456th
Bomb Group Association
WHAT'S NEW IN PAST MONTHS?
Archived Web Information
AUGUST 1999
- August 31, entire 456th Bomb Group
Association website is updated with a new interface.
- August 31, two new Reichard stories
added to site: Oswiecim and 745th
Squadron.
- August 31, new photos added to the Col.
Steed dedication page, including the plaque placed at the Air Force
Academy by the Association.
- August 31, reunion photos added to the Association
History page.
- August 31, new photo added to the Aircraft
page.
SEPTEMBER 1999
- September 9, new website - www.456thBombGroup.org
- created and uploaded for test.
- September 16, new website online with
redirect from old site URL ~ new HELP
ME page created for site describing process and costs with requests for
donations ~ guest book appearance
and readability upgraded ~ new story and history added on Richard
Wiens.
- September 17, added four unique photos of the Ploesti raids to the Missions page.
- September 19, added photos to Isle
of Capri, Aircraft, Crews
and Life
pages.
- September 20, new music and sound link added
to the Sounds page; donation logged on HELP
ME page.
- September 21, another donation
logged! Great!
OCTOBER 1999
- October 6, Thanks, mom, for
everything. Love you and miss you... Rest in peace.
- October 11, added a page with
pictures of a Bailout pass and promissory chit,
provided by Bob Reichard.
- October 12, added photo of the ripcord handle
from a parachute used to slow a B-24 landing on Vis
Island.
- October 15 and 18, more donations
logged. This is great! My thanks to all who are able to help!
- October 19, added photos from the
744th to the Life page
- October 21, split the Crews
page into separate pages to allow for growth; added photo of Cissna
crew; logged THREE more donations, which
now has this site paid for the year!
- October 26, added two more photos of the
Watkins crew, including a crew reunion photo to Crews
3 page; split the Life page into separate pages
for more photos; and added photo of 745th doctor with wounded airman.
NOVEMBER 1999
- November 7, added a new Bibliography
page, listing various publications for those who wish to learn more about
the 456th, the Liberator, and the role of the bomber in World War II.
- November 9, added videos and several more
publications to Bibliography page; archived past
months of What's New.
- November 11 (Veteran's day), added a
heart-wrenching tale from Walter Crowell.
- November 13, a new photo of Bob Reichard, and
a link to wartime stories, added to the Reichard history page.
- November 15, two new books added to bibliography
page.
- November 21, added two new crew pictures
(pages 1 and 2); new nose
art pictures; new picture in Life 3 page. (Note
the prededing pictures scanned from 456th History book). Split the Aircraft
page into several pages for more pictures; added a formation flight
picture found in an obscure publication to page 1.
- November 23, added hit counter to Home Page.
DECEMBER 1999
- December 2, added Unit
Citations page with 456th's Presidential Citations (large graphics);
added Three Stooges "Hello" to Sounds
page; also added POW Association address to sources of
information page.
- December 12, added a new tale ~ A
Rough Mission ~ from Bob Reichard. This was sent me exactly 55 years to
the day after it occurred.
- December 21, added two new musical selections
to the Sounds page, and a new
story posting from Bob Reichard.
JANUARY 2000
- January 1, added new photos of crews for
Phoney Express and "Studs", and photo of Phoney Express I. See the
Aircraft and Crews 1
and Crews 3 pages.
- January 8, added information on the upcoming
reunion in Nashville, Tennessee, planned for May 24th through May 28th;
also added two more new musical selections to the Sounds
page and four new books to the Bibliography page.
- January 11, added additional information on Vis
Island.
- January 23, added many new photos from the
456th history book to: Crews 3, History,
Life 3, and Nose Art
pages.
- January 26, added a page with a remarkable
letter, as a result of a story on this site about Vis
Island in the Adriatic.
FEBRUARY 2000
MARCH 2000
APRIL 2000
- April 10, added information on obtaining
veteran's records and medals to a new Records
page.
- April 22, added a page on Prisoners
of War with six photos that may be men from the 456th. Can you help
identify them?
- April 23, added new crew photo with names for The
Joker, and a new nose art photo and photo from
Willow Run.
- April 28, started a Memorials
page to show photos of plaques and monuments that have been dedicated to the
456th; added 1985 reunion picture to Past Events
page.
- April 29, added new links to the Nose
Art page, and text of an invitation to Stornara on the Current
Events page.
MAY 2000
- May 4, added Mission to
Brux, the story that led to the Teplice Memorial,
and several new books and videos to the Bibliography
page.
- May 7, added photo of the memorial
plaque placed at Memorial Park, USAF Museum in Ohio.
- May 10, added names for a second crew of "The
Joker", and some history.
- May 14, added photo and info on John
Gabriel Crew.
- May 18, added yet another photo of a crew in
front of the Short Snorter, and two more photos of
other Short Snorters! Also, more music: Benny
Goodman's "Always", and Woody Herman's
"The Good Earth".
- May 25, revised the "helpme"
page concerning donations to support this site.
JUNE 2000
- June 22, added corrected names to crew for "The
Joker".
- June 23, updated the contributor's list on the
"help me" page. A lot of help has come
in to support this site!
JULY 2000
AUGUST 2000
- August 8, added Milton D. Waite's name to
crew of John Bello on Crews 4 page, and added a Postwar
page concerning the 456th in the 1950's and 1960's. Also added "Shoo
Shoo Baby" by the Andrews Sisters to the Sounds
page!
- August 13, added photo of the "Lucky 'Leven"
to new page, Crews, Page 5, and added all pages of
the brochure and itinerary for the 456th Bomb Group Association's Return
to Italy.
- August 21, added Life, Page 6
with new photos and queries!
SEPTEMBER 2000
- September 2, added a Medals
page with a short tale of obtaining one's father's medals; and also added MANY
new photos on new LIFE pages 7, 8
and 9...
- September 11, added 18 new photos on new LIFE
pages 10, 11 and 12...
added a new book, a personal account of the Ploesti raid, to the bibliography
page.
- September 25, added Life Page 13.
OCTOBER 2000
- October 10, added dozens new photos to new
Life pages 14, 15, 16,
17 and 18, including
photos from training at Muroc Field. Also added a special crew photo and
story ~ then and now ~ to Crews Page 5.
- October 14, added intact nose art picture of
"Miss Your Lovin'" to the Nose Art page.
- October 17, added new Life pages 19
and 20, six pictures on each.
- October 20, added photo of airman Bob Reichard
in front of PT-22 trainer to stories page "Crew
6459".
NOVEMBER 2000
- November 1, added two more pages of life in
Stornara photos, Life page 21 and 22
and revised the Flight of Fancy pages and
locations.
- November 18, updated Association
Officers listing.
- November 23 (Happy Thanksgiving), added three
more Life pages with 22 photos, pages 23, 24
and 25.
- November 26, added photo and names of Beaver
Crew, provided by Charles Kiritsy, to Crews page 5;
also added four more books and numerous photos to the Bibliography
page.
DECEMBER 2000
- December 2, added a complete, 5000+ name 456th
Bomb Group roster database listing of known names and status.
- December 3, added crew photo
in front of a/c "Forthabirds", provided by Jerry Lind.
- December 4, the group roster added December 2
proved impractical so a singular page with all "status
unknown" names was posted. This page is in excess of 600k and will
require over 10 minutes to download at 28.8k. There are nearly 3000 names
listed, and any help in determining current status is actively solicited.
- December 23, added Crews
Page 6, with photo and text on the Nancy Anne.
JANUARY 2001
- January 9, added a site search
engine, outsourced and ad supported but effective and free. Thanks to FreeFind.com
- January 13, added two more pages of photos,
Life Page 26 and Life Page 27.
- January 14, two names on the status unknown
list are identified as found.
- January 20, added yet two more pages of
photos, Life Pages 28 and 29;
also one more member on the unknown list is found: William Welch.
FEBRUARY 2001
MARCH 2001
- March 20, added Life Page 30
with yet more photos, and started Aircraft page four.
- March 21, all month adding names of found
members to the "unknowns" roster.
APRIL 2001
- April 16, added the painting and story of "Mission
207".
- April 15, added a thumbnail view of "Mission
207", a painting to be dedicated and donated to the 456th Bomb
Group at the 2001 reunion; added one more found name to the
"unknowns" roster.
- April 4, added three more found names to list
of status unknown; added a news article, The War
Returns To Italy.
MAY 2001
JUNE 2001
- June 24, added a new page with 456th
Bomb Group aircraft names. This is a new list, started by member Al
Couture (Col USAF, Ret). Can you add to it?
- June 17, added another found to the "unknowns"
and a new reference book on the bibliography
page, called "After The Liberators...".
- June 5, added new Reichard story, "Elusive
Medals".
- June 2, updated the "unknowns"
roster with two more found; added news of a scam
affecting veterans; added to the "Mission
207" story with a letter from the pilot of that ship for its first
missions.
JULY 2001
- July 29, added one more name to the A/C
names roster, "Plum Lake".
- July 18, added a complete insignia
page with scans of all USAAF wings, with medals and insignia and pay
grades.
- July 16, added photos of Wilson D. Smith and Stanley
Andrews (Maupin crew) to crews page 6, and also
text from a 456th newsletter at Bruning Field to life
page 31.
- July 5, added a table and listing of aircraft
losses suffered by the 456th. This list was put together by Al Couture
as well, and if you can add to it let us know. Also added a letter regarding
transfer of 376th BG men to the 456th and updated
the list of unknowns accordingly.
