HAROLD DAVID ANDREWS – 2nd Lieutenant, USAF, 671st Squadron 416th Bomb Group
On 17 January 1944, the 416th, along with 21 year old Andrews, boarded the 488-foot-long S.S. Colombie and left New York Harbor with a 150 ship convoy. Ten days later, rattled by motion sickness and German submarines, they arrived in Scotland and moved by train to Wethersfield in Essex—northeast of London. Utilizing Douglas A-20 Havoc aircraft (later replaced by A-26 and A-20-K), Andrews flew combat missions over France (including attacking German defensive positions in Normandy in advance of D Day) and later Germany. He witnessed many close colleagues being shot down. His own aircraft was shot numerous times but he managed to successfully complete his tour of 65 missions and returned to the US where he married his wartime sweetheart, Jackie Marshall.
Andrew’s addition to the book represents a convergence family friendship amidst the wider saga of WWII. My sister Mary De Vaux‘s inseperable friend Margaret McEvoy is a producer of some incredible WWII related documentaries which led me to informing her about the Log Book project. She responded by telling me about her late uncle, 1st Lt., pilot James P. Kenny, killed in action March 18,1945 with the 416th Bomb Group (L). McEvoy then nonchalantly informed me about her “involvement” (read chief cook and bottlewasher) with 416th reunions. Thus it was that at a reunion of the 416th in September 2017 in Washington DC, Andrews graciously agreed to sign:
http://www.416th.com/Reunions/2017Reunion.html
https://www.416th.com/…/671…/PreciousLetters.pdf
Coincidentally in attendance from the UK was guest speaker, Ross Stewart, curator of the Wethersfield Airfield Museum Wethersfield, England; the site of the first overseas 416th Bomb Group base. At some point McEvoy realised that Stewart’s enthusiasm for the Museum would transcend to the Log Book. Indeed Stewart readily agreed to carry the Log Book back to the UK where the next appointment awaited. His involvement since that date has been monumental. The European signatures would simply not have happened without his invaluable assistance. The September 2017 – 416th reunion was indeed a watershed moment for the Log Book and I am indebted to McEvoy and Stewart for their sterling assistance.
See also 416th Bomb Group Archive
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