Last original member of the “Bloody Hundredth” dies
John Luckadoo, the last surviving member of the 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force in WWII died September 1 at the age of 103. Luckadoo (inevitably nicknamed ‘Lucky’) lived up to his moniker – he survived 25 missions and was returned to the States.
The man eventually known as “Lucky” was born March 16, 1922 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He would recount an early interest in flying. When Luckadoo finished high school he tried to join the Canadian Royal Air Force to fight in World War II, but he was underage and needed parental consent, something he said his dad would not give. He went to college and was studying when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened. He volunteered and went through aviation training. He deployed to Thorpe Abbotts airfield in England in June 1943 as part of the original group that made up the 100th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force. He was a pilot assigned to a B-17 “Flying Fortress.” Even with the many guns on their bombers, the members of the 8th Air Force would have to brave waves of German fighters, unyielding flak and missions deep into enemy territory. “We were going overseas to die,” he would later recount eight decades later. At the end of June the 100th Bomb Group was flying in combat.
Luckadoo took part in some of the most dangerous missions the 100th Bomb Group carried out. He was in the skies for the period known as “Black Week,” a stretch of October 1943 where the Army Air Force lost 1,500 service members and dozens of planes.
During a bombing run over Bremen that month, one of his last missions, 12 of the 18 bombers in his group were shot down by the time they dropped their bombs. In a 2015 interview, Luckadoo recounted suddenly being the only flight leader in the formation as enemy fighters and flak tore through the American planes. He regrouped the remaining planes and managed to escape danger, linking up with another squadron. He said it was the “nearest that I came to getting shot down.”
By the time the war in Europe was over, the 8th Air Force had lost 26,000 men. Luckadoo was, as his nickname went, one of the lucky few from the original 100th Bomb Group to survive. For Luckadoo, combat flights ended on Feb. 13, 1944. He went back to the states, for additional training with other pilots on instruments. Task & Purpose
Lucky married after the war. His wife predeceased him in 2017. Hopefully, they are happily together again.
H/t once again to Jeff LPH!
Category: Air Force, We Remember, WWII
The heavens are free of 109s, thank you for clearing the way Lucky.
Did the 100th Refueling Wing inherit the Square D?
Yes it did and the Bloody Hundreth nickname.
Lucky became a member of The Lucky Bastards Club. I once loaned that book to a lady who was a ferry pilot during that war. Her brother was also a member . She gave me a copy of his Lucky Bastards Club certificate when she returned the book. Her husband was a fighter pilot during that war. We owe everything to that generation. That is a hell of a lot of dodging bullets and shrapnel. It must have been very difficult to climb aboard a plane after the first flight into a sky full of death and destruction.
Kevin Mauer’s book Damn Lucky, a biography of John Luckadoo is an interesting read.
My dad was a B-17 Bombadier. I got to fly with him in a
restored B-17G. The firepower for the time was essential with
a .50 cal on each side and a pair in the chin turret. And thats
just the bombadier.
Clear sky ahead.
Mine was an arty, later air defense guy. One of his jobs was as a flak observer – fly over German positions, draw fire, then radio target coordinates back to his unit.I told him he was nuts!
B-17 combat… for those unfamiliar: