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Page 150 of the 401st Bomb Group unit history.
Many of the 8th Air Force Groups produced an unofficial unit history in the months after the war ended in Europe but before they were redeployed out of the ETO (European Theater of Operations).
Resembling a college yearbook, unit histories were an unofficial – and often tongue-in-cheek – record of the unit’s time based in the UK. They include photo montages showing different aspects of base life. Often the servicemen in the photos are unnamed. The American Air Museum hopes that by adding unit histories to the website as individual pages, the men in the photos will be identified and associated to their person entries. Many included lists of personnel and a mailing address, providing a means for servicemen to keep in contact with each other after the war. These lists are now incredibly useful records of where US airmen in England in 1945 called their home.
Group
The 401st Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Deenethorpe, Northamptonshire, from November 1943 to June 1945. Starting their missions at that time meant the focus was very much on the coming invasion attempt of France planned for the following...
Military | Major | Pilot; Squadron Commander
Flew 37 combat missions, mostly as a lead crew pilot or air commander. Was made Squadron Commander of 614th BS in December 1944.
...
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Deputy Group Commander
Lt. Colonel Delwyn E. Silver, nicknamed "Hi-Ho", began combat as pilot of a lead crew and flew virtually all of his 33 missions (two tours) as Group Leader or Leader of the Wing or Division.
...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Long Beach 18/9/43; Scott 24/10/43; Assigned 614BS/401BG [IW-G] Deenethorpe 2/11/43; Missing in Action Stettin 11/4/44 with Francis Shaw, Co-pilot: Bill Cole, Navigator: Elmer Engelhardt, Bombardier: Alf Audrey, Flight engineer/top turret...
20 February 1944
This mission is the opening salvo of the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive known officially as "Operation Argument" but remembered in 8th Air Force History as "BIG WEEK". The immediate strategic objective of this six-day operation is the degradation of...
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 23 June 2017 13:37:33 | general ira snapsorter | Created entry with collection, caption and unit associations |
| Sources | ||
An original copy of the 401st Bomb Group unit history in IWM’s Roger Freeman Collection, printed in 1946. |
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