ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England -- A hero returned “home” to his former World War II base, RAF Thorpe Abbotts, England, 82 years after he first arrived, when his family made the journey from California and North Carolina to the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum, near Diss, England, bringing some of their veteran’s ashes to be placed in the chapel April 16, 2025.
Bob Wolff joined the U.S. Army Air Force on March 17, 1942, after watching events unfold after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. After learning to fly the BT-13 Valiant then a AT-17 Bobcat, he requested to fly a B-26 Marauder but instead was assigned to a B-17 Flying Fortress. In July 1943, then-Lt. Robert “Bob” Wolff joined the 100th BG, 418th Bomb Squadron, as a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot stationed at the Eighth Air Force base in the Norfolk countryside.
Preparing for war
He was soon given his own crew, and after receiving more advanced training – which included long-distance navigation, high-altitude formation flying and low-level gunnery practice – they received orders for Bangor, Maine, where they filled up on gas before heading to Newfoundland to top off their tanks. From there, they flew to Glasgow, Scotland, then handed over their aircraft before being assigned to a base in England.
“We then got on the train with orders to go to a place called Diss and were picked up from there by folks from the 100th Bomb Group in a couple of GI trucks,” said Bob during a video interview with 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs, RAF Mildenhall, in May 2022. “We clambered in with all our gear – which we’d brought over in the bomb bay of our B-17, where we had to put floorboards in so the bags wouldn’t drop out if the bomb bay doors accidentally opened.”
Bob passed away on Oct. 3, 2024, at 103 years old. Six months later, two grandsons, one granddaughter-in-law, and two great-grandchildren made the journey to Thorpe Abbotts for themselves where their grandfather and great-grandfather had served in 1943. Their visit included a dedication ceremony, during which present-day RAF Mildenhall Honor Guard posted the colors and presented a folded Stars and Stripes flag. Leadership and Airmen from the 100th Air Refueling Wing also attended.
Bringing home a hero
After the family placed Capt. Wolff’s ashes in the small chapel inside the former control tower, they then walked the historic taxiway and stood at one of the hardstands where he would have flown from. They also climbed to the top of the tower to take in the view and get a sense of what it would have been like during the war, with B-17s taking off and landing.
They then visited RAF Mildenhall for a tour of the base and the KC-135 Stratotanker marked with the “Wolff Pack” nose art. This is one of the 100th ARW’s fleet of legacy nose arts and was named in honor of the World War II and 100th BG veteran in 2012.
How “Wolff Pack” began
The first of Bob Wolff’s eight missions was just two or three days after he arrived at Thorpe Abbotts, when he was assigned as a co-pilot with another crew to learn what combat was all about. That mission was with Capt. Robert M. Knox on July 28, 1943 – a mission to bomb an aircraft factory near Oschersleben, Germany. Tragically, Knox and six of his crew were killed just a few weeks later after being shot down on the Regensburg mission – the same mission on which Wolff distinguished himself through his superb flying skills.
With Bob as their leader, his crew became known as the “Wolff Pack,” as did their B-17 aircraft in which they flew two missions, one of which was Regensberg. It was shot down before they had a chance to paint on the nose art.
His final mission was Sept. 16, 1943, when the crew’s luck finally ran out while bombing targets in France. They took off around two hours after the rest of the 100th BG that day, as their plane had been used by another crew the day before. As they went to board, they were told it would take a couple more hours because the maintainers were patching up a few holes in it.
After finding the rest of the Square D tails and climbing to 17,000 feet, Wolff’s crew happened to be the last and lowest plane in the formation, commonly known as “Tail-end Charlie” – considered the most vulnerable position in a pattern due to the inclination of the Luftwaffe pilots to attack formations from the rear.
Feather the engines
As they turned the plane toward a secondary target, six Messerschmitt Bf-109 aircraft suddenly appeared and started firing at them, resulting in the loss of the number three engine. After feathering it – when the blade pitch of the propeller is adjusted to align the one parallel with the direction of airflow, reducing drag – Capt. Wolff pushed the throttles up to stay in formation, as they had dropped back and needed to catch up. Two minutes later, the number two engine began running away, so he had to feather that as well.
With the loss of two propellers, the Wolff Pack crew was a sitting duck for German fighters, but Bob refused to give up and took his battle-damaged B-17 down to the treetops, where his low-level flying experience proved vital. His rear gunner took out one fighter, and the other fighter broke contact. However, the plane would never have made it back, so Bob skillfully ditched in the sea, ensuring all 10 crew members survived.
POWs
All were captured and taken as prisoners-of-war. They went on to spend the rest of the war in camps including Stalag Luft III, before being liberated in 1945.
Though Bob’s crew were shot down before they had a chance to paint “Wolff Pack” on their aircraft, decades later the 100th ARW made it happen for them. It was May 8, 2012, coinciding with the 67th anniversary of VE Day, when RAF Mildenhall dedicated its latest nose art, “Wolff Pack,” to the World War II veteran on a KC-135 Stratotanker, then-tail number 0001. In September 2015, at the 100th BG reunion in New Orleans, La., Bob and his wife Barbara finally saw the nose art for themselves.
In 2025, the Wolff Pack tanker now adorns tail number 2605.
Mission complete; returning to base
“It’s an absolute honor to follow in the footsteps of my grandfather and be in the place where he was during World War II,” said Jeffrey Paul Wolff, grandson of Capt. Bob Wolff. “To walk along the path of heroes – so many of whom perished way too soon – is just amazing. Fortunately for us, he was able to live a wonderful life to the age of 103. To be able to bring him back ‘home’ – as he never returned to Thorpe Abbotts after his eighth mission – means such a lot. It’s great to know he’s back home here, because he was fighting for all of us.
“When my family and I heard that the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum was open to having my grandfather’s ashes at Thorpe Abbotts, and that the ashes of other Airmen were here, we didn’t even think twice about it – we wanted to bring him back home to be with his comrades,” said Jeffrey Paul. “This place was a big part of his life. Placing his ashes in the chapel as his final resting place was very emotional, knowing he’d finally made it back to base.”
Wolff is the third World War II veteran to have his ashes brought home to his former base.
“It’s an honor for us to have the ashes of such an esteemed pilot such as Bob Wolff. To see one of the guys coming back to Thorpe Abbotts after 82 years is just incredibly emotional,” said Dr. Reg Wilson, 100th BGMM chair of trustees. “He’ll be here and looked after for many years to come.
Memories preserved, honored
“I think it’s good for families to visit us here, firstly for them to see their relatives are still cared about, and how our volunteers are prepared to preserve their memory, and it also gives them an opportunity to experience a little bit of what their relative experienced while they were here,” Wilson remarked. “Obviously, we can’t reproduce the sheer horror, noise and activity they experienced, but to walk where grandad or dad was, gives the family a chance to get close to them and what they went through. To be able to take family members out to where the planes landed and taxied, where the hardstands were, and in some cases the base of the very Nissan hut where they were based, gives them that contact with the past.”
Wilson added that while many families know their World War II veteran was based at Thorpe Abbotts, some might not know very much about their time spent there.
“They’ll often find out more about what grandad did by coming here than grandad ever told them when he was alive. A lot of the men didn’t want to talk about their experiences during the war, so families didn’t know what they went through. That’s why ‘Masters of the Air’ has helped people understand exactly what those men went through,” he said.
“Wolff Pack” heritage lives on
Today’s Wolff Pack has been “adopted” by the 100th Operations Support Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, and they are proud of the connection to their heritage, which honors the memory of Capt. Bob Wolff and his crew.
“It’s been such an honor meeting the Wolff family today. Knowing the history of Wolff Pack and what’s happened with the 100th Bomb Group, and now having the opportunity of meeting the grandchildren and great-grandchildren is such a blessing,” said Lt. Col. Andrew Hardy, 100th OSS commander. “To be chosen to showcase them here and at RAF Mildenhall, highlighting Wolff Pack on our flightline, it’s been exceptional to experience this.”
Wolff’s grandson described how his grandfather had felt when he saw the 100th ARW’s “Wolff Pack” nose art on one of their KC-135 aircraft in 2015.
“He was just beyond elated to finally be able to see the nose art on a plane for himself. I wish I’d been there with him when he saw it, but having the chance to see it for myself at RAF Mildenhall is very emotional and I feel humbled having the chance to see it,” remarked Jeffrey Paul. “Each moment of our journey here was filled with gratitude and appreciation for our grandfather’s service. Everywhere we turned there was the Wolff Pack patch, sign, poster, sticker, and of course, the KC-135. It was simply emotional and moving to witness firsthand his legacy. We had no idea what to expect when we went to Thorpe Abbotts and RAF Mildenhall, but from the very first moment, we felt like family, and that’s a feeling we will carry for the rest of our lives.
“It’s such an honor to know that his legacy will continue to live on for generations, and I’m so thankful that the 100th Air Refueling Wing have taken him to their hearts and will continue to fly with him,” said Jeffrey Paul.