I am 88 years of age, as a boy I lived close by one of the bomber stations, and I saw them fly out and fly back. The numbers coming back was always very much less than those who flew out. We children [as we were then] really looked up to the men when they were off base. They were kind and generous, to our call of "any gum chum" They were our heroes. I will never forget them: Remember we had just survived the brutal "blitz" when the Germans were decimating our towns and cities.