The second annual Flying Fortress 5K is to benefit the restoration of the Museum's B-17, the "City of Savannah". The 5K (3.1 mile) course will make its way through the campus of JCB, Inc., starting and finishing at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum.

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The Survivors: The era of the 

B-17 is finally drawing to a close more than seventy-five years after the Boeing Model 299 first left the drawing board. The legend of the 

fabled B-17 continues to burn brightly even as the generation that created it passes into history. 

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This summer the Mighty Eighth offered two extended day summer camps for children. During the afternoon, summer campers made glue together models of the British Spitfire. They learned of the significance of the Spitfire in the air war over Europe and the attributes of the plane. Many of the campers made their first model airplane. They realized the attention to detail necessary to complete a model as well as the fun it can be.

Keep the Legacy Alive, Remember us in your will

Restoration Project Update

Ryan Blow attends Massaponax High School in Fredericksburg, Virginia. While he is in Savannah visiting his great grandmother, he decided to volunteer at the museum. His great grandfather, William Herbert Jones, was in the Mighty Eighth in WWII which sparked his interest in the museum. Last year while visiting his great grandmother he came to see the museum and this year he decided to help out. He is taking flight lessons to become a pilot and hopes to attend either Virginia Tech or University of Virginia and study aeronautical engineering. While volunteering here for his two week visit, he has completed over forty eight hours of volunteer time working in the Annex, as a greeter, mission experience guide and helping with model airplane building during summer camp. 

Teri Bell

MISS SOPHIE: Not your ordinary bean salad

 

For years I would cringe at the words "bean salad." They conjured up memories of the seven-bean salad of the '60s we saw way too often at family reunions.

 

Today's bean salads are much more sophisticated and complex with fresh herbs and homemade dressings. Our palates are more sophisticated also. We no longer think we have to cook beans for hours and hours until they are mushy and devoid of taste. Instead we enjoy the fresh crunch of an al dente bean that will hold up when tossed in dressing.

 

Bean salads are a great way to consume the daily recommended amounts of vegetables and proteins. With their high fiber and vitamin content, legumes such as kidney beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans and lentils are called a "unique food" by the USDA because they can also double as protein. Healthy, good and easy to prepare, bean salads are becoming a summer staple.

Read further for the recipe

 

Teri Bell is the co-owner of Miss Sophie's Marketplace at the Mighty Eighth in Pooler. Go to www.sophiesmarketplace.com.

The plaque donated by Fred Reichel includes wings worn by U. S. Pilots at the top, then second row left USSR and right Czechoslovakia, center row France, lower center British RAF, and bottom Poland. 

Fellow POWs at Stalag Luft I included the Bombardier from Reichel's crew, Dick Vaughn, and the Czech, Frank Knap, who had flown with the RAF. Frank Knap had carefully crafted molds of pilot's wings worn by American, Russian, Czech, French, British RAF, and Polish pilots. Then using melted silver foil from cigarette wrappers, he cast each set of wings and mounted them on a triangle-shaped pieced red, white and blue fabric. Reichel offered Knap cigarettes for this plaque, but instead Knap wanted the ring that Dick Vaughn wore. Reichel spoke privately with his friend, Dick Vaughn, asking first if his ring had sentimental value. Since it did not, Vaughn agreed to give Reichel the ring and receive payment for it after the war ended. Reichel then used the ring from Vaughn to purchase the plaque from Knap. This plaque is now in the collection of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN 

By Museum Volunteer Gary Silver                                                                                                       

By late June 1940, Europe had been stunned by the overwhelming power displayed by the German armed forces, particularly in the past three months. Denmark, Norway, Holland, Luxembourg, Belgium, and France were now occupied by the Nazis, and the German military machine seemed unstoppable. With the exception of countries that were either neutral or allied with Hitler, only one sovereign state in Western Europe remained independent - the offshore island of Great Britain. Although a state of war between Germany and Great Britain dated back to Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939, actual combat between the two had not heated up until the British attempted, unsuccessfully it turned out, to prevent the Germans from occupying Norway in the Spring of 1940. But now, even British territory had been invaded. On June 30, German troops landed on Britain's Channel Islands, located off the coast of France, and quickly occupied them. A German invasion of the British mainland now seemed imminent.

Few outside Great Britain gave that country a chance of holding out - certainly none of those in Germany who were now celebrating their victories in the West. The German populace greeted the Fuhrer with euphoria upon his return from France and hoped the coming campaign against the English would put an end to the war. On July 19, at the height of the victory festivities in Berlin, Hitler made a speech in which he offered final peace terms to the obstinately defiant British in the form of a (rather mild) "appeal to reason." Many had expected something more substantial that might appeal to those in Britain who were anxious for peace. It was easy for the Churchill administration to dismiss Hitler's "offer" out of hand. Britain would fight on. Churchill's knowledge of history made him keenly aware that Britain had not been successfully invaded in over 900 years. Thanks to the Dunkirk evacuation, he knew there was adequate manpower to meet any invasion, even though most of England's modern military equipment, particularly artillery and armor, had been abandoned in France. To bolster the army, a part-time volunteer force, the Home Guard, was organized and trained; they too would defend Britain against the invaders. In further preparation, traffic signposts throughout the country were removed to disorient the enemy, and civilians were ordered to remain calm and to stay put if attacked - to avoid clogging the roads, as had occurred during Germany's earlier campaigns.

