Historical Documents from World War II
Shack, The
Class 43-04, Big Spring Flying School, Big Spring, Texas
This book belonged to Harry Linford Young, Jr., of Cleveland, Ohio, pictured on page 40. He was also editor of this volume. A separate newspaper clipping implies his classmate, Robert C. Ryan, also of Cleveland, pictured on page 27 died a short time later.
Authors:
- Harry Linford Young, Jr., Editor
Published:
- 1943
Categories:
- Bombardment
- Class Books
- Training
Class/Unit Number:
- 43-04: Class 43-4
Special Features:
- Hometowns - Includes cadets' hometowns
- Memorial - Includes a memorial to those killed during training
- Annotated - Includes handwritten notes or descriptions
- Signatures - Includes signatures of cadets and/or instructors
- Photo of Leslie - Includes a picture of actress Joan Leslie
Locations:
- Big Spring Flying School; Big Spring, Texas, USA
Contributors:
- Ben Guttery
- Marty Upchurch
Repositories:
- Private Collection
This is one of 9 items in the Shack (Big Spring) series.
Direct Link (Item 000712):
- https://aafcollection.info/items/list.php?item=000712
Citation:
- Army Air Forces Collection, "Shack, The: Class 43-04, Big Spring Flying School, Big Spring, Texas" (item 000712), AAF Collection, https://AAFCollection.info/items/list.php?item=000712 (accessed 28 April 2024).
Added: November 30, 2015
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Class book for bombardier class 43-4 at Big Spring Flying School, Big Spring, Texas.
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A newspaper clipping with a Card of Thanks from the family of Lt. Robert C. Ryan.
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Comments
[2] theck343 (06-Oct-2019 09:17 PM)
Robert C. "Bob" Ryan was killed in a plane crash in Pennsville, NJ, on 18 October 1944, after returning from combat in the Pacific with the 43rd Bomb Group.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133986053/robert-clarence-ryan
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Army Air Forces Collection Item 000712 is licensed by Mike Voisin under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. |
[1] Gary T Staffo (18-Feb-2019 02:55 PM)
My Uncle Lt John C Staffo Class 43-06 got his AAFBS Bombardier Wings at Big Spring, TX and was KIA with the 99th BG 348BS on October 10, 1943 on a mission flying from Oudna Field in Tunisia to bomb the Tatoi Aerodrome near Athens, Greece. He bailed out over the Gulf of Corinth with 4 others, of which only one, FO George Rohrer, Co-Pilot survived. My Uncle and three others were strafed in their parachutes by a JG-27 pilot. The B-17 F 4230446, "Her Majesty" piloted by Sam Gilmor attempted to make an emergency landing because the remaining 4 crew members were too seriously wounded to bailout. 446 attempted to surrender by lowering her wheels, but the international sign of surrender was ignored, and witnesses in the village of Panareti Greece near where 446 crashed claim she was strafed almost all the way down. I am looking for anyone else who has information from other members of the 43-06 Class, especially letters, photos, etc. Please contact me directly and check out Lou Tholes book Forgotten Fields Volume IV - Then and Now which includes AAFBS Big Springs, TX and a photo of my Uncle and excerpts from letters he wrote while there.
You may contact me by email at gary.staffo@hq.doe.gov.
I also am the 2nd Vice President for the 99th Bomb Group Historical Society (BGHS). Check out our Website www.99bombgroup.org