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James L White Jr | First Lieutenant James L White Jr Graduating in April 1944, at 20 years old he was one of the youngest pilots in the Eighth Air Force and joined the 398th Bomb Group at Nuthampstead as a Co-pilot on B-17s. His first mission was in September 1944, followed by numerous raids over Europe, including several to Cologne and Meresburg. However on his 18th mission on Christmas Eve 1944, his B-17 crashed in freezing fog during an operation to support the front units at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Wounded, and with a broken leg, he was hospitalised and unable to fly again. He returned to the US aboard RMS Queen Elizabeth. |
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Fortress at Rest by Richard Taylor. The bomber crews of the US Eighth Air Force rightfully earned their place in the annals of aviation history through heroism and devotion to duty. Flying their first mission from England on Independence Day, 4th July 1942, using A-20 Havocs borrowed from the RAF, until their final full scale mission of the war on 25th April 1945, the bomber crews of the Eighth had become one of the most highly decorated military organisations of the war with 17 Medal of Honor recipients and 66 Distinguished Unit Citation awards. By the end of the war, the Mighty Eighth was the largest air unit ever assembled, and their heroic efforts had played a major role in the destruction of Hitler's Third Reich. But, with almost 6,000 heavy bombers lost, the cost of victory had come at an enormous price - only one in three airmen had survived the air battle over Europe. Here, a brief moment of reprieve for the bomber crews as deep overnight snow temporarily grounds the Mighty Eighth during the bitter winter of 1944. With the morning sunlight glinting across the snow-covered landscape, a B-17G Flying Fortress of the 398th Bomb Group stands quietly near the perimeter of RAF Nuthampstead, awaiting the thaw that will allow the flying to begin again. |
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