43-37806 Miss Fortune
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 24/5/44; Kearney 2/6/44; Grenier 16/6/44; Assigned 486BG Sudbury 18/6/44;
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43-37894
B-17 Flying Fortress
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The nose art of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 43-37894) nicknamed "Big Poison" of the 490th Bomb Group. Image by Captain Arnold Delmonico, photographic officer 490th Bomb Group. Written on slide casing: '337894, Big Poison.'
Delivered Cheyenne 2/6/44; Kearney 13/6/44; Grenier 28/6/44; Assigned 849BS/490BG Eye 1/7/44;
On assembly for Chemnitz 6/2/45 with John Hedgecock, Co-pilot: Eaden Whiteman, Navigator: John Roschen, Bombardier: Albt Elias, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Jake Zuckerman, Radio Operator: Art Fleischer, Waist gunner: Pete Nicoliasen, Tail gunner: Paul Estep (8RTD with minor injuries);
Ball turret gunner: Ed Tijan (Killed in Action); mid-air coll with 43-37806; crashed Prickwillow, Sfk, UK; crews bailed, two civilians also killed and three injured.
(?landing accident at base with Jim Owens 15/5/45?)
Salvaged.
Service
Aircraft
Units
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490th Bomb Group
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... -
849th Bomb Squadron
Squadron
People
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Albert Elias
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 490th Bomb Group
Member of Hedgecock crew Returning from operations 6 Feb 1945, plane had mid air collision with 388th BG 'Miss Fortune' and crash landed in England at Prickwillow, Suffolk. All crew members wounded. Plane was 'Big Poison' AC #43-37894 -
Paul Estep
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 490th Bomb Group
Returning from operations 6 Feb 1945, plane had mid air collision with 388th BG 'Miss Fortune' and crash landed in England at Prickwillow, Suffolk. All crew members wounded. Plane was 'Big Poison' AC #43-37894 -
Arthur Fleischer
Military | Sergeant | Radio Operator | 490th Bomb Group
Returning from operations 6 Feb 1945, plane had mid air collision with 388th BG 'Miss Fortune' and crash landed in England at Prickwillow, Suffolk. All crew members wounded. Plane was 'Big Poison' AC #43-37894 -
John Hedgecock
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 490th Bomb Group
Returning from operations 6 Feb 1945, plane had mid air collision with 388th BG 'Miss Fortune' and crash landed in England at Prickwillow, Suffolk. All crew members wounded. Plane was 'Big Poison' AC #43-37894 -
Pete Nicoliasen
Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 490th Bomb Group
Returning from operations 6 Feb 1945, plane had mid air collision with 388th BG 'Miss Fortune' and crash landed in England at Prickwillow, Suffolk. All crew members wounded. Plane was 'Big Poison' AC #43-37894 -
James Owens
Military | Flight Officer | Pilot | 490th Bomb Group
AM / 2 Oak Leaf Cluster -
John Roschen
Military | Flight Officer | Navigator | 490th Bomb Group
Member of Hedgecock crew Returning from operations 6 Feb 1945, plane had mid air collision with 388th BG 'Miss Fortune' and crash landed in England at Prickwillow, Suffolk. All crew members wounded. Plane was 'Big Poison' AC #43-37894 -
Edward Tijan
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 490th Bomb Group
Edward Tijan served as a ball turret gunner with the 490th Bomb Group out of Eye, England. He was a member of John Hedgecock's crew. On 6 February 1945, he was flying in B-17 43-37894 'Big Poison' when it suffered a mid air collision with B-17 43-37806... -
Eaden Whiteman
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 490th Bomb Group
Returning from operations 6 Feb 1945, plane had mid air collision with 388th BG 'Miss Fortune' and crash landed in England at Prickwillow, Suffolk. Plane was 'Big Poison' AC #43-37894 -
Jacob Zuckerman
Military | Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner; Flight Engineer | 490th Bomb Group
Returning from operations 6 Feb 1945, plane had mid air collision with 388th BG 'Miss Fortune' and crash landed in England at Prickwillow, Suffolk. All crew members wounded. Plane was 'Big Poison' AC #43-37894
Places
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Eye
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...
Events
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Crashed | Prickwillow, Ely CB7, UK |
Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 24 November 2016 16:10:21 | Lucy May | Changes to nicknames, description, events, unit associations, person associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
Added connections from biography information. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:41:24 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log |
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