AUGUST 2001
- August 28, revised the bibliography
pages and separated them into 5 pages for easier access, and added three
more new books.
- August 27, added two more books to the bibliography
page, "Wild Blue" and "Liberator Units of the Fifteenth Air
Force".
- August 11, added new Crews page 7,
with photos of "Lassie Come Home" and Chico the monkey; also
started posting synopsis of each mission flown by the 456th, starting with mission
100.
SEPTEMBER 2001
OCTOBER 2001
NOVEMBER 2001
- November 27, added a story from Bob Reichard on Coincidences,
pertaining to Mission 207.
- November 20, necessary to remove the photos of
"Miss Laid" added on the 13th until appropriate authorization is
obtained from the owner.
- November 13, added photo and info on "Big
Butch" and crew and new Crews Page 9, and
several photos of crash-landed "Miss Laid" on new Aircraft
Page 5.
DECEMBER 2001
- December 24, added page on joining
the 456th Bomb Group Association
- December 10, added crew photo and flyer photo of Walter
"Doug" Campbell to Crews9 page, along
with information provided by Jim Campbell. Also began offer of 11" X
17" prints of Mission 207 Painting.
JANUARY 2002
FEBRUARY 2002
- February 28, added location map of Stornara
Airfield showing location of squadrons, HQ, living areas and
village of Stornara, and added photo of cadet Al
Miller.
- February 20, added a new page on Stornara
Airfield and Encampment with a bird's eye view photo.
- February 19, added a page with story and pictures of
the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial: A Guy
Called Harvey.
- February 18, received permission to post the six photos
of "Miss Laid", crashed in Austria, and posted them on Aircraft
Page 5.
- February 17, more updates to aircraft names list.
- February 16, numerous additions: Added a new book on
B-24 Nose Art to the bibliography section; two photos added of
Fred Riley and Charlie Balogh to Fred's page; Aircraft
Name list greatly expanded with dozens of additions; and the extensive memoirs of
the surviving members of a crew that crashed during training at Muroc
Army Air Field.
MARCH 2002
APRIL 2002
JUNE 2002
- June 8, found more of the "unknowns"
and added them; added an updated and restored photo of "Preg-Peg"
to the nose art pages.
MAY 2002
- Month of May, no adds as I sought and landed a new
career position...
JULY 2002
AUGUST 2002
- August 10, added several names as found on the "unknowns"
list; added two new photos on Crews Page 12:
Mettam and Carpenter.
SEPTEMBER 2002
OCTOBER 2002
DECEMBER 2002
JANUARY 2003
FEBRUARY 2003
- February 15, another member found, and shown on the
unknowns list; also created a new page on Short
Snorters, and added some news on the B-24
Memorial-San Diego.
- February 6, added five names as "found" on unknowns
list.
MARCH 2003
APRIL 2003
MAY 2003
JUNE 2003
OCTOBER 2003
DECEMBER 2003
JANUARY 2004
- January 15th, added two
pages of extraordinary photos of the 830th Bomb Squadron and local
Italian village and people.
- January 8th, updated "unknowns"
list with five more names and added Nathanial Burgess
crew photo.
- January 3rd, updated bibliography
pages and added new books. More will be added soon.
FEBRUARY 2004
MARCH 2004
APRIL 2004
- April 21st, updated the 'unknowns'
roster with many recent finds..
MAY 2004
- May 30, general update, 'unknowns'
updated, memorials page updated.
- May 23, added many more reunion
photos and a photo of original Flying Colt patch.
- May 22, updated 'unknowns' list. Crew 355 were all KIA
19 Dec 1944, of which 6 men were on the list. Thanks to Bill Baird, son of
William Ludwig, pilot of that mission, for bringing it to our attention.
- May 20, added info on the new book Incident
Over Mostar by David F. Abner, a detailed look at a 456th
crew.
- May 19, added dozens of photos from the 2004
reunion - a work in progress!
JUNE 2004
JULY 2004
AUGUST 2004
SEPTEMBER 2004
OCTOBER 2004
- October 16, updated the "unknowns"
roster yet again, and added photos of Plato Brown
and crew with story of loss of "Leap Year Lady."
NOVEMBER 2004
JANUARY 2005
APRIL 2005
JULY 2005
SEPTEMBER 2005
- September 8, updated Unknowns
roster, noted 2005 reunion occurrence
OCTOBER 2005
NOVEMBER 2005
- November 16, added more 2005 reunion
photos
- November 10, updated the Unknowns
roster and added news on the Veteran's Park in
San Diego.
FEBRUARY 2006
MARCH 2006
APRIL 2006
- April 19, updated the UNKNOWNS
list with disposition on a dozen more men.
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Created 11/09/99 RJF
Last Edited 01/22/2007
RJF