Mr. Ron Leigh
52 Grosvenor Way
Horwich, BL 6 6DJ
England
Dear Mr. Carleton,
I was honored and grateful to receive you letter which was very welcome, your account of the ball turret accident was most interesting, also your account of the characters in the 351st Squadron and the fire crew served to perpetuate the memory of their sacrifices back then. I have always been interested in aerial machines since my Dad took me to a local airport when I was a small boy, I am now 35 years old and still very interested. However in 1987 when I was on holiday in Great Yarmouth I saw an advertisement leaflet for a 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum, my wife came with me and we eventually navigated through a series of small country roads and eventually came across the disused flying field of Thorpe Abbotts, the effect on seeing the control tower in the distance was profound – one could imagine how it used to be and the atmosphere was ghostly and since then I have been hooked on the exploits of the Century Bombers.
I am well aware of the losses of the 100th and the 8th Air Force as a whole – particularly when one visits the American Cemetery at Madingley. I get particularly moved when I see the photo of Lt. Tom Murphy who flew in Piccadilly Lily and his crew – he manages to make a happy smile in the face of uncertainty, this is all the more poignant when you learn he went down with his crew in October 43, his loss and the sacrifice of countless others are remembered today due to the foresight of Mike Harvey and the 100th Bomb Group Museum.
I am sending you two photos I took at the re-union in July 1992, going to the re-union was the best thing I ever did – it put me in touch with veterans of the 100th – some of whom have become close friends and the friendships have mushroomed since then – I have met most of the Wolfe crew of the Boeing Belle at the Arkansas re-union in 1993, I had a great time and hopefully I will attend the 1997 re-union in Salt Lake if time and money allows. In July this year at the old base I got Cowboy Roane on videotape and it turned out pretty good, I have lots of video footage of the B-17 Sally B at airshows and other WW2 aircraft filmed at Duxford Museum, if you would like a copy of the best shots just let me know.(however you would need to convert the tape to the US NTSC video format which might cost $20-30)
Anyhow I intend to get more interviews of 100th veterans recounting their war time stories as it is part of history and is also very interesting. Edgar Smith told me that he saw a B-17 doing a one or two engine buzz job and he said it may have been Frank Valesh, a chap I have met called Steven Carr has built a 1/6 scale flying model of Hang the Expense, unfortunately he crashed it at a model makers airshow at York in September – he has said he will rebuild it for next year, I told him that Frank Valesh would have been proud of him, one for painting his model in his markings and two for wrecking it!
I would very much like to attend an airshow in New York State at corn airstrip called Geneseo, it is the best bet to see most of the States surviving flyable B-17’s of which there are about 8 – 9 with a couple more in the restoration process, I think the Flying Fort is one of the most beautiful flying machines ever built despite it being a weapon of war. I have already seen Texas Raiders close up at Ellington field in Houston in 93 but would like to see all the rest including Sentimental Journey, Nine 0 Nine at that airshow – on day I will make it. My wife Andrea and our five year old daughter Megan, went to Florida in May, I was fortunate to go to Kissimmee airport where there is a warbird museum where they rebuild mainly B-25’s, they are also rebuilding a B-17 called the Outhouse Mouse, it was real interesting seeing the completed centre section, wings, vertical stabilizer and horizontal stabilizer, they were starting on the forward fuselage and cockpit which was in it junk original state – it is amazing what they can achieve and it was most impressive.
Anyhow, Sir I think I have rambled on quite enough, you veterans are highly respected over here, and if you are ever in the neighborhood you would be most welcome to come and visit us, we live exactly 238 miles from the old base, not far from Manchester, which is our nearest city,
All the Best and thank you,
Ron Leigh
