Amongst the Stars 'n' Stripes articles we have here in the 305th archive, is a report of an Army Psychiatrist flying missions with USAAF crews on combat missions. I have heard of Group Flight Surgeons taking part in similar activities, indeed our own Doc Berkner and his assistant Doc Beemer flew several missions on 305th crews throughout WW2, but I had not until now come across such an account involving a Psychiatrist. This media report is of particular interest also because it involves a crew from our own 305th BG. This covers the mission flown to the U-Boat pens at Lorient, on May 17th 1943 (mission 35 for the 305th). To quote the article as follows;-

For a child in the midst of the Second World War, the atmosphere of a bomber base was perhaps something we today can only dream of. But for one young boy, that dream was very much a living, breathing reality.

 

From the end of 1943, Derek Clark would find himself amongst that very moment, experiencing at first hand the sights and sounds of B-17's and of course absorbing almost daily the many colourful characters and Hollywood accents that both flew and serviced them. More importantly he had the encouragement of those same young men, not much older in fact than Derek, to record what he saw in what is today an amazing collection of nose art sketches.

In the autumn of 1942, the British countryside of east Anglia awoke to the sights and sounds of Hollywood. For many, this was something they barely knew from the cinema. For the tiny village and hamlets, such an invasion was looked upon as almost as serious as perhaps the prospect of Adolf Hitler knocking on their front door! Whilst some did not take to their new neighbours at all, the majority held out the hand of friendship. The coming of such matinee idols, or so they were perceived in many a young girl's eyes, changed the lives of those local people forever. Certainly the bringing together of strange American traditions and the more reserved traditions of local British life did much for what we today call the special relationship.

"Got any gum chum?"  An often used and even more heard phrase during the war years. Two young boys befriend an American serviceman in the hope of something good! Such scenes were repeated not just at Chelveston but at many other bases throughout East Anglia. As well as gum, the children of the day would seek out Hershey bars and Babe Ruth candy.