459th Bomb Group Heavy ~ B-24 Liberators "Lil' Butch"… Combat Missions out of Foggia Airdrome, Southern Italy. !944-1945

Frederic H Calkins; Crew # 59. B-24 - Combat over Italy

1st Lt. Robert W. Spargur – pilot - born March 9, 1918 in St. Joseph Missouri

2nd Lt. Ivan S. Liddle – co-pilot – born November 15, 1916 in Wabash County, Illinois

2nd Lt. Rees D. Groves – navigator – born in June, 1920 in Epping, North Dakota

2nd Lt. Luis A. Dellert – bombardier – born April 11, 1917 in Mission, Texas

T/Sgt. Robert C. Basler – flight engineer – born February 23, 1924 in Mt. Vernon, Indiana

T/Sgt. William C. Iannotti – radio operator – born July 16,1920 in Cranston, Rhode Island

S/Sgt. Frederic H. Calkins (my dad) – ball turret gunner – born December 26, 1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

S/Sgt. Hiram B. Calkins (my uncle) – tail gunner – born August 22, 1922 in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania

S/Sgt. Wade W. Goad (twin) – waist gunner – born May 9, 1920 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma

S/Sgt. Waite W. Goad (twin) – waist gunner – born May 9, 1920 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma

TO Barbi Connolly from Frederic's proud daughter Linda; *** Linda's dad/ S/Sgt. Frederic H. Calkins B-24 Combat ball turret gunner – What a wonderful thing you are doing, researching all vets of WWII. They were such a great generation - they served their country when called, came home, raised families and created the baby boomers!

Frederic's plane was Crew 59 in the 759th bomb squadron in the 459th bomb group. Their plane was nicknamed Little Butch (sometimes called Lil Butch). They flew 52 missions over Italy and, yes, all of them came home.

They began annual reunions in 1993, the 50th anniversary of their crew formation. I think the first reunion was in Louisville, KY where Bob Spargur, the pilot, lived. The reunions moved around to different places. I know there was one in Wooster, Ohio and another in Newport News, Virginia. They also created their own newsletter called “Flying Around”. I retrieved all of the things that were in dad’s house when he passed away, but it is all still in a box, as I work my way toward organizing that as a project! They also wrote a short book, The Chronicle of Crew 59, with a description of the formation of the crew, their missions, biographies and a few pictures. They created this book before the advent of scanners so the pictures are poor copies. Somewhere in a box I have some of the photos that were used.

Frederic passed away on February 20, 2015, the last crew member. One of the twins had predeceased dad by a month, passing away sometime in January 2015. Sad that they are all gone. At the time they were naming the plane, Spargur’s wife was pregnant, so they named the plane Little Butch in honor of the little boy that the Spargur’s were expecting. However, the little boy turned out to be a little girl named Lindsay, and she was forever known as Little Butch to the men at the reunions! I am in contact with Lindsay via Facebook. She is Lindsay Frost, or Lindsay E. Frost. She is a wood artist in Louisville, Kentucky, crafting wonderful bowls from downed trees!

Linda's dad/ Frederic Calkins was a "Greatest Generation; Linda is as we mostly all seem to be from the Greatest Generation… Kids who were taught that the quality of our lives is based on love, respect and in Honoring the Men, she has done a suburb job! Linda's father/Fred is one proud Dad, and as a WWII Historical Researcher and 57th BW Historian, I am proud to be placing such a fine crew. Barbi Ennis Connolly PrincessbarbiB25@msn.com _