Dear Mother,

Still haven't received any mail from you. For some strange reason, Carol's mail is coming through swell. I've received 6 letters from her, but none from you. But it will start coming through soon.

I'm back in England now and I've been assigned to my permanent outfit. I'm with the 448th Heavy Bombardment Group and the 714th Heavy Bombardment Squadron. Our new APO # is 558.

We are all fine over here. Everyone's in good health - feeling fine. The food is swell - likewise our quarters. The four officers - we're living together in a nice room. We have our new English radio, which makes the evenings much shorter. So, considering the facts, we're as happy as is possible over here!

How is everyone at home? Hope everything is O.K.

I'm out of stuff to say tonight - can't talk about our work. Here's my address:

Lt. John M. Buxton 0-205 311
448th Bombardment Group
714th Bombardment Squadron
APO #448 C/O Postmaster
New York, New York

That's all for tonight.

Lots of love,
Jack

This was the last letter written by Jack - however, it was not the last letter received by his mother. This last letter that Jack wrote was written on my birth date - the last letter received by Jack's mother was written on her birth date!

 Group Narrative from the 448th Bombardment Group (H) from August 1944

Some historical statistics of the 448th:

• 262 missions from December 16, 1943 through April 25, 1945
• 85 men killed in action
• 875 men missing in action
• 119 men injured or died of wounds
• Of the original 70 crews, 2 were lost en-route, 27 completed their tours, 28 missing in action, 5 transferred to other units, 1 lost by accident
• 7 split up for spares
• 15,286 tons of bombs dropped
• 140 tons of supplies dropped
• 47 enemy aircraft destroyed
• 98 aircraft missing in action
• 17 aircraft abandoned on the continent
• 31 aircraft lost by salvage
• 68.7% of missions to Germany
• 29.1% of missions to France
• 2.2% of missions to Holland and Belgium
• 172 different targets - 110 in Germany, 57 in France, 5 in Holland & Belgium

Jack's last mission was number 139 over Magdeburg, Germany

Jack's crew:
The crew was listed as a "replacement crew," which arrived at Seething Field on August 8, 1944 to the 714th Squadron.

2nd Lt. John M. Buxton P 0703311
2nd Lt. Howard D. Hinckley CP 0771716
2nd Lt. Earl T. Brown B 0722813
2nd Lt. Robert D. Butler N 0772901
Cpl Leo E. Stephens 37558474 (only survivor)
Cpl Louis D. Babini 31420626
Cpl John L. Burkhead 36770874
Cpl Alex Kocheran 33414605
Cpl Donald M. McCoy 35763351
Cpl James R. Robinson 35756585

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