My father Lt. Ernest Anders Erickson (2nd photograph below - in center marked red dot) with the 334th Squadron of the 95th Bomb Group was photographed along other airmen and ground crew on September 7th, 1944 at Horham Airfield in England. Army 8th Air Corpsmen used bombs to write "200" on airfield, celebrating completion of the 95th's 200th mission.

The article below was published in the Washington DC Star in October of 1944 entitled: 'Truesdell's Bombers Fete 200th Reich Raid." I hope to someday find a better copy of this article, as this one is fairly unreadable. I will transcribe the article soon and post the text here.

General Karl Truesdell was commander of the 95th Bomb Group in 1943 and 1944.

Ernest and crew flew aboard the 'Lili of the Lamplight' (44-6085) on their final mission on August 26th, 1944. It was the 95th Bomb Group's 199th mission. His 35th mission was completed over Brest, France.

Specifics of the August 26th, 1944 mission:
359 B-17s are dispatched to attack gun batteries in the Brest, France area; targets are the bridge at Brest/Pont de St Mathieu and coastal batteries at Kerandieu, Cornovailles, Brest/Ile Longue, Brest/Kerviniov and Brest/Ponscorf. The targets of opportunity were the bridges at Brest/Point des Espagnoles II and Brest/Pont des Espagnoles III. 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 4 others are damaged in different degrees. 18 airmen are Killed in Action. The escort is provided by 49 P-51s and 1 P-51 was lost.

Ernest piloted Twelve B-17s during his many months at Horham: Lili of the Lamplight (44-6085) Taint A Bird II (230342) * Fireball Red (231876) Able Mable (231920) * Mirandy (231992) * Gen'ril Oop & Lili Brat (231993) To Hell Or Glory (238123) * Ten Aces (238178) * Smilin' Sandy Sanchez (297290) Paisano (2102450) * Stand By / Goin' My Way (21072014) The Doodle Bug / What’s Cookin? (2107047) * To Hell Or Glory (238123)

By the time of this photo, Ernest had completed his 35 missions and was awaiting orders on a transfer he had requested to fly the B-29 Superfortress. He continued on at Horham flying repaired and newly arrived B-17s, checking them for combat duty. He was happy to stay in country and his days of combat flying were over. By the end of 1944 he moved onto his next assignment in the states.