A History of the 38th Bombardment Group (M) 1940-1946, by John Hank Henry

Published by MA/AH publishing (Kansas) in 1978, 48 pages. Spiral bound booklet - c.21cm by 28cm (A43WWSO)

Contents and page numbering on one side only.

From the foreword: The following is presented as A HISTORY OF THE 38th BOMBARDMENT GROUP (M). In-depth material such as group and squadron strike reports, morning reports, and monthly status reports are available in The National Archives, Washington, D.C. and at The Albert F. Simpson Historical Research Center, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. It is my sincere hope that someone, some day, will dig into this mountain of fascinating material, organize it, and in narrative form with photos, write THE HISTORY OF THE 38TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP (M).

My effort is written with broad strokes, and is merely to guide the memories of you who served in the group. My objective was to project facts, gleaned from many sources, into the war as it was waged in the Southwest Pacific area to more clearly show why the 38th was in certain places, at certain times, flying certain missions. I have also attempted to weave in a description of every type mission flown.

I was one of you--a bombardier-navigator (in the 405th)--July 21, 1944.to April 25, 1945. My sincere thanks to Lt. Col. Douglas E. Hagie (Ret.), a pilot in the 822nd during World War II, for his many hours of research at Maxwell and his tenacity in gathering facts from former members of the group. Without his assistance this history could not have been written.

The most frustrating part of writing is the editing process--what to leave in and what to leave out. My first draft contained pages on the early history of the group in the States and the movements of the ground echelon in Australia prior to the arrival of the air echelon. Space dictated drastic cuts in these areas to cover more completely the period when the largest number of men were in the 38th. I have sent the unused material to Bill McGlinchey and his group of Pennsylvanians, who were assigned to the 38th shortly after it was activated, and now are holding annual reunions.

The condition of the booklet is generally good. The covers have some minor scuffs and blemishes, and light wear along the edges and corners, but the spiral binding is intact and all pages are intact, unblemished and tightly bound. There is a previous owners sticker towards the bottom of the first inside page.