RED FEATHER WEDDING: Cheryl Leaser, granddaughter of 1stLt Earl R. Leaser, who served as a pilot with the 412th BS atHorham, had a little taste of the Red Feather Club at herrecent wedding to Ajay Sarkaria in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Cheryl and friend Heidi Ott had visited the Red FeatherClub in 2011. Heidi, who was Cheryl’s maid of honour, gotin touch with 95th Bomb Group Heritage Associationchairman James Mutton after they returned to the US andasked if he could send some Red Feather Club Bitter over fora surprise toast to Heidi’s grandfather as part of her speech.

When James travelled to the US for the Seattle reunion,with Scott and Nicola Bradley, they put bottles of RedFeather, brewed specially by Nigel Lawes at the Shalford Brewery inBraintree, Essex, for the 95th BGHA, carefully bubble wrapped byJames’s wife Christine in their hand luggage, as James said: “They werevery important cargo.”

The trio stayed with the association’s US liaison officer GraceHammesfahr in New York prior to the reunion. When James went topost the bottles to Heidi the post office staff were surprised he wasposting British beer to Pennsylvania as there was plenty of beer in theUS. His reply was: “Not like this you don’t.”

Cheryl said: “Our wedding was just perfect! We are so thankful to ourfamily and friends for making it an unforgettable day! I know myGrandfather was there in spirit.”

Her grandfather Earl R. Leaser flew fourteen missions before, on the 29th April 1944, whilstpiloting B-17 42-31320 “I’ll Be Around” – which was made famous as the first over Berlin – on afurther mission to Berlin, the aircraft suffered flak damage to No2 engine, over Drummer Lake inGermany and limped back over Holland. At this point 1st Lt Leaser decided that they would not

make it back across the North Sea and ditched nine mileswest of Haamstede.

The crew took to the dinghies and drifted ashore nearthe Dutch coastal town of Wemeldinge at 11.00 hours onthe following day when they were made POWs. 1st LtLeaser was interned until his liberation in April 1945. ■

Pictured, top, Cheryl and Ajay cut the cake, above, Cheryland Heidi toast with Red Feather Bitter from Horham and,left, B-17 42-31320 “I’ll Be Around” taken in 1944 after thefirst bombing of Berlin.

95th bomb groupHeritage association

Charity Registration 1119769

Newsletter Spring 2012

President: Ian L. Hawkins

Chairman: James Mutton 01728 860930

Secretary: Helen Krawczyszyn

01728 628138

Website: www.95thbg-horham.com

US Liaison Officer:Grace Hammesfahr

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Above, James Mutton helps 2nd Lt melvin Spencerback into his A-2 jacket which is on display at the RedFeather Club. Below, a sprightly Melvin models hisjacket in the Blue Lounge. Pictures: Eastern DailyPress/Sonya Duncan. To buy copies of these picturescontact http://archantnorfolk.newsprints.co.uk/

MELVIN SPENCER RETURNS FOR HIS JACKET: One ofthe most unusual stories about a crew memberof the 95th BG is that of 2nd Lt. MelvinSpencer, navigator with the 335th BS. His storywas told by Lt. William “(Ed)” Charles,navigator with the 336th BS, and immortalisedas ‘The Man Who Came For Breakfast’ in IanHawkins’ ‘B-17s Over Berlin’:

Late one night in mid-February 1944 afterwe had gone to bed and were halfway into aneeded night’s sleep, the door of our barrackssuddenly opened. The CQ (charge ofquarters) entered, the bright beam of hisflashlight probing the darkness.

“Is there an empty bunk in there? We havea new arrival and he needs a place to sleep” Isaid the bunk next to mine was vacant. Ioffered to get up and help the new arrival tounpack, but he said, “No thanks, I’ll do ittomorrow. …I feel very tired, and I think I’llhit the sack.” I didn’t even get a good look athis face as we shook hands. He took thebunk next to mine, saying that he was areplacement navigator and that his namewas Spencer. We all went back to bed andwere soon asleep.

About two o’clock the following morningwe were again awakened by the CQ with hisflashlight. He said: “Lieutenant Spenceryou’re to come with me, we need a navigatorfor today’s mission, and you’re on the list tofly.” Lieutenant Spencer dressed and left forbreakfast and the early morning briefing.

