WWII 8th Air Force Bombadier Describes His 34 Missions


Charles “Norm” Stevens grew up in Inglewood, California. In April 1943, at the age of eighteen, he joined the Army Air Corps. During the summer and fall of 1944 he served as a 2Lt (later 1Lt) bombardier on a B-17 in the 8th Air Force, 351st Bomb Group, at Polebrook, England. He flew 34 bombing missions over Germany, France, Belgium, and Holland.

On June 21, 2006, Stevens and his wife Dolores Seidman presented his story “An Innocent at Polebrook” to San Gabriel Valley Chapter of the California Air Force Association (CAFA) and the Pasadena Chapter of the Reserve Officer’s Association (ROA) at the Altadena Town and Country Club. To illustrate his adventures he had with him a model plane, a B-17 resembling the one he flew in, pictures, and a WWII map of Europe showing his mission areas.

Stevens’ has written a book with the same title as the presentation. The book describes a young clean living, non-alcohol drinking officer, living in barracks at Polebrook with hard drinking, women chasing friends. The experiences on his missions show the tension between his innocence and the raw reality of war. The attendees at the meeting eagerly bought copies of his book.