12th Air Force WWII

97th BOMB GROUP (Heavy)

414th SQUADRON CAMP PHOTOS

PHOTOS (unless noted otherwise) are from W.L. ROSS III Photo Album – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Site Edited and Maintained by his son-in-law Doug Cook Jan. 2007

Contacts from 97^th BG and 414^th Squadron Welcome!

During the time frame Bill Ross was in N. Africa, Jan. 16, 1943 to Aug. 3, 1943, the 97^th BG occupied these bases:

Biskra, NE Algeria c. 25 Dec 1942

Chateaudun-du-Rhumel, NE Algeria c. 8 Feb 1943

Pont-du-Fahs, N. Tunisia S of Tunis c. 1 Aug 1943

Winston Churchill in 97^th BS Mission Briefing Algeria 5/31/43

Seated on Churchill’s left is Sir Alan Brooke- Chief Imperial Staff

In August 1939 Brooke was appointed head of Southern Command and on the outbreak of the Second World War went to France as a member of the British Expeditionary Force under General John Gort. In June 1940 Brooke played a leading role in the evacuation of British troops at Dunkirk.Brooke returned to Britain and in July 1940 he replaced Edmund Ironside as commander of the Home Forces. In this post Brooke had several major disagreements with Winston Churchill about military strategy. Churchill appointed him Chief of Imperial Staff in December 1941. For most of the Second World War, Brooke was the foremost military advisor to the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, the War Cabinet, and to Britain's allies. As CIGS, Brooke was the functional head of the Army, and as chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, he was responsible for the overall strategic direction of the war effort.

Rollout for Takeoff on Steel Mat Runway

Base Camp Tent City

414^th Squadron S-2 Military Intelligence- Bomb target Recon.

Target? German plane? Come and get it!!

Home, Sweet Home

Bill Ross lamented that he had to brush his teeth with a stick (miswak)- a Middle-east tradition!

Local Bedoin Herder

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