MY PELLOW FAMILY
| John
Thomas Pellow married Elsie Johnson on 9 OCT 1915 in Calumet, Houghton,
Michigan (In 1920 John is aged 24 and a Moulder in a Factory. Elsie is aged 32. The family is living in Detroit Ward 6, Wayne, Michigan) (In 1930 John is aged 35 and a Foreman in an Auto Factory. Elsie is aged 40. The family is living in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan) (In 1940 Elsie is aged 52 and in the home of her daughter Maxine and husband in Detroit Ward 8, Wayne, Michigan) |
They have three children
| Name | Date and place of birth | Any other information |
| Robert Warren Pellow | No further details | In 1920 he is at home aged 2 In 1930 he is at home aged 13 In 1940 he is aged 23 and a ? Operator in a ? business. He is living with his brother in law Ted Olander in Detroit Died when his aircraft crashed on 16 DEC 1944 in the North Sea |
| Margaret Maxine Pellow | 4 MAY 1920 in Detroit,Michigan | In 1930 Maxine is at home aged 9 Married Theodore Olander around 1939 |
| Charles Lorimar Pellow | Born on 1 JUN 1822 in Lincoln Park | Died on 28 AUG 1922 in Lincoln Park aged 3 months |
A tribute to Robert W Pellow
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On 16 December 1944, during Eighth Air Force Mission 752, 236 B-17s were dispatched to attack rail targets at Stuttgart, Germany but extremely poor weather conditions resulted in many aborts; 81 crew managed to reach and attack the marshalling yard at Stuttgart, 33 others bombed Bietingheim and another hit a target of opportunity. One B-17 of 95th BG was lost with its 9 crew, another, of 303rd BG, was wrecked in a crash on return (2 KIA) and 9 were damaged (1 KIA). Escorting were 106 of 114 P-51s without loss, while 10 other P-51s flew a scouting mission. The missing bomber was the B-17G 42-97232 call sign QW-O "Sandy’s
Refueling Boys" of 412th Bomb Squadron, 95th Bomb Group. On the route
back from the target clouds up to 23,000 feet were met by its formation
and forced a turn northwards by 50° 30’ N 04° 00’ E. Because the aircraft
of the group were low on oxygen and gas they broke off individually
to return to base. This crew broke off as did the others but was never
seen or heard of after that. There was no contact made by radio at any
time with the aircraft. The next that was seen of this crew was on 14
May 1945 when the body of the co-pilot, 2nd Lt Leonard W. Beadle, was
washed up at Zoutelande, Netherlands, near beach post 14. This was another
sign that the bomber crashed in the North Sea. None of the other 8 crew
was ever found and they all are commemorated on the Wall of the Missing
of the Cambridge American War Cemetery. |
While searching for any information on Robert Pellow I came
across an Auctioneer's website that did have some of his personal effects
on line.
The pictures below were taken from that site.
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| Robert' medals |
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| Could that be Robert's girl from back home in Michigan ? |
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| Robert's side cap and book |
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| Some of Robert's citations |
The B-17 Sandy's Refueling Boys was assigned to Horham on
12 March 1944. She's pictured here with a crew from 95th Bomb Group in August
1944
The 95th Bomb Group
| The 95th Bomb Group – based in Horham in Suffolk from June 1943 until
the end of the war – was famously the first US group to bomb Berlin in
daylight during WW2. The last B-17 Flying Fortress shot down in Europe
was from Horham and the 95th was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation
(Distinguished Unit Citation) on three occasions, the most of any bomb
group. The group received its first Presidential Unit Citation for maintaining
a tight defensive formation in spite of severe assault by enemy fighters
while bombing an aircraft assembly plant at Regensburg in Germany on 17th
August 1943. It was awarded the second for withstanding concentrated attacks
by fighters during the approach to the target and intense anti-aircraft
fire directly over the objective while effectively bombing rail marshalling
yards at Münster on 10th October 1943. The unit received its third citation
for the first daylight raid on the German capital on 4th March 1944 –
while many participating groups, because of weather conditions, either
abandoned the operation or struck other targets, the 95th proceeded to
Berlin and successfully bombed a suburb of the German capital despite
snowstorms, dense clouds, and severe enemy attack. The 95th flew more than 300 missions and, as well as strategic bombing sorties, targeting harbours, industries, rail yards and cities, it dropped food and supplies to starving civilians and the resistance in occupied Europe, it supported the D-Day invasion and ended the war transporting liberated prisoners of war back to the UK. Glenn Miller also famously played in one of the hangars at Horham Airfield on his final tour before his disappearance. |
Horham Airfield
| Horham Airfield, Station 119 – was a sprawling base spanning four
parishes. Parts of the base were not only in Horham itself but also in
Denham, Redlingfield and Hoxne. Its two hangars were on the south of the
airfield and the technical site was next to them, beside the B1117 Eye-Horham
road. Station HQ, administrative buildings and living sites were temporary
buildings mainly to the west in Denham. The size of the base meant bikes
and jeeps were the preferred method of transport within the base. After short stays at Alconbury and Framlingham the 95th Bomb Group finally arrived at Horham on 15th June 1943 and Station 119 was to be its home for more than two years. It was also HQ for the 13th Combat Bombardment Wing of the 3rd Bomb Division – which was in charge of not only the 95th Bomb Group but also the 100th BG at Thorpe Abbotts and 390th BG at Framlingham/Parham. As well as the 95th’s four bomb squadrons – the 334th, 335th, 336th and the 412th – the base was home to all the associated groups needed to keep the 95th running. Despite having food and drink that was the envy of the heavily rationed Suffolk villagers and other facilities, the men of the 95th lived mainly in metal nissen huts through the tough English winters with only small pot-bellied stoves to keep them warm. Further information can be found om the 95th Hertitage Association website |
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On a visit to Horham on 3 July 2016 I took the following photos
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| Where their living quarters used to be now a Farmer's field |
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| Map of the airfield |
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| Model of the airfield |
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| Waist Gunner |
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| List of missions |
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| Lt Coffman's watch |
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| The runway |