When we eventually got up, I noticedLieutenant Spencer’s brand-new leather A-2flying jacket lying on his bunk with hisinitials and the last four numbers of hisserial number stamped on the inside. Lateron that day we, as most crewmen who werenot assigned to the day’s mission, went up tothe flight line to watch our returning B-17speel off and land. It became obvious that the95th had experienced a rough mission; aboutfive of our ships were missing, several otherslanded with either one or two propellersfeathered. We later learned that LieutenantSpencer’s B-17 237971 was one of those thathad been shot down, he had only spent oneshort night as a member of the 95th BombGroup at Horham and from that day forwardhe was known as “the man who came forbreakfast”.

However, this was not quite what happened as2nd Lt Spencer would reveal on his first trip backto Horham since 1945.

The A-2 jacket was worn by Ed Charles onmissions after Melvin got shot down as it fittedhim better than his own, Ed kept it until theearly 1980s when he donated to the 390th BombGroup Museum at Parham (Framlingham) as wedid not have museum at Horham then.

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James Mutton spoke to the390th chairman Mick Tipple, whoconsulted his committee about thejacket coming back to Horham,they agreed and said it is where itshould be.

Subsequently the jacket arrivedhome at Horham in 2008, sincethen it has been on permanentdisplay at the Red Feather Clubmuseum along with the story ofthe ‘Man Who Came To Breakfast’.

Ed and Melvin meet up for thefirst time since 1944 at the 95thBomb Group reunion in Cincinnatiin 2002.

James met Melvin in Dallas atthe 95th reunion reunion in 2010,and invited him back to Horham.As James said: “He promised mehe would come and he did.”InNovember of 2011 Melvin’s sonDennis Spencer contacted Jamesto say that he wanted to bring hisdad Melvin J. Spencer to Horhamon February 21st. Dennis, who is aTV executive, and grandsonNathan, who is a Boeing engineer,accompanied Melvin back toHorham.

They were welcomed to the RedFeather Club by James Muttontogether with two MPs, Scott andReg Bradley. The group then metother volunteers from the HeritageAssociation, after a short tour ofthe museum the highlight andemotional part of the visit took place when 2ndLt. Melvin Spencer was reunited with his A-2jacket and, to the great surprise to Melvin, sonDennis and grandson Nathan, the jacket stillfitted perfectly.

Melvin said he had actually spent more than amonth at Station 119 but he had only beenassigned to Ed Charles’ barracks for the onenight before his last bombing mission.

At one time it was thought he had been killedon what Ed Charles thought was his first missionbut in fact he became a Prisoner of War. All thathe left at Horham was his leather A2 jacket –which has long been on display at the RedFeather Club.

Melvin said “I arrived inEngland shortly beforeChristmas 1943 havingcompleted my training with theUSAAF at San Marcos, in Texas Iwas one of three graduateschosen for overseas deploymentwith the 95th BG at Horham.

“I also successfully completedthree bombing missions with theB-17, including one to destroythe u-boat base atWilhelmshaven in heavy cloudcover stretching from 29,000ft to100ft at sea level.”

He then went on to tell of theevents of February 10th 1944,the day “he came for breakfast”.He was assigned to B-17 237971for a mission to attack the ballbearing plant at Braunschweig,Germany.

“As we reached Holland asmany as 200 plus Germanfighters attacked the bomberstream, 237971 was crippled byfighters with No. 1 enginesmoking and No. 4 engine onfire. The right waist gunner andtail gunner were killed duringthis action. The bail out orderwas given with the rest of thecrew exiting the doomed aircraftsuccessfully, as the pilot left theaircraft the left wing broke off.“

Melvin recalled “after the noiseof the four engines and the 50

calibre guns it was totally quiet and peaceful,there was no sound as I descended”.

He added: “I spent the next fifteen months inStalag Luft 1, a POW camp near Barth innorthern Germany.”

Melvin married his wife Dena after the war.At around mid-day our guests were invited to

join us for a traditional British lunch of fish andchips wrapped in paper.

Dennis said: “they serve fish and chips backhome but not like these”.

The afternoon was taken up with a trip in aDodge truck touring the airbase, visiting some ofthe remaining buildings and runway.

Continued over

Melvin Spencer with sonDennis and grandson Nathan.

His visit made quite a splash inlocal newspapers and online.

Whilst Melvin reminisced Dennis and Nathanlearnt more about Melvin’s time at station 119.The party moved on to the 95th BG memorialand church in Horham then a visit to theRedlingfield memorial completed the tour, backat the RFC there was a welcome hot drink and indepth look around the museum.

