Strange but True...

How 170,000 American War Dead Returned Home

"White Flak"

Father Gerald Beck was the Catholic chaplain at Hethel airbase. He was very popular with the men, because he had been along on a few combat missions of the 389th Bomb Group (without official permission), and as he intermingled with the men both at work and play, he was a real 'soldier's priest'. He was known as 'White Flak', because of his white hair (he was born in 1900), and because of his sharp tongue when he told the men off for bad behaviour.

The picture was taken during the preparations of Holy Communion in a hut at Hethel used as the chapel in 1944.

(Source: The Mighty Eighth in Colour, by Roger A. Freeman)

Monkey Business

Quite a few of the men at Watton were allowed to keep pets, which were put on show one day in 1944 on the Pet Day, held in one of the mess huts.

Mystical cloud saves the day for 137th Infantry

What the Enemy Saw

As every airbase in East Anglia, Watton airdrome was camouflaged. This was done by means of actually painting fields, hedgerows, trees and shadows onto the grass and runway, and also the roofs of hangars. One can still make out the main buildings and the perimeter track in this high-altitude picture, however.

Although this did not fool all enemy pilots, as Watton was bombed once, and the bomb craters go along the runway, personnel actually had to walk "around" the painted "trees", and they were not allowed to cross the painted hedgerows, except at the painted gaps in them.

Tragic Fatality

The first death of a man from non-battle causes occurred on 29 December, 1943. This is not mentioned in any of the officer's diaries, but recounted in Jim Chandler's Chapter 3 of his History of the 455th. While Jim says that this was the first case for the 455th, it was actually the first ground casualty for the whole area of the town and base of Watton.
Euell Baldrige (picture taken earlier in Kettering) was born 3 Feb. 1919, in Quitman, Arkansas, and was a member of Sgt. Land's 1st gun section, 1st Platoon, 'C' Battery.
According so some who knew Baldridge, he was fond of drink. One says that Baldridge "drank a lot, but I don't know if that caused his death...

Another said "Baldridge was 18 days AWOL. He was court-martialed but Lt. Hearn kept him from general court martial. He took 2/3 pay for 2 months. I guarded him. He had to work as a prisoner..."

He was found near the railway platform at Watton station (the Famous Hedge was trimmed to show the name WATTON), after a train had hit him. He suffered severed and torn limbs. Sgt. James Cook reports hearing "groans near the station platform... He was still alive when we found him...", but the wounds would prove fatal.

Baldridge was buried in the American Military Cemetery in Madingley near Cambridge, but his body was later transferred to the R W Olmstead Funeral Home in Heber Springs, Arkansas, near his hometown.

Yes, It Is a Real Name...

In his diary, for the 4th of January 1944, Col. Sargent writes: 'The land on which we had been putting our Nissen huts and setting up the Headquarters was owned by the town butcher, Mr Whalebelly. I wouldn't believe it until I saw it in print...'.

Well, this was the uncle of Jean Loizou and Jane Francis, two cousins living in Watton, and both their maiden name is Whalebelly. Jean (who is in the phonebook under Whalebelly) actually has a small website about St Mary's church at Watton and the Whalebelly family history. But they both didn't know (until I asked them about the butcher) that their uncle had actually owned land on that side of the railway line, at the end of what is today's Griston Road, which used to lead from Watton church to Griston church in almost a straight line.

The Human Polar Bear

In his notes, Col. Sargent especially mentions a medic, who was also his friend and masseur.
Ralph Unglo had joined the first cadre of the 455th from Camp Huelen, TX in August 1942 as a private. This small and muscular Italian hailed from Pittsburgh, PA, and there he used to assist the police by diving into the icy river to retrieve pistols and other evidence dumped there in the course of crimes. This gained him his nickname, and every New Year's Day he broke the thick ice of the Mongahela River for a swim. Col. Sargent speaks of him in the warmest tone possible, calling Ralph Unglo "always on the job and skillfully so. He was loyal, honest and what he lacked in education, he made up for it in devotion, human kindness and understanding, sincerity, and the greatest attribute - an alluring smile."
Unglo was hospitalised in 1945 for back problems (discharged on 22 Sept. 1945), and he died of a massive heart attack on 15 Dec., 1956.

The ATS and Poetry

The Blonde Bombshell - Cool Jackets

Snetterton Heath: 455th AAA B Btry Lt.s Richard Gaston and Meyer Goldfarb pose in 'borrowed' Air Corps jackets beneath the B17 'The Blonde Bombshell', which had, as shown by the symbols, carried and delivered five babies and shot down one German aircraft.

The jackets were not only fashionable, they were crucial for the flight crews: the early B17s did not have any heating.

Until then, RAF planes did not have nose-art, just squadron colors, but they picked up on this typical American custom, including the graffitti on the bombs, such as 'Berlin or Bust'.