George B. Rowe

George B. Rowe served during a historical period in World War II in the 547 Squadron, 384th Bomb Group, 41st Wing 8th Air Force. He helped halt enemy production. Rowe was one of the few who were fortunate to have survived his many missions along with the crew who he started with as well.

Rowe did not enlist until the age of 26 in 1942, which was considered to be late, but it wasn’t his first career choice. He was in the New York National Guard for two years from 1937-1939, then he went to work as a firefighter in the FDNY from 1939-1942. After a discussion with his wife, Rowe enlisted due to the many men he knew who were going to fight. He was a family man. Rowe’s wife and their daughter at the time were nearby during his training before his departure. This not only helped his spirits but the spirits of his crew – so much so, that they even named their B-17 “Princess Patty” after Rowe’s daughter!

After enlisting in the Air Force, Rowe would spend 35 hours training that ended with a flight test. He would start as a copilot before becoming a pilot. When Rowe became a B-17 pilot, he received a crew which consisted of ten men. Rowe and his men traveled by train cross country from Tennessee to the East Coast. His crew flew overseas and landed in June of 1944 in Scotland. Their base was RAF Grafton Underwood. From here, they would fly a total of 35 missions in 75 days!

On the day of a mission, Rowe would have a 3 AM wakeup, a 3:30 pilot briefing, breakfast, and a crew briefing, followed by a flight line-up by 6 AM. During the briefings, he would be assigned a plane, told where it would be in the flight line, who would follow, and position/formation that they would fly in. The mission’s targets were of much importance to the Central Powers, transportation, railroads, oil industries, steel works industries; they were all in Central Power territories, Poland, Germany, and France. It was an essential part of the War to decimate these vital sources of the Central Powers in hopes to halt progression of the War.

Rowes’ plane along with others going up for the mission would be accompanied halfway to their targets by their fighter plane escorts. After that halfway mark, their B-17s had no more protection and would have to fight enemy fighters if encountered. This did normally happen, due to where the targets were and having to get within a ten-mile radius, to make sure they hit their target.

The worst missions Rowe and his crew would go on were to Merseburg Germany, which they targeted on three different occasions. Those targets were the same each time, an oil, and chemical plant. The conditions endured on these missions were long hours – as many as ten hours at most. Rowe recalled it being very cold; their flight suits were heated, and they needed oxygen masks depending on the altitudes. An interesting memory he recalled was that, when the plane hit the altitude of 16,000 feet, they could enjoy a cigarette!

Before Rowe’s military discharge in November 1945, many pilots still overseas were tasked with Project 75: a 26-day Foreign Transport Mission to Hawaii, Guam, Okinawa, Japan Manila, China and India. He was a part of this group of transport pilots flying wounded men from areas of operations to hospitals.

After the war, Rowe spent his time in the Reserve for a while, while also being a part of veteran groups, like the 8th Air Force Historical Society. He continued flying for a bit as he did love it very much. Rowe ended up back as a firefighter until retiring. Service for him was an experience that brought relationships, scary times, and many casualties. But Rowe said, “Thank God that I was doing what I was doing.” He enjoyed his time in service.

Rowe received various medals from his time served, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, 6 Air Medals, the European-African-Middle Campaign Medal with 2 Battle Stars, the Asiatic Pacific Theater Ribbon, the WWII Victory Medal and the Royal Air Force Medal.

George Barron Rowe Sr. died peacefully on January 15, 2012, at the age of 95.

Additional Resource:

• 384th Bomb Group – Rowe, George B