Following recent government announcements the museum is currently closed, there is plenty to explore in our online archive.
The American Air Museum is a charity - Find out how you can support us
B-17 Flying Fortress
Fertile Myrtle 381st 533rd 42-29999
Delivered Cheyenne 25/3/43; Smoky Hill 3/4/43; Presque Is 2/5/43; Assigned 96BG Grafton Underwood 8/5/43 GENIE; Andrews Fd 13/5/43; Snetterton 12/6/43; transferred 533BS/381BG [VP-Z] Ridgewell 16/7/43; Missing in Action 18m Oschersleben 11/1/44 with Matt McEvoy, Co-pilot: Nicholas Nikitin, Navigator: Henry Lipsky, Bombardier: Bill Ingram, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Art Loehrer, Radio Operator: Fred Johnson, Ball turret gunner: Weldon Wittwer, Left Waist gunner: Gene Kracium, Right Waist gunner: Mack Sexton, Tail gunner: Jack Trueblood (10 Prisoners of War); enemy aircraft, crashed Eicholz, three miles S of Melle, 14 miles SE of Osnabruck, Ger; Missing Air Crew Report 1880. FERTILE MYRTLE.
Group
The 381st Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Ridgewell, Essex between June 1943 and April 1945. The Group was awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations, the first for bombing shipyards at Bremen, whilst under heavy attack, on 8 October 1943 and...
Squadron
Squadron
Squadron
Military | Flight Officer | Bombardier | 381st Bomb Group
Bombardier, McEvoy crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down by fighters on mission #59 to the aircraft factories at Oschersleben, Germany on 11 Jan 1944 in B-17F #42-29999 'Fertile Myrtle'. MACR 1880 (8 pages in the MACR 1879). Prisoner of War at...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner; Flight Engineer | 381st Bomb Group
Radio operator, McEvoy crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down by fighters on mission #59 to the aircraft factories at Oschersleben, Germany on 11 Jan 1944 in B-17F #42-29999 'Fertile Myrtle'. MACR 1880 (8 pages in MACR 1879). Prisoner of War at...
Military | Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
LWG, McEvoy crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down by fighters on mission #59 to the aircraft factories at Oschersleben, Germany on 11 Jan 1944 in B-17F #42-29999 'Fertile Myrtle'. MACR 1880 (8 pages in MACR 1879). Prisoner of War at Stalag XVIIB....
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 381st Bomb Group
Navigator, McEvoy crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down by fighters on mission #59 to the aircraft factories at Oschersleben, Germany on 11 Jan 1944 in B-17F #42-29999 'Fertile Myrtle'. MACR 1880 (8 pages in MACR 1879). Prisoner of War at Stalag...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner; Flight Engineer | 381st Bomb Group
ETTG. McEvoy crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down by fighters on mission #59 to the aircraft factories at Oschersleben, Germany on 11 Jan 1944 in B-17F #42-29999 'Fertile Myrtle'. MACR 1880 (8 pages in MACR 1879). Prisoner of War at Stalag Luft...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 381st Bomb Group
Matthew J McEvoy served as a pilot with the 381st Bomb Group, 533rd BS, 8th AF from Ridgewell, Essex.
...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 381st Bomb Group
Co-pilot, McEvoy crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down by fighters on mission #59 to the aircraft factories at Oschersleben, Germany on 11 Jan 1944 in B-17F #42-29999 'Fertile Myrtle'. MACR 1880 (8 pages in MACR 1879, Klein crew). Prisoner of War...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
October 1943 - January 1944. RWG, McEvoy crew. Original member of the Schultz, E crew. 381st BG, 533rd BBS, 8th AF. Shot down by fighters on mission #59 to the aircraft factories at Oschersleben, Germany on 11 Jan 1944 in B-17F #42-29999 'Fertile...
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
TG, McEvoy crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down by fighters on mission #59 to the aircraft factories at Oschersleben, Germany on 11 Jan 1944 in B-17F #42-29999 'Fertile Myrtle'. MACR 1880 (8 pages in MACR 1879). Prisoner of War (POW).
...
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
BTG, McEvoy crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down by fighters on mission #59 to the aircraft factories at Oschersleben, Germany on 11 Jan 1944 in B-17F #42-29999 'Fertile Myrtle'. MACR 1880 (8 pages in MACR 1879). Prisoner of War at Stalag XVIIB....
11 January 1944
Three aviation industry targets in Germany are bombed. The bomber force consists of 291 B-17s despatched from 1st Bomb Division in two elements, one element of 177 B-17s is despatched to Oschersleben, Germany as the primary target, the other 1BD...
Military site : airfield
Grafton Underwood was built in 1941 by George Wimpey and Co. Ltd. It was the first airfield in England to receive an Eighth Air Force flying unit, when in May 1942 personnel of the 15th Bomb Squadron took up residence. As a satellite airfield for...
Military site : airfield
Built during 1941-42 as an RAF bomber station, Ridgewell operated as a satellite to RAF Stradishall until May 1943. It had three concrete runways, initially 36 pan hardstandings, and two dispersed T2 hangars. Taken over by the Eighth Air Force in June...
Military site : airfield
Intended to be an RAF bomber base, construction of Snetterton Heath started in Autumn 1942 but continued until mid-1943, because it was extended after allocation as an Eighth Air Force bomber base. It had eventually three concrete runways, 50...
Military site : airfield
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Germany | 11 January 1944 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 29 May 2020 23:47:35 | kstrykerAK | Changes to markings and unit associations |
| Sources | ||
Snetterton Falcons II: The 96th Bomb Group in World War II by Robert E Doherty & Geoffrey D Ward. Second Edition with Errata and Supplemental Information. Taylor Publishing. 1996. pages 23, 294, 300 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 01 February 2018 05:41:49 | ARowe95 | Changes to description, person associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
ARowe95 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 18 May 2015 18:00:46 | Bagarre | Changes to media associations |
| Sources | ||
mine |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:25 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 1880 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
||
