8th Airforce 353 Fighter group ; Royal Airfore Tribute. | FerrariChat
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8th Airforce 353 Fighter group ; Royal Airfore Tribute.

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by thecarreaper, Oct 18, 2008.

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  1. thecarreaper

    thecarreaper F1 World Champ
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    #1 thecarreaper, Oct 18, 2008
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    1942-1945 my Grandfather Sgt William Foster served in the 353rd Fighter group and was stationed at the Raydon England base.

    i inherited some of his things after his recent passing. he was with us for 88 years, and left us behind too soon.

    as his grandson, and someone who is in Aerospace ( General Dynamics) , i wanted to share some of these things from his time in WW2. i am not a very good historian, or photographer, but i will do my best to share what i have from then he was there.

    Michael.

    first pics are shrapnel and a fuel nozzle from a German buzzbomb. i had a thread running in the "off topic" area looking for more info, as the shrapnel and fuel nozzle were familiar to me through my grandfathers account of the events.

    we recently found a scrap book that he made, and i found a wealth of period information and handouts that he got while hew as at Raydon, England.
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  2. thecarreaper

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    #2 thecarreaper, Oct 18, 2008
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  3. thecarreaper

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    #3 thecarreaper, Oct 18, 2008
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  4. thecarreaper

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    #4 thecarreaper, Oct 18, 2008
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  5. thecarreaper

    thecarreaper F1 World Champ
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    #5 thecarreaper, Oct 18, 2008
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    LT Jack Watson flew the B17 " Meat Hound " , Lt Watson buzzed Yankee Stadium while the World Series was going on.

    i have a written note, and a detailed diary entry from 1944 when my grandfather witnessed the crash landing of the B17 "meat Hound" on his base / airfield. (my grandfather kept very detailed diary entries throughout the war).

    my grandfather kept a small piece of the wreckage, and wrote a letter in 1993 asking if Lt Watson wanted the piece of wreckage, stating he had been there on the field and helped with the fire and wreckage. Lt Watson said he had " ample memories " and was not interested in the relic, but was grateful for the offer. we have the letter and the description of Lt Watson. letter mentions the Commanding officer as COL. Glenn Duncan ( later shot down over Holland and rescued by the Dutch Underground, ( per the notes / letter)

    enough of my rambling, ill let the pics talk!
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  6. thecarreaper

    thecarreaper F1 World Champ
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    #6 thecarreaper, Oct 18, 2008
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    more from the scrap book. my grandfather had lots of cool stories about the pubs, and the RAF pilots and support people he knew. he did say the natives were a bit displeased the "yanks" kept drinking up all of the pale ale the pubs had, causing shortages. i have an original RAF Officers lapel pin that someone gave him. i will take a pic as soon as i figure out the macro on the camera.
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  7. thecarreaper

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    #7 thecarreaper, Oct 18, 2008
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  8. thecarreaper

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    #8 thecarreaper, Oct 18, 2008
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  9. thecarreaper

    thecarreaper F1 World Champ
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    #9 thecarreaper, Oct 18, 2008
    my apologies for the spelling error on Royal Airforce. i missed it for some reason.
     
  10. jimangle

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    #10 jimangle, Oct 19, 2008
    Carreaper,

    That's some cool info/pics.
    Sorry to hear about your Grandfather.

    Jim
     
  11. ND Flack

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    #11 ND Flack, Oct 20, 2008
    Wow - that is some amazing, amazing stuff. Thank you for sharing.
     
  12. Bob Parks

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    #12 Bob Parks, Oct 20, 2008
    I found it VERY interesting and emotional. Thanks for sharing that treasure. Take care of that stuff, it is, as I said, an invaluable treasure. Nobody now realizes what all of that was about and has no idea what those guys went through and how committed and brave they were. I have memorabelia from my grandfather's service in the Civil War including the bullet with which he was shot in the chest. Weird story about that.
    Thanks again.
     
  13. thecarreaper

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    #13 thecarreaper, Oct 21, 2008
    my thanks to all of you.

    i have more stuff i will share that is germane to aviation. i will post some more when i get some free time.

    we know of some of our families history from the civil war, your story sounds fascinating.
     
  14. cszakolczai

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    #14 cszakolczai, Oct 26, 2008
    Oh my, that is an amazing collection. My jaw dropped as I was scrolling down, a collection like this is worthy of being held onto for a lifetime. I would insure it and figure out a way to preserve it, especially the newspaper clippings. That is absolutely amazing, and thank you for sharing.
     
  15. thecarreaper

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    #15 thecarreaper, Oct 27, 2008
    thank you!
     
  16. corben1

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    #16 corben1, Jan 2, 2009
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    Carreaper,

    Thank you for sharing your Grandfather's scrap book.

    My uncle was in operations for the 358th at the time Jack Watson landed Meat Hound at Metfield. I have five photos of this aircraft after landing, but will confine trying a photo to that of buzzing the 1943 World Series as a test.
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  17. corben1

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    #17 corben1, Jan 2, 2009
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  18. corben1

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    #18 corben1, Jan 2, 2009
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  19. corben1

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    #19 corben1, Jan 2, 2009
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    This is the photo among my uncle's collection that piqued my interest in Jack Watson and others. The caption on the back of the photo merely stated "The Buzz Boys". I had no idea what this meant until doing a fairly throrough research of the 303rd BG web site. A must see for anyone even lightly interested in the the AAF effort during WWll.

    Gary Moncur, and others, maintain this excellent site, and you can spend dayz viewing the information held therein.

    The attached photo L to R: Jack W. Watson, 358th BS - Buzzer
    Robert W. Sheets, 427th BS - Buzzer
    Marion L. "Dutch" Niemants, Armament Officer, 360th BS

    These young fellows had a tough job.
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  20. ralfabco

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    #20 ralfabco, Jan 2, 2009
    Michael and Corben

    nice books ! I have been collecting on and off, old original USAF fighter squadron patches (Post WW II -1947-1972), for quite a few years.


    My Uncle, was in the 509th B.G., during WW II - he was not an aircrew member. That was the late B.G. Tibbet's USAF Ret., former group, that dropped the two bombs.
     
  21. thecarreaper

    thecarreaper F1 World Champ
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    #21 thecarreaper, Mar 21, 2009
    just saw the updates, thanks to all of you. will add / comment later.

    must go to work to avoid the Layoff Bunny.......
     

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