Edward Field served as a navigator with the 384th Bomb Group, flying missions out of Grafton Underwood. On 3 February 1945, he was flying in B-17 'The Challenger' #42-102501 when the pilots were forced to ditch it in the North Sea. Field was one of six crew who were rescued and returned to duty. Three of the crew did not survive. Field would fly 27 missions over occupied Europe.



After the war, Edward became a poet and author, and lived in New York during its bohemian heyday. He has written a memoir called 'The Man Who Would Marry Susan Sontag And Other Intimate Portraits of the Bohemian Era' (2005). He wrote 'the Village was the first taste of relaxing and just being myself that I had ever known - the need to hide being gay unnecessary - and it was exhilarating.'



Read more about his life and the people met here:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=pYa0O8mDcSYC&printsec=frontcover#v=…



Sometimes he wrote about his wartime experiences, and about surviving in the freezing cold North Sea. You can read one of his poems here: https://thearrowheadclub.com/2016/11/30/edward-field/



On 10 July 2017, he became the 146th 384th Bomb Group veteran to sign the Association's commemorative wing panel.