The 457th Bomb Group Home Page

This page is dedicated to the memory of the men who served during World War II as members of the Eighth Air Force, First Division, 94th Combat Wing, 457th Bomb Group. They were the men who flew in the B-17 Flying Fortress.

I dedicate this website to those members of our crew who are no longer with us: Jim Stoner, Don Scheuch, Joel Lester, Clair Hetrick, Jim McCloskey, Charles Kenney, Edward Peters and Paul Brook (who replaced Don). I also dedicate this to the only other surviving member of our crew, Percy Mack,

 Pilot and author of this page - A. Willard "Hap" Reese

The Plane
The B-17G Flying Fortress

The Crew - Then - 1944
Standing from left to right: James McCloskey (BT), Percy Mack (TG), Charles Kenny, (RO)
Clair Hetrick (WG), Albert Knox (WG), and Edward Peters (E)
Kneeling from left to right: Joel Lester (B), Don Scheuch (N), Jim Stoner (CP), Willard Reese (P)

The Surviving Crew Members - Now - 1997
(At a reunion in Savannah in Oct. 1997)
Standing from left to right: Clair Hetrick (WG), Joel Lester (B), Willard Reese (P),
Percy Mack (TG), James McCloskey (BT).
In the year 2003, we lost three members of this group; Joel Lester, Clair Hetrick, and Jim McCloskey.
We will miss each of them as we do the rest.

Prologue To Some Remembrances of Times Past
(click above before continuing)

No written description can convey the feeling or describe
the events as well as a picture. These following photos are
a true representation of the air war in Europe. Most of the
pictures were taken at Glatton airfield or in the air over
Germany.

Photo Gallery

457th Combat Mission Photos.

More Photos of Planes of the 457th. (Even More Planes and People of the 457th.)

"Hap" Reese's Crew Photos

Take a walk through a restored B-17G

Photos of Officers and crews of the 457th.

Photos of Glatton Today

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Here are a few stories about people and events
that might be of interest to those who were not
there - and perhaps to some who were.

Some Things About Me and Our Crew:

1. From Kingston High to the 'Flying Fortress
2. An introduction to the crew.
3. This Pilot's Diary - From Hendricks Field to the 457th Bomb Group
 
Some Mission Memories:

1. The Mission Day Log of this Pilot

2. The infamous Merseberg raid and the FW-190 attack. (Additional EYEWITNESS Accounts)
3. A bombing mission to Metz with a failed delivery.
4. This is a "Mission Possible" - or maybe it was just luck.
5. We probably all remember a special Christmas eve.
6. The big February raid to Berlin.
7. Flak, the nemesis of every bomber crew.
8. "Shuffling-the-deck" - A flyer's nightmare.
9. The fateful Voyage home.
10. A few Anecdotes.
 

Other Remembrances:

1. Trouble at the "Flak Home"!
2. "Never did get that letter".
3. Some events from that period that I remember so well.
4. A recent letter to my surviving crew members.
 

Plane Facts:

1. My thirty mission list. ( More DETAILS of each mission.)
2. The B-17G pilot's cockpit checklist
3. About the 8th Air Force and the B-17G "Flying Fortress"
4. Some historical background of the 457th bomb group.
5. How many of you "Old Timers" remember this?

LINKS to other B-17 and 457th Bomb Group Sites:

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If you desire to read any of the messages received by this website
from its inception in Aug of 1998 and through 1999 click HERE.
All messages from January through June 2000 have been lost.

Read My Guestbook! Sign My Guestbook!

Visitor Number
Since 08/15/98

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