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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 27/1/44; Kearney 14/2/44; Grenier 7/3/44; Assigned 398BG Nuthampstead 11/3/44; transferred 708BS/447BG Rattlesden 12/3/44; Missing in Action Brux 12/5/44 with Edwin Wright, Co-pilot: Capt George Hughes, Navigator: Wray Hylton, Bombardier: Nick Dekoning, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Roy Williams, Radio Operator: Rudi Palumbo, Waist gunner: Bernie McDonald, Waist gunner: Clarry Brown, Tail gunner: Bill McQuoid (9 Killed in Action); Ball turret gunner: Bob Johnston (Prisoner of War); enemy aircraft badly damaged ship, two engines KOd, crashed Reinachmuhle near Ailingen, three miles N of Friedrichshafen, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 4773.
Group
The 447th Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses on strategic bombardment missions out of Rattlesden, Suffolk. With their first mission coming on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1943, their main focus was hitting sites that would weaken enemy forces...
Squadron
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42107020. Killed in Action (KIA).
PH
Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42107020. Killed in Action (KIA).
PH
Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 447th Bomb Group
Navigator on Capt William Hitchcock's crew. Flew 30 combat missions between December 31, 1943, and April 29, 1944.
Military | Captain | Co-Pilot | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42107020. Killed in Action (KIA).
PH
Military | Lieutenant | Navigator | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42107020. Killed in Action (KIA).
PH
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107020. Prisoner of War (POW).
...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42107020. Killed in Action (KIA).
...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107020, Killed in Action (KIA). PH
...
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42107020. Killed in Action (KIA).
...
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107020, Killed in Action (KIA).
PH
Military site : airfield
Built during 1942-43, Nuthampstead was the nearest Eighth Air Force heavy bomber base to London. It had three concrete runways, 50 loop hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. It was first occupied from September 1943 to April 1944 by the 55th...
Military site : airfield
Built for the Eighth Air Force in 1942, Rattlesden had three concrete runways, 50 hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. Intended to be a twin-engine B-26 bomber base, it was originally a satellite for nearby Rougham, and first occupied from...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Germany | 12 May 1944 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 14 December 2020 18:09:12 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added a space before the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 23 March 2020 16:11:57 | ElaineBalsley | Changes to nicknames and markings |
| Sources | ||
Remembering what my mother (his sister), Elizabeth McQuoid Brethauer, told me many years ago. Cannot really verify, but that has stuck in my mind for decades. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:15 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 4773 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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