Leroy J. Edwards graduated from the Harlingen Gunnery School at Harlingen, Texas. The following press release was sent to The Atchinson Daily Mail, his hometown paper:

It was a got_ thing we didn't run into any fighters as I didn't have a very big hole to sight through. The reason was due to frost from my breath inside the upper turret. The turret was operating Okay, but frost was so thick I could not see out very good. The storm was good for that day, as we didn't see an enemy plane all dav. However, we did see some flak and some ground rockets. Bar flying to the target of last resort and that if2 had Climber an extra 7000 ft to 31000 ft. it would make one of the lankest flights we went on.

Well, we made down all right. We either had a lot of luck or someone up there was looking after us. An hour afterwards we were eating and drinking coffee up at the factory. We were all shook up quite a bit, just think what might have happened.

We began to get things together. We had to find a place to sleep and stay until they came after us. We began by seeing just how much money we had as we didn't have our regular clothes, just our flying suits, winter underwear and no shoes in most cases And as for money, digging through ail pockets, we finally came up with about $19 (American). I forget what that was in English money. It wasn’t much when you figure there were 8 of us to live on that with the navigator in the hospital near by.

A composite of Weekends and 3-Day Passes to London

These events that I am about to describe may not be in chronological order because memories after 40 years begin to get a little mixed up. But this is all about 3-day passes to London, England. This is one such incident we had while we were down in London. A couple of guys decided we would have a little party when we got back to our beds, so they went out and proceeded to get a bottle of Scotch whiskey. After finding a guy to get a bottle from, they paid about $25 to $30 U.S. currency. You could get about anything in the black market. So a fool and his money are soon parted-- they paid for the fifth of Scotch. So back to the Red Cross billet we went. Once back there, we decided to have a little drink. Upon tasting the stuff we found that it was not whiskey. It was nothing more than vanilla flavored colored water. Angry, mad as hell, call it what you may, we were just that. So the rest of that leave we spent the time looking for the seller as we had been taken. We spent a couple of 3-day passes looking for but not finding the man. He would have been one beat up English man if we had found him.

Another incident was the time we were again down in Londontown. We already had the bottle of gin, a fifth I think. After a day of "pub hopping" at English taverns, we decided to get back to the Red Cross billet. Well, needless to say two of the guys had gone back early and proceeded to party. By the time we got back they had almost finished the bottle. Boy, were they snockered, about ready to pass out. So we tried to put them to bed. We didn't have much trouble with one, but the other one, oh boy! What a job. He was real limber, so three of us tried to lift him up to the top bunk, about 5ft. off the floor. As we would roll him off our arms into the bed, he rolled right across the bed and out the other side, plop on the floor. Being drunk was what saved him. We must have tried to put him in that bunk at least 4 or 5 times. What didn't help was that we weren't in too good of shape after an afternoon of pub hopping.

Next morning, he kept wondering why he was so sore all over. So we told him. We all had a good laugh. After all we were all buddies. About this time, I ran into a Sgt. that was about to go home. He had a girlfriend he wanted me to meet. So we went out to a big dance hall in a suburb of London called Hammersmith. The place was called Palais de Dance. It was an old ice skating rink. I think they used to play hockey there before the war. Well, there we met with a girl, "Kathy". It seemed to me that he was meeting her when in London. She knew that he was going home and I was to take his place when he left for home. So the next time in town I got a hold of her at the dance. Well, it seemed she had another Sgt. on the line also. If he was not in town, I had a date with her. On this one occasion he was in town, but she said she had a girlfriend I could go with. Boy, was she a looker-- blonde and a good dancer. So, I proceeded to buy the drinks and dances. When the dance was over, she left with a Lt. That made me a little mad because I had other plans. Ha! Ha! I need not explain. So the next time I was in town I got a hold of Kathy. She told me that it was a good thing that I didn't go any farther. The girl in question had a social disease. The Lt. had caught what she had and had turned her in. The authorities came and picked her up. So, I almost made a mistake with that one. How glad I was that I didn't go with her. About this time, I met Sgt. Arthur Witten from Ill. He was going home. He had a girlfriend and wanted someone to look after her when he left to go home. Her name was "Joy". She was blonde and was about 5ft. 6in. tall. All I had to do to contact her was to send her a cablegram and she would meet me at the dance hall, Palais de Dance in Hammersmith. We would stop at a bar across the street. In those days I drank gin and lime. Then we would go dancing, yes we had more drinks until about 11:00pm Then we would part. We usually had a little time for some smooching in the air raid shelters before she caught her bus. Then I caught the underground back to the Red Cross billet.

Christmas of 44" I spent a day and night with an English family and had Christmas dinner on the 25th. They celebrate Boxing Day. That's when they pass out the presents. The dinner consisted of a little meat, cheese, potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding. The family was a mant his wife and daughter. The brother was in the British Armed Forces. The daughter's name was Beryl. I remember her name because it was strange to me. We talked a lot over those two days. She was a nurse at a hospital there in London. I can't say what we talked about. But, we probably filled each other in on our countries and what was going on in our lives. I never saw the family again.

The last time I was in London, I had an unusual experience that I should tell you about. After I arrived in London, I sent a wire (cablegram) to my girlfriend Joy. There was this girl (an American) from Buffalo, N.Y. She was a good looking brunette and worked as a cook, I think, at the Red Cross where we stayed. We could always get a good meal at the Red Cross. Well, everyone, the guys that is, tried all the time to date her. Me too. So this time was no exception. I told her I was going out to Hammersmith to the "Palais de Dance". I asked her if she had been there. She said no. I asked her if she would like to go and she said yes. She said it was her night off and she would like to go. So there I was, I also h>d tho date T made earlier, now I am stuck with two dates. Don't know why I didn't get a guy to go with me, but I didn't. I picked her up about 7:00 pm. We rode the train out to Hammersmith. All the way out I was nervous and excited. I tried not to show it. So, I am trying to plan my strategy. I had made this date at suppertime, so time was short. By the time we reached the dance hall my plan was completed. Now this was a big place, so I figured I could place this one on one end of the of the dance floor. I got her seated and a drink and excused myself. So off I went to meet Joy, the girlfriend I had called earlier. I knew where she was as we usually sat in the same place. I greeted her and sat down, had a drink and we danced a number. I kept her on this end of the floor. As I told you, this was a big place, so this was possible. The band played for 115 hours. Then another band played the next 11 hours and closed the hall at 11:00 So there I was with a girl on each end of the dance floor and only one of me. Well, I'll tell you I was really quite busy buying drinks, dancing with one, buying drinks and dancing with the other one. I had a good time, I don't know about the girls. And to the best of my knowledge neither one knew about the other. Of course, there were many other ways to pass the time. One of the things we could do was to pick up the Piccadilly Commandos. That was our name for street walkers, prostitutes, or what ever you wanted to call them. They had a price for every rank of the soldiers. And there was "Picadilly Circus" in downtown London, what Times Square is to New York. That was where all the women would hang out. Most of them had a day job and a night job alsoif you get my drift. I didn't really do this, but my dad wrote me and asked about the English girls. So I told him that I picked one up in the blackout, took her inside, took one look at her and took her back outside, because she looked better in the dark than she did in the daylight.

Of course, there was movie theaters, pubs (taverns), and restaurants to go to. We all had to go sight seeing. There was St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace and the changing of the GuarA London Tower, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square, White Hall, English Parliament, No#10 Downing, Scotland Yard, and many other places to see. There were many buildings that were bombed out during the blitz. And every once in a while there would be a loud whoosh and a bang! Then the air raid sirens were sounded. The V-2 rockets were shot from German soil and would hit London when they came down. The V-2's could almost destroy a city block of buildings and it could hit without a warning. Then there were the Buzz bombs. They were 1000 lb bombs with wings and a ram-jet engine with a limited amount of fuel. It was the fuel that determined how far and where the bomb would come down. They were all pointed in the direction of London, but you could hear them coming and going. We would hear them at night when we were laying in our bunks and hopinq they had enouqh fuel to get by us. London suffered with them too.

Oh yes, there were several things that one should take with him when we were on pass. Like cigarettes, candy bars, silk stockings, bars of soap. There was a need for about anything over there, so anything we coulc pass along, we did. I remember I scrounged around the base and came up with a small yellow parachute (one used for supply drops). I took it with me to London and gave it to the girl I used to meet at the dance hall. I know she sure appreciated it. She told me after looking at it that there was enough there to make her a new dress and a couple of blouses. I never got to see her in anything that she had made out of it. I probably got a little extra smooching in the air raid shelter while waiting for her bus. At least I suppose I did. Anything we could bring them like that seemed to help our love life.

London, England was a nice city to spend some time in. I enjoyed it very much, even though a lot was bombed out. There were still a lot of places to go and to see.
T/Sgt Leroy J Edwards 100th Bomb Group 350th Bomb Squadron&

COMBAT MISSIONS OF LEROY J. EDWARDS WITH THE 100TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP (H)
AUGUST 25, 1944 -- MARCH 4, 1945

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