the story

[Trebor]

The story.


well, as some of you or none of you may know, I didn't know about my Great Uncle Rudolph Jandreau until one of my many aunts told me that he flew in B-24s. that's all I heard, and i had gotten a picture of him when I went to a family reunion up in Maine in '05. That's when I first heard of him. years later just in like October of '07 I asked my fathe if he knew what bomber group he was in. and he told me the 44th bombardment group. so I did a search on his name and the 44th bomb group tgether and found only ONE thing. and that was an interview with Captain George R. Insley. his former CO. so I copied it and pasted it into my Deviant Art. it's still there. it wasn't until 2 weeks ago I started getting into the 44th bomb group again, when I started downloading vintage photos of B-24s. just last Thursday I found this website called the 44th bombardment group veteran's association. 44th Bomb Group Veterans Association - Flying 8 balls, World War II Air Force, Shipdham England, 8th Air Force, 2nd Air Division, 14th Combat wing, 66th, 67th, 68th, and 506th and I had contacted the President of the website and the organization. I told him my name, and asked for some information. and he replied with everything but the freaking kitchen sink! He told me where he was stationed, which was in Shipdham, UK; near Norfolk. he told me the name of the B-24J, you can see her in my avatar and signature. he even gave me the email to his CO. Captain George R. Insley. god, I've never been so happy in my life. I was on the verge of crying, I was learning something about him. so I contacted George Insley, and he responded. oh boy, we hit it off pretty good. we exchanged addresses (he lives in Oregon! just south of me!) we exchanged phone numbers, he told me some awesome stories, he even sent me several photocopied pictures of the crew, and a CD that the 44th Veteran's association gave him. (he wants it back, so I copied it) I can get to that once I get a little bit of cash to get a bubble lined envelope. so yeah, I've been asking some people to build some Combat Flight Simulator scenery of the Shipdham airbase (I'd love to go visit there, someday) may have found someone, I dunno. and I'm thinking of asking someone to modify the stock B-24 to the 44th Bomb Group colors and design.

so yeah, you guys wanted the story!. hehe



Trebor

[Clave]

Good stuff!

Just a slight correction 'Shipdham, UK; near Norfolk' - Shipdham is in Norfolk, which is one of the counties of England.

Shipdham

The whole of East Anglia was littered with bases in WW2 - it is perfect territory, being mostly flat farmland at low level...

[Thorlifter]

Thanks for sharing the story Trebor.

[A4K]

Yep, with TL!

[Njaco]

Cool story, Trebor!

[DBII]

Great story. I hope one day I can find out about my great uncle.

DBII

[evangilder]

You hit paydirt with your contacts. Persistence pays off. Great to hear that you found out about your great uncle.

[Trebor]

thank you, all! and yes, I did forget to say that Shipdham was IN Norfolk. XD my mistake ^^;

[Njaco]

Have you checked this site out?

Remembering World War Two Airmen: 44th Bomb Group, Shipdam, Today

[Trebor]

wow! that's a nice site, Njaco! I never saw it before when I been searchin' for the 44th BG

[Njaco]

The pictures left on the walls are pretty cool.

[Wayne Little]

great story thanks for sharing...

[Heinz]

Great stuff mate, thanks for sharing.

Glad you have made some great contacts

[Trebor]

oh yes, I'm glad, too! ^^ Captain Insley is in Illinois visiting some friends and family atm, so he'll be gone for a couple weeks or less. but ima be happy to talk to him again. c:

[Karl Sitts]

The story.


well, as some of you or none of you may know, I didn't know about my Great Uncle Rudolph Jandreau until one of my many aunts told me that he flew in B-24s. that's all I heard, and i had gotten a picture of him when I went to a family reunion up in Maine in '05. That's when I first heard of him. years later just in like October of '07 I asked my fathe if he knew what bomber group he was in. and he told me the 44th bombardment group. so I did a search on his name and the 44th bomb group tgether and found only ONE thing. and that was an interview with Captain George R. Insley. his former CO. so I copied it and pasted it into my Deviant Art. it's still there. it wasn't until 2 weeks ago I started getting into the 44th bomb group again, when I started downloading vintage photos of B-24s. just last Thursday I found this website called the 44th bombardment group veteran's association. 44th Bomb Group Veterans Association - Flying 8 balls, World War II Air Force, Shipdham England, 8th Air Force, 2nd Air Division, 14th Combat wing, 66th, 67th, 68th, and 506th and I had contacted the President of the website and the organization. I told him my name, and asked for some information. and he replied with everything but the freaking kitchen sink! He told me where he was stationed, which was in Shipdham, UK; near Norfolk. he told me the name of the B-24J, you can see her in my avatar and signature. he even gave me the email to his CO. Captain George R. Insley. god, I've never been so happy in my life. I was on the verge of crying, I was learning something about him. so I contacted George Insley, and he responded. oh boy, we hit it off pretty good. we exchanged addresses (he lives in Oregon! just south of me!) we exchanged phone numbers, he told me some awesome stories, he even sent me several photocopied pictures of the crew, and a CD that the 44th Veteran's association gave him. (he wants it back, so I copied it) I can get to that once I get a little bit of cash to get a bubble lined envelope. so yeah, I've been asking some people to build some Combat Flight Simulator scenery of the Shipdham airbase (I'd love to go visit there, someday) may have found someone, I dunno. and I'm thinking of asking someone to modify the stock B-24 to the 44th Bomb Group colors and design.

so yeah, you guys wanted the story!. hehe

Trebor

Rrebor, congrats! It's always fun to fill in family history!