Hello there,

I was so happy to see a picture of my father on your website that I cried. Thank you for posting all the information on his Squadron. I went to the site of RAF Croft in 2007 and have many photos of the area if you're interested. I also have a question: Why, in pictures of my father in his dress uniform, does he have a cloth badge on his shoulder that says "USA", when he was only enlisted in the RCAF during the War? If you would be so kind as to give me your thoughts/the answer to my question, I'd be very grateful.

Thank you,

Kristy

The USA badge would seem to indicate that he was in fact enlisted in the USAAF, even though he was serving in an RCAF squadron. There were many Americans who came to Canada to enlist in the RCAF before the US entered the war in Dec. 41. Many of them transferred to the USAAF in 1942, but many did not. My father flew out of Croft with 431 Squadron, and there were at least 2 USAAF pilots in the squadron while he was there.

Of course, if your father was Canadian, then the answer would be a mystery to me.