 |
America will prevail! |
Southfarm Press
P.O. Box 1296
Middletown, CT 06457 |
|
| ||||||
|
Available Books |
Harold I. Rochette "...set a shining example for all present and future combat crews of this Group to follow." His "...courage, skill and tenacity of purpose [brought] great credit [to himself] and to the Army Air Forces...." -DALE
O. SMITH No
job was more dangerous than that of a man in a bomber over Germany. The 8th
and the 15th Air Forces took a higher percentage of losses than any other
American fighting force in World War II, including those in foxholes and on
destroyer decks. Statistics
released after the war have shown that for all theatres of operation, over
22,000 Allied bombers were shot down and 110,000 airmen died. During the
worst of the 8th Air Force bomber strikes originating from England in late
1943, the average life of a bomber and its crew was 15 missions. An
extreme example of the danger was the infamous Schweinfurt/Regensburg raid.
315 B-17s took off, 60 were shot down, 17 were scrapped, and 121 needed
major repairs afterwards. This is a total of 198 planes, meaning 63% of the
original 315 planes were either lost or damaged so badly that they required
time to be made operational again. Harold
I. Rochette flew 31 missions in 66 days in a B-17 over Germany. In July 1944
he was awarded the 384th Bomb Group certificate for being a member of
"The Lucky Bastard Club." The certificate reads in part:
"Harold I. Rochette...finished his tour...after zig-zagging through
space in his Flying Fortress on 31 missions of a re-arranging operation on
Der Fuehrers domain--using tools issued by the 8th Air Force and provided by
a nation dedicated to exterminating the paper-hanger's crackpot ideas on
altering the face of the earth." Rochette tells a powerful story. 8th Air Force Lottery proves that.
Order 8th Air Force Lottery one of two ways!
Southfarm Press Be sure to provide your mailing address and phone number with your check. |
