8th Air Force
Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945.
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42-30023
B-17 Flying Fortress
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Info' for B-17 'Forever Yours' tail section, in 'The Engine Shed' at the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum.
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B-17 'Forever yours' tail section, in 'The Engine Shed' at the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum.
Delivered Denver 2/4/43; Smoky Hill 27/4/43; Dow Field 19/5/43; Presque Is 20/5/43; Geiger 26/5/43; Presque Is 28/5/43; Assigned 349BS/100BG [XR-M] Thorpe Abbotts 5/6/43; Missing in Action Munster 10/10/43 with Ed Stork, Co-pilot: John Minerich, Bombardier: Art Twitchell, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Larry Willey, Ball turret gunner: Paul Caveny, Waist gunner: Doug Brown, Waist gunner: Gordon Shields, Tail gunner: Ira Turner (8 Prisoner of War); Navigator: John Gibbons, Radio Operator: Stefan Palmer (2 Killed in Action); flak set aircraft ablaze, crashed Amelsbeuren, three miles S of Munster, Ger; Missing Air Crew Report 1022. HORNY aka FOREVER YOURS II.
Service
Units
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100th Bomb Group
Group
"The Bloody Hundredth", so-called because of a reputation for losing a high number aircraft and crews, flew B-17s from Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk. Their losses were not the highest of any Eighth Air Force Group but on several occasions the Group lost many... -
349th Bomb Squadron
Squadron
People
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Douglas Brown
Military | Staff Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner
Shot down 10 October 1943 in B-17 #42-30023 'Forever Yours'. Prisoner of War (POW). POW -
Paul Caveny
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner
Shot down 10 October 1943 in B-17 #42-30023 'Forever Yours'. Prisoner of War (POW). POW -
John Gibbons
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator
Shot down 10 October 1943 in B-17 #42-30023 'Forever Yours'. Killed in Action (KIA). -
John Minerich
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 100th Bomb Group
Shot down 10 October 1943 in B-17 #42-30023 'Forever Yours'. Prisoner of War (POW). -
Stefan Palmer
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator, Radio Operator Gunner
Shot down 10 October 1943 in B-17 #42-30023 'Forever Yours', Killed In Action (KIA). -
Gordon Shields
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner
Shot down 10 October 1943 in B-17 #42-30023 'Forever Yours'. Prisoner of War (POW). POW -
Edward Stork
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot
Shot down 10 October 1943 in B-17 #42-30023 'Forever Yours'. Prisoner of War (POW). POW -
Ira Turner
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner
Shot down 10 October 1943 in B-17 #42-30023 'Forever Yours'. Prisoner of War (POW). POW -
Arthur Twitchell
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 100th Bomb Group
Shot down 10 October 1943 in B-17 42-30023 'Forever Yours. ' Prisoner of War (POW). POW -
Lawrence Willey
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner
Shot down 10 October 1943 in B-17 #42-30023 'Forever Yours'. Prisoner of War (POW). POW
Missions
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VIII Bomber Command 114
10 October 1943
This mission was intended to be a massive attack of 307 B-17s on the railroad facilities and waterway (canals) at Munster, Germany. This attack was to be supported by a diversion 39 B-24s. The formation was attacked by hundreds of German fighters which...
Places
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Thorpe Abbotts
Military site : airfield
Home of the 'Bloody Hundredth’, a Bomb Group with a reputation for high casualty rates, Thorpe Abbotts was under USAAF control from June 1943 to the end of the war. Some of the airfield survives today, and the control tower houses the 100th Bomb Group... -
100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum
Other location
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Presque Isle Army Airfield
Military site : airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date |
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| Failed to Return (FTR) | Germany | 10 October 1943 |
Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 16 January 2020 21:17:46 | jmoore43 | Changes to nicknames |
| Sources | ||
Added the nickname mentioned in the A/C “Description”. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 16 January 2020 21:11:24 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added a space to the A/C “Description” for readability. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 16 January 2020 21:09:53 | jmoore43 | Changes to unit associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Added connections to the 8th AF and to the 8th AF mission for 10 Oct 1943. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 14 October 2018 12:43:13 | apollo11 | Changes to nicknames and place associations |
| Sources | ||
Information gathered after visiting the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:26 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 1022 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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