Warbird Information Exchange

I've been corresponding with a 305th BG Veteran, Tom Creekmore. Tom is 90 years old, but still very sharp and very spry (well, for 90 years old). He has been hoping to track down the "original" Schweinfurt Flag that was presented to the 305th Bomb Group in Chelveston in 1945.

The "Schweinfurt Flag" was a large Nazi flag, with an inscription written on the lower right hand corner from the 42nd "Rainbow" division that says: To the EIGHTH AIR FORCE - the Rainbow has avenged your losses at Schwinfort (sic). At 305th reunions, there was a replica of the flag. In the early 80s, the flag was stolen from a reunion by someone that mistook the 305th BG Association for a Neo-Nazi group. The flag was returned and turned over to Dayton...but it turns out this was not the original flag.

Here are Tom's words regarding the flag:

Within the past month, relying on the information given to them by our historian, Ian White, (at my insistence) the people at Dayton have concluded that the flag they have exhibited for some 35 years is NOT the Nazi Flag given to the 8th Air Force and handed down to the 305th. It is a smaller flag the Rainbow Division gave to the 8th Fighter Command. The 42nd also gave a flag to the 42nd Medium Bomb Wing of the 9th Air Force that gave them air support for the 3 days they were fighting to capture Schweinfurt. The exhibit is a mixture of the two flags mentioned and incorrect. I would not be surprised if the exhibit is closed. It is completely incorrect for the exhibit to display wording, "To the 8th AIR FORCE - the Rainbow has avenged your losses at Schweinfurt" (On our flag Schweinfurt is spelled Schwinfort. We will always be able to know our flag by the size (15 X 8 feet) and the misspelled word.

The flag stolen at one of our reunions was a Nazi flag but was one brought home and given to our 305th museum at Grissom Air Force Base. It is still there.

The flag given to the 8th and 305th has not been seen since about May 1, 1945 at Chelveston. (The day after I saw it). You can't believe how bad I want to find that flag.

Regards, Tom

Tom has already checked the usual sources - AFM, 8th AF Museum, 305th BG Association, 8th Air Force Historical Society. I'm hoping the WIX Brain Trust might be able to put all of our collective heads together and see if we can solve this mystery.

After reading the linked thread, I wonder if the flag even survived the day, given its "treatment" after the ceremony...being trampled on and urinated on by an entire Bomb Group is probably not conducive to the preservation of a flag.

So the 42nd DIV-presented flag has been missing since 1945, right? I think i understand that correctly.
If so, you can't assume it is 'stolen' as such, it could easily be in the attic of a vet of that group, or his family members. It's unlikely a giant Nazi flag like that would've been thrown away, that was a prime souvenir even back in the day.
With WW2 vets passing away in great numbers these days, I expect it'll turn up sooner that people might assume.
FYI, that wasn't the only flag of its type presented to an 8AF unit like that but it is probably the best known of them.

_________________
Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

Just to be clear -- the "original" Schweinfurt flag that was presented to the 305th BG in May 1945 is currently unaccounted for but not considered stolen at this point.

A replica of the Schweinfurt flag that was used at 305th BG reunions was stolen, albeit temporarily, from a reunion in the early 1980s by someone who misunderstood the meaning of the flag and thought the 305th BG vets were some kind of white supremacist group. The flag was anonymously returned once the true story got out and that flag was turned over to the USAFM in Dayton. However, it is not the original flag.

Again, it would seem after the flag was trampled on and urinated on by an entire bomb group, it may have not been worth saving. I don't know many people who would want a 120 square foot Nazi flag that had been drenched in urine. Lord knows I have enough trouble cleaning up the "accidents" that my dachshunds will leave from time to time.