ROWE MISSION #8 - 3 October, 1944, Tuesday

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John C. Rowe - Federal Service - World War II
MANY WORLD WAR II VETERANS ARE CLOSING OUR THEIR ACCOUNTS
IN THE GREAT BOOK OF LIFE. THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK IS TO
DESCRIBE FOR THE MEMBERS OF THIS CREW AND THEIR FAMILIES OR
ANY OTHERS INTERESTED IN HISTORY, THE FEDERAL SERVICE OF A
REPLACEMENT AIRCREW SERVING IN THE EIGHTH AIR FORCE,
EUROPEAN THEATRE OF OPERATIONS
In the spring of 1942, the fortunes of the British Isles
were very low. Britian was an island fortress and the landmass
and skies of Europe were under the iron heel of Hitler. The
Japanese were taking over the Far East, the Mediterranean was
mostly closed to Allied shipping, and in the Atlantic losses from
U-Boats were averaging 508,000 tons a month. In North Africa,
Rommel was poised for a decisive battle with the British Eighth
Army in the Western African desert. Supplies and reinforcements
were being routed on the long shipping lanes around South Africa
to the southern end of the Suez Canal. The Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 brought the United States into
the conflict, but in the Spring of 1942 when I first volunteered for
service, the recruitment, let alone deployment of weapons and
manpower had just begun. The lives, noble deeds, and simple
virtues of those sterling young men and courageous airmen who
did not attempt to evade service or campaign against federal
service and paid the ultimate price, deserve more than just a
passing memory. It is to them that these recollections are
affectionately dedicated.
John C. Rowe
4532 Maybank Avenue
Lakewood, CA 90712
562-423-9255
February 29, 1993
First revision made August 1996
Second revision made March, 1998
Third revision made May, 1999
Fourth revision made March, 2000
Fifth revision made June, 2001
Sixth revision made May, 2002
Seventh revision made June, 2004