Late afternoon saw the departure of our guests.It had been a nostalgic day and Melvinremarked: “In another sense it is a newadventure because it is helping to rekindlememories. I just think it is so wonderful thatthey have arranged this, thank you all so much”.

His story enthralled a reporter and aphotographer from the Eastern Daily Press whogave his story such a good showing in a twolocal morning papers (Norfolk’s EDP andSuffolk’s East Anglian Daily Times) as well asthe weekly Diss Mercury that Anglia TVphoned up James Mutton in an attempt to gethim on TV. Sadly he’d already returned toLondon.

Melvin has written since his return to Americato thank the RFC for a wonderful day saying thatthis time he was “the man who missedbreakfast” but got a fish and chip lunch. ■

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DANCE WORKSHOP: 20 couples took part in a fund-raisingdance workshop at the Red Feather Club in February. Theintroduction to waltz and foxtrot was the brainchild ofHayley Garner. The class was instructed by professionaldancer and dance teacher Sasza Zargowski. Sasza took theworkshop teaching the foxtrot followed by the waltz to1940s’ music. The event was such a success that it is hopedthat another workshop will either run at the end of theyear, or the same time next year. ■

Pictured, left, Hayley Garner with instructor Sasza Zargowski,below, the class lines up in the Blue Lounge.

CLEVELAND REUNION: The 95th Bomb Group Memorials Foundation in the US is hoping to attract ahost of visitors from the UK to their reunion in Cleveland, Ohio. The reunion from August 29th toSeptember 3rd runs over the big US Labor Day holiday weekend. The US reunion will include a B-17at the Cleveland National Airshow, which also features the US Navy’s flight demonstration squadronthe Blue Angels. The Boeing “Yankee Lady” is flying in early for the show for the benefit of thereunion and to give those at the event a chance to look around the aircraft and, for those interested,a flight at a really great rate. A 95th veteran will have the honour of making the first pitch at theCleveland Indians’ match against the Texas Rangers on Friday August 31st. The 95th Gala Ball onSunday evening will be at the 100th Bomb Group Restaurant beside Cleveland Hopkins InternationalAirport. The hotel being used is the Hyatt Regency at the Arcade in the centre of the city at thespecial to group rate of $117 including taxes. For more details including how to book your hotelroom and a full itinerary visit the foundation’s website at http://95thbg.org/95th_joomla/. ■

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WHO SAVED THE LIFE OF JAMES GREGORY IN 1944?Anyone who knows Horham’s Alan Johnsonknows that when he approaches you with anenvelope full of paper there’ll be some nuggetsinside and the photocopy of a letter from 336thBS navigator 2nd Lt James Gregory and theGerman newspaper cutting he recently showedup at the Red Feather Club with were noexception.

This is part of 2nd Lt Gregory’s story ... Theletter told of his 1992 visit to Poland andeastern Germany on a driving holiday with hiswife Dorothy and his attempts to track downthe German soldier who saved his life.

B-17 G 42-31514 “Full House” piloted by 2ndLt Donald ‘Swede’ G. Severson was shot downby anti-aircraft fire on August 16th 1944 on amission to Zeitz in Germany.

The crew bailed out and the aircraft plungedto the ground in the small village of Molaul.

In an interview during a PoW reunion inKansas City in April 2007 2nd Lt Gregory, whowas 19 years old when he was shot down, saidof his landing. “I didn't have any idea what Iwas going to do. Over the hill came two orthree farmers. One guy had a gun. They allcame down and said, ‘Do you have a gun?’ Isaid ‘no’. They tried to help me up and thenthis guy – about two and a half to three feetaway from me – pulls out his nine-millimetreLuger and blasts me in the mid-section.

“That put me back down on the ground andthere was a momentary shock on the part ofsome of the civilians and myself. Then fromdown the road on his bicycle comes a GermanArmy sergeant. He’s yelling at the guy and hetook the gun away from him. I think he savedmy life. Who knows what would've happened.”

His wound was bad but not life threateningand he ended up in the town of Camburg wherehe was seen by a German doctor.

He said: “The most interesting part of that daywas they took me to Camburg and placed me inthe bowels of the rathaus [city hall]. All thesepeople wanted to see this prisoner. A teachercame in and then an old lady with a shoppingbag, and she asked me why I was droppingbombs on her family. Former prisoners of theAmericans in World War I came in. Everyoneasked me if I knew their cousin Mathilda inMilwaukee and things like that.

