983.The people in Norwich, Norfolk and

Suffolk went out of their way to see thatwe enjoyed ourselves to the utmost.We visited Rackheath and Watton Bases

this time as we had not been there before.While at Rackheath, we took part in thededication of a new marker, a part of whichdepicted a B24. The marker was of carvedwood, beautifully done.One little fellow, named Graham, was

tape recording our experiences as a schoolproject. I told him that the Norwich Li-brary had about forty cassettes that mem-bers of the 2nd ADA had made and wouldbe available for his use. A Short-Snorterdollar bill was started for him in hopesit would be of interest in years to come.

After the convention, Charles Hayes-Halliday and I visited Gorelston, England,where I was put ashore after being pickedup out of the North Sea by the boat thatCharles was on. While there, a gentlemanpointed out a grave marker at Ashby Dell,Suffolk, where a B17 and two P47's crashedon May 7, 1944 and April 8, 1945. Visitingthe weathered marker, we noted thesenames:

1st Lt. Ralph W WrightLt. Richard CurranLt. Russell P. JuddLt. Jack W. RaperLt. Carl A. HerrmannF/O Louis S. Davis

The new tail markings addition to ourMemorial Room in the Norwich Library issuperb and adds very much to the value ofthe Memorial. Thanks for a job well doneto those people responsible for theaddition. Incidentally, the 492BG isstill a little short on its contributionto the tail marking fund in spite ofwhat you may have read.What a thrill it was to have Jimmy

Stewart and his wife, Glona, at the con-vention. Jimmy is still a very good bandleader. The 492 people want to thankJimmy and Gloria for attending.The candle lighting ceremony was very

impressive, as they all are, and it is a mostimportant part of our getting together!

CemeteryeterY

waTshme ocsetremobenneyfitattinCgamtobonudrgefacom-

rades. I just wish it was closer to homein order to be able to visit it more often.Those not in attendance were thought

of and sorely missed.. So — Hope to seeyouin Thanks again Eastrings m An'8g4lla for the h Pkasl m a

won-derful time.

6

8 BALL4H00by Pete Henry (44th BG)

My September 8-Ball column includeda letter from Jordan Uttal thanking the44th BG for our $1000 endowment. InAugust, I received a letter from ColinSleath, Deputy Divisional Librarian forthe Norwich Central Library, also thank-ing us for the donation and advising thatthey have selected the following book asour contribution for 1983: The Right PlaceAt The Right Time by Robert MacNeil.The dedicatory label placed in the

book reads as follows: "Presented to theNorfolk County Library by the membersof the 44th Bomb Group 2nd Air Division,USAAF, in memory of all members of theGroup who fell in action 1942-1945."

I also received a letter from Nick Walterin July, on behalf of the Governors of theMemorial Trust thanking us for the dona-tion. Nick is Clerk for the Trust.

o o o DOOne of our new members is Col. ( Ret. )

E. H. Hammer, Jr. from Tustin, CA. TheCol. was a Pathfinder lead crew pilot inthe 448th BG and later worked as Assist-ant Operations Officer for the 44th BG atShipdham. After WWII, he flew as a pilotfor TWA for 2 years and then returned tothe U.S. Air Force as a Major. He was apilot and Wing Intelligence Officer andOperations Officer at Rapid City AFBfrom 1947 to 1951 during which time hequalified as a 6-Jet B-47 pilot. The base atRapid City was renamed Ellsworth AFBafter B. G. Ellsworth who died in the crashof a B-36. Col. Hammer continued in theAir Force as a pilot, Staff Officer, andCommander until his retirement in 1969as a full Colonel, after 29 years of service.

Since 1969, he has worked for the FordMotor Co. in California as an automotivetest engineer and was AdministrativeAssistant to the City Manager of SantaAna, CA for 31/2 years. He has been fullyretired since 1976 when his wife died.

O 0000

From the Society Page: Col. ( Ret. )Charles E. Hughes and Lt. Col. ( Ret. )Marilynn Fritz Snyder were marriedThursday, 21 July 83, in San Jose, CA.Charlie (he let's me call him that now!)was my 66 Sqdn. C.O. in 1944-45. Con-gratulations and Best Wishes to Charlieand Fritzie. We look forward to seeingboth of you at the 2ADA reunion in PalmSprings, October 1984.

D DDouJoe Warth wrote in mid-Sept. to advise

that the 44th BG/BW/SMW Memorialprogram to erect a small plaque mountedon a stone cairn in the Shipdham Church-yard was accomplished Sept. 3, 1983. GaryRowell, Shipdham resident whom I metMay 30, also wrote to me about the cere-mony and sent copies of two newspaperscovering the dedication and parade. Garysaid there were about 65 of our 44th BGmembers in attendance (about 50% were2ADA members) and Joe said that betterthan 550 people were in the parade andover 600 attended the church services.Many of the Shipdham families had 44thcouples as guests in their homes and a lotof new friendships were made. Congratu-lations to Joe Warth for a job well done.

O 0000

I have sold all my copies of the originalorder for 21 of "Forty-Fourth LiberatorsOver Europe" reprint. Anyone looking fora copy send $22.50 to C.W. Lundy, 3295N. 'H' St., San Bernardino, CA 92405.

D 0000

I received a letter from Mrs. Eleanor J.Riordan of San Mateo, CA. who was form-erly married to 1st. Lt. Thomas E. Bart-mess (missing in action over Kiel, Ger-many, 14 May 43 and, later, officiallyreported KIA). Lt. Bartmess was the Nav-igator of Little Beaver in the 67th Sqdn.and Mrs. Riordan advises that Col. Wil-liam R. Cameron was the original Co-Pilotof Little Beaver. She says that she lostcontact with Col. Cameron and Capt.William T. Austin many years ago, but isseeking information from anyone aboutwhat happened in England while Lt. Bart-mess was there. I will write to her and giveher Col. Cameron's address, but I do nothave one for Capt. Austin. If anyone hasinformation about Capt. Austin or any-thing to do with Lt. Bartmess' tour ofduty in England, I'll be happy to forwardthe details to Mrs. Riordan.

000011

This column will be more brief thanusual so that Bill Robertie can add anitem about General Leon Johnson and anew commemorative stamp. If he printsthe article someplace else in the Journal,it still means that the 44th BG will havemore than their share of newsprint. Untilnext time, keep those cards and letterscoming. I'm just about out of material.MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPYNEW YEAR!

1984 REUNIONPalm Springs

1984Oct. 4-7

389th Bomb Group Memorabiliaby Bud Ifoorndyk

How many of you can recollect thewinter months of 1942-43-44-45, when wewere told to get our Christmas greetingsout to our loved ones at home early?As I begin our news items for the

December Journal, we have been remindedby Bill Robertie that this epistle must bein his hands by the 10th of October, so Ifind my wife June and myself wishing youall a very happy holiday season. May Godkeep you all in his keeping throughout theyear of 1984. May all your days be filledwith peace and contentment and your livesbe showered with many blessings.At the time of this writing, I'm sure all

of the troops have enjoyed the SeptemberJournal with all it's descriptions of ourreunion in England. As we were warned byBill Robertie, he had to edit some of ourreporting because of space limitations.This is true of 389th news and the story thatwe all shared in England. Earl Zimmerman

has consented to formulate this into storyform and it should be printed in ourDecember Journal.

Then to Bob Nicely, our Group Histori-an, a word of apology. Somewhere alongthe line his name had been changed to BillNicley. So sorry Bob.

Bob is preparing a pictorial history ofthe 389th Bomb Group, so please get yourold photos in to him. He will be takingthese albums to our future reunions. Hisaddress is: Bob Nicely, 6219 N. Mitchell,Phoenix, Arizona 85033

Our membership drive has bogged downsomewhat lately and if it weren't for ourold faithful, Roy Jonasson, sending menames and addresses of personnel fromthe 389th of past years, I would be func-tioning in this capacity by myself.Remember, gentlemen, I can only per-

form my job successfully as your GroupV.P., if I can get the support of the entire

body. So please continue to help build upour membership by feeding me names andaddresses. I have prepared a packet that Imail out to every name and address sub-mitted to me. If we are to attain our goalof 50 to 75 new members by October of1984, we must work at it as a team effort.

We need human interest stories of ourBomb Group during the war years. Wewould especially like some stories fromthe ground crew level. Ground crew per-sonnel has wanted more recognition, withwhich I fully agree, but we get few humaninterest stories from them for our Journal.The 389th now has a good complement

of ground people, thanks to the work ofRoy Jonasson, so let's get some stories into Bill and me and we'll see that it getsinto story form if this would help.

Plans for our get together in PalmSprings in October of 1984 should be inthe final stages and can be found else-where in this December Issue. Let's makeit the largest and best turnout we've had.

7

First Time Around(Following is an account of his first mis-sion, written by Sgt. Henry "Slim "Bethkeof the 489th Group, on November 5th,1944. Charlie Frvudenthal)

Here is the story of my first missionover Germany. It was a rough one —espe-cially for our first. Even the old crews saidit was one of the roughest they had everflown.Our part starts on the night of Nov. 3,

1944, the anniversary of my enlistment inthe Air Corps. At 6 p.m. we were told we'dbe on the next day's mission. We went tobed about nine so we would get some rest;we didn't know what time we'd be awak-ened. But at 4 a.m., Nov. 4th we wereawakened to go to breakfast and then tobriefing. At briefing we learned about ourtarget, flak, and possibilities of fighterswe were likely to encounter. The flak wassupposed to be wry intense over this area.It was even more than intense, but that'sgetting ahead of my story.From Intelligence reports, we could

expect in the neighborhood of two hundredenemy fighters. Our target was to be asynthetic oil plant just on the outskirts ofHanover — a very important target. Ourescort was to be some six Groups offighters; five Groups of P5 is, and the othera Group of P47s. From this you can seewhat trouble we expected. We left briefingand went to pick up our flying equipment—heated suits, flak suits, Mae Wests, para-chutes, harnesses, etc. We got out to theship around 6 and started checking guns,ammunition, oxygen, bomb load, the ship'scondition and everything in general. Eachman had his job to do, and did it.About 7:30, the pilot, co-pilot, and navi-

gator came from briefing. The engines werethen warmed up and we were ready to go.At 8:15 we began to roll down the runway...Pitts and Gardner were at the controls,pilot and co-pilot respectively. Stevensonwas our navigator, and a wry good one asyou'll see later. Penke, the bombardier, wasin the nose turret; Schmidt, the engineer,was in the Martin upper; Pavlovich on theradio set. Shumpert, who later saved mylife, was at the right waist gun, and yourstruly at the left. Yelton manned the twinfifties in the tail turret, and a new crewmember was added to work our radarjamming equipment.We left the field and headed for our

point of assembly. There were planes allover the sky and you wondered how onearth they'd ever find their places in for-mation. All three Divisions of the 8th AirForce were going on the raid to one targetor another in Germany. The 1st Divisionhad a target northeast of ours and the 3rd,plus part of ours, was to hit the RuhrValley. From approximately 8:30 to 8:45a.m. we were assembling over the NorthSea in the vicinity of Yarmouth. It cer-tainly was a sight to remember, seeing

those planes find their positions in forma-tion. It was then that we found a leak inthe oxygen system. We stopped it, butwere down to 200 lbs. of oxygen per man.The Group was formed and on course at

10 a.m. We flew over the North Sea to thecoast of Belgium, up the coast to some-where near Heligoland, where we saw ourfirst flak. It was about two or three milesto our left and didn't bother us. We hadbeen climbing since we left England andwere now at 23,000 feet. The temperaturewas minus 25, and the ground was hiddenby thick clouds some 10,000 feet below us.Our first escort planes met us just as we

hit the German coast. They certainlylooked good to us. These P51s really arebeautiful. They went all the way over thetarget and back with us. We didn't seem tohave a care in the world as we went cruisingalong up there in formation... We keptscanning the sky for some of those 200fighters that were supposed to be up therewaiting for us. About 14:20 I startedthrowing chaff and didn't have much timeto look around. Was this the time for thefighters to strike? The time went slowly —10 minutes, 9, 8—open the bomb baydoors, 7, 6, 5—the chaff going out, watchfor fighters; 4,3, the lead squadron bombswere falling, 2—the lead squadron hadturned into a wall of flak! Ships were beingtossed all over the sky. Suddenly, withoutwarning we were on one wing tip, then theother, and from what we heard later, almostupside down. If the pilot and co-pilothadn't been on their toes, I wouldn't behere to write this, nor would any of theothers on the crew. God was with us, butwe didn't realize just how much He lookedafter us 'til later on the return trip.In our mad gyrations in those brief

seconds, I was thrown against the top ofthe plane, then fell flat on my back on thefloor. My oxygen line disconnected and Iwas too numb to fasten it. By this timethe plane was under control and we wereout of the flak area. Shumpert was righton the ball. He slipped my connectionstogether and turned on the emergencyoxygen supply. His hose connection cameapart, so he left me for a second to fix his,but was right back to help me. If he hadn'tbeen on his toes, I would have been up thecreek.

Well, we had dropped our bombs andwere on our way home! It didn't seempossible, yet there we were. Where werethose fighters? Not that we wanted them,but their not showing up scared us in away. We had just made our second turnafter "Bombs Away" when all of a sudden,Wham! —the number one engine cowl wasblown to bits. At first I thought it was theprop. Pitts quickly feathered the engineand there we were over Germany with threeengines. Slowly, but surely, we lost ourposition in the formation. We weren't theonly one with an engine out. By this timethe P47s were there as added cover.We reached the English coast, and were

sweating out the time, as we kept droppingfarther behind the other planes. Fortyminutes to go to the Channel, then 20,then there was the channel ahead. We werealmost home —only 100 miles or so and wewould be on our own field. I felt like singing"Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer," whenall of a sudden #3 engine started throwingoil. One hundred or so miles to go overwater and suddenly #3 quit!We started losing altitude fast with only

two engines running. Pitts told us to startthrowing things out, and believe me, wedid! Everything we could get out the hatch.In the meantime, the navigator plottedour position and gave it to Pavlovich, whohad contacted Air-Sea Rescue. It lookedlike some of our practice ditching wouldcome in handy. All this time, guns, ammu-nition, flak suits, oxygen bottles, etc., weregoing out the back hatch. We were workinglike beavers, and each of us was prayingsilently. Pits didn't hear any inter-phonetalk, so he called us up to see if we hadn'tbailed out. 01' Stevenson's plot was righton the ball and brought us in only 10degrees off course. We were safe; well, overland anyway. Now it was up to the pilot toset us down safely with only two engines.We told the tower we were coming in on

two engines and they didn't believe us.Pavlovitch was firing red flares to warnother planes of our emergency landing...It was up to Pitts. We had confidence inhim, but we were still sweating. Firsttoward one side of the runway, then straighttoward it. Shumpert, Penke and Yeltonwere at places near the half-deck. I stoodnear the left waist window There were crashwagons and ambulances waiting. We lev-elled off and the wheels hit; we'd made it!When we stopped rolling, there were

ten very humble men in that ship. Godhad been with us, and we knew it... Wefound out later that there was only a pintof oil in #4 engine; another few minutesand we'd have lost that one too. If thathad happened on final, none of us wouldbe here tonight. That was our firstmission.., and today, Sunday, we gave ourthanks to God.

8

JUNOALILL

Marie and I just returned from a monthin Europe to find that Editor Bill Robertiehad advanced the deadline for the Decem-ber Journal. So here goes, jet-lag and all!Some of you have sent photographs,

diaries, orders and other material. I tooka packet of these items with me anddelivered them to Harold Jansen at TheHague. He made copies and returned theoriginals to me when I stopped at Amster-dam enroute home. Harold hopes to beable to meet with John Archer (Bungay)soon and to establish a format for their446th Bomb Group history. A chronolog-ical diary of all the missions, interspersedwith activities around the airbase, is onepossibility. More diaries are needed, alongwith personal recollections and photo-graphs. Statistics are not a problem asthey are a matter of record, but personalexperiences, both in combat and at Flix-ton, are urgently requested.Although the 1983 Norwich reunion is

now history, the memory of it lingers onfor those who attended. Bill Davenportfurnished a photograph of the Bungaydelegation, posing on the runway of theformer Station 125, Flixton.

which to purchase books for the library inthe name of the 446th Bomb Group.In replying to my inquiry about John

White's airplane, he recalls what many ofus felt about our own airplane — John wasnavigator on the Mentecki crew, 706thSquadron. He says: "Your inquiry concern-ing our crew arrived today. In deference tocustom and accuracy I would call it theMentecki crew, rather than the Home-breaker crew since we were only one ofseveral who chose to be photographed infront of the art work on that ship. Actually,our airplane was one of the later metallicjobs, unadorned by any artwork includingeven a name, except for the radio com-munications handle, MANAGE-p-PETER."Even so it is with some reverence that

I spell that name out. I look up from thiswriting for a glance at a replica of it on mydesk, complete in every detail except forthe RT squadron designation which shallbe left to a more skilled hand than mine.She took us to Magdeburg and back threetimes, to Halle twice, the supply drop atWesel-35 trips in all, Berlin included. Ican't liken her to a mother, but perhaps toa mother hen. Didn't we all feel a bit

From left to right (Standing): Dale Story, George Gigstad, Rudy Huddleston, JohnGreen, Howard Edmunds, Jim Shannon, Jim Longstreth, Bill Davenport, Rod Jackson,Bob Moore, Henry Kingsbery, Carl Gjelhaug, John White, Tom Grant, and JimForrest. (Kneeling): Frank Foster, Herb Gordon, Jim Payne, Audrey Risley, AlWitowski, and Gordon Bishop.

Bill and Jean Davenport videotaped theceremonies at Bungay and the visit to theFlixton airbase, hoping to show it at thePalm Springs reunion next fall. However,there is a disappointing and as yet, un-resolved complication.I am pleased to report that members of

the 446th Bomb Group exceeded our goal,not only to provide a memorial plaque atBungay, but to provide our share towardthe Individual Group Memorial at theSecond Air Division Memorial Library inNorwich. The $110 in excess funds havebeen released to the Memorial Trust with

'chicken' when we gathered under herwings to go?"Some ships were more distinguished

because of inspiring names, like ClassyChassy and Shoo Shoo Baby or by dedica-tory names like Ronnie and Freckle Face,but the drab handle MANAGE-p-PETER,for an otherwise undistinguished and un-adorned ship, conjurs up an inspiring feel-ing which I doubt St. Peters, withMichelangelo's adornments would match:'

Well said, John. I'll leave you until nexttime, hoping then that our editor will giveme a bit more time to prepare. CHEERS!

From Waist Gunto Computer

Rick & Ceil Rokicki (458th BG VP)

Supposedly every G.I. goes thru a stagewhereby he volunteers for some duty heprobably should have thought twice about.I did it once in 1943 and found myselfbehind a waist gun in a B-24 ( with abso-lutely no training as to how to use thatweapon) and I did it again in the Execu-tive meeting in Philadelphia earlier thisyear. Now, you would think that suchvolunteering once every 40 years, couldn'tpossibly be that bad... or could it?

Ceil and I spent the middle weekend ofJuly with Bill and Hazel Robertie. It asnice visiting your old "stompin' grounis"in Massachusetts. At that time, we livedabout 5 miles from the Roberties, but ofcourse, didn't know of them nor the SecondAir Division Association. Worked out ofBoston's Logan International Airportfrom 1958-1964.We drove up this time since I knew we

would have a trunk and back seat jammedfull of Apple II computer, the various com-ponents, bits and pieces of software, paper,labels, manuals, etc. on our return trip. Ithought about the few hours of trainingBill and Hazel were able to give us and Ifelt that I would get some real "on the jobtraining" when we started working themachine the following weekend. It took 23calls to Ipswich, Mass. to get it all sortedout, but we met the deadline of August 8and had some 5,000 mailing labels, 4 pagesof single spaced sheets of roster additionsand changes, and a new roster print outthat took just about every spare hour wehad. We both felt that that was the tough-est part and everything else would be easierin future operations.

Now, please don't write and ask for atotal new roster or your Bomb Grouproster print out. We just cannot handlesuch requests at this time. However yourBG VPs will have the latest print out ofhis respective Group and if you desire acopy, get in touch with him. Rememberthat he will have to Xerox the sheets ofyour Group ( that could run from 25 to 40pages), and pass the printing charge backto you. That charge could be at least 10¢per sheet, so I would advise you to get intouch with him first to determine actualcosts.As you know, the Apple II, or almost

any home computer, takes time. Ceil and Iwill do what we can to furnish the Asso-ciation's needs first and then do some timestudies on various functions to see if wecan be of further assistance to the GroupV.P.s. I feel sure that as we become morefamiliar with the programming functionsof this Apple, we shall be come more effi-cient and more effective to our member-ship's needs.

9

What Happened To The 856thby George Greiff (492nd Det 25th)

I was wry much interested in Igor PPetrenko's letter in the January Journalabout his difficulty in locating records ofthe 856th BS. I completed my Europeanservice as a member of the 856th, whichwas, of course, part of the 492nd BG.While I can shed some light on whathappened to the 856th, I expect I alsomay add a bit of confusion to the situa-tion. The point is, of course, that the 492ndwas broken up in August 1944, and itsfour squadrons dispersed to various basesand missions.

Although there were the usual officialdenials, a major reason for break-up of the492nd was the group's heavy losses. Inthe less than three months during whichthe 492nd flew daylight bombing raids,from its first mission on May 11, 1944,until its final mission on Aug. 7, the 492ndlost 51 aircraft to enemy fire and six moreto other operational hazards. These werethe heaviest losses suffered by any B24group in a three-month period during theentire history of the Eighth Air Force.There has been a good deal of specula-

tion about the reasons for these tremen-dous losses. There was the usual storyabout the 492nd being singled out forLuftwaffe revenge because of treacherous492nd crewmen who lowered the landinggear of their B24 to signal surrender, thenshot down a German fighter escortingthem in. There is no more evidence tosupport this story than there was whenthe same story was told about other hard-hit bomber groups. A more valid reasonfor the 492nd's heavy casualties, perhaps,was the fact that it was the first B24group to fly unpainted silver aircraft and,as a result, was easy to spot and recognize.What appears certain is that the heavy

losses were not the fault of the 492nd'screws or commanding officers. The group'sworst day came on June 20 during thenine-hour round trip to bomb the syntheticoil plant at Politz, when 14 of the 492nd'sB24s were shot down and five others were

forced to land in Sweden. When the Luft-waffe's fighters struck, the Second AirDivision was flying a strung-out forma-tion over the Baltic Sea, and the 14thwing, leading the division, was runningsix minutes late. A foul-up had reducedfighter protection to a single Mustanggroup, and the 492nd, the wing's trailinglow group, was both vulnerable and anatural target.The precise disposition of 492nd per-

sonnel was a bit complicated. Lookingthrough my own service records, and alsothrough reading of books like RogerFreeman's The Mighty Eighth, MartinBowman's Fields of Little America andAllan Blue's The Fortunes of War, I'vefound the picture is pretty much like this:On Aug. 5, 1944, the 492nd BG was

transferred from North Pickenham toHarrington to conduct special operationsinstead of bombing missions. This, how-ever, was largely a paper operation; the492nd personnel moved to Harrington weremainly headquarters personnel. The airand ground crews for the group camechiefly from the old 801st CarpetbaggersGroup, already at Harrington.The 492nd's original four squadrons,

the 856th, 857th, 858th and 859th, weretransferred from North Pickenham toseparate stations, but individual crews ineach of the squadrons were in some casessent to still other bases The 856th wasmoved to Cheddington, where the air crewswere assigned to the 36th BS, engagedin radio counter-measure work, and the406th, a night leaflet squadron. All 492ndBG crews with fewer than 15 missions inAugust were moved into the 859th BS,building the squadron's strength to 29crews. The 859th was transferred to Rack-heath. It became part of the 788th BS ofthe 467th BG.To complicate matters a bit more,

Col. Eugene H. Snavely, the 492nd's CO,took a contingent of five lead crews toShipdham, where Col. Snavely became

CO of the 44th.My own crew flew to Britain in a B24

during the summer of 1944, and we wereassigned to the 859th BS of the 492nd BGjust as the group was being broken up. Wewere not sent to Rackheath, however, withthe majority of 859th BS crews, but weresent instead to Watton, where we wereplaced on detached service with the 652ndBS of the 25th BG, flying weather recon-naissance missions in B24s and B17s.Some of us were given special training andflew weather and photo reconnaissancemissions in British Mosquitos.We remained on detached service with

the 25th, but we remained officially a partof the 859th BS of the 492nd BG until latein September of 1944 when, for somereason that I never quite understood, ourcrew was transferred to the 856th BS, stillwithin the 492nd BG. There was no otherchange in our assignment. We remainedon detached service with the 652nd squad-ron at Watton, still flying reconnaissance.This was our status until I completed mytour with 45 missions in March of 1945and was returned to the United States.

I found it interesting that Mr. Petrenko,also in the 856th, was stationed untilAugust 1945 at still another airfield,Northampton, near Kettering, where heflew special operations with the OSS toNorway and Denmark. It appears likelythat this unit was an outgrowth of the492nd Carpetbagger group set up at Har-rington in August 1944. The 856th BSdesignation was revived late in 1944 atHarrington, and the Carpetbagger 856thflew black B24s, like those flown by Mr.Petrenko, on cloak-and-dagger missionsto Norway and Denmark late as Mar. 1945.

This, of course, does not solve the prob-lem of why Mr. Petrenko's unit was sta-tioned at Northampton instead of Har-rington. Perhaps it was another one of theorphan units, like our small group atWatton, scattered throughout the SecondAir Division when the old 492nd wasbroken up. It would have taken a prettyadvanced computer to have kept track ofall of us—and there were no computersduring World War II.

Fieldsof

littleAmerica

THE BOOK NOOKBy Martin Bowman. A well written, highlyphotographic history of the Liberator Squad-rons of the U.S. 8th Air Force's Second AirDivision the "B-24 Division"). This work con-tains a large selection of previously unpublishedphotos including aerial views of all Second AirDivision bases. Coverage includes: Ploesti, the

by Kiel raids on U-boat pens, D-Day, the ArdennesRoger Freeman Offensive,bombing accuracy tables, etc. Excel-lent photos of aircraft, airfields, nose art, aircrews, and bombingraids. 120 pgs., 172 vintage photos, 81/2" x 11", hardbound.

Retail Price $16.95Our price including postage and handling $15.00. Send check ormoney order to William G. Robertie, P.O. Drawer B, Ipswich,MA 01938.

None other than Roger Freeman himself pro-vides this first time, in-depth look at the incom-parable Liberator. With emphasis on the plane'sindividuality and unique qualities, Freeman

Liberator concentrates on historical high points and prey-

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By theatres around the world, personal accountsRoger Freemanfrom new members, vintage action photos, newinformation which helps provide perspective in the "Lib" versus"Fort" debate, comparisons with the B-17, etc. 81/2" x 11",hardbound, 128 pages, 200 photos.

Retail Price $16.95Our price including postage and handling $15.00. Send check ormoney order to William G. Robertie, PO. Drawer B, Ipswich,MA 01938.

TheB-24

10

"We Ought To Do This More Often"(from the song of the same name)by Archie A. Macintyre (492nd BG) services as speakersOver the Labor Day weekend, thru the

efforts of A. M. Mohney and the writerand with the help of many members, a mini-reunion of the Second Air Division Asso-ciation was held in Lansing, Michigan.

This is the second get-together of ourmembers in the Michigan area in less thanfour months. The pilot model for the LaborDay Convention was an informal gather-ing held at the Clare Hotel in Clare,Michigan on the evening of April 29, 1983.Based on the good time and camaraderieestablished during the Clare meeting—themain question was asked and answered inone clear voice, "When and where is thenext get-together?" After passing the hatfor stamp money, a date of Sept. 3, 1983was set and the location of Lansing wasestablished.In less than four months the entire mini-

reunion package was completed. HowardJohnson's Motor Lodge was selected asour headquarters and Long's ConventionCenter supplied our banquet hall and out-standing dinners. From our membership,Mrs. Margret Ayrs Host, American RedCross and Mr. Robert Foose, historian

author, offered theirat our banquet.Saturday afternoon were devoted to reg-

istration, lots of talking, refreshments andcombat films. The film Target For Thday,was shown as well as films from Foose'sprivate files. One of Robert's films was adocumentary from the German Air Forces.It depicted air to air combat in its grimestreality.Mrs. Host was with the 466 BG during

its operational days in England. In hertalk, she reminded us of the activities ofthe Red Cross that made life a little morebearable under trying times. She alsorecalled many memories that were happyand sad. ( A review of the article ARC-466BG by Mary Carroll Leeds in 2nd ADJournal Jan. '83 is a good guideline tosome of the topics covered by Mrs. Host).Thank you Margret, your kind thoughtsare appreciated.

Robert Foose reviewed the air attacksagainst the German oil industries duringthe summer 44 to the end of the war. Hereminded us of the high cost in lives inthese missions as well as the fact that thiscampaign brought Hitler's war machine

to a complete halt. Foose's book on the oilcampaign will be published soon and wouldmake an important contribution to yourlibrary.The mini-reunion was a success beyond

our wildest dreams. The good times flowedso fast that it wasn't until I was loadingmy travel bags in my car Sunday morningthat I realized the show was over. But theafterglo remains.

Special recognition is extended to MissTracy Mohney for all her help in makingthis get-together a success. Tracy's talenton the snare drums was very effectiveduring the Flag and Memorial Ceremonies.Over eighty-five members and wives

attended our reunion. They came from allof Michigan's sister states. The memberfarthest from home was Bill Clarey. Billflew in from California.

During our happy hour before the ban-quet, a gentleman dropped in to inquireabout our reunion and the Second AirDivision Association. He was amazed tolearn that such an organization existed.He informed us that he had been with the306th Bomb Group, 1st Division as agunner on B-17s. We tried to pursuadehim to stay as our guest, but he declined.His name was passed on to the 8th Histor-ical Society for membership.

Will we do it again. Yes—details later.

448 Profilesby George Dupont (448th)

Christmas 1944 was for most of us alonely miserable time. It was the secondXmas away from family and friends andhere we were, "Stuck in a mud hole" where,"only the barrage balloons kept the islandfrom sinking." The weather was "Hitler'ssecret weapon:' The damp, bone chillingcold, penetrated all clothing and theNissen Huts were certainly not designedfor habitation, let alone insulated. Wewould gather around the stove top "it"warm. The black slate masquerading ascoal, certainly would not burn, much lessgive off heat. We had long since choppeddown and burned all fence posts, blackoutdoors, and when no one was looking, afoot locker or two.Our bed mattresses ( ha!) were three

straw filled cloth envelopes about two feetsquare and "at least one half inch thick:'Mine I sewed together with steel wire afterthey had separated during the night andlet the cold chill creep along my spine.On this day, however, something hap-

pened to change the focus of our atten-tion. We were notified that we were goingto have guests. If we would go to PostHdq., young school children ( evacuatedfrom the bombardment of London, manyorphaned by the war) would be arrivingand since we were "stood down" (no combatmission scheduled), we could escort themfreely about our base.

We learned shortly that they had beenwell schooled and taught to be so polite itseemed they only knew how to say "Nothank you" when their eyes sparkled a"Yes please. Thank you:' We gave them atour of our barracks and indeed the wholebase including a crawl through our reallive B24 Liberators.The crowning point of the day was

taking them to our mess hall for a real oldfashioned genuine Christmas dinner withall the trimmings. When I asked my youngcompanions if they would like an orange( which they had never ever tasted), theyhung their heads and gave a standard, buthalf hearted, "No thank you" with tears ofanticipation in their eyes. A big grin brokeout when we "forced them to take a couplehome in their pockets"—in case you changeyour mind.

It was well after dark when 712thSquadron Commander Major RobertCampbell returned from dropping off hisyoung charges at their village and it seemsone of them must have "needed" his officerscap, for it was missing.The joy and love these young people

brought to our lives in one day, we couldnever repay. We were reminded that thiswas the reason we were here, to insuretheir freedom, their right to a decent world.We are reminded daily of the three

hundred fifty men of the 448th who boughtthat Freedom and Right. One was MajorRobert Campbell, buried in Margreten,Holland in one of many American ceme-teries scattered throughout the world.

Old Airfieldby W Scott, Ex-630 Squadron

I lie here still beside the hill,abandoned long to nature's will.My buildings down my people goneMy only sounds, the wild bird's song.

But my mighty birds will rise no more,No more I hear the merlins roar,And never now my bosom feelsThe pounding of their giant wheels.

From the ageless hill their voices castThunderous echoes of the past,And still in lonely reverieTheir great dark wings sweep down to me.

Laughter sorrow hope nad painI shall never know these things again,Emotions that I came to knowOf strange, young men so long ago.

Who knows as evening shadows meetAre they with me still a phantom fleet,And do my ghosts still stride unseen,Across my face, so wide and green.

And in the future, should structures tallBury me beyond recall.I shall still remember them,My metal birds, and long-dead men.

Now weeds grow high, obscure the skyOh remember me, when you pass by,For beneath this tangled, leafy screenI was your home, your friend "Silksheen."

11

The 448th Speaksby Leroy J. Engdahl (448th)

Since the last Journal, 405 letters havebeen mailed to previous members of the448th, stating that we had a few mainprojects we were working on as a Group.Our main object is to regain their mem-bership in the 2nd ADA. Following that,we are seeking donations of a granite me-morial on our old air base at Seething. Ofless importance, I am putting together aRoster of paid membership of the Group.Thanks to the following people who

helped me with the duplication and mail-ing expenses, I was able to get them outrather promptly: M/M Al Bishop, M/MGeorge DuPont, M/M Aubrey Cates, M/MRobert Harper, M/M Milton Nichols,M/M Charles McBride and Col. and Mrs.Downey Thomas. Thank you all wry much.From these leters about 50 were returned

for 'insufficient address'. I was able toreduce this number by 36 by getting betteraddresses through the various telephoneoperators. I also received letters from thefollowing ladies informing me that theirhusbands had passed on, some as long asfive years ago. Many of these letters haddonations with a note stating, 'I know myhusband would have wanted to contributeto the wonderful project' and wishing ussuccess with it. I answered every one ofthese letters and in behalf of the 448thBomb Group, expressed our sympathy.However, if any of you were close to thesedeceased members you may wish to writetheir wives a letter of condolence. Follow-ing are their names:John Fluke, 909 Logan, Altoona, Pa. 16602Ben Isgrig, Jr., 6403 Foursche Dam Pike,

Little Rock. Ark. 72206

Lloyd H. Haddock, 302 West Gramercy,San Antonio, TX 78212

Fred Angel, 605 Meadowlane, Aberdeen,Miss. 39730

Jesse R. Kain, 3515 Sharpe Ave., Memphis,Tenn. 38111

Stewart F. Chase, 10313 Stamy Rd.,Whittier, CA 90603

Col. Isabel Gonzales, 10741 La Donna Dr.,Garden Grove, CA 92640

Charles Flukinger, Hempstead, TX.Wm. C. Maxwell, 1700 Brooks Lane,Oniedo, FL. 32765

Dr. Nelson C. Bates, 159 Aigler Blvd.,Belleville, Ohio 44811

William Beall, 9624 Meadowdale Dr.,Baton Route, LA 70811

Meyers Wahnee, 906 S.W. 4th St.,Anadarka, OK 73005We salute our former comrades and offer

our deepest sympathy to their wives andloved ones. If any of the 448th membersknow of any of our members passing on,please let me know as we certainly want toacknowledge it through the Journal. NowI have a few questions.

During WWII do you remember drivingdown the streets and throughout the coun-tryside and seeing a small United StatesFlag displayed in the windows? Those werefamilies who had a son or daughter servingtheir country in the service. Do you alsoremember seeing in some of those samehouses a 'Gold Star' displayed? These werethe homes that had lost a son or daughterin the war. There were 'Gold Star' mothersclubs throughout the country made up ofmothers who had lost a son, or daughterin the service of our country.

Well I hope I got your attention for amoment because sometimes I think weare prone to forget how precious the life weenjoy is, and the freedoms we enjoy arebecause thousands gave their lives thatwe might enjoy these things.

Is it too much to ask for a small donationfor a Memorial to be built at our old basesite in England to remember those 350who were killed? I don't think any of youwould say your life hasn't been appreci-ated and that you really would like to doyour part.

George DuPont, through some of hisEnglish friends, has found out that toerect the 3 ft. x 4 ft. x 8 inch thick Memorialwill cost about $2,000. This includes the 4ft. x 5 ft. concrete pad to mount themonument on and the cost of installation.

Of the 405 letters we mailed to formermembers, we have received 36 donationsto date, plus 9 from active members mak-ing 45 donations to date, for a total of$1,117 and donations have ranged between$5.00 and $100.00. We ask that all of yoube as generous as you can and rememberthat this is tax deductible.

A special bank account has been set upat First City National Bank of Beaumont,TX in the name of the 448th Bomb Group,2nd Air Division—Acct. # 04732979. Makecheck out to this account and mark oncheck "For 448th Memorial". This will beyour tax receipt. For any amount thatexceeds our requirement, we are hoping toerect a similar, but smaller monument, inthe churchyard at Seething. Approval isbeing sought for this should we be able tofund it. The timetable we are seeking iscompletion and dedication on June 6th,1984, the 40th anniversary of "D" Day.

Please get your contributions in rightaway so that we can issue an order for thestonemason to get on with our project.Again, at this time the final wording hasnot been decided as we hope to do thisin Houston at the 8th AF reunion.

Poop From Groupby Phillip G. Day (467th)

The reunion of the 467th Bomb Group,held October 7-8-9, 1983 in Dayton, Ohiowas deemed by the 156 veterans whoattended, accompanied by 130 family mem-bers and friends, a complete success.Beginning with the non-official gather-

ing on Oct. 6 for cocktails and cold buffet,through the official reunion closing at noonon Sunday, Oct. 9, all who attended thereunion deemed it to be a total and com-plete success. For nearly 50 of the veterans,this was their first reunion. For over 30,this• was their first contact of any kindwith the Group since their discharge.

Officially the reunion began on Fridayevening with a cocktail party with openbar and hot and cold hors d'oeuvres with270 attending. No count was made at thebuffet breakfast on Saturday morning, butat noon, at a restaurant near the Air ForceMuseum, 255 attended for a light luncheon.

Following lunch, all assembled at thededication site of the Group Memorial in

the Memorial Area of the AF Museum. Itwas my pleasure and honor to serve asChaplain for this service. Following theposting of the flags of the United Statesand the United States Air Force by an AirForce Color Guard, a reading of a psalm,an Old Testament lesson and a New Test-ament lesson, preceded a well received,short address by Colonel Albert J. Shower,USAF ( Ret. ), Commanding Officer of theGroup from October 1943 to July 1945.The Memorial Plaque was unveiled and

dedicated to those of the Group who diedin training and in 212 combat missionsflown from Rackheath and to all who wereassigned or attached to the Group fromSept. 1943 through June 1945. Simultan-eously with this service, a duplicate of theMemorial was dedicated at RackheathVillage, Norfolk, England. The ReverendMartain Benians, Rector of Holy TrinityChurch, Rackheath, was officiant, assistedby Mr. David Hastings and Mr. BrianTagg, Chairman of the Rackheath ParishCouncil.The Group is most pleased with these

duplicate memorials and especially with

the enthusiasm with which the Memorialwas received and accepted at Rackheathand the high place of honor given it at thebase of the Rackheath village sign, whichwas dedicated during the reunion visit inMay.Saturday evening we had cocktails and

our reunion banquet with 285 in attend-ance. At the business meeting of theGroup, James Coffey was elected vp toserve with the 2nd AD Association andFloyd Kingsley was elected Deputy. I willremain on as Group Scribe, Editor, orwhatever. The Group also voted to make adonation of $4000 in the newly establishedtrust method with the consensus that wewill add to this trust in the future.There should also be a jump in mem-

bership. Nearly all of the 150 June Journalswere taken and all of the 2 ADA informa-tion brochures with membership applica-tions were taken. Each of us renewed oldfriendships, made many new ones, ate well,drank a bit, listened to and danced to thejukebox records of that time, looked atthe tables of memorabilia displayed, andenjoyed ourselves.

12

Hethel Highlightsby Earl Zimmerman (389th)

Official records of the 389th reveal that"On Oct. 3rd, 1943, Captain Fowble, 564thSquadron, crashed near Marrakech, FrenchMorocco. Fourteen of the fifteen menaboard were killed."One of the men lost in the crash was

S/Sgt. James A. Adovasio, who accom-panied the 389th on their second journeyto North Africa as an Asst. Crew Chief.

Mrs. J. M. Adovasdio

About the time the 389th was headingback to Hethel from Massacault, an air-craft worker on the production line at theConsolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp. atForth Worth, taped a dollar bill on thefuselage of a new B-24. As the plane passeddown the line, workers taped bills and coins

on the fuselage. When the plane rolled offthe line, $2928.41 was plastered it.The donors decided to donate the money

to a Liberator combat squadron. In duetime, Major Dale Sisson of the 564thSquadron, 389th Bomb Group, acceptedthe award from Major General James PHodges, at Hethel during July 1944.What does a thirsty bunch of G.I.s do

with $2928.41. Assembled on the flightline, a show of hands indicated that theywere all for the biggest beer bust in theEighth Air Force.The Pathfinders could not dispose of

that much ad and arf so it was decided tobuy war bonds with the remainder andgive them to the widow of S/Sgt. Adovasio.

Major Howard R. Hinchman, SquadronCommander of the 564th, wrote to Mrs.Lena Adovasio and explained how themoney was received and advised her thatthe bonds were being forwarded to her tobe held in trust for her son's education.James Michael Adovasio was eight monthsold and had never seen his father.When James Michael graduated from

high school, Robert Seagle, ex-crew chief,M/Sgt., of the 564th, received a phone callfrom Mrs. Adovasio. She asked if Bob andhis wife would meet James Michael at thetrain station and put him up for a weekuntil University of Arizona dorms opened.Dr. J. M. Adovasio, graduated from the

University of Arizona, with a B.A. inAnthropology, Magna cum Laude, 1965.He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology at

the University of Utah, June of 1970. Heis presently a Professor and Chairman ofthe Department of Anthropology, Univer-sity of Pittsburg.

It is said, that, 'If you cast your breadupon the waters, it shall be returnedmanyfold'. The members of the 564thBomb Squadron and Consolidated AircraftCorp., can be very proud of Mrs. LeeAdovasio and her son Dr. J. M. Adovasio.

Dr. J. M. Adovasio

For those of you who knew and workedwith S/Sgt. James A. Adovasio, you mightlike to write to Mrs. Adovasio at 3131Firnley Ave., Youngstown, Ohio 44511. Dr.J.M:s address: 304 Woodbridge Drive,Pittsburg, Pa. 15237.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could getthem to attend our next reunion in PalmSprings, Calif. next year. We will work onthat.

Tea lime the Hard Wayby Seth L. Lobdell (44th BG)

To recount the story of our crash, itappears from the book that we were on amission with Gustavsburg as the primaryand Mainz as secondary, but most of thebombs were dropped on Mainz. I don'trecollect whether we were hit before thetarget, but it is probable. Evidently wewere hit by flak in the oil system of the #3engine because I didn't have time to eventhink feather before all the oil pressurewas gone with no chance to feather theprop. The prop started winding up, wedidn't know if it would fly off or not, butfinally it froze in a flat position causing alot of drag. We turned back and headedhome.

I don't remember getting rid of thebombs and when. A couple of 51's escortedus back part way. Richardson used the"G" box to navigate us back toward thestraits. We decided to take the long wayhome with less water.As we neared Halesworth we used the

radio compass for navigation. The weatherin the vicinity of the base was scattered tobroken clouds with bases about 500 footso visibility was poor. We did locate thefield, although from that altitude it wasdifficult, and started the down wind leg.Just after this the other engine on the

right side started giving a lot of troubleand we had to pull back on that throttle.What with the drag created by the #3engine being out and not feathered it tookall the left rudder we had and some aileronrolled in just to keep straight and no levelto it. Obviously with no altitude andairspeed less than 100, we were going down,it was just a matter of when.

I called on the interphone to the guys inthe back that we were going to crash.Later they told me they never heard, butwhen we started cutting through the treetops they knew, and dropped to the deckand grabbed hold of one another. In themeantime, up front everyone got bracedon the back of the armor plate behind ourseats.Ed and I saw a big brick barn directly

ahead and with no chance of getting overit, just pushed it in. You can see the resultin the enclosed pictures. As soon as weground to a halt one of the fellows pulledthe escape hatch release and we tried toget out.

Williams, the nose gunner, found hisharness was caught under the armor plate.I got him out of the harness, but discoveredhe had blood all over himself. An ammuni-tion can had come loose from the top turret

and hit Richardson, the bombardier, cut-ting his forehead. The blood had drippedover the gunner and pandemonium reignedfor a few moments as we were getting out.We were hardly on the ground before

Mrs. Knight, the lady from the farm housewe had nearly flown into, ran over andwanted to know if we would like some tea.Richardson went to her house and was

bandaged. Moments later a bobby cameup on a bicycle. Sahagian borrowed hisbike and went to a phone booth and calledthe base. As dusk was approaching theFlight Surgeon came in the ambulance.On the way back we were well fortifiedwith Gugenheim. Needless to say we werehappy to be alive and all went to see CharlieChaplin the following day.The only one on the crew over 21 at the

time was Starratt, who was 36. Rhombergdidn't fly with us as we flew with no navi-gator. Richardson did the navigation ifneeded.I saw Sahagian several years ago in N.Y.,

he lived in Old Westbury, L. I. only a mileor so from my sister-in-law in Westbury.

Richardson lived in Fontana, Calif. thelast time I heard from him.

Robert Williams died of a heart condi-tion nearly 20 years ago and lived in NorthCarolina. The others I haven't heard from.Frank Gaines lived in Downey, Calif. up

to about 10 years ago.

13

A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY .....

TO OBTAIN YOUR OWN COPY OF THE 36th ANNUAL CONVENTION FILM

"REMEMBER THEM"AS SHOWN IN NORWICH IN MAY 1983

The Story of the 2nd Air Division - Then and Now - in sound and colour, specially produced for the 36th Annual

Convention in Norwich. Film of the airfields as they are now linked with actual combat photography by

Ursel P.Harvell. The film ends with a visit to Norwich and a tour of the Memorial Room at the Central Library,

the dedication of the new Standards and the fly-past. (Note: since the re-union additional footage has been added

on Bungay and Halesworth as requested).

The film, lasting 30 minutes, is ideal for showing to other organisations and groups who are interested in the 2nd

Air Division, or just a unique record for your family to keep, to remind them of the past, present, and the future.

AVAILABLE IN SUPER 8mm COLOUR FILM WITH MAGNETIC STRIPED SOUND

complete with reel and can for 255 Dollars plus Air Parcel & Insurance of 8 Dollars. TOTAL. 263 DOLLARS.

OR IN VIDEO, U.S.A. STANDARD VHS or BETAMAX FORMAT

including cassette for 120 DOLLARS plus Air Parcel & Insurance of 8 Dollars. TOTAL. 128 DOLLARS.

ORDERS TO: DJ ASSOCIATES, "Westering", SALHOUSE, Nr.Norwich, Norfolk, NRI3 6RQ, England.

Please state clearly which format you require: i.e. Super 8mm film, Video VHS, or Video Betamax.

CHECKS WITH ORDER PLEASE. Delivery approx 4/8 weeks from receipt of order.

ABOUT THE B-242nd AIR DIVISION

"WELCOME HOME, YANK" by Bill PhillipsSigned and Numbered 27 V2" x 221/2" $135

PHONE OR WRITE FOR FREE COLOR BROCHURE

The Limited Edition is a FULL DOLOR

print of a painting that hangs in our

Air Space Museum, in Washington D.C.

The essence of "Welcome Home Yank" is

the spirit of cooperation that pre-

vailed during World War II. The mood

is one of relief on the part of the

B-24 crew having experienced a har-

rowing flight from a mission to Frankfort

Germany, March 20 1944. The 2nd Air

Division B-24 is picked up by a RAF

Spitfire Mark IXB of the 403 squadron

based at Kenley Middlesex. The Bomber

and its escort are over the English

Channel and white cliffs of Dover.

The B-24 #64452 call sign Bourbon Green

was from the 453rd Bomb Group stationed

at Old Buckenham, England.

you'll0)1E*inc.

GALLERIES

302-478-2900

2900 CONCORD PIKEWILMINGTON. DE 19803

Napalm!by James G. Coffey (467th)

It was April 14th, 1945, before dawn.We were assembled in the briefing room ofthe 467th Bombardment Group at Rack-heath, England. We were waiting to learnour mission for the day. With Germanarmies in retreat, our target was to be oneof the remaining points of Nazi resistance.The briefing officers arrived. Finally,

after preliminary remarks, the curtain waspulled to show the target for the day:Pointe de Grave, France. Pointe de Graveis at the confluence of the Girond estuaryand the Atlantic Ocean, about 65 milesnorthwest of Bordeaux. The Germans wereholed up in massive underground subma-rine pens. The plan for the day was toassemble over Belgium, then fly southwestto the target. We were to soften up theNazi defenders; waiting Free French forceswould then move in. There would be noflak en route to the target, but flak wasexpected from the target.The Armament officer explained that

we would be using a new kind of bomb,containing Napalm, a jellied gasoline.Although the deep, reinforced concretepens were virtually impervious to blastdamage, the occupants were vulnerablethrough the pen's ventilation system. Ondetonation, the Napalm would burn withsuch intense heat that the oxygen wouldbe sucked out of the pens and their de-fenders asphyxiated if not burned to death.The Armament Officer told us all thiswith a malevolent gleam in his eye.We were warned that some of the bombs

might be defective: under certain condi-tions, the phosphorous grenade ( intendedto detonate the bomb) might pop out. Theresulting hole would permit the napalm toescape into the plane. If this happened,the armament expert continued, we mustplug the bomb immediately. Thereafter,we must keep use of electrical switches toan absolute minimum: the slightest sparkwould explode the plane.Because the mission was a long one —

about 1,400 miles—we were given an emer-gency field about 60 miles west of Pariswhere we could refuel, if necessary.Impressed and apprehensive about the

new bomb, we checked out our flying gearand went to our assigned plane on thehardstand. In the approaching dawn, theArmorers were still loading the 600 poundbombs, eight to a plane. They worked care-fully and treated the bombs with respect.

11111111111111111 e •As usual, we had picked up extra flak

suits for protection from flak bursts frombelow. Our Engineer, Andy DeBiasse,carpeted the flight deck; in the waist,Gunners Bill Smith and Bill Hayes coveredtheir firing areas.We took off, uneventfully, at the usual

The English Connectionby 7bny North

There are living in and around Norwich a small but active group of 2nd AirDivision enthusiasts and historians. We have no formal organization as such, butmost of us are known to one another and are in contact from time to time to swapinformation, photos, etc. on our favorite Bomb Groups. Some of us have beenassociate members of the 2nd A.D.A. for many years, our interest dating back towar-time days when we were boys and used to visit the bases near our homes, theoriginal "Any gum, chum" kids. Some were not even born when the 2nd A.D. wasin residence but their interest is no less, because the 2nd A.D. has become part oflocal history.Most of us have special friends amongst the American members with whom we

correspond and we like to meet and chat with 2nd A.D. men who return toNorfolk to visit their old haunts. It has become increasingly apparent that moreand more are doing just this, usually as part of a longer tour of U.K. and Europe.To make their visit more enjoyable and interesting we would invite anyone who

is planning a trip back to Norfolk to contact any of the members listed below whowould be most willing to assist with hotel bookings, visits to airfields, tours ofNorwich, etc. We each have our own special areas of knowledge and interest, ofcourse, but any one of us would act as the first point of contact. So don't hesitate,we are willing to help and would be pleased to meet you.

Tony North,62, Turner Road,Norwich,Norfolk. NR2 4HBPhone Norwich 614041

Chris Gotts,6, Gravelfield Close,Valley drive,Norwich,Norfolk NR1 4NHPhone Norwich 33745

John Archer,29, Station Road,Earsham,Bungay,Phoen Bungay 2089

John Page,6, Meadow Way,Poringland,Norwich,Norfolk NR14 7LZPhone Framingham Earl 3170

30 second interval, and climbed in looseformation, headed across the North Seatoward Belgium. As I reported to Squad-ron the next day, we were proceeding tobuncher C-17 ( Liege )... About 40 milesfrom the buncher, the fuse in one of thebombs burst loose, causing the Napalmto be sprayed throughout the bomb bay.The bomb bay was almost completelycovered by the substance, and the flightdeck and waist were filled with fumes andsome spray.

Just seconds after the bomb burst,Engineer DeBiasse plugged the leak (withhis brand new white World War I stylescarf, a gift received from his Mother theday before, plus anything else he couldfind to stuff in the opening). Andy yelledfor pliers. When asked what for, he almostscreamed "Goddamit, give me pliers!"Radioman Don Faford was quick to deliver.The phosphorous grenade, still attachedto the arming wire, fell through the bombdoors and banged repeatedly against thecatwalk. DeBiasse managed to cut thearming wire and the phosphorous grenadefell clear.

I immediately turned off the generators,batteries, radios, and electrical equipment.This meant we could not change any of theelectrical switches; we could not changethe pitch of the propellors, use our radio,the auto-pilot, or intercom. We could usethe hydraulically operated bomb bay doors.We made a 180 degree turn, heading forthe Channel in order to jettison if necessary.We found our Group assembling at 21,000feet, flying at about 160 mph. I tried tojoin the Group but could not safely slowdown below 165 mph. I pulled out and

asked our Navigator, Al Muller for a head-ing to the target.We followed the rivers to the estuary

and the target was in sight. Co-pilot Har-mon J. Small, Jr. and I took turns flying.We tried to form with a B-17 Group, but

with our higher-than-normal B-24 speedand the B-17's normal slower-than-B-24speed, we couldn't do it. We interceptedthe 44th Bomb Group. With flaps lowered,I slipped into a "slot" below the planeflying the slot position on their low squad-ron, to the astonishment of the tail gunnerjust above our nose.We bombed in formation with them.

The Germans were unable to put up anydefense. We continued in formation withthe 44th, north toward England. The planewas thoroughly aired out by now, so wefelt confident in using the intercom andall the other electrically-operated gear.The 467th tower instructed us to fly

well beyond the northern coast of Norfolkover the North Sea before turning back toour base at Rackheath. We flew acrossNorfolk at about 50 to 60 feet above groundthrough yellowish sunlit haze, with Navi-gator Muller providing course correctionsI asked for and received clearance for astraight-in landing. Our Engineer reported20 minutes fuel left.

Later I learned that on the April 15thmission to Pointe de Grave, the 467th was-the first Group in 2nd AD history toachieve the perfect bomb score of 100%accuracy within 1000 feet of the assignedMPI for all squadrons." I'm sorry weweren't part of it.

15

U.S. Post Office Pays liibute to Medal of Honor RinnersGeneral Leon Johnson, Recipient

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

MANAGEMENTSECTIONAL CENTER

PAYS TRIBUTETO RECIPIENTS OF

THE

MEDAL OF HONOR

JULY I. 1983

General Leon W Johnson, (then Colonel), United States Armylir Corps, 8th Air Force, Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943.For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk

of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 1 August 1943.Colonel Johnson, as commanding officer of a heavy bombardmentgroup, led the formation of the aircraft of his organization consti-tuting the fourth element of the mass low-level bombing attackof the 8th United States Air Force against the vitally importantenemy target of the Ploesti oil refineries. While proceeding to thetarget on this 2,400-mile flight, his element became separatedfrom the leading elements of the mass formation in maintainingthe formation of the unit while avoiding dangerous cumulouscloud conditions encountered over mountainous territory. Thoughtemporarily lost, he reestablished contact with the third elementand continued on the mission with this reduced force to theprearranged point of attack, where it was discovered that thetarget assigned to Colonel Johnson's group had been attackedand damged by a preceding element.

by Pete Henry (44th BG)

As any of you philatelists know, a 1983commemorative stamp honoring theMedal of Honor, the nation's highest awardfor valor, and all those who have beenawarded the medal, was issued June 7,1983 by the U.S. Postal Service at thePentagon.

At the request of the Postmaster Gen-eral, William E Bolger, the Northern Vir-ginia Management Sectional Center pre-sented engraved albums to eight NorthernVirginia residents who have received theMedal of Honor. Included in this selectgroup was our own General Leon W. John-son who was accompanied to the ceremo-nies by his daughter Mrs. Sarah Abbott.

General Johnson received the Medal ofHonor for his participation the Ploestiraid 1 August 43. Following is the citation General Johnson & daughter,that accompanied the award: Mrs. Sarah Abbot

Though having lost the element of surprise upon which thesafety and success of such a daring form of mission in heavybombardment aircraft so strongly depended, Colonel Johnsonelected to carry out his planned low-level attack despite thethoroughly alerted defenses, the destructive antiaircraft fire,enemy fighter airplanes, the imminent danger of exploding de-layed action bombs from the previous element, of oil fires andexplosions, and of intense smoke obscuring the target. By hisgallant courage, brilliant leadership, and superior flying skill,Colonel Johnson so led his formation as to destroy totally theimportant refining plants andinstallations which were the objectof his mission.

Colonel Johnson's personal contribution to the success of thishistoric raid, and the conspicuous gallantry in action, andintrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of dutydemonstrated by him on this occasion constitute such deeds ofvalor and distinguished service as have during our Nation'shistory formed the finest traditions of our Armed Forces.

Film LibraryH.C. 'Pete' Henry

164 B Portland LaneJames burg, NJ. 08831

Target For Today—Part I1600' — B&W — Sound — 45 min.

Shows men of the VIII Bomber Commandpreparing for a mission; examining poten-tial targets, weather maps, etc. It movesto Operations room where General givesweather forecast and selects the targets.

Target For Today—Part II1500' — B&W — Sound — 45 min.

Crews are seen loading planes and takingoff. Crews on oxygen at enemy coastline.Flak and fighters appear.

Narrator describes I.P., bombs away.B-26s take off.

The Mission800' — B&W — Silent — 25 min.

Prepared and edited by late Lt. Col. UrselP Harvell while he was Photo Officer for44th BG.

Mission flown by the 44th BG coversloading of bombs, take-off and forminginto Group formation. Vapor trails overGermany, flak, bombs away, heading homeand landing at base.

Men Who Flew the Liberators1100' — Color — Sound — 30 mm.

Film begins with a USAF Sergeant remi-niscing about WWII. Roger Freeman andCol. Godwin, C.O. of Mildenhall add com-ments throughout the film. A Sergeantfrom Horsham St.Faith is interviewed asis Daisy Elmer, a pub owner.Shows men on leave in London.Rocky Griffith's one wheel landing.

1973 2ADA ReunionColorado Springs

400' — Color — Silent — 10 mm.Pictures of 2ADA members. EarlZimmerman and wife at hotel. Hathy,Milt and Carone Veynar. Dean Moyer onbus. Air Force Academy, Parade. Cocktailparty. Jordan Uttal, General Leon John-son, Bill Robertie, Joe Warth and Good-man Griffin.

2ADA— 8th USAFF— Memorial250' — B&W — Silent — 8 min.

Crowds going into Church of St. PeterMancroft, inside church, dedication ofstandards and Roll of Honor book.

Leaving church and proceeding to Li-brary.

Inside Memorial Room, NorwichLibrary.

16

Letters

Dear Ms. Cohen:We were among the six hundred who

recently attended the Air Force reunion inNorwich and we want to extend our thanksfor a trip well planned. Our accommoda-tions at the Post House were comfortableand we found everyone warm and friendly.The meals were more than ample and we

especially appreciated the "hot" plates tokeep the food warm while we ate. Many timeswhen such a large group is served the foodbecomes cold and thus unappetizing.We enjoyed all the meetings, dedication

and programs, etc., also the "special surprise"at the final dinner. So, once again, thank you.

Grace & Frank Vadas0 0 0 0

Dear Ms. Cohen:I had hoped to have the pleasure of meeting

you in Norwich, but time seemed to go soquickly at the Convention that it was all overbefore I realized that I had not made myselfknown to you, or indeed, met several otherswhom I had every good intention of seeing.

It was my first attendance, as an AssociateMember, at a 2nd Air Division Conventionand let me say straightaway that I lookforward with great pleasure to attendingfuture ones. It is a pity that they are notheld more often in England, but my wife andI will, perhaps, combine a holiday in theStates with joining again the many new andmarvelous friends we made in Norwich atone of the Conventions in your country.Bonds of friendship such as were made inMay are not easily broken. It was a realpleasure to return to Norfolk and to remi-nisce on experiences during the war yearswith those brave men who left our skiesdaily for a hostile environment while I washaving Latin and French irregular verbsbeaten into me.I am not sure when subscriptions fall due

and cannot remember the amount, but anenclosing an International Money Order for$10 towards my dues for 1984. If I haveunder-paid, please let me know.

Tom BrittanH 0 H 0 0

Dear Bill:Hawkins and Powers Aviation, located at

Greybull, Woming still operates a few PB4Y-2, Navy variants of the B-24 Liberator. Theseaircraft are employed as aerial bombers,equipped with fire retardants to combatforest fires in the west.A friend of mine, Cory Barrett, of Dallas,

Tex., took these photographs in the Springof '82 with Hawkins and Powers permission.

Since very few B-24s of any type are inexistence, I felt 2nd AD members woulddelight in these aircrafts very existence; andfurthermore they are working "Liberators"protecting our nation's forests.

Hugh McLaren

Dear Bill:Stow Park Farm stands within the bounds

of the former airfield located on the hill atFlixton. The brothers Aubry and Roy Skin-ner have worked the land behind the'Shooting In' butts before and since the`Bungay Buckeroos' were on the scene.

It was during the normal ploughing oftheir land that they unearthed a piece ofmemorabilia from WW II. It was a dogtagbearing the serial number and name of anAmerican airman who was stationed atFlixton during hostilities. The tag read—Frank J. Jacobs, 36152257 T4243B. Eliza-beth Jacobs, RFD 3, Vassar, Mich.The tag was forwarded to Frank's brother

by Garner A. Pennock, who was also sta-tioned at Flixton for a short period with the329th B Sqd. in 1942-43. He has kept upcorrespondence with the Flixton farmerssince that time. Pennock tracked down theJacobs family after doing a little detectivework in Vassar.Although Frank died from a heart attack

17 years ago, the receipt of the dogtag servedto make the members of the Jacobs familyboth surprised and happy.

John W. Archer0 0 0 0 D

Dear Evelyn:I would like to take a moment of your time

to express our thanks for a memorable andexciting trip to Norwich. I can appreciatethe time and effort you expended in makingthe program run so smoothly. It was anevent to treasure. We do thank you.

I was somewhat disappointed that no onewas there from the 579th Sq. of the 392ndGroup. During the period of Dec. 43-Apr. 44,you may recall that my brother was in thatSq. and was shot down on April 24, 1944.The crew was killed in action.

I understand that I can join the 2nd AirDivision as an Associate Member. I wouldlike to get on the mailing list and try againat Palm Springs to find someone from the579th.

Please advise if my request is proper andthe cost of annual dues.

John E. Hall405 Town & Country Dr.Huntsville, AL 35806

Dear Bill:Replying to your letter of Sept. 26th.

Sorry, but I was a member of the 15th AirForce, 449th BG, 719 Squadron stationed inGrottaglie, Italy. was a Flight Engineer-Gunner, completed 21 sorties-34 missions.The model displayed at my restaurant of a

B-24 was a challenge to build as authentic asthe one we flew in WW 2. I built it mostly formy grandsons. It is a flying model, but I willnot fly it as it cost about $2,000 to build andtook about 18 months (in spare time) to putit all together. Instead, I have it on displayand operate the control surfaces (flaks, gears,bomb bay, etc.) mainly for the children tosee. The kit was re-designed to a B-24J withnose and tail turret moveable 180° —the topturret 360° —and ball turret lowers whenlanding gears retract—the children reallyenjoy this. It has been quite a conversationalpiece and over the years it has been displayed.I have met quite a few people associatedwith the Liberator. Our outfit is having theirfirst reunion after 40 years, in Tucson, Ari-zona, and am looking forward to it.

Enclosed is a brochure of what we canoffer in our banquet room. If you are inter-ested, please keep in touch with us as we cangive you a very nice and memorable time.

Richard GrecoBig Beaner RestaurantRt 18Beaver Falls, PA 15010

(Ed: Sounds like a fantastic model of the oldbeast. Members in your area should checkthis out. The menu is mouth watering.)

Dear Friends:Please accept our very grateful thanks for

the magnificent donation of $20,000 to theCapital Fund of this Trust, the check forwhich was handed to me by Jordan Uttal atthe Banquet in Norwich on the 30th of May.

Your continuing and generous support forthe Memorial which you hold most dear, andfor which we are the Trustees, is a greatencouragement to us as we try each year tomaintain and extend the work of the Trust.Thanks to your support the quality of the

2nd Air Div. Memorial has been enhancedand we in England will do all we can to keepit that way.To that end we are approaching other Char-

itable Foundations in Norwich to seek addi-tional funds to complement those you haveraised, so that we can move forward together.Our target is a Capital Fund of £250,000 tobe reached over a period of years.Working in this way helps us to feel at one

with you as year by year the Memorial Trustgrows in strength.We did enjoy the Convention, meeting

again so many old friends and strengtheningthe bonds that unite us all.On a personal note, all the Governors thank

you for the dinner given for them after theConvention by your Executive Committeeand, in particular, the individual tokens ofappreciation which each governor received.Then, too, on behalf of my wife, as well as

for Hester King and Jean Hastings, thankyou one and all for the beautiful glass bowleach received.We look forward to Palm Springs in Oct.

1984 when we hope to be well represented.Our thanks and best wishes to you all.

Tom EatonChairman of the Governors0 0 0 0 0

Dear Pete:Thought you might be interested in the

enclosed snapshot of Charles Mercer's crewof the 67th B.S. We recently had a mini-reunion and five crew members and theirwives showed up. We rented a large house onthe beach at Nags Head, N.C. and spent adelightful week from August 28 thru Sept.3, 1983

Left to right: William Church, Co-Pilot;Charles Mercer, Pilot; William Rand, Engi-neer; Jesse Burton, Waist Gunner; SidKipnes, Radio Operator.

It was a glorious week of bathing, swim-ming, fishing and sightseeing, as well asre-telling of old flying experiences.Nags Head was a perfect setting for our

reunion. It is adjacent to Kitty Hawk, whereaviation began. We visited the Wright Broth-ers Museum and old workshop. We laughedat the crude equipment that was used then,just like the present day flyers laughed atthe equipment we used in our time.

It was a glorious week and we look for-ward to our next reunion. We hope to havethe other members of our crew with us.Hope to see you at the 2nd ADA reunion

dinner on Nov. 5, 1983 at the Adams MarkHotel. I hope to be there with my wife. WallyZee, our tail gunner will be there. He lives inPhiladelphia.

Sid Kipnes

17

Hi Evelyn:My first request since I've been a member

of the 2nd Air Force Division, B-24s, is for acopy of the songs "Roll Me Over in the Clover"and "Here's to the Fuhors Face".A couple of us oldtimers cannot seem to

remember the complete songs. (446th and389 Bombardment Group).We would appreciate seeing the Journal.

Peter Paul BarszczewskiRS.: Hello Chuck Yant.

00O00

Dear Bill:Since many of the men of the 2nd Air

Division will be journeying back to Englandnext year and be looking for their old airbases, thought you might pass along some infoon the home turf of the 392nd at Wendling.

In October of '81, I made a trip to Wendling.Surprisingly, one and a half of the tworunways are still there. But alas, it's onlybecause they were saved to be used by themost ungainly flyers under the sun. Imagine,an airfield from which eagles once soared,now the home of turkeys!! Yes, Mathew'sTurkey Farm now occupies our former home.Mr. Mathews kept one runway intact as afoundation for two rows of turkey sheds. Idrove an English Ford down between the tworows at high speed, but just like a turkey, Icouldn't lift it one inch off the runway.Fortunately it was a Sunday and all theturkeys were cooped up with nobody around.

Left: John Samsell, Visitor. Right: RonArrowsmith, Fyfield, England, FormerMember of RAE

A very small portion of the second runwayis also still there, but is gradually givingway to the farmer's plow.There concrete chunks and pieces for rock

collectors. As far as I could see in all di-rections, no original buildings remain. FredThomas tells me that in 1979 the officersclub was still there.

It should be noted by those who go lookingfor the field that it is not an outstandingfeature of the local landscape. Although itmay loom large in our memory, many of thelocal inhabitants, are not aware of its loca-tion. It took several inquiries before I foundan oldtimer, who insisted upon shaking thehand of an American flyer. He called ourattention to and directed us to a memorialdedicated to the 392nd at the edge of the oldairfield. I understand that this memorial wasfeatured in a past issue of the Journal.When we visited London, my wife was

most impressed by our old hangout at theGrovernor house and its main ballroom whichwas once a messhall. Her only commentwas "You fought the war from here?" P.S.There are no bars on the mezzanine.I must confess that my visit to England in

1981 was much more enjoyable than the onein 1944. I was so happy to leave that islandafter thirty missions, that I even managedto forget most of the pleasant moments.Seeing the old airfield though, convinced methat there was such a place and there wassuch a time and that I was there.The boys in the 392nd will remember that

happy code word when Cologne was thetarget... Almagordo.

John Samsell

Dear Sir:In the last copy of the Journal, I read

Alexanderson's letter about "Ringmasters,"the history of the 491st Bomb Group. En-closed is my address and cash.

I was a bombardier on Lt. Bill Evans'crew. We were with the Group from the start.Our plane was "Lucky Buck." The crew wasnot so lucky. We were on the very first missionof the Group and we were hit before wereached the target. When Evans asked for aheading home he get one that took us overParis. With one engine running, we bailedout north of Paris.

Lt. Evans, Sgt. Reedy, Sgt. Blair and Iwere never captured. After 75 days with theunderground we were rescued by GeneralPattons' forces. Lt. Blue, navigator, and onegunner whose name I forget, were killed andthe other four crew members were takenprisoners.Since I spent so little time in England, I

enjoy reading the Journal and look forwardto Ringmasters. We were returned to theStates so we flew 1/2 mission.

Russell Tickner2112 TicknerConroe, Texas 77301

Dear Carl:The mission that Tickner went on was 2

June 1944 to Beaumontsur-Oise. the gunner,Raymond G. Lemay, was the first KIA in the491st. Those who were POW's were theco-pilot, Norman Krasnow; radio, Milton J.Brush, Jr.; gunners, George E. Countrymanand Edward J. Friel. Their plane, LuckyBuck, B-24J 42-110158, was hit on a missionto Germany 21 July and the crew managedto nurse the plane to France before having tobail out.

Mike Fagen00000

Dear Evelyn:Thank you ... what an inadequate phrase

... for your part in organizing the most mem-orable trip of our lives, and above all, forconvincing us to go. We took all of youradvice, which turned out to be right on themoney, especially wear a warm coat, andthen put a little icing on the cake by going upto Scotland before returning home.The indescribable memories of this trip

will last a lifetime. For me, at least, to returnwith Don to Shipdham and see through hiseyes that most important part of his life wasthe true highlight.

Again, thank you.Don Sr Vinnie Jenkins

Dear Bill:In the Journal June 1983 Letters column,

there was a letter to Evelyn, sent in by aHarold Weeks of the 467th BG regarding theDec. 29th, 44 take-off—and the casualties

involved. How well I re-member that day! I wason foot, trying to cutacross the airfield ( Rack-heath ) to get to Hangar#2. The fog was so bad, Ihad to creep across thefield and couldn't believea mission was scheduled—it was later cancelled!As I approached Han-

gar #2, there was a seriesof explosions coming fromthe north end of the base,where two of our bombershad crashed. Even at thatdistance, the blast wasstrong enough to makethe hangar doors rattle. Inever learned the detailsof that morning of Dec.29th mission until it wasmentioned by Alan Healyin the 467 BG Unit His-

- 'a. tory.Bill, I had the good luck of meeting Capt.

Glenn Miller, when we were both stationedat the "Army Air Force Technical TrainingCommand" in Southern Pines, N.C. (justwest of Ft. Bragg) in 1943.I'm sending you a reprint of the original

photo taken in 1943. You can put it in your"Nostalgia File" or whatever!

Walt Laughlin

00000

Hi Evelyn:Sorry we couldn't make the reunion at

Norwich with the 2nd Air Division this year.I had another by-pass operation after wecame home from Nashville last year, and myold legs aren't as good as they were. I amsending you my check for $10.00 dues asusual. Let me know when and where thenext reunion is planned, we really haveenjoyed them.

Also could you get any information aboutM/Sgt. Earl Veeder who was a tail gunner inthe 389th. He came to England during thelast few months of the war.

Howard Streight3401 W. Pecare #189McAllen, Tex. 78501

Dear Bill:Joining the Association and reading the Journal has brought back many good and bad

memories. Keep up the good work.Enclosed is a picture taken after we received the Air Medal. We were Crew 10, 93rd BS.

The crew members are from left to right. Back Row: Lt. S.M. Kuk (deceased), Bombar-dier; Lt. F.J. Kelly, Navigator; Capt. L.C. Spencer, Pilot; Lt. H.A. Pofi, Jr., Co-Pilot. FrontRow: S/Sgt. D.V. Nadeau, Engineer, Top Gunner; S/Sgt. M.J. Donahue, Radio Operator;S/Sgt. D. Moore, Waist Gunner; 93Bomb Group, 409 Bomb Squadron.

Bombardier, Lt. S.M. Kuk, passed away Jan. 28, 1983. Was a member of our Association.Hugo A. Pofi, Jr.

18

Dear Evelyn:Sorry I have been so long in sending my

dues. Enclosed is my check as I do want tobe in good standing.

It is always great to receive the Journalwhich I received today. I am one of the peoplewho has thought about returning to Englandand East Anglia 100,000 times at least inthe nearly forty years and have not made theeffort. Time will be running out on me sosurely in 1984 my wife and I will make it andplan to stay three weeks or more. It is sointeresting to read of the Reunions, but I donot remember any of the fellows mentionedwithin its pages. I arrived at Shipdham on3/23 with 23 others from the 506th Sq. as wewere turned back as not really fit for overseasduty, then they changed that and we stayedat Fort Hamilton at Brooklyn a week thenreturned to the freighter "Jean" for a 16 daytrip to the UK landing in Liverpool. We aresaid to have lost 13 ships over and I sawnearly every one go down and we were told to"stand by for torpedo". I had battle postright under the smokestack. We had onlytwo Canadian Corvettes protecting us untilwe neared the Irish coast. Our engines weresilent a day or so before the subs hit and theconvoy went over the hill, but we were backwith them the next morning. The Lordprotected us and I had a calmness neverbefore known. Prayer is a wonderful help andI felt the same way March 17, 1978 when Ihad the four artery by-pass in Memphis. Theweek March 16-20, 1943 was one to remember.The main 506th Group went over on the"Chantilly" the week before and had a mis-erable time for the boat was so old and rundown.

I was at Shipdham 3/23/43 to about3/11/44 when we were sent to North Pick-ingham, down to Cheddington and in early1945 to Harrington and flew home 7/7/45via Iceland and Labrador. I have exchangedChristmas cards, visits and via telephone to24 men from the various stations. Our com-munications at 44th Group had some RAFmen and I have corresponded with PeterBroadley at Kingston-Upon-Thames eversince, and two of our children have seen theBroadleys. Pete and I talked on phone fromLondon until he retired from his work.This year we are looking forward to our

daughter, husband and Betsy to come homefrom Bogota, Colombia where they have beenSupport Staff to Wycliffe Bible Translatorsand our Presbyterian Mission Board. Theyare due home in April and we have seen themonly twice in five years."Wartime Day At Shipdham" is just the

article I have been waiting for and Eric Smithgave a good account. We had a good 506thSq. and I first joined them in Pueblo andthen to Wendover and back to Pueblo. Gen-eral Johnson was in our office several timesand that Ploesti Raid was one to remember.(I am told and read about).

I brought back many post cards andmemories of the 2nd Air Division. I did notattempt to get a camera as I was not a goodpicure taker anyway. I have many shots fromother fellows from our group who were kindenough to give duplicates. We played tennisat Hingham on the court of Lord Ironsidesand rode our bikes to Watton, Cranworth,Dereham, Swaffham, Hingham and to acinema.

I was on KP from sea level on the "Jean"to 10,200 feet on the Rio Grande R. R. trooptrain crossing the Tennessee Pass. I was onguard duty also several times. A day or soafter the rough crossing to Britain we wereput on KP for five days, I guess to get ourminds on other things.We had the thirty days furlough to return

to the Sq. at Sioux Falls, S.D. My wife and Iwere married during the furlough on 8/10/45and during our honeymoon the Japs sur-

rendered and having 110 points, I was dis-charged at Camp Shelby, Miss. on Aug. 22nd.I was gone from Water Valley three years andcame back to the bank here where I workeduntil Feb. 29, 1980. I enjoy my retirementvery much and have many hobbies and taketrips every few weeks but have only gonefrom Richmond, Va. to Santa Fe, NM

I do need a Roster when they are availableand do you have any 8th AF decals for cars. Iwould like a 2nd ADA decal and enclose astamped envelope.

James Barron Caulfield0 0 0 0 0

Dear Evelyn:Enclosed is my dues payment, along with

a ten dollar donation to our Memorial Li-brary.

I also want to thank you for forwardingmy address to Harold McMahon in Parma,Ohio. Harold was the radio operator on ourcrew. He picked up something I wrote in theJournal and noticed my name and followedup from there. We had not been in contactfor 38 years. He wrote me and since then wehave been corresponding. I cannot describein words what a thrill it was to be in touchwith him. I imagine this same experiencemust prevail from time to time with othermembers of our organization.

Bob Mantel0 0 0 0

Dear Bill:

Dear Evelyn:Thank you so much for the picture of the

candlelighting service. It is not too flatteringof me, but at the time, emotions were moredominant than ego—the whole evening wasone of delight and sentiment. By the sametoken, the entire reunion program was excel-lent—due mostly to your excellent planningand follow through organization. You are tobe commended, indeed.

I had meant to write you before now to tellyou how much Frankie and I had enjoyedeverything and the picture prodded me notto put it off any longer. Really would appre-ciate your sending me the name of the hotelowner/manager as we would like to let himknow how nice we thought the servicesrendered were—especially the luncheon. Itwas so speedily served, the food was excel-lent and the atmopshere and attitude was sofriendly and courteous.We went to London on the way home—

bought some dolls that talk with a Britishaccent and sing nursery rhymes the sameway — the customs agent thought they werehilarious, the granddaughters do too, andtheir mothers hate us.Thanks again for all you did—and try to

come South to see us sometime. The welcomemat is always out.

James D. Shannon, Jr.

I can't tell you how pleased I was to learn that you plan to use my article on the 856th as anarticle rather than a letter to the editor.As you suggested, I'm enclosing a photo. It was probably taken during October 1944. Thesix men, all officers, were part of the crews of weather reconnaissance B24s and B17s. We allwere assigned at the time to the 856th BS of the 492nd BG, on detached service with the652nd BS of the 25th BG at Watton.

That's me second from right and bareheaded. I also recognize tyko other pilots in thephoto: Byron Pollitt, on the far left, who came from Atlanta and now lives in Laguna Niguel,California; and Richard Malek, bareheaded and third from left, who was my first pilot andcame from Nebraska. Although Malek and I usually flew a B24 on weather reconnaissance,the plane in the background is a B17. The three unidentified officers were co-pilots,navigators or meteorology observers.I don't know what your deadline is for the September issue, Bill, but it occurred to methat, if we use the story as an article, perhaps we ought to insert a couple of paragraphsexplaining why the 492nd was broken up. There are a lot of members of the Association whoaren't that familiar with the 492nd.I'm enclosing a three-paragraph insert, which, as indicated, should follow the firstparagraph of the original story. I've also enclosed a copy of the original story in which I'veindicated a small change in the second paragraph to help transition from the insert to theoriginal second paragraph.If you don't have room for a three-graph insert, or if it would be difficult to get three moreparagraphs set at this late date, it appears to me that the first paragraph of the insert is allwe would have to use. It pretty well tells why the group was dispersed.Whatever decision you make is fine with me, Bill. The Journal is your magazine and you

do a first-rate job with it.If you can, please return the photo. Thanks for your letter. I enjoyed it and I hope that

some day soon we can meet and raise a glass together.George R. Greiff

19

Mayhem on Parade

• ...waft.=

The war is on!

The U.S. mail gets through.

The Yellow Rose of Taxes—Internal Revenue Service.

Sunday, May 29 was a day ofrest or for doing whatever youwanted to do. After all the festiv-ities of the previous days duringthe reunion, most took it as a dayof rest and remained around theirhotels.Those of us who stayed at the

Nelson were particularly luckyin that the hotel sits on the banksof the river Wensum which is thesite of the annual Norwich RaftRace. What is a raft race? Gladyou asked.Each year the participants build

their own rafts to be used in therace and this year the accent wason American feats and foibles inhonor of us being in Norwichduring this event. We couldn'trestrain a cheer or two as therafts, in all their art and glory,headed upriver towards the start-ing line in a very orderly andparade-like fashion.What came back down river

was something quite different.Each raft, and many along thebanks, had their own weaponsand everybody who had a weapondelighted in using it. The mostcommon were: a plastic bagfilled with flour and water whichthey used as a hand grenade, anda fire hose used as you woulduse a 105mm cannon.

It was raft against raft andraft against those along the banksof the river. This caught us a bitI' surprise as nobody had warnedus exactly what this race was allabout and what would take place.As soon as the first flour grenadehit, we knew and took appropri-ate action. We ran like hell!

In spite of being hosed, bombedand splattered we all thoroughlyenjoyed this little bit of BritishMayhem. Who won? Lacking fire-power we were all too busy duck-ing and running to find out.

The astronoughts make it up and back.

The Mayflower leaving from Boston, England.

American Beef burgers tastebetter cooked on British gas.