RAF Elsham Wolds.

[CapnJim]

Yeah - veterans are an odd lot sometimes (I know, being one).  Fortunately, my American Legion post welcomes all vets with open arms.

As for my mom's cousin's B-24 (Stormy Weather) crew, here is their fate:

McKENNA, JAMES P. Pilot 1st KIA
BYRNE, AUSTIN P. (492nd BG) Command Pilot, Capt. KIA
GRENO, PAUL J. Co-pilot 1st Lt. KIA
GOO, WILLIAM L. Y. Navigator lst Lt. KIA
TUCKER, EMMETT Z. Jr. Pilotage-N. 1st Lt. POW
LEROUX, VINCENT W. Nav-Radar 2nd Lt. POW (My kin)
FORSETH, VERNON E. Bombardier 1st Lt. POW
SHELDON, STANLEY W. Engineer T/Sgt. KIA
KOVACH, RAYMOND J. Radio Oper. T/Sgt. POW
HOBBS, DOUGLAS U. RW Gunner S/Sgt. POW
MILLER, DONALD R. LW Gunner S/Sgt. POW
GAUDIN, PERCY J. Tail Turret S/Sgt. POW

And, my apologies, Harry, for hijacking your thread...

[carlos marighela]

Your mum's cousin was a lucky bloke Jim.  They didn't half pack ém in to those B-24s, big crew.

[CapnJim]

Yes, he was indeed lucky.  It was the crew's first day with new fire-retardant flight suits.  Pieces of an engine came in through the fuselage and that suit saved him from serious injury.  He bailed out through the afore-mentioned hole in the fuselage...

[carlos marighela]

Wow Lucky is the word then.

Spoiler Alert: There was a rather poignant scene in Masters of the Air Where, the gunner in the ventral ball turret is stuck in his turret as the rest of the surviving crew bail out. No doubt that happened countless times.

My grandfather flew Spits and then late in the war Mustangs said that the missions he disliked the most were escort jobs for the 8th Air Force. The crews were understandably jumpy and anything that got close enough was subjected to a barrage of fire, escorting fighters included.

[Harry Faversham]

Here's another trip back to Yesteryear, 1977 to be exact...







 

[Deedles]

Oh yes East Kirkby

quote author=Harry Faversham link=topic=137986.msg1757839#msg1757839 date=1662809681]
4th of August at East Kirkby air display. 'Just Jane' does a full four engine run up, as the BBMF Lanc gads about upstairs!
My lad took the piccy on a his mobile trombone. As to closeness, as they taxi 'Just Jane' to the hard standing, the crowd's almost under her starboard wing!
The Heritage Centre also sports a N/F Mossie that does engine runs too. Six Merlins going full chat, twenty yards away, is pretty awesome.

[/quote]

End of season night time runs 2020 :-



And 6 Merlin’s at full chat - awesome



In the day job I visited lots of the old 5 group bomber bases - some as they were upgraded in the Cold War etc  . Wandering around buildings where history was made was awesome

[Harry Faversham]

I've got two albums of piccys taken of the airfields in Bomber County. A proper 'then and now' of East Kirkby. Fifty years ago we'd go picnicking on the airfield on the way home from Skeggy, all derelict then. We found the frame of of a mid upper turret in a hedgerow, near where No.6 hanger stood. It was in my Dad's shed for ages, gifted it to the Pantons in the 90s. Never seen it on display though.

[CapnJim]

Last time I saw a Lanc flyin' was in '14.  We were at the 200th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of Chippewa (War of 1812), south of Niagara Falls, Ontario in Canada.   About 600 men on the field, and as the British were forming up on their side, behind them flew a Lancaster (at the time, I think the only flying one this side of the Atlantic).  I wasn't aware the British had support from Bomber Command at the battle.....

I did get a chance to see 8 B-17s flying in formation at an airshow near Detroit, MI, USA several years ago.  THAT was cool (and loud!)...