media-414083.jpg FRE 8222 Second Lieutenant Owen G Smith (bombardier) , Sergeant Joseph Demmerle (Mechanic) and Technical Sergeant William F. Cole (crew chief) of the 390th Bomb Group in a crew tent near a B-17F Flying Fortress nicknamed "Pulsating Polly".

Passed for publication 8 Oct 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Pulsating Polly. B-17F.' Printed caption on reverse: 'Ground Crew "Gypsies" Of The U.S. Air Force. With the Anglo-American bombing offensive quickening its tempo by day and by night, ground crews of U.S. Bomber Stations in Britain are now living in tents beside their "charges" in order to overcome the time and petrol lost in transporting them from their barracks to the widely-dispersed planes. Associated Press Photo Shows:- The ground crew, the air crew and the plane are all represented in this picture. T/Sgt. William F. Cole, of Farmersville, La., crew chief of the Flying Fortress, "Pulsating Polly" (seen in the background) sits in the doorway of his tent chatting to Sgt. Joseph Demmerle, (left), mechanic, of Englewood, N.J., and 2nd Lieut. Owen G. Smith, Bombardier, of Norman, Okla. Smith recently hung from the cat-walk of his plane while it was flying at a height of 23,000 feet in order to release an incendiary which had got caught in the bomb bay during a raid on an industrial target in the Frankfurt area. ASH 261218. 8-10-43-Y.' Censor no: 287270. On reverse: Associated Press and US Army General Section Press & Censorship Bureau [Stamps]. Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection