RainsCrew.com was established in 2006. It eventually became obsolete and then it crashed. Now, in 2016, I’m rebuilding it with new photos and documents. This may take awhile but I intend to construct a source of reference for anyone related to the Rains Crew or anyone with an interest in this subject matter. B.R. |
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I am the daughter of Claude Lavon Rains, or, as I preferred to call him, Daddy.
My siblings and I listened to Daddy tell his stories about the war. These were short anecdotes, told the same way every time; small, historical moments, wrapped in Daddy’s inimitable, humorous, story-telling style. Little bits of history that never told the whole story. By the time I was mature enough to wonder about the important parts that Daddy never mentioned, I was too busy and self-involved to ask the questions. Then Daddy died and it was too late to ask the questions. When he volunteered for duty, my father was just 20 years old. At 21, he was an officer and aircraft commander responsible for the lives and performance of eight “kids” in his crew. As very young men, this crew flew across the Atlantic to a base in Foggia Main, Italy and flew 25 to 30 long distance bombing runs over Eastern Europe. Five of the nine crew members bailed out of a burning plane over Czechoslovakia. Four did not. The five survivors were captured separately in enemy territory by the local gendarme, turned over to the German military, interrogated, then transported 364 miles to a German prisoner of war camp near the Baltic Sea – Stalag Luft 1. Looking at it from the standpoint of their youth and inexperience really put things in perspective. My father was the oldest son of a large, poor family made poorer by the Great Depression and the loss of their father when Daddy was 16. As the oldest, Daddy had to work hard and assume the mantle of responsibility to his mother and siblings. When the opportunity to attend Sul Ross University was presented, he had his ticket to success and freedom. It was probably the first decision he ever made that was self-serving. He learned to fly at Sul Ross. A stockman’s son, from a farm on the Rio Grande, had a license that offered opportunities beyond his wildest dreams. I believe that he experienced the first real joy of his life when he joined the Army Air Corp. Unlike growing up poor in a small community, he was only judged by his personal successes and respected for his accomplishments. The sense of self-satisfaction probably ended after his first bombing mission. After the loss of his plane and four crewmen and the time served at Stalag Luft 1, I think that the sense of accomplishment had turned to one of disillusionment. Years later, my eyes were opened – wide – when I heard him express some very strong, very liberal, anti-war opinions. The war years encompassed the most ecstatic, dramatic, traumatic, events of his life and, for that reason, I felt I had to know more about them Contained emotions, driven to succeed rather than participate – I’ve come to better understand Daddy through the research I did after his death. Revelations about the war years didn’t answer all the questions but they did bring to mind events and conversations and gave me a better understanding of his emotional makeup and reactions. The following pages are, for the most part, self-explanatory. I’ve added personal notes to some sections based on additional information from other sources. Information on the internet is almost unlimited. Sometimes I didn’t find what I was looking for but I always found something pertinent. Starting out with one objective usually resulted in hours of following new, exciting trails of information. I’ve included some websites that will enlarge on the information here and give you a starting point if you choose to investigate further. This is just the first edition of this information. I rushed to compile what’s here, in time for the 61st Anniversary of Daddy’s plane being shot down – Christmas Day, 1944. Bonni Rains
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