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B-17 Flying Fortress
Heavenly Body memorial, Nailstone, Leicestershire B-17G Flying Fortress 43-37776
Michael H Primus Crew
Robert C Simmons
Delivered Cheyenne 20/5/44; Kearney 31/5/44; Grenier 7/6/44; Assigned 849BS/490BG Eye [W8- ] 11/6/44; on routine navigation night flight 27/9/44 with Mike Primus, Co-pilot: Louis Deputy, Navigator: Rich Herman, Bombardier: Bob Simmons, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Roy Griswould, Radio Operator: Claude Keele, Ball turret gunner: Harry Stoever, Waist gunner: Larry Richter,Tail gunner: Americo Virgili, 3 pass of No. 1 Mobile Traing Unit; S/Sgts John Barry, Ralph Franke, Ed Shively (12 Killed in Service); crashed Elmside Farm, Nailstone, Leicesterhire. Salvaged 3/10/44.
Group
The 490th Bomb Group, like the 486th and 487th Bomb Groups transitioned from flying B-24 Liberators to B-17 Flying Fortresses, which were used in combat missions from late August 1944. Based at Eye, Suffolk, the Group were focused in the early months...
Squadron
Military | Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade) | Airplane Instrument Mechanic | 490th Bomb Group
Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 490th Bomb Group
Member of Bullard Crew
Member of Primus Crew
Military | Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade) | Power Turret and Gunsight Mechanic | 490th Bomb Group
Ralph Franke was a passenger on the last flight of the 43-37776. He was killed when it crashed on the 27th of September 1944.
Military | Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade) | Flight Engineer | 490th Bomb Group
Member of Primus crew
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 490th Bomb Group
Member of Primus crew
Military | Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade) | Radio Operator | 490th Bomb Group
Member of Primus crew
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 490th Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant (Technician Third Grade) | Left Waist Gunner | 490th Bomb Group
Member of Primus crew, Air Gunner
Military | Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade) | Airplane Electrical Mechanic | 490th Bomb Group
Edward Shively was a passenger on the last flight of the 43-37776 when it crashed on 27 September 1944.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 490th Bomb Group
Member of McMullen crew
Member of the Primus Crew
Military site : airfield
Eye air base was not a Class A base but was constructed to a less demanding standard by the 827th and 859th Battalions of U.S. Army Engineers in 1943 and was finished in early 1944. Unusually, a group of its hardstandings were on the other side of the...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | England | 27 September 1944 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 16 March 2015 13:31:51 | usxpat | Changes to nicknames, unit associations, person associations, place associations and media associations |
| Sources | ||
http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/pages/midlands/midlands43-37776.htm |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:41:24 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 15341 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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