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EDanaII
6/27/2008 3:54:01 PM | Lately, Don and I have been discussing the possibility of adding a "On this Day in History" function to the web site. This function would, put simply, display any historical event information that occurs on the same day as today but during the historical period (43-45) in which the 401st function. For example, running the function yesterday (6/26) yielded this info:
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On this Day in History.
During June, the 401st was recognized as having set a new record for bombing accuracy among all groups in the Eighth Air Force, having placed 73 percent of all bombs within 1,000 feet and 96 percent within 2,000 feet of the aiming point.
Mission 100:
This historic 100th mission was one of the longest yet flown by the 401st. The Group formed three Boxes of the 94th Combat Wing "B" formation. On the way into France the Group ran into heavy flak over the Normandy beaches, resulting in the loss of Lt. J. W. Myretetus and his crew, flying B-17 No. 42-97811, which took a direct hit. The lead ship, "Old Ironsides" was also hit by shrapnel, a piece smashing the nose plexiglas, despite which it continued on to the target and returned.<br>On the return the Group was forced to fly extremely low beneath low clouds over the Bay of Biscay. While skimming the waves, one aircraft was forced to pull up quickly to avoid a large wave, causing its tail to hit the lead ship amidships. Despite this impact, both aircraft were able by skillful handling to make it back to England, very much bent and battered.
The mission was commanded by Lt. Col. W.T. Seawell. Briefing took place at 0115 hours, and all 36 operational aircraft were airborne by 0506 hours. Three returning aircraft had problems in landing: one landed with an engine feathered and a flat tail wheel tire; the left landing gear of a second aircraft collapsed after landing; and a third landed about 25 feet clear of the runway. No one was injured in these incidents. All aircraft but one had returned by 1605 hours.
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At present, the function searches two sources of information. First, it searches information taken from this page. It also searches any mission related information and displays any missions occuring on the same day.
Not including missions, there are only 44 events recorded on the web page, above. I'm starting this thread in order to open a discussion on what other information might be included in the Events database.
So, any thoughts, opinions or comments? Does anyone have a mint? 🙂
For those who are interested, here's an excel file I created to store the current event information (once again, not including missions). Feel free to make any comments on it.
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Paul Bellamy
6/27/2008 6:21:15 PM | Good idea Ed,
I miss the "On this day" window that used to be on the old website homepage. Maybe the code is still lurking somewhere.
Perhaps we could compile the list of Squadron "stand-down" days too, and there is the AAF "on this day" history over on Army Air Forces.com that could be used as a source to fill in days the 401st and the 94CBW were also stood down, to give visitors a better idea of the "big picture" that the round-the-clock RAF/USAAF bomber campaign from the UK entailed. Just a thought, I'll make a start compiling data if required.
Oh, and have a mint....... 😂
TTFN,
Paul
Paul Bellamy
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Phoenix
6/28/2008 2:54:37 AM | Tuesday 27th June 1944
08:30 Aerodrome GREEN. Runway in use No 15
11:00 Inspected airfield. Laying of tarmac on the long runway progressing very slowly. Requested engineers to move piles of rocks and debris back from perimeter track just off Runway No. 15.
etc. etc. etc.
From Flying Control Diary
You mean this kind of thing Ed? Darn rootin' tootin' good idea I reckon. 😎
improvise, adapt, overcome
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EDanaII
6/29/2008 12:29:04 PM | Thanks guys, but let's be clear. It isn't my idea. This idea came from Don and I'm merely trying to figure out how to make it happen.
@ Paul
I believe Don's idea originated from the Army Airforce web site.
As to additional information to fill in the gaps, I'm all for it, but ultimately this has to be the 401st call as to what exactly they want to appear on it.
If you don't mind, I'd say go ahead and compile that list, but be prepared for the possibility it might be rejected. (I'm making some assumptions here.) In other words, I would suggest not spending too much time on it, just gather some information quickly and then present it here and see what others think. 🙂
@ Dale
Something like that, but I don't believe Don wants it that specific. Don will have to comment. However, that level of specificity would likely take up too much space on the page it would be displayed. My understanding is that this should be displayed on the main page, along with additional information, so it does need to be tailored as to not crowd the page.
The example I gave above may be to big, but I have to put it all together before that can be decided. One step at a time, as always... 🙂
Ed.
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donaldbyers
6/29/2008 5:55:45 PM | Ed/All
Yes we will be working with space available as it is now. One possibility is adding an "On This Date" Tab and take you to a specific page that we could work with a larger space. As Ed said this is all up to the approval of the people above me. But I think it would be a great addition to the Web Site. We will see how it goes, I also need to look at the squadron histories as well. What I would be looking for then is a format to enter it as it would have to be typed in manually.
Don
Sgt. Donald C. Byers, 613th Bomb Squadron, Togglier, 42-97344 Carrie B II, KIA 08/24/1944.
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EDanaII
6/30/2008 1:31:15 PM | With regards to the format, the one I would recommend is the one in the Excel file I made available. It's fairly simple, the first field is the date of the event, the second is the duration of the event (in days) and the third is a description of that event.
My presumption is that most events should be displayed no longer than a day, but in going over the data I noticed that two events in particular were, as described, longer than a day. So, I simply added that data to allow for the event to display as long as we want it too.
Ed.
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