Personnel of the 303rd Bomb Group play a game between missions.
Image stamped on reverse: 'Copyright Current Affairs Ltd.' [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 9 Apr 1943.' [stamp] and '257512.' [Censor no.]
Printed caption on reverse: 'Checker game between raids. Four airmen shown in the picture are (left to right) 2nd Lt Donald L Grant, navigator. Aged 23, and he comes from Sullivan, Ill. and holds the Air Medal and 2 Clusters, his wife Mrs DL Grant lives at R F D I Okolona Miss. Formerly employed as a truck driver by Earl Walker and Co of Sullivan, Lt Grant was educated at Sullivan High School, Eureka Ill.
(Second from left) 2nd Lt. Calvin Andrew Swaffer, a pilot with 10 raids to his credit and holder of the Air Medal. His home is at 3189 Summer, Memphis, Tenn. Aged 22 he was formerly a dispatcher with the Firestone, Tyre and Rubber Co. His mother Mrs JM Swaffer lives at the above address.
(Third from left) 2nd Lt Earl A Steele, navigator, has been on 15 raids and hold the Air Medal and Cluster. His home town is in Elizabeth Colorado, where he formerly worked as a rancher. His parents live at Mankata, Kansas.
(On right) 1st Lt Dave Laffitte Rogan, aged 28, holds the Purple Heart, the Air Medal and one Oak Leaf Cluster. He has been on 13 raids- 10 American and 3 RAF. He is a pilot and hails from 2504 West Cumberland Ave. Middlesboro, Kentucky. His fiancée, Miss Elizabeth Bottorff, works for American Air Line, Bowman, Field Louisville, Kentucky. His parents live at Middlesboro. Educated at the University of Kentucky, Lt. Rogan thinks England is a great country adding "But there's no place like Kentucky."'
IWM catalogue record
This contains information written on the back of the original print and some of it may be inaccurate.
Personnel of the 303rd Bomb Group play a game between missions. Image stamped on reverse: 'Copyright Current Affairs Ltd.' [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 9 Apr 1943.' [stamp] and '257512.' [Censor no.] Printed caption on reverse: 'Checker game between raids. Four airmen shown in the picture are (left to right) 2nd Lt Donald L Grant, navigator. Aged 23, and he comes from Sullivan, Ill. and holds the Air Medal and 2 Clusters, his wife Mrs DL Grant lives at R F D I Okolona Miss. Formerly employed as a truck driver by Earl Walker and Co of Sullivan, Lt Grant was educated at Sullivan High School, Eureka Ill. (Second from left) 2nd Lt. Calvin Andrew Swaffer, a pilot with 10 raids to his credit and holder of the Air Medal. His home is at 3189 Summer, Memphis, Tenn. Aged 22 he was formerly a dispatcher with the Firestone, Tyre and Rubber Co. His mother Mrs JM Swaffer lives at the above address. (Third from left) 2nd Lt Earl A Steele, navigator, has been on 15 raids and hold the Air Medal and Cluster. His home town is in Elizabeth Colorado, where he formerly worked as a rancher. His parents live at Mankata, Kansas. (On right) 1st Lt Dave Laffitte Rogan, aged 28, holds the Purple Heart, the Air Medal and one Oak Leaf Cluster. He has been on 13 raids- 10 American and 3 RAF. He is a pilot and hails from 2504 West Cumberland Ave. Middlesboro, Kentucky. His fiancée, Miss Elizabeth Bottorff, works for American Air Line, Bowman, Field Louisville, Kentucky. His parents live at Middlesboro. Educated at the University of Kentucky, Lt. Rogan thinks England is a great country adding "But there's no place like Kentucky."'
Connections
Units
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Group
The 303rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated on 3-Feb-1942 at Pendleton Field, Oregon. They assembled at Gowen Field, Idaho on 11-February 1942 where it conducted flight training until 12-Jun-1942. The Group then moved to Alamogordo Field, New...
People
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Military | Captain | Navigator
Donald Lawrence “Larry” Grant was born March 20, 1920 in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was the oldest of four children born to Donald Buford Grant and Altha Lena Sellars. The family moved several times around the Midwest during his youth, before finally...
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Military | Major | Pilot
Joined RCAF on outbreak of war in Europe. Flew 13 x missions on Bristol Blenheim's with the RAF. Transferred to USAAF in 1942. Assigned to 358th BS, 303rd BG, 8AF. Flew 25 x missions. Returned to United States. Joined with a B-29 Group, 9th BG, 20th AF...
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier
January 23, 1943, was on Oxrider crew in B-17 41-24606 'Werewolf' on a mission to Lorient, France. Plane returned back to England on a single engine. Crew bailed out on the English coast and pilots were able to land on hospital grounds in Devon. All...
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Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot
Assigned to 358BS, 303BG, 8AF USAAF. 25 x combat missions, 22 as co-pilot to Carl Morales. Shot down 14-Jul-43 in B-17 42-29971 'Memphis Blues'. Ditched A/C in North Sea. Rescued by ASR and returned to base. RTD. ETD
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Locations
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Military site : airfield
Molesworth was one of the early stations used by the Eighth Air Force in the UK, first occupied by the 15th Bomb Squadron’s Douglas Bostons in June 1942. Built in 1940 and extended and improved in 1942, Molesworth is most associated with the 303rd...