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8th Air Force

   
 
       
 

305th Bomb Group
September 1942
to
July 1943

    

 

364th Squadron

365th Squadron

366th Squadron

422nd Squadron *

Arriving at the beginning of the 8th Air Force build-up in the European theatre Sept. 1942, 1st Lt. Sherwood was an Operations Officer with the 305th Bomb Group and the 422nd Squadron under then Lt. Col. Curtis E. LeMay. There they became friends and remained the same even as the events of war altered their original association in the 305th.

* denotes Lt Sherwood's squadron


381st Bomb Group
July 1943
to
13.4.44 (date shotdown)


532nd Squadron


532nd Squadron


534th Squadron


535th Squadron *

At the beginning of July 1943 he transferred to the newly arrived 381st Bomb Group (July '43) to assist in flying with various new pilots and their crews in combat. It was doing such that he and Lt. Lee Smith became close friends and flew the "Bermondsey Battler" together in the 535th Squadron. During "Big Week" Day 3 22.2.44, the B-17G "Bermondsey Battler", (AC/42-39895) MACR 2935, was shotdown by Luftwaffe pilot Gunter Specht. Pilots Smith and Evans (Evans in for Sherwood) and all the crewmen perished near Detmold, Germany. Lt. Sherwood had been unexpectedly pulled from flight that day to be a witness for the prosecution at a military court martial trial.

* denotes Lt Sherwood's squadron

 

______

“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
Leonardo Da Vinci

 

__________

The ARCHIVES

ORGANIZATION
and
INTERFACING SOFTWARE DESIGN
 
 

Archival material and resources are accessed via an HTML interface on a dedicated desktop device. There a researcher easily traverse a variety of documents and document formats to learn more about how the thread of 1st Lt. Sherwood weaves through the global events that are consuming him and his fellow airmen in their service to America and the American values.
 
Click below for MORE details.
Brochure Overview of Archives - Adobe PDF

Archive Organization Flow- Adobe PDF

 

 

 

       
 

The Cadet
Early years

The Pilot
World War II

The Veteran
Post World War II

  

 

 

 

  
 

Source: TPS Archives - Bennett, Lowell, I.N.S. correspondent, “Johnstown Airman Tells of Last Bombing Mission”, Johnstown Tribute Democrat newspaper, Johnstown, PA USA date unknown.
    

 

The Combatant

The Combat
Target: Schweinfurt Germany ball bearing plants 13.4.44
Personal Mission No. - 25

The Kriegie
Stalag Luft I, on the Baltic Sea, Pomerania

  

No longer instructing in blind landings using Lorenz directional equipment, transferred to the 381st Bomb Group at Ridgewell, Sherwood goes on regular combat duty and is shotdown on the last mission, his 25th, he needed to return to the states and complete his service. With the invasion on 8th Command ordered a new requirement of 30 missions. before going stateside. The Germany saw to it that he would do only 25.

Above - 1st Lt. T.P. Sherwood Deputy Division Leader 1st Combat Division, 1st Combat Wing, 381st Bombardment Group Heavy (H) fourth
B-17 from left responding to the 1st of several hits - this one - loss the of the # 3 engine as he is his by flak.

German prisoner of war camp. 1st Lt. T.P. Sherwood is interrred 13 months, develops tuberculosis, gastric ulcers and by early winter 1945 when the Gestapo assume command of the POW camp, from the Luftwaffe, he experiences severe starvation.

  

 

   

THE REMEMBERANCE

THE HONORED

The retired 1st Lt. Sherwood founded the 381st Memorial Bomb Group Association in 1975 with a call in the Air Force Magazine to organize. The first Intercom was produced via mimeograph machine and in the stated purposes for formation listed -
"III. To plan a suitable memorial to be placed at Ridgewell Aerodrome in memory of those lost overseas and those who have died since we departed Ridgewell." The project was supported by the growing membership, funded, designed, and dedicated at the 381st's old base in Ridgewell, England in 1982.

1st Lt. Thomas Paxton Sherwood on the granite wall at the Court of Valor, Prospect Hill Cemetery York, PA, USA.

 

 

 

EXPLORE UNIT IDENTITIES
with "PATCHES" > MORE

 

 

 

 

 
     

 

 

 

About

  

Mission

  

Contact

The 1st Lt. T.P. Sherwood Archives were organized just after his death in 2006. This very comprehensive material legacy provides a rich and unique beginning for the study of our history in the America Strategic Air War efforts - Europe 1941 - 1945.

They comprise ~ 75 cu. ft. The documents, diaries, albums, military papers, maps, and correspondence are in the process of being digitized either by scanning(PDF) or transcribed (MSWord doc/text) for access via an HTML model interface. To date that amounts to several thousand documents.



  

The 1st Lt. T.P. Sherwood Archives and Research Center is being designed and developed to establish a permanent location for the collection, sharing, and study of his material archives as they pertain to the American Strategic Air War effort 1941 - 1945. These primary historical sources need perserving and sharing. Using 1st Lt. Sherwood's personal story as a guide, his archives provide a very personal thread to follow through the massive fabric of World War II historical events.

Establishing the center will physically connect the historical material, with a staff of dedicated facilitators, to assist everyone in constructing historical knowledge with an understading of the American committment to freedom.

 

John W. Sherwood,
Steward, Senior Archivist
email: jsherwood@zerosum.com
PA USA

 

 

Copyright 2009-2024 1st Lt. Thomas Paxton Sherwood Family. All Rights Reserved
All other material is property of the respective copyright holders. .

 

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