LATEST KASSEL MISSION NEWS

Peter Barton who, with his wife Cathy, attended the 75thKassel Mission Memorial Tribute in Friedlos, Germany. Peter and Cathy joined 5 other Americans in a visit to Norwich in the United Kingdom to tour the Tibenham airbase. Eric Radcliffe, Steve Hewitt and Eric Bean - all from the Norfolk area - hosted the group and also joined the larger group in Germany the following week.

The 75th Anniversary of the Kassel Mission was a memorable one. It has been 15 years (2004) since as many came from the US to join in the annual tribute, which is conducted every yearon 9/27 by our German colleagues.

It is with sorrow and a heavy heart that I share with you all the dreadful news that Eberhard Haelbig has passed away. He passed the morning of November 12th, at his home in Eisenach, Germany with his wife Leona and daughter Sophia by his side. He always referred to them both as his “golden girls”.

Today, on behalf of the Kassel Mission Historical Society we honor, once again, our Veterans both past and present.  Though our mission is to perpetuate the memory of those that served in the Kassel Mission, we are among many organizations that exist to recognize and/ or support Veterans.

Guten Morgen meinen Damen und Herren.  Mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut, des halb muss ich heute auf Englisch sprechen. On behalf of KMHS, I would like to share our thank you to the community of Friedlos, Burgermeister Hagemann, and all the Families here today to remember and honor those who sacrificed here 75 years ago today…

We got dressed and went to mess hall for breakfast in the dark, then to briefing. It was a long path to the mess hall. There wasn’t much talking. I never ate much breakfast. I should have...

<p>To honor the 75^th anniversary of the Kassel Mission, we take a look at what occurred on the Kassel Mission in detail over the next few weeks…&nbsp;0230: Wake Up Call

”Awakened to fly at 4:00 and it was a bad morning to crawl out of the sack—rainy and cold but went thru everything…”

"Home by Christmas?" Not likely. Up to this point, even the generals had been talking about finishing up the war in the ETO by Christmas. Not any more…

Flying through Belgium, we were over enemy territory only two hours. The more I fly these missions, the more anxious I am to complete my tour…

Today was a red letter day. For the 1st time in the ETO, I flew a “pleasure” mission. Our group has turned unoperational for a while as we are hauling supplies to France…

On September 27, 1944, my crew of nine guys crawled out of bed about 3 in the morning and headed for the flight line…

Earlier in September, we’d landed on a 2,700 foot grass field. Normally we had 6,000 feet of tarmac. On that mission to Hamm, Germany, we’d put on our oxygen masks as we crossed the Channel and began to rise above 11,000 feet...

September nights weren’t as peaceful once the Germans began firing V-2 rockets at England on September 9. They hit at the rate of six per night, with the first target being London…

Twelve-year-old Walter Hassenpflug loved airplanes. He belonged to the Hitler Youth modeling club that got together one evening a week at the museum center to build replicas of German, American and RAF planes.&nbsp;He knew them all and could identify them down to their divisions when they flew overhead. He didn’t know about the secret <em>Sturmgruppen…</em>