Old friends...

[Micawber]

Every now and again [ie as and when I stumble across them] I'll post a photo or two of some special friends I made over the years. I'm not going to name them all but might add background a comment or two which I hope may be of interest.

Dear old Bud was a B-17 ball turret gunner with the 91st BG H. He met a girl in a pub in Cambridge one night, they got on well and arranged to meet up the following night.

Next day his plane went down.

He was trapped in the turret due to loose ammo boxes falling in the mechanism. Luckily one of his buddies noticed and managed to clear the turret, help Bud get his 'chute on and push him out the waist door.

He spent the rest of the war as a guest of the Germans.

We got to know each other by mail then email and soon became good friends. He returned to England in the 1990's and stayed with my wife and I and we had great fun going around his old haunts. Obviously there were poignant and touching times when the best thing to do was just leave him to his thoughts and memories.

The crew. Bud - kneeling second on the right.

Here he is, first time back in England since the war, outside then chance to catch up with some of the drinks he missed out on in "that" pub in Cambridge...

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial

Memories and laying ghosts on the same runway where he and his crew started to roll the day their plane went down.

Even after all these years we still miss you mate

 

[falcon_ib]

A very touching story. Thank you for sharing and keeping their stories alive.

 

[Dover]

I never tire of meeting the vets and listening to their stories. Ordinary people living in extraordinary times...
Sadly becoming fewer each day. Thanks for posting Bud's story.

 

[DJS48]

Great story, thanks for posting.
Don

 

[Pilot]

Thx for sharing, in deed very touching...

 

[B-Man2]

Steve
It’s difficult to see men like these passing away but their stories and history will live on.

 

[Micawber]

Steve
It’s difficult to see men like these passing away but their stories and history will live on.

Agreed. Their stories and history should never be forgotten.

 

[s4rmark]

We need these vets to pass on their experiences so we can never forget.

 

[Bombing IP]

Agreed. Their stories and history should never be forgotten.

I doubt that this generation is about computers cell phones and BMWs and gets worse with every generation .They know nothing about Vietnam let alone WWII or the founding Fathers .

BIP

 

[Officer Dibley]

Ok, i'll take the bait from a masterbaiter....
As some young comedian recently said, this current generation of oldies is the worst yet.
They didn't fight in WW2 and grew up as deadbeats and draft dodgers and dope smokers......

Well actually some of us did serve. Just as many of our youngsters have recently served and do and will serve.

Sweeping, cynical statements that lump ALL of any age group as useless is unfair and disrespectful of the many .

Thank god some of our oldies did serve and some of our youngsters do still defend us. Some have paid the ultimate price. I work with many military. The proportion of great, good, lazy and dangerous is the same as in civvy street and the same as in past generations.

As soon as you put yourself on a pedestal above others who come after you, you have lost the hearts & minds campaign and can hardly be expected to be listened to by the current young. Writing them off , how can you hope to reach them or set a good example to follow ?

I hope some of them are your future nurses, Dr's and carers !

To the youngsters on here, i apologise for such an attitude. I doubt many of us oldies would fare any better now growing up with iphones, computer games and liberal teachers.. i see many interested kids at the museum. They just don't hear this stuff in school but when they hear it, they love it.

Rant over.

 

[Bombing IP]

If any one is the master baiter it is you Officer dibble and when you get some one go back at you you get all defensive or you have taken me the wrong way . To me you are always looking to start a fight with your little innuendo comments from your ivory tower . Take masterbaiter as an example your subtle way of calling me a wanker .My statements are based on the world I see around me and I am voicing my opinion . You do not need to apologize on my behalf as I do not have an attitude nor sweeping statements is not my thing . Stick that in you pipe and smoke it !

BIP

 

[Brent]

Thanks.

 

[Micawber]

TBH, and with the greatest of respect gentlemen, I would rather this conversation be carried on elsewhere. I would prefer to keep this thread devoted to some of the many, many interesting characters and their stories that I have been privileged to meet over the years. It is a common misconception that contemporary youth in any given generation will not rise to the call in the same manner as their forebears.

Sorry but I will not continue to contribute to this thread in similar vein to my initial post if it continues to go off topic.

 

[Bombing IP]

Sorry did not mean to disrespect the post . You will hear no more from me re the above comment .

BIP

 

[Brent]

My post will be deleted.
Carry on. Continue your post sir.


Regards,

 

[B-Man2]

Steve;
If you know, did Bud ever say what happened to the rest of his crew after he was captured?
Did any of them make it out of the aircraft and were they captured like Bud?

 

[Micawber]

Burt,
One of the crew was KIA, the rest became POW. The aircraft was attacked by fighters and was lost on a raid to Wilhelmshaven 21st May '43.

Serial # 42-29657 OR X - SHOT DOWN 21 MAY 43
Retchins Wretches
Back Row - Left to Right:

T/Sgt. Andrew Muzik, Radio, POW 21 May 43; 2nd Lt. Ed Reynolds, Bombardier; 1st Lt. Norm Retchin, Pilot, POW 21 May 43; 2nd Lt. Stan Dahlman, Co-Pilot, KIA 17 Aug 43; 2nd Lt. Bob Paulson, Navigator

Front Row - Left to Right:

S/Sgt Joe Wing, Waist Gunner, KIA 21 May 43; S/Sgt Charles Huber, Waist Gunner, POW 21 May 43; T/Sgt Elmer Kalfsbech, Top Turret Gunner, POW 21 May 43; S/Sgt Cloren Meade, Ball Turret Gunner, POW 21 May 43; S/Sgt John Conard, Tail Gunner, POW 21 May43

 

[Micawber]

Sorry chaps but having considered the matter, this will be my last contribution to this thread. Rest assured this is not a slight against anyone but I now feel uncomfortable with the prospect of continuing.

 

[Smithy]

I hope you don't mind my adding here Micawber but I thought this could become a great thread for all members' memories of aircrew they have known or interacted with. I've been pretty lucky as one of my family was one of the Few and I corresponded and spoke with several squadron mates over the years. They were hugely helpful, sending personal photos and all sorts. I'm probably biased but the Few are and were very special people and I feel particularly honoured to have known some of them albeit it in a small way.

Another fellow was a friend of my father who flew Spits with 485(NZ) Sqn, I used to go round to his house and hear his war stories which I always loved as it only took about 20 seconds and he'd drop back into RAF lingo and slang which I always loved.

But possibly the most memorable and emotional was late one evening when the phone rang. I answered and it was an elderly gentleman who announced that he'd just been having a chat with the secretary of the 92 Sqn Association who had given him my number. Like a bolt from the blue he said that he was flying as wingman to my relative when he was killed and proceeded to tell me what happened. Touchingly as he related events it became obvious that it was as emotional for him as it was for me. I had a very large lump in the throat at the end.

 

[Otter]

That must have been a living nightmare. Ball turret gunners were pretty exposed to start with, but stuck in a jammed turret, with the plane on fire and going down doesn't bear thinking about.