Personal Military Biographies
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| Contents of a Personal Mission History The books are spiral bound 8.5” x 11” with front and back covers in full color, protected by clear vinyl covers. The interior is laser printed on high quality 28 pound bright white paper. Every book consists of many of the following items: | |
INFORMATION: • All specifics of the 280 missions flown to by the 445th Bomb Group (Heavy) to include: • Group mission number • Date of missions • Location • Target type • Results of bombing • Number of aircraft at take-off, over target, flying time • Number of aircraft lost • Headquarters mission summaries from the 8th Air Force • Group battle honors received • Explanation of terminology , rank and terms • Definition of crew positions • Notes of interest • Missing Air Crew Reports (MACR) if applicable. • Plus other information ------------------------------------------------------- DIAGRAMS: • Cut-away diagram of B-24 showing crew positions • Squadron air formation • Map of Tibenham ------------------------------------------------------- EXTRAS: • Your personal photos and stories you would like to be included in the book. • Family photos, both pre and post-war • Military documents, flight records, personal accounts | Mission Details: Specific information of individuals 445th mission activity while stationed at Tibenham, England; USAAF Station 124 • Individual’s mission numbers • Date of mission • Group mission number • Formation position • Aircraft Type • Tail Number • Aircraft name • Target type (i.e. Industrial sight, railroad yards) • Target city and country • Number of aircraft sent and lost on a mission • All crew members names, ranks and positions in the plane • Photos of airplanes flown during mission (if I have them in our library) • Actual crew load list obtained from the National Archives in College Park, MD. -------------------------------------------------------- PHOTOGRAPHS: • Map and aerial photos of Tibenham • Ground crew and expiation of duties • General history and photos of the base, chief staff • Aircraft nose art (if we have the photo in our personal library) • Strike photos (Actual locations as seen today using Google Earth and available recon photos taken during bomb damage assessment (BDA) flights)
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Personal Mission History requests are available for the air crew members only of the 445th Bomb Group. The format for these histories have gone through many changes since they were originally started by Major Richard F. 'Dick' Gelvin of Mesa, AZ. Dick was a member of the 445th, flying his first mission with the 700th Bomb Squadron as a navigator on June 6th, 1944 - D-Day! He went on to become a lead crew navigator and eventually flew his required 30 missions and then rotated back to the United Stated.
The form below is to be used for anyone who is requesting a Personal Mission History of a 445th air crew member only - no ground personnel. Please provide as much information about the veteran as possible to insure that the history is complete and accurate. The fields marked with an '*' indicate mandatory data input. A full street address or P. O. Box is needed to determine shipping costs for the completed history.
The cost for a single personal militayr biography is currently set at $300.00 plus shipping and insurance. If you would like the Google Earth images in full color, there is an added fee - $1.00 per mission flown otherwise they will be in greyscale. Please check the box either accepting the cost for color images or not. Additional copies may be purchased at $100.00 + fee for the number of color images in each additional copy. If you need to have a copy shipped to a different location, please include the address(es) for each separate copy. There will be an additional charge for shipping to multiple addresses (actual shipping charge to the destination). These price increases are a result of increased costs in the preparation of these biographies by the printer.
Here's a copy of a personal mission history completed in November, 2021. Digital scans of official Tactical Mission Analysis Reports, if available, are included. Each biography takes on a life of its own as it is put together. Military archives both in the United States and abroad have been searched to make these books as factually accurate and complete as possible.