WWII Part I

As you'll remember from a few posts ago I'm going to start blogging about my progress with Granddad's WWII Scrapbook.

Below is a Picture of Grandad Blowing out his Birthday Candles last week! His name is Hobart W. Treadway, the W. Stands for Wayne, which is the name he goes by. He turned 86 last week. He was a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force and Piloted a B-17 bomber plane. They flew around 18 missions before he was shot down over Germany. I recently read an article online while doing some research and found out that his plane may still be where it landed!! I'll post on that later.


Here's a picture of Granddad on his German POW papers. You can't tell from this photo but it's all in German. I was a little disappointed because we couldn't find the original copy, this is a photocopy of the German Papers. His mug shot makes him look like a gangster. I'm sure he was pretty scared, and probably a little pissed at the time the photo was taken.


I went to Micheal's (for those of you that don't know, it's an arts and crafts store) and found the PERFECT scrap book! You can see it below in the picture, I couldn't believe I found it, and on sale! $17 and it's leather!! I found some cute scrap papers I thought I'd put throughout the scrap book to keep it interesting.


Here are some of the original pictures I found. The top photo are of him and three of his crew members. My grandmother, Norma, and my Uncle are pictured in the photo on the top right. The bottom left is a photo of Granddad mapping out a spot on the US Map and doesn't he look so handsome in his earphones!!


Here are a few of the manuals and books I found. The top note pad is his flight log from training school. It shows all the hours he flew that was required of him to graduate from flight school. The others are a Navigation manual, a Airplane Engine and Parts Manual, and a Weather book that teaches to read the Weather maps.

Sorry this is a little out of focus but it's just a few of the letters I have back and forth from Him and my Grandmother and Him and His mother. It's so interesting to read them, I'll have to share a few of them for you sometime. I bought some Archival Mist and have preserved almost every single paper and every single photo to make sure they don't deteriorate any more.


My Grandfather was Shot down from his B17 bomber on Feb 3 1945 and taken to a German POW Camp. I'll tell you the whole story some other time. I could sit and listen to him tell war stories for hours! This is the Telegram send to my Grandmother when Granddad was MIA.

Translation:THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES ME TO EXPRESS HIS DEEP REGRET THAT YOUR HUSBAND SECOND LIEUTENANT HOBART W TREADWAY HAS BEEN REPORTED MISSING ACTION SINCE THREE FEBRUARY OVER GERMAN IF FURTHER DETAILS OR OTHER INFORMATION ARE RECEIVED YOU WILL BE PROMPTLY NOTIFIED.Below is the Telegram that the army sent to my Grandmother when Granddad had been liberated from the POW camp and returned to the US Army. It gave me Chills the first time I read it. I also have the Telegram that my Grandmother sent Granddad's mother saying "WAYNE OK - EXPLAIN IN LETTER. NORMA"
Let me translate for you: THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES ME TO INFORM YOU THAT YOU HUSBAND S/LT HOBART W TREADWAY RETURNED TO MILITARY CONTROL.

Well I hope you enjoyed the first insert of my little project. I'm super excited to tell you all the stories that he's told me!! It's probably the coolest thing I've ever experienced!! I love history!
Keep tuning back in for more stories and pictures!!