Of all the documents and pictures my father left, this one is probably the most meaningful. The original picture didn’t have any names on it and we had no idea who these gentlemen were. In 2016, as we were going through boxes and boxes of family photos, we came across a Xerox copy of this picture and my father had written names beside each of these men. He had never discussed his crew or the aftermath of that awful Christmas Day, but many years later he was compelled to put names to the faces. He never mentioned it; he just left it for us to find long after he was gone.
Because Robert Lewis and R.T. Gamby are in the shot, and also, the tents and mud, we can identify it as the airfield in Foggia Main, Italy. Additionally, because of Lt. Robert Lewis and Cpl. R.T. Gamby, we can date it somewhere between September and November, 8, 1944. When the Rains-Crew arrived in Italy, they were on a wait list for a new plane and were teamed up with pilot Lewis and waist gunner Gamby. In November, 1944, the Rains-Crew received their plane, B-17G, 42-44-6631.
Of the men pictured, five were part of the original and final Rains-Crew: T. Sgt. Earl O. Wellborn, T. Sgt. Zelah G. McBride, S. Sgt. Walter R. West, S. Sgt. David R. McCleary, S. Sgt. George A. Roggenbuck. Of these five men, only Sgt. Wellborn survived. On Christmas day, 1944, their plane was shot down over Brux, Czechoslovakia.