Goodwill tour of United States

Goodwill tour of United States

Top left - newspaper article 'RAF Bombers on mass ocean flight'. States that 16 Lancasters landed at Mitchel Field on first leg of goodwill tour of United States. The 35 Squadron planes carried their own ground crew and all flyers were veterans of attacks on Germany. Met by General George Stratemeyer. Mentions led by Wing Commander John Craig who participated in 66 wartime operations. Flew from Graveley to Gander and will go in stages to Long Beach California. Top right - photograph of air and ground crew standing in line by Lancaster TW872. Below right - Lancaster over airfield with runway going bottom right middle right. Middle left - three men in swimming trunks eating fruit. In the background another man and two storey building. Middle right - air-to-ground view of airfield with runways. Machine gun muzzle visible on left. Bottom left - Arthur Pearce in front of wooden house. Bottom right - air-to-air view of Lancaster.

1946-07

One newspaper cutting and six b/w photographs mounted on an album page

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16 RAF Bombers Here In Mass Ocean Flight
By JOHN HUGHES
In what the Army calls the first mass military flight across the Atlantic, 16 four-engined Lancaster bombers landed at Mitchel Field at 4 P.M. yesterday on the first leg of a good will tour of the United States.
The planes, which comprised Squadron 35 of the RAF, will fly over New York City today at 1:20 P.M.
The Squadron carried its own ground crews, bringing in all 207 officers and men in the 16 bombers.

All Bomb-Run Veterans.
The fliers, all veterans of the great bombing attacks on Germany, were greeted at Mitchel Field by Lieut. Gen. George E. Stratemeyer.
Stratemeyer said he was happy to greet the men who had worked together around the clock with our air forces in crushing Nazism.
Today the planes will fly out over the Atlantic a short way, then head inland over Staten Island and Manhattan, passing over the Empire State Building at 2,500 feet in the early afternoon.
They will proceed to the Bronx, then circle back over Queens and Brooklyn before returning to Mitchel Field.

Head West Sunday.
Wing Comdr. Allan John Craig, 23, who participated in 66 wartime operations, led the group in yesterday. The planes took off from Graveley, Hereford, England, last week, and have been at Gander Bay, Newfoundland, for servicing the last few days.
Leaving here Sunday, they will [advert] fly in short stages across the country to the Long Beach Army Air Base, in California, where they will have the honor [sic] position in the Army Air Forces revue over Los Angeles in celebration of Air Forces Day on Aug. 1.
(Picture in center [sic] fold)

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