WW2 veteran aged 101 'extremely grateful' for every day lived

A US World War Two air force veteran who has returned to East Anglia says he feels "extremely grateful" for every day he sees.

Capt John Luckadoo, 101, visited Halesworth Airfield Museum in Suffolk and RAF Thorpe Abbotts in Norfolk.

Mr Luckadoo was a pilot with the Eighth Air Force during the war, and is the last surviving airman from the group.

"It isn't how well you fly; it's simply that you've got a guardian angel on both shoulders," he said.

The East of England was the location of dozens of US Air Force and RAF bases used to carry out bombing raids over Nazi Germany during the 1939-45 conflict.

Mr Luckadoo has been visiting as part of a trip with the US National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Airforce.

John O'Neil, a spokesperson for the museum, said: "We decided that more Americans needed to get an opportunity to come to East Anglia.

"We give people the opportunity to see these bases and to revisit the history."

According to Mr O'Neil, the average life expectancy of bombers was seven missions.

Capt Luckadoo, nicknamed Lucky, flew in 25 missions during the war, and now lives in Dallas, Texas.

"As I survived, and continued to survive, I realised how incredibly lucky I was," he said.

As he stood on the runway of RAF Thorpe Abbott, near Diss in Norfolk, Mr Luckadoo said he felt "extremely nostalgic".

"I recall having to stand on the roof of the control tower and sweat out the returnees, if they did. You see the planes start coming in and counting them, and realise what your losses were," he said.

Richard Pymer, founder of Halesworth Airfield Museum, said it was "fantastic" that the veteran was visiting the museum.

"To get to this fantastic age is just unbelievable. He's one of these true heroes," he said.

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