I forgot I'd subscribed to your channel, I think I did after trying to find out more about Headcorn aerodrome in Kent. I love the way you get the map to transition between the new and old. I'll have to watch more from now on 👍
My uncle, Willis Steburg, was a Sergeant with the 44th Bomb Group based at Shipdham. He was a ball turret gunner on a B-24called "Toad." He flew 22 combat missions, and had 2 confirmed kills. He was shot down in April 1944 during a raid on a railroad marshalling yard near the French/Swiss border. He was one of 3 men that bailed out, the last to go. One of the waist gunners reached a wooded hilly area and evaded capture. My uncle was badly burned, and the tail gunner had a broken ankle, so they could not evade. They were sent to a Luftwaffe hospital for treatment. after they recovered, they were sent to a POW camp in Poland. They were liberated by the British army in March 1945. I lived with him the first three years of my life until my dad could afford to buy his own home. As I got older I became very interested in WW2, especially the air campaign. But my uncle would never discuss the war, and what he did. I guess he wanted to forget it. He passed away in 1991at 73.I had hoped one day to visit RAF Shipdham as a tribute to him. I'm sad at the thought that will never happen now.
