WW2 Era Letter Written by B-17 Pilot. He mentions the tragic loss of two friends in a B-17 Crash.
Article about: This letter was written by a Walter William Thorne. He was born on February 8th 1922 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. During the war, he would enlist into the Army Air Force and would go on to
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WW2 Era Letter Written by B-17 Pilot. He mentions the tragic loss of two friends in a B-17 Crash.
![WW2 Era Letter Written by B-17 Pilot. He mentions the tragic loss of two friends in a B-17 Crash.](https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/attachments/docs-paper-items-photos-propaganda/1755943d1730471548t-ww2-era-letter-written-b-17-pilot-he-mentions-tragic-loss-two-friends-b-17-crash-handwritten_2024-07-16_144708.jpg?s=6878029bce0fa3aa3181d162db3bb00c)
This letter was written by a Walter William Thorne. He was born on February 8th 1922 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. During the war, he would enlist into the Army Air Force and would go on to serve with the 612th Bomb Squadron, 401st Bomb Group, and would Pilot the B-17 Flying Fortress. This letter was written early on while Walter was still training in the states in February 1944. At this time, he was assigned to the 488th Bomb Group. He was writing to his brother, Daniel, who was also in the Army Air Forces in training. Daniel would go on to serve with the 40th Bomb Group as a turret gunner on a B-29 serving in the pacific.
The letter reads:
“ Tuesday
Feb 29
“Payday”
“Dear Dan,”
I received both the card and the letter you sent me ok. I’m sorry I don’t get to write often but I don’t get much time to do any writing.
I’m glad to hear you are making out so well in your clucks. But you had better try a little harder in Navigation and bring your average up to at least a high 25%. I never liked groundschool either while in the cadets. My 20/20 vision helped a lot. As for cadet honor, well the groundschool had the honor and we cadets had the system.
Boy your flying time is really building up. Keep up the good work and stay on the ball and you’ll be there in no time. Primary goes pretty fast and Basic seems to slow down a little and Advance really drags. But before you know it you’ll be there and will have a lot of pleasant memories.
Another B17 in our outfit went down last night killing all but one Sgt. When they found him, he was going back and forth in the ship crying chute. Evidently when he was in the air, he tried to either find his chute or help others. It is a wonder any of them came out alive. The pilot and co-pilot were both very good friends of mine.
I’ll write soon again Dan but so long for now,
Walt. “
Walt would go on to fly 40 missions over France and Germany from August 1944 to January 1945. Walter would survive the war and would pass away on September 17th 1969 aged 47. I have other letters from Walter I will post at a later time.
![WW2 Era Letter Written by B-17 Pilot. He mentions the tragic loss of two friends in a B-17 Crash.](https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/attachments/docs-paper-items-photos-propaganda/1755944d1730471578t-ww2-era-letter-written-b-17-pilot-he-mentions-tragic-loss-two-friends-b-17-crash-handwritten_2024-07-16_144812.jpg?s=6878029bce0fa3aa3181d162db3bb00c)
![WW2 Era Letter Written by B-17 Pilot. He mentions the tragic loss of two friends in a B-17 Crash.](https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/attachments/docs-paper-items-photos-propaganda/1755945d1730471599t-ww2-era-letter-written-b-17-pilot-he-mentions-tragic-loss-two-friends-b-17-crash-handwritten_2024-07-16_144859.jpg?s=6878029bce0fa3aa3181d162db3bb00c)
![WW2 Era Letter Written by B-17 Pilot. He mentions the tragic loss of two friends in a B-17 Crash.](https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/attachments/docs-paper-items-photos-propaganda/1755946d1730471629t-ww2-era-letter-written-b-17-pilot-he-mentions-tragic-loss-two-friends-b-17-crash-handwritten_2024-07-16_144945.jpg?s=6878029bce0fa3aa3181d162db3bb00c)
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Hi JB.
Very interesting letter, thank you for sharing it with us. The bit about the Sgt crying 'chute' was pretty sad and I wonder if he went to to join another crew, or if he was sent home after such an event.
Kind regards,
Will.
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Hey Will,
My pleasure. It definitely was sad. And I had wondered the same thing. I tried to find additional information on him but was unable to find any.
Good day,
JB
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