“Our aircraft took out part of a barn and

farmhouseand injured awidow andher twodaughters,”he said. “Oneof the kidswas injuredand burnedand one ofthe kidsdidn't make

it. That was one of the tragedies of the day.”Top turret gunner Sgt James ‘Jim’ A. Kelley Jr

said: “We all landed OK but a civilian shot Bob[radio operator Sgt Robert ‘Bob’ F. Miguet] in theleg, with a shotgun. We did not know whathappened to him until we were waiting at CampLucky Strike on our way home. We were veryhappy to find out he was alive.” Sgt Miguet wasin hospital most of the time while a PoW.

“All of the crew with the exception of Eddie[tail gunner Sgt Edward ‘Eddie’ H. Yursky] whojoined us a couple days later and Bob who we

The Severson crew at Horham above are backrow from left: navigator 2nd Lt James ‘Jim’ B.Gregory; pilot 2nd Lt Donald ‘Swede’ G.Severson; co-pilot 2nd Lt Harold ‘Hal’ H.Halstead; bombadier 2nd Lt Irving ‘Irv’ E. HurstJr; front row: top turret gunner Sgt James ‘Jim’A. Kelley Jr; tail gunner Sgt Edward ‘Eddie’ H.Yursky; radio operator Sgt Robert ‘Bob’ F.Miguet; ball turret gunner Sgt Micheal ‘Mike’Massinello; waist gunner Sgt Leonard ‘Lennie’C. Livotio. Below, some of the crew at a PoWreunion. Facing page Camburg town hall.

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did not hear from until [we met up] at LuckyStrike, were united in Camburg.”

After a few days the crew were sent toFrankfurt and interrogated. They were then sentto Duglag Luft at Wetzler for assignment toprison camps. James ‘Jim’ A. Kelley said: “Ithink all the officers were sent to StaLag Luft Ill.The enlisted men were sent to a new Camp at St.Wendel that was near Nancy, France. We onlystayed there a couple of weeks before we wereput in 40 and eight boxcars [boxcars designedfor forty men or eight horses] and shipped clearacross Germany to StaLag Luft IV at GrasTychow which is now in Poland.

“We stayed there until February 6,1945 when the Germans were forcedto evacuate the camp by theapproaching Russians. We were onthe 'Black March' for almost ninetydays. A unit of the British SecondArmy liberated me on May 2, 1945. Iwas flown out of Germany and wasin Brussels at the headquarters ofthe British second army on V. E.Day. We were turned over to theAmericans in Namur, Belgium ... wewere sent to Camp Lucky Strike atLa Havre, France to awaittransportation back to the states.”

The officers were taken to StalagLuft III, made famous by the 1963 movie, ‘TheGreat Escape’. “We were constantly hungry,particularly after we got put on half parcels,”said co-pilot 2nd Lt Hal Halstead. “It wasgnawing and very bad. I can't even describe it. Iwouldn't wish it on anyone.”

“As frightening as some of the experienceswere, that feeling of hunger was predominantover fear,” 2nd Lt Gregory added.

In January 1945 the Soviet Red Army rolledinto eastern Germany, sending a flood of militaryand civilian refugees scurrying west.

The prisoners marched for three or four days,ending up at the town of Spremburg. From there,they took “40 and eights” to the town ofMoosburg, and Stalag Luft VII-A.

The prisoners played a waiting game thatended April 29, 1945, one day before Hitlercommitted suicide in Berlin.

2nd Lt Gregory’s return to Germany in the ’90sand his attempt to find the German soldier whohe credited with saving his life excited the

interest of the local museum and localnewspapers who printed stories appealing forinformation about the Wehrmacht man underheadlines such as “Witnesses wanted! Whosaved the life of James Gregory in 1944?”

Although his quest failed to find his saviour helearnt more about the crash and its aftermath.Their B-17 crashed on a road and the wreckageand burning oil set alight a house where theLimpert family – a mother and two daughterslived. All three suffered burns and the youngerdaughter, aged nine, died 24 hours later.

