The second Newsletter from the 56th Fighter Group website

Hello everybody, and welcome to the 56th Fighter Group website's second
newsletter.

Sadly, since the last newletter one of the top aces of the 56th has left us.
As many of you will already know, Walker "Bud" Mahurin passed away
peacefully on May 11th at his home in California. Bud was one of the original group of pilots to arrive in the UK with the 56th in January 1943 and was one of the leading aces in the ETO when he was shot down on March 27th 1944. He evaded capture and returned to England a few weeks later, and I'm sure many of you will be aware of his experiences post WW2.
Godspeed Sir, and eternal blue skies.
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The last few weeks have seen the inclusion on the site of a major project, this being the attempt to display a photograph of every pilot who flew with the 56th FG. Of the 500+ pilots who are listed in the personnel roster as having served, I am only missing photographs of 12 now, after Preston Piper's relatives very kindly supplied a photo of him.

The missing pilot photos are -

61st FS
ABAR. Everett.
BLOOM. Robert.
MYERS. Clarence.
SMITH. Judson.
STROUD. William.		 62nd FS
BEELER. Hugh.
TEVELS. Albert.
WOODWARD. John


 63rd FS
REED. Richard.
SCHREIBER. Walter.
TATE. William.
VEST. Boss.

If you can help with any of these please CONTACT US.

Col Robert Winters USAF(ret) contacted the site soon after its launch. Bob has sent some fabulous never before seen photographs of his time with the 62nd FS from August 1944 onwards, and these can be seen on the PHOTO ALBUMS page. Thankyou Bob! Bob would very much like to make contact with anybody associated with the 62nd FS during his tour of duty. If you can help, please CONTACT US and we will pass on your messages.

Michael Heath and Dave Gianakos have both sent in photographs taken at reunions. Dave's were taken at Fairfax in 2004 and Michael's are from both the original Boxted memorial unveiling and the dedication of the new memorial. These photographs are now on the relevant pages of the website for everyone to enjoy and I'm sure you'll join me in thanking them for sending the pictures.
If you have any photographs of reunions or anything else 56th FG related we would love to hear from you. All material sent to this website is passed on to the 56th Fighter Group museum at Halesworth.

If you have any items you would like to donate to the museum that it isn't possible to display on the website these can be sent to the museum directly. Buzz Took, as many of you will know, is the American Liaison at the museum and can be contacted either via the 56th FG website web@56thfightergroup.co.uk or directly at buzztook.56fguk@btinternet.com.

TIMELESS VOICES OF AVIATION
Many people have commented on the superb TIMELESS VOICES interviews which feature on the website.

Please, if you are a veteran not only of the 56th FG but any branch of the USAF, don't let your story go untold. The people at EAA OSHKOSH would love to hear from you and arrange to record your experiences.
Since the last newsletter I have managed to get 2 microfilms related to the operational records of the 56th transferred to pdf files and these will be made available to everyone in due course. They are by no means a complete record of the 56th's operational history and many parts are missing, but they do give a unique insight into the workings of a WW2 fighter group.

Once again I am indebted to Kate Moore for all her hard work translating my design ideas and ramblings into what you see on the pages of this website. Thank you Kate, I couldn't do it without you.

The list of messages in the guestbook has jumped this last few weeks and I'd like to take this oportunity to wholeheartedly thank everybody who has sent messages of support and shared memories of either their own or their relatives' experiences while serving in the 56th. Please keep them coming.

Until next time..... Cave Tonitrum!
The previous newsletter is HERE