THE GROUND CREW MEN

The flying crews were awakened at four o'clock, and sometimes earlier, for pre-flight briefing, so that the Navigators and Bombardiers could prepare and study the flight path to the target, and the flak map of the target area.

The ground crew men who maintained the base and made the airplanes available for flight worked through the night. There was a ratio of three ground crew men to one aircrew member. The ground crew men worked in Ordnance, Armament, Engineering, Communications, Weather, Motor pool, Mess Hall, Photo, Military
Police, and Radar sections. The ground crew members did not receive an Air Medal or The Distinguished Flying Cross. Their contributions exceeded the award of flying medals. There would be no victory without the services provided by these men.