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of a WW II shoot-down and POW experience as related by a B-17 Ball Gunner: The Charles Reed Holden Story by Charles “Reed” Holden Chapter 2 — Crew Formation, |
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| After a short honeymoon, Reed returned to his outfit where he was offered the opportunity to attend armament school which he readily accepted and was shipped out to the school in Denver, CO, then on to Kelly Field, Texas to begin studies and finally to Laredo and then Peyote, Texas for phase training and assignment to a flight crew. He was assigned to a temporary barracks and waited several days for the rest of the crew to arrive. When the rest of the crew was finally assembled, they flew a few training missions to become familiar with the plane, equipment and to function as a team. They completed several flights and proved to be an excellent crew and became very close friends. Wherever you would see one of them, you would find them all. |
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had completed Aerial Gunnery School. Back row L to R: Sgt. W. McKnight, Johnston, |
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| When the orders were finally cut and a departure time set up, the crew was like a bunch of kids racing to be the first one aboard the plane. When we were settled in our positions aboard the plane, the flight plan filed, we taxied out to the runway and waited for the green light to take off, everyone on board cheered. I guess we were quite exited to finally get out of Texas. The next stop for refueling our new bird was Presque Isle, Maine before continuing our journey. We lay over at Presque Isle for a few days because of inclement weather, the field was socked in so bad you could not see your hands in front of your face. The birds couldn’t even fly and had to walk if they wanted to travel. With the visibility so bad we couldn’t even see the plane sitting on the apron. After a few days the weather cleared up and we received clearance to take off and set our course for Knots Corner, Ireland, our next refueling stop. |
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| When we arrived in Ireland we were able to stand down a couple days to rest up from the long flight over the North Atlantic and then headed for our base of operation at Rougham Air Base, England. As the crew neared the end of their journey, tensions began to build as they made their final approach to land at their new base. When they taxied to their parking spot, they were met by members of the ground support crew who checked over their plane and welcomed them to England. |
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End of Chapter 2 — Go To Chapter 3 Cover Page — Introductions — Table of Contents Chapter — 01 — 02 — 03 — 04 — 05 — 06 — 07 — 08 or Home - Contact Us - Cold War Hist. - 91st SRS Hist. - Stardust 40 Mission Story |
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