2nd Lt Gregory’s “self-appointed assassin” wassent to Buchenwald he was told. “The soldier

who saved my life was apparentlyhelping out with the harvest at thetime”. The injured 2nd Lt Gregoryhad been lugged from Molau in a‘kinderwagen’ [a pram] to the littlevillage of Mollshütz. He said: “Ouraircraft ‘Full House’ became famousin Mollshütz. One of the inhabitantswent over to Molau and retrievedeither the pilot or the co-pilot’s seatfrom the wreckage, placed it in hisgarden and used to smoke his pipein the evening while lounging inSwede or Halstead’s chair.”

He met Frau Zimmermann whohad joined “the fist-shaking,

pitchfork-brandishing crowd” in 1944. She toldhim 48 years on: “I do recognise you but itseems you were taller and had darker hair.”

He revisited the town hall where he “receivedall his visitors including “the grandmotherly typewho thought I was a ‘good German boy whoshouldn’t be fighting his own people’. I tried toassure her that was not the case – telling her inGerman didn’t help I guess”.

His trip also took him to Poland where with hiswife he spent “a whole day and a half exploringSagan and the area on which Stalag Luft III waslocated. We were also able to drive the exactroute – it is still not easy on those country roads– from Sagan to Spremberg that Hal Halsteadand I slogged in snow in January/February,1945.” ■Sources: interviews by Sgt. Leo Brown, 442ndFighter Wing public affairs; Jim Kelley’s ownstory; Alan Johnson’s archives; the 95th BombGroup Heritage Association & the 95th BombGroup Memorials Foundation.

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95TH BOMB GROUP BASEBALL STARS: Withmembers of the 95th BGHA forming two teamsto re-enact softball games outside the RedFeather club. Heritage Association entertainmentofficer Andy Garner wondered who were theoriginal ‘95th Wallopers’ and the 1285th Militarypolice ‘Snowdrops’.

There were two up-and-coming players whoplayed the game before joining the Army AirForce and serving with the 95th Bomb Groupflying out from Horham.They were co-pilotStanford G. Wolfson andbombardier Alan S. Grant.These are there stories:

1st Lt Alan Grant playedfor the University ofIllinois before moving tothe Macon Peaches, aminor league team inGeorgia, as a pitcherbefore entering service.

Three months afterarriving in England, Granthad completed his 25-mission tour of duty andwas ready to go home. On December 29th, 1943,he was one of 20 airmen who boarded a B-17 forthe first leg of their journey home. It was justafter one o’clock in the afternoon and the skieswere clear although it was bitter cold. 1stLieutenant Alden R. Witt was at the controls thatmorning, warming up the four Wright Cycloneengines. Witt was a highly experienced pilotwith almost 400 hours on the B-17.

This ferrying flight would be a piece of cakeand would take a little under two hours to coverthe 300 miles to Woodvale, a Royal Air Forcestation near Southport. Witt would fly west fromHorham to northern Wales, out over the Irish Seathen north to Woodvale.

Just before take-off, Corporal Andrew Mullaveycame running over to the plane. He had justobtained permission to fly home and barelymade it before Witt taxied the bomber to therunway.

The first part of the flight was uneventful butas they approached Wales the weatherdeteriorated. Heavy clouds, icy conditions andthick fog cut visibility down to 100 yards andWitt relied on his navigator to track theirlocation. Estimating they had reached the coast,

the navigator instructed Witt to begin his decent.In fact, they were still four miles from the coast,and as the plane emerged out of the fog ataround 2.45pm., Cwm Dyserth Mountainappeared before them. The collision was violent.Two loud explosions were heard and the bombercrashed in a valley just 25 miles from itsdestination. All 21 aboard the plane perished inthe burning wreck.

Alan Grant is buried at Madingley AmericanCemetery Cambridge England

The story of 2nd Lt Stanford G Wolfson, whoplayed baseball at the University of Illinois andsigned with the Saint Louis Cardinals, also has asad ending.

Before joining the Army Air force Wolfsonplayed for Johnson City where he hit .268 in 88games, earning a place on July’s AppalachianLeague all-star team as a utility player.

Wolfson entered military service on October15th 1942. He served with the Army Air Forceand trained as a bomber pilot, attached to the335th Bomb Squadron he completed ninebombing missions over enemy territory .

1st Lt Alan Grant is buried at MadingleyAmerican Cemetery.

On November 5th, 1944 hewas co-pilot on a mission toLudwigshafen, Germany. Thebomber successfully droppedits payload on the target butwas badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire.

