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On September 7th, 2014, the 95th Bomb Group celebrated a reunion at Horham Airfield in England. I grew up with the photograph of the 95th Bomb Group's airmen and ground crew using bombs to write "200" on airfield on the wall of our home as I grew up. The men were celebrating completion of the 95th's 200th mission. My father Lt. Ernest Anders Erickson (in center of photo marked with red dot) was with the 334th Squadron of the 95th Bomb Group. The photograph was taken on September 7, 1944 and Lt. Erickson had completed his 35th Mission (95th's #199) on August 26th, 1944 aboard the B-17 'Stand By / Goin' My Way' (42-1072014) over Brest, France. Lili of the Lamplight (44-6085)Taint A Bird II (42-30342) * Fireball Red (42-31876) Able Mable (42-31920) * Mirandy (42-31992) * Gen'ril Oop & Lili Brat (42-31993) To Hell Or Glory (42-38123) * Ten Aces (42-38178) * Smilin' Sandy Sanchez (42-97290) Paisano (42-102450) * Stand By / Goin' My Way (42-1072014) The Doodle Bug / What’s Cookin? (42-107047) By the time of this photo, Lt. Erickson had completed his 35 missions and was awaiting orders on a transfer he had requested to fly the B-29 Super Fortress. He continued on at Horham flying repaired and newly arrived B-17s, checking them for combat. Happy to stay in England and fly over the scenic safe landscape of the English countryside, he had mixed emotions that his days of combat flying may be over, yet awaited the possibility of where he might be flying next. By the end of the year he moved onto his next assignment. Lt. Erickson's last mission out of England was completed on August 26, 1944, a mission over Brest, France. Specifics of the mission: 359 B-17s are dispatched to attack gun batteries in the Brest, France area. The targets are the bridge at Brest/Pont de St Mathieu (35) and coastal batteries at Kerandieu (27), Cornovailles (21), Brest/Ile Longue (20), Brest/Kerviniov (9) and Brest/Ponscorf (7). Targets of opportunity are the bridges at Brest/Point des Espagnoles II (21) and Brest/Pont des Espagnoles III (18). 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 4 damaged. 18 airmen are killed in action. The escort is provided by 49 P-51s and 1 P-51 is lost. Click to view a High Resolution image 
Click to view a High Resolution image 
© Mark Erickson 2018 All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be republished without permission. Contact via Email @ Mark Erickson or visit his website @ http://markerickson.com/Family_History Links are encouraged. Return to Ernest Erickson Page 1 | Return to Ernest Erickson Page 2 | Return to Ernest Erickson Page 3 h o m e |