Posts from — June 2009

In May 2007 I was lucky enough to attend the 448th Bomb Group’s annual reunion in Orlando, Florida. Ed Chu, a Staff Sergeant in the 714th Bomb Squadron was in attendance and I’d heard what a nice guy he was and also that he told a good story so I was keen to try and interview him.

We shared some laughs over those few days and he took a photo of me at the Kennedy Space Center with the space shuttle on the launch pad in the background. A few weeks after the reunion I received a letter along with an A4 copy of the photo, captioned ‘Our friend from Norwich, England’. He apologised for not sitting down for an interview in Orlando and added that it was often difficult to find the time with so many friends to catch-up with and scheduled events to attend.

Happily there exists a written record of Ed’s war-time experiences. Ed’s late wife encouraged him to commit his experiences to paper and the result is a fascinating, humourous and detailed account of his journey to Seething and his subsequent combat missions. You can find a copy of it in the reading room of the restored control tower on open days.

Ed Chu passed away on April 16th, 2009.

Spurred on by this podcast and this article Happy Warriors will be asking for input from fans (!?) on a range of production elements beginning with poster design.

Each call for input will take the form of a blogpost and votes can be cast by commenting.

Recent favourites on youtube:

The U-Boat Pens at Lorient and St. Nazaire Click to watch

V-2 Rocket Test Click to watch

The 448th targeted the V-2 weapon sites of Europe on the groups early missions. These were widely refferred to as ‘No Ball’ targets.

Of particular interest is the lexicon of USAAF crew and servicemen. Perhaps the phrase ‘two countries seperated by the same language’ originated in the war years due to the arrival of thousands of US military personel?

I got thinking about the 8th’s targets in Western Europe and the nick names they gave them. It’s unclear whether these names were specific to the 8th Air Force or used only within individual bomb groups or crews even.  I don’t have that many but have started a short list below. This also feeds into the nose art and the wonderful names that were given to some bombers and fighters of the period. There was a B-17 called Quiturbitchin a name that to me, encapsulates the characteristic imagination and humour of the American airman.

Maybe it was one way in which men dealt with the tremendous apprehension and fear that they must have felt towards some of the cities they had to attack. Giving them nick names somehow made them a little less terrifying to talk about, it helped them take ownership of their fear in a psychological sense? Or, the boredom of waiting for your next flight and the routine of military life lends itself to nick name creation. I also wonder if they gave names like these to British cities and towns.

Berlin – Big ‘B’

Brunswick – Little ‘B’

St. Nazaire – Flak City

The Ruhr Valley – Happy Valley