The pilot 2nd Lt Richard H.Wright Jr gave the order forhis crew to bail out andWolfson was seen safelydescending by parachute.But that was the last hiscrewmates saw of him.The pilot together withthe bombardier, who hadnot bailed out, nursed thecrippled bomber back toFrance, where it manageda belly landing nearNancy. The rest of thecrew had parachuted tosafety – albeit captivity –near Pfalzer Wald forestabout eight miles south-west of Kaiserslautern,they were met with a hostile reception from local

civilians before being turned over toGerman authorities.

Wolfson of Jewish extraction, handedhimself in to local civilians and waspicked up by members of the criminal

police from Kaiserslautern. On thejourney to Kaiserslautern onthe outskirts of the city, hewas murdered by his captors.

It was not until after the warended that the fate of StanWolfson was discovered.

He was posthumouslyawarded the DistinguishedFlying Cross, Air Medal andPurple Heart.

On April 15th 1947 inDachau Germany, the person

accused of Wolfsons murderAlbert Ningelgen was sentenced to lifeimprisonment for violation of the laws of war. ■

Stanford G Wolfson’s baseball stats. Position: Outfield, Infield and Pitcher. Batted and Threw Right.PitchingYear Team League Class G IP ER BB SO W L ERA1941 Johnson City Appalachian D 4 23 - 14 3 1 1 -1942 Johnson City Appalachian D 4 14 - 15 5 1 1 -BattingYear Team League Class G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG1941 Cooleemee N Carolina St D 14 58 7 10 3 0 0 7 .1721941 Johnson City Appalachian D 45 195 45 59 16 8 3 34 .3031942 Union City Kitty D 21 84 15 14 2 1 1 6 .1671942 Johnson City Appalachian D 88 328 43 88 15 4 1 39 .268

2nd Lt Stanford G Wolfson, picturedleft, was killed after bailing out overGermany. Ira Levin and Dick Wright,who nursed the aircraft back to France.

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WALLOPERS’ T-SHIRTS: The 95th Bomb Group Heritage Association’s softball team, the ‘Wallopers’, are offering team t-shirts for sale. On theback of the t-shirts is an original baseball logo, as found in an 95thBomb Group programme in the Red Feather Club archives. The frontfeatures a small 95th Bomb Group logo. The t-shirts are round-neckedin chestnut. The men’s sizes are the normal, S, M, L, XL and XXL. Thewomen's range is as follows, although in the women’s sizes they seemto come slightly smaller – for example if you want a size 14 order themedium and not the small, S=12/14, M=14/16, L=16/18,XL=18/20 and XXL=20/22. If you would like to order, please send acheque payable to A. V. Garner, Homestead, Top Road, Ilketshall SaintAndrew, Beccles, Suffolk, NR34 8NN, by Friday April 30th, with yourname, quantity and size requirements. For more information contact Andy on 07788966640. T-Shirtsare £10 each and will only be ordered when there is a big enough order. All T-shirts will be availablefor collection from the Red Feather Club and not to individual addresses. ■

SCHOOLS PROGRAMME GOES NATIONAL:Since WWII was introduced to theschools’ history curriculum in 2011 the95th BG Heritage Association hasplayed host to more than 500 childrenfrom local schools. This year it will bethe 95th BGHA’s policy to encouragemore school visits to the Red FeatherClub Museum.

On December 7th 2011 theAssociation undertook its first nationalschool presentation at St Margaret’sAcademy, Torquay, Devon. DarrenHowlett, who in the past hasvolunteered to produce art work forthe RFC, did the representation. Afterattending the 2011 May Reunion with hisfamily, his daughter put together ascrapbook of their weekend visit whichwas shown to her class back in Torquay.For their “learning about a WWII activityday” a programme was worked out withteachers, Miss Page and Mrs Wall, whichresulted in Darren being invited to theschool to talk about the 95th Bomb Groupduring the war.

In the course of the day five groups ofapproximately 20 children each, aged from 8 to10 years from years 4 and 5, took part with somedressed as evacuees. The children were taken ontrip from the United States joining the allies inthe European Theatre of war after Pearl Harbourin 1941 to the history of the 95th BG’s arrival atHorham in 1943.

They took part in a role playing mission toEmden, Germany, to experience some of theemotions of the 10 air crew in a B-17. They wereattacked by fighters, flak and coped with flying abattle damaged B-17 while other crew members

attended to the wounded whilstflying back across the NorthSea.

The remaining children ineach group were divided into ground crew andnurses, the ground crew made ready the aircraftbefore the mission and started repairs when itreturned damaged, the nurses attended to thewounded after the aircraft landed. Tables werearranged to form the shape of a B17 with chairsplaced to represent the crew positions. Theground crew used a model of a B17 to helpunderstand the aircraft that was in their charge,checking engines, arming the B17 with bombsand ammunition and filling it with fuel.

At the end of an action-packed day the childrenhad a chance to take home a 95th BG brochureand post card of the museum, Miss Page andMrs Wall said that the children had a great time

learning about the bravemen of 95th BG, the hardtask they undertook overhostile Europe and aboutthe B17 aircraft they flew.

Darren Howlett hasbeen invited back in 2012to repeat this WWIIhistory lesson, manythanks on behalf the 95thBG Heritage Associationto Darren, the staff andchildren of St Margaret’sAcademy for their helpand hospitality. ■

Pictured, top, children askDarren about the B17 FlyingFortress, left, the bombardiersights up the target and, below,group dressed as WWII evacuees.

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HOSTING THE THE EIGHTH IN THE EAST: Sunday 26th February saw the 95th BG Heritage Associationhost a seminar “The Eighth in the East – the Friendly Invasion 70 years on” organised by NickPatrick who headed a steering committee to discuss a major project which aims to help localcommunities throughout the East of England reveal and record information about the 8th Air Forceso that future generations can remember its wartime role and engage with this important history.With more than 70 invited guests the seminar was opened by Nick Patrick of the New HeritageSolutions and producer of history programmes for BBC Radio, after which speakers James Albone(Norfolk County Council), Rob Liddiard (University of East Anglia), Mark Howell (100th AirRefueling Wing Historian), Libby Morgan (Trust Librarian at 2nd Air Division USAAF Memorial

Library) and Jamie Everitt (Norfolk MuseumsDevelopment Officer) and Ivan Cutting (ArtisticDirector of Eastern Angles Theatre Company) outlinedimportant reasons for setting up this group. Betweenspeeches guests divided into small groups fordiscussions. The Eighth in the East has been awardeda development grant from the Heritage Lottery Fundwhich helped organise this event. Some of those whoattended are pictured at the Red Feather Club. ■

Produced by Mike Ager & Ray Howlett for the 95th BGHA. Printed by Tuddenham Press.

HELPING THE 95TH BGHA: You can now generate free cash donations forthe 95th Bomb Group Heritage Association every time you shop online viaTheGivingMachine. It will not cost you anything extra – the online retailerspays the donation. Just go to www.thegivingmachine.co.uk:● JOIN as a shopper/Giver;● CHOOSE to support the 95th Bomb Group Heritage Association;● REMEMBER to shop via TheGivingMachine every time you shop online!

You’ll find more than 300 different shops at TheGivingMachine including many big high streetnames ranging from Next and John Lewis to Sainsbury’s and M&S as well as eBay and Amazon.

TheGivingMachine taps into the multi-billion pound online retail market by providing a website forshoppers to buy from more than 100 leading retailers. Every time you shop throughTheGivingMachine, a percentage of the sale is turned into a donation on behalf of the shopper andgiven to your chosen UK charity, hopefully the 95th Bomb Group Heritage Association, at no cost tothe you. The not-for-profit scheme launched nationally in 2007 and is already raising regular incomefor more than 600 charities and schools across the UK. 95th BGHA chairman James Mutton said:“We are all doing so much shopping online. If just 100 of our supporters shopped viaTheGivingMachine, we could raise well over £1,000 a year extra.” ■

VANCOUVER VISITORS:Local councillor and95th BGHA memberElizabeth Gibson-Harries’ family visitedher this Christmasfrom Vancouver inBritish Columbia,Canada, and her sonAndrew Harries andgrandson Brian,pictured with her here,took the opportunity totour the Red FeatherClub. ■

2012 EVENTS: Sat 17th March: Dance with DJs.Sat 12th May: Open Day - vintagesoftball game. Dance with band.Sun 13th May: Grand Open Day.Sun 27th May: Open Day. Sun June 24th: Open Day.Sat July 7th: Hawaiian dance.Sun July 29th: Open Day.Sun August 26th: Open Day.Sat 8th September: 200th MissionDance with band.Sun September 30th: Open day -vintage softball game. Sunday October 28th: Open day.