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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 5/4/43; Gore 10/4/43; Kearney 15/4/43; Wendover 2/5/43; Hill 13/5/43; Kearney 23/5/43; Dow Fd 27/5/43; Assigned 350BS/100BG [LN-P] Podington 29/5/43; Thorpe Abbotts 9/6/43; transferred 561BS/388BG Knettishall 6/43; Missing in Action Woensdrecht 19/8/43 with Bill Howe, Co-pilot: Paul Gruhn, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Jim Hiller, Radio Operator: Steve Toth, Ball turret gunner: Dale Butt, Waist gunner: George Connolly, Waist gunner: Bill Stamp, Tail gunner: Bill Ryan (8 Killed in Action), Navigator: Art Pilley, Bombardier: Joel Tutt (2 Prisoner of War); flak KO’d #4, crashed in field between Haamstede & Renesse, Hol. Missing Air Crew Report 3068. PHARTZAC.
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...
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 | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA