Just days before D-Day, June 6th, 1944, Lt. Erickson and crew completed a mission aboard the B-17 'Paisano' (42-102450) over Paris (Acheres), France. He mentioned with excitement viewing from the cockpit the Arch of Triumph and the Seine, which he had anticipated with serious interest.

Acheres is a commune in the Yvelines district in north-central France. It is located not far from Paris on the south bank of the Seine in a loop of the river, on the edge of the Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

My father Lt. Ernest Anders Erickson kept many things from his years in the Air Corps. It's a truly amazing collection of photographs, documents, equipment and hundreds of letters and postcards. He often sent home things to his folks in Bismarck, North Dakota between 1942 and 1945, his years in the Air Corps. In late 1943 through 1945 he piloted various planes and after his combat flying became a flight instructor.

From February through October 1944 Ernest Anders piloted B-17s out of Horham Airfield in England with the 95th Bomb Group (Heavy) on thirty five missions over German occupied Europe.

His parents Clara and Frank Erickson kept everything safe and sound that they received for decades. My dad retrieved much of the collection and I certainly enjoyed seeing the photographs whenever I had the opportunity. After my father passed in 2013 I began to seriously delve into this incredible archive. Much of it I have already posted here on this site.

Along the way of archiving my father's collection I came across a thick envelope of 'The Stars and Stripes' newspapers that contained thirty copies dating from March 29th through August 28th, 1944. These dates coincide with Ernest Anders thirty five missions that he and crew accomplished between March 27th and their final and 35th mission on August 26th, 1944.

Below are details of my father's 19th mission on June 2nd, 1944 over Paris, France (Acheres). Also a photograph below that Lt. Erickson snapped in August of 1944 at Tortorella Airfield (Foggia Satellite No. 2) in Italy.

The last image below shows a sad sack JU-88 Luftwaffe bomber laying flat and abandoned by the Germans as they grabbed what they could months before and began a hasty retreat north from Italy. The bomber sits in the farmer's field like a lost ship at sea and caught my father's eye as he and some crew members drove around Foggia in a jeep stopping occasionally at the Luthwaffe's leave-behinds. He and crew along with the 334th Squadron were in the midst of a shuttle mission run that would take them to the Ukraine's Poltava Airfield and four missions over Poland, Romania and France.

The front page of The Stars and Stripes Newspaper dated June 3rd, 1944 reported the previous days 8th Air Force bombing missions over Europe and the 8ths first shuttle flight from England to the Ukraine's Poltava Airfield. Other operations in multiple theaters of the war are also noted. Lt. Erickson and crew flying the B-17 'Paisano' (42-102450) contributed along with the 334th Squadron on the Paris mission.

The headline reads:
U.S. Heavies Hit Europe, Go To Soviet
Wounded Flier Beats Fire Out With Hands
Calais Gets Biggest Blow of War
U.S. Russian Fighters Escort The First Shuttle Bombers
Yanks Capture Velletri & Valmontone
Tanks Thrust Blocks Nazi Escape Line
Guerilla War; Hitler's Plan For The Finish

Mission #19 - June 2nd, 1944
aboard the B-17 - 'Paisano' (42-102450)
B-17 received “major” battle damage
Paris, France (Acheres)

Mission details:

The role of the heavy bombers from the 2nd through the 5th of June 1944 was in preparation for the invasion of Normandy on June 6th. The missions included the continuation of attacks against transportation and airfield targets in Northern France and the institution of a series of blows against coastal defenses, mainly located in the Pas de Calais coastal area, to deceive the enemy as to the sector to be invaded (Operation Cover).

In the morning of June 2nd 521 of 633 B-17s and 284 of 293 B-24s hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area. 11 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is killed in action, 1 wounded in action and 1 missing in action.

In the afternoon, 242 B-17s are dispatched to railroad targets in the Paris area. 163 hit the primaries, 49 hit Conches Airfield, 12 hit Beaumont-sur-Oise Airfield and 1 hits Caen/Carpiquet Airfield.

77 B-24s are dispatched to Bretigny Airfield in France. 13 hit the primary target, 47 hit Creil Airfield and 14 hit Villeneuve Airfield. 2 B-17s and 5 B-24s are lost, 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 90 B-17s and 37 B-24s are damaged. 1 airman is killed in action, 4 wounded in action and 68 are missing in action. 3 of 7 P-38s hit the Ostend Bridge, Belgium without loss. 3 B-17s fly weather reconnaissance over the Atlantic.

During the evening, 5 B-17s drop leaflets on targets in Belgium and France and 18 B-24s fly Carpetbagger operations.

Operation Carpetbagger was the aerial supply of weapons and other material to Resistance fighters in France, Italy and the Low Countries by the 8th Air Force that began in January of 1944.