B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17G-50-BO #42-102435 "Double Wallop" Code: G 388th BG - 562nd BS
Delivered Cheyenne 3/3/44; Dorval 10/3/44; Assigned RAF [HB784]; transferred USAAF 31/3/44; Assigned 562BS/388BG [B] Knettishall 1/7/44; Missing in Action Munich 31/7/44 with Jim Crider, Co-pilot: Fred Gordon, (no Nav), Bombardier: Bill Stewart, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Chas Young, Radio Operator: Ed Levy, Ball turret gunner: Albt South, Waist gunner: John Kreitzman, Tail gunner: Gene Johnson (8 INT); flak, crashed Legau, S of Memmingen, Ger, close to Swiss border. Missing Air Crew Report 7746.
Group
The 388th Bomb Group flew strategic bombing mission from Knettishall, Suffolk from June 1943 to the end of the war. During this time, though, detachments were sent to Fersfield, Norfolk to conduct Aphrodite missions. In these Aphrodite missions veteran...
Squadron
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Had mechanical failure and crashed near Legea on 7/31/44 in B-17 #42102435
POW
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Had mechanical failure and crashed near Legea on 7/31/44 in B-17 #42102435
POW
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Had mechanical failure and crashed near Legea on 7/31/44 in B-17 #42102435
POW
Military | Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Had mechanical failure and crashed near Legea on 7/31/44 in B-17 #42102435
POW
Military | Sergeant | Radio Operator | 388th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Had mechanical failure and crashed near Legea on 7/31/44 in B-17 #42102435
POW
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Had mechanical failure and crashed near Legea on 7/31/44 in B-17 #42102435
POW
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 388th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Had mechanical failure and crashed near Legea on 7/31/44 in B-17 #42102435
POW
Military | Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Had mechanical failure and crashed near Legea on 7/31/44 in B-17 #42-102435, Prisoner of War (POW).
2 July 1944
8 July 1944
11 July 1944
More than 1000 planes bombed Munich. Flak cut our control cables to elevators and rudder. Flew back by wing trim tabs. Shippy spliced cables before landing. Nine hour ride. Flak hit Sgt Rollinger's oxygen mask and injured his nose and eyes.
12 July 1944
Picked up a few flak holes. Overcast weather all the way. Another long ride. This makes 17 completed Missions.
13 July 1944
16 July 1944
18 July 1944
Flew an easy one over Denmark to Germany. Only had one hours sleep between yesterday and today.
19 July 1944
Schweinfurt, Germany ball bearing plant was the target. Hit by flak and fell behind formation at 8:45 am above Aachen, Germany and crashed at Haren, Belgium at 10:06 am in the air district.
24 July 1944
Bombed enemy troop concentrations and thus assisted the Allied breakthrough at St. Lo. About 1500 planes of US went to St. Lo in Cherbourg. We came back with our bombs. Couldn't find the target.
28 July 1944
Military site : airfield
Knettishall was built to Class A standard for an American Bomb Group that would be bringing up to forty heavy bombers with them in three or four Squadrons. The 388th Bomb Group, which stayed at Knettishall for their entire service in the ETO, flew B-17...
Other location
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Delivered | Cheyenne, WY, USA | 3 March 1944 |
| Assigned | Dorval, QC, Canada | 10 March 1944 |
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Assigned to RAF with Serial #HB784 |
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| Assigned | Knettishall, Diss IP22 2TH, UK | 1 July 1944 |
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USAAF |
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| Failed to Return (FTR) | 87764 Legau, Germany | 31 July 1944 |
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Hit on a raid to Munich, turned south to try and make Switzerland. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 19 February 2021 21:22:36 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added a space before the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 29 December 2017 02:52:13 | 466thHistorian | Changes to production block number, markings, events and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
http://www.388bg.info/servlet/Controller?pageType=detail&id=42-102435&da... |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 09 March 2015 15:57:10 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Information sent by Dick Read relating to Arthur M. Read and the 388th Bomb Group. (From 'The 388th At War' by Ed Huntzinger). |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2015 22:56:01 | 388th | Changes to nicknames, markings and events |
| Sources | ||
388th database |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:09 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 7746 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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