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August 17, 1942: 12 97th BG B-17s attack Rouen, France. All aircraft returned safely and scored 50% of bombs on target. 97 BG B-17s continue to hit rail yards, shipyards, and air industry in France, Belgium and Holland from 19 to 28 August, Spitfires from the 31 FG fly up to 50 sorties a day.

August 1, 1943: First low level missions to Ploesti, Romania. 178 B-24s flew over 1200 miles from a base in North Africa to Ploesti and staged a daring, low level attack that devastated the targets. The raid was not part of any campaign, but stood alone as a singular blow to an important component of German war-making capability. Losses were heavy and refineries were rebuilt, but the Ploesti raid stands as a magnificent example of a bold plain, well-executed by brave crews and their extraordinary aircraft.

On August 17, 1943, the first Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission was executed as part of Operation Pointblank. Conceived by Air Marshal Arthur Harris and Major General Carl Spaatz, Pointblank was designed to destroy the Luftwaffe and its infrastructure.

The mission called for the 4th Bomb Wing to hit Regensburg and proceed south to bases in North Africa while the 1st Bomb Wing followed closely behind with the objective of catching German fighters on the ground refueling. After striking, the 1st Bomb Wing would return to bases in England. Fighter escorts could only support as far as Belgium because of limited range.

Weather quickly became a factor and delayed the two divisionary attacks scheduled against the Luftwaffe in support of the plan. Finally, on August 17, the mission was given the green light, even though much of England was covered in fog.

The targets were to have been hit almost simultaneously. However, the 4 Bomb Wing launched at 8:00am with the 1st Bomb Wing still grounded due to fog. The 4th Bomb Wing crossed the Dutch coast at about the time the 1st launched, leaving a huge gap between the two wings. Colonel Curtis LeMay led the 146 B-17s of the 4 BW. They were hit ten minutes after making landfall and engaged in aerial combat for 90 minutes before the Germans broke off to refuel. 15 B-17s had been lost. The wing proceeded to the target and was able to drop 300 tons of bombs on Regensburg. The wing turned south and lost 9 additional aircraft combat in route to North Africa.

230 B-17s of the 1st BW followed approximately the same route as the 4th Bomb Wing. Led by Brigadier General Robert Williams, the 1st was almost immediately hit by 300 German fighters that harassed the wing during the flight to Schweinfurt. 22 B-17s were lost before the force hit the target. As the bombers approached Schweinfurt, the Germans broke off to refuel and prepare to attack the bombers on their return leg to England. Unlike the 4 BW, the 1st BW encountered heavy flak over their target, losing 3 additional B-17s. Williams' force fought German fighters from Schweinfurt to the Belgium boarder, losing an additional 11 B-17s. The pounding did not cease until the bombers were again covered by Allied fighters.

Although the mission inflicted heavy damage on the Schweinfurt-Regensburg targets, it came at the price of 60 B-17s and 55 aircrews. 552 men were lost; half became prisoners and twenty were interned by the Swiss. The Germans reported a 34% drop in production but this production was quickly made up by other plants. The losses during the raid forced Allied leaders to reassess the policy of unescorted, long-range, daylight raids on Germany. These types of raids were temporarily suspended after a second raid on Schweinfurt on October 14 sustained 20% casualties. 

We are working our way through one of the hottest summers anyone in the Savannah area can remember. Visitors to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum are thankful for the ample parking and air conditioning. Nowhere else can you witness the restoration of a B-17G Flying Fortress inside a Museum! We hope you have had an opportunity to visit the Museum this summer.

In addition to the B-17G restoration, there are several other important projects currently underway at the Museum.

These projects are as follows:

1. Moveable walls in the Museum Research Center for more efficient storing of an increasing number of manuscripts and artifacts.

2. Air conditioning systems to replace several original units now 15 years old.

3. An upgrade to the "Mission Experience". Frequent mechanical problems with this theater experience require us to upgrade the equipment in order to keep this most important part of the Museum functioning properly.

4. The ongoing restoration of the B-17G "City of Savannah".

5. The Museum's "Character Counts" program that is teaching lessons of character to thousands of kids that visit us from all over the area.

The projects combined will cost over $300,000. As you may know, the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum receives no government funding and relies on revenue from admissions and private donations to maintain its high quality experience. Although our admissions continue to grow, it is not enough.

Please consider making a donation to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum to help us with any one of these projects. Your gifts are tax deductible and will help ensure that the Museum continues to grow. You may donate online www.mightyeighth.org or by calling Tameka Ford at 912-748-8888 ext. 101. You may also send a check to: P.O. Box 1992 Savannah, GA. 31402. Thank you for your support.