AS he approaches his 103rd birthday former US Army Engineer Rich Carter is believed to be the oldest person still alive who served at RAF Burtonwood during WWII.
Rich, has fond memories of his time stationed at RAF Burtonwood during the Second World War – and still has a collection of postcards from his time in Warrington more than 80 years ago.
Details of Rich’s time in Warrington were relayed from a family friend, Donna Sinclair Hogan, who originated from Liverpool before moving to the States, who passed on the information to Burtonwood Association President Aldon Ferguson.
She first met him several years through her friend Shannon Taggart, his granddaughter.
Rich is from Buffalo in New York and is still in good shape apart from being a little deaf.
As Donna grew up knowing all about Burtonwood and having a love of aviation she mentioned this to Rich only to find out that he was actually stationed at Burtonwood as an engineer looking after the aircraft. His brother Ray Carter was a fighter pilot who she believes survived 56 missions.
During the meeting, she talked about Burtonwood and the war and Rich gave her some postcards of Warrington that he had kept from his time at Burtonwood. He has fond memories of his time spent at the camp.
She believes must be one of the last men standing who actually served at Burtonwood during the war, describing him as “an amazing man & still talking fondly about his time there”.
He came over on a cruise ship into Liverpool – the SS Argentina.
After surviving the Second World War Rich has also survived the pandemic, having recently recovered from pneumonia and is set to celebrate his 103rd birthday on September 15.
The old postcards from Warrington
