20 Mar The Mad Russian

Crew of Captain Pervis E. Youree. Michael Roskovich is kneeling, front row left

By early 1943, morale at Thurleigh airfield, home of the Eighth Air Force’s 306th bomb group, had plummeted. The squadrons had lost nearly 80 percent of their original crews. There were long lines at sick bay. A 306th flight engineer wrote, “We were getting killed, and no one was doing anything about it.”

On Sunday, February 21, group surgeon Maj. Thurman Shuller wrote in his diary, “I think some of these fellows who meet death so often do a lot more thinking than they once did. … In the nearly six months we have been over here, it is striking that some of the young officers have aged ten years or so. When they first came, they stayed out as late as possible as often as possible, but earlier in the week I went to a movie in Bedford, and to my amazement about eight of the most notorious playboys caught the 10:15 bus back to the field.”

Since their first mission on October 9, 1942, the 306th had lost twenty-one planes in combat. In April, fourteen more were added to this list. Major Shuller wrote a passionate letter to Commander Putnam about the declining morale. No crew member thought he could possibly survive. Shuller declared there should be a maximum number of missions set for the air crews, and he suggested twenty.

Soon afterward, General Eaker announced that after a tour of twenty-five missions, crew members could go back to the States. In reality, the life expectancy of a bomber crew in 1943 was fifteen missions, but the twenty-five rule was enough to give air crews the hope that they would survive.

Michael Roskovich, after completed his 25th mission, was stripped to his shorts by his crew. Then they painted a “25” on his back. Michael jumped on a bicycle and rode around the base in his underwear. (credit to Sue Moyer, 306th Bomb Group – First Over Germany Facebook Group)

The crews were thrilled. On April 5, T/Sgt. Michael J. Roskovich, son of Russian immigrants and known around Thurleigh as “The Mad Russian” was the first flier in the Eighth Air Force to hit the twenty-five mission mark. The handsome Russian wore a tall furry Cossack hat. If an officer dared enter his plane wearing a tie, the rascally Rosky pulled out a pair of scissors and cut it off below the knot.

However, Roskovich did not go back to the States. In June of 1943, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. Then, anxious to return to the fight, Rosky went back to Thurleigh as a gunnery officer. His ultimate goal was to go on to pilot training school. On February 4, 1944, he was killed in a non-combat plane crash coming back from a trip to Scotland. Michael Roskovich became a great legend of the 306th, known not only for his antics but for his bravery and service.

Resource: First Over Germany: A History of the 306th Bombardment Group by Russell A. Strong, 1969

Note:  I have found Michael’s last name spelled both Roskovich and Roskovitch.

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