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Military
Captain "Stormy" Sadowski, a weather officer of the 56th Fighter Group in his quarters at Halesworth, February 1944. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Photo was taken in Feb 1944 in England. Notice the photo on the mantelpiece. My bedroom at Halesworth, Suffolk, October 19 1943 to April 19 1944.'
Three hours before the mission briefing, Captain Alexander F. "Stormy" Sadowski, Staff Weather Officer of the 56th Fighter Group is shown the route that the Thunderbolt pilots will take on the mission by Captain Lucian Dade in the Operations Room, 1944-1945.
Captain Alexander F. "Stormy" Sadowski, Staff Weather Officer of the 56th Fighter Group, points out to Thunderbolt pilots the large-scale weather features on the latest weather map of Europe, pinned up over part of the wall map in the briefing room of the 56th Fighter Group, ahead of a mission, 1944-1945.
Captain Alexander F. "Stormy" Sadowski, Staff Weather Officer of the 56th Fighter Group, briefs Thunderbolt pilots on expected weather conditions ahead of a mission, 1944-1945.
Lieutenant Bob Walker watches Captain "Stormy" Sadowski of the 56th Fighter Group give a weather report to pilots landing at Boxted. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Lt. Bob Walker, pilot in 61st Fighter Squadron not flying that day, looks on while "Stormy" Sadowski contacts leader of 56th Fighter Group over the radio to warn that "Oranges are sown", which was a code that weather conditions were too bad to attempt a landing at the airfield of Boxted.'
'Stormy' was a weather officer with the 56th Fighter Group. His job was to provide a weather forecast ahead of each mission and monitor conditions for landing when pilots returned. If the weather was particularly bad, he would issue a warning that 'oranges are sour' over the radio, which meant that returning pilots should not attempt landing at their home airfield.
Stormy was always the last person to talk to assembled pilots at their mission briefing. One wrote to Roger Freeman that Stormy usually 'concluded with a joke or some kind of levity to send the fighters out of the mission hut with smiles on their faces and, occasionally with laughter- to relax them before they went to their planes.'
Stormy was married Helena Sadowski, who he wrote to while based in England. The were married until her death in 1979 and had four children. Stormy continued a career in meteorology in civilian life, publishing many technical papers and articles on subjects such as tornados and pollution.
Group
Flying P-47 Thunderbolts throughout their time stationed in England, the Group, known as "the Wolfpack", had more ace pilots than any other Eighth Air Force Fighter Group. The 56th Fighter Group also destroyed more enemy aircraft in air combat than any...
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 10 October 2019 13:40:32 | Emily | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
'Somewhere in England, American airmen in the Second World War', 2016 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:03:15 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum Membership List, July 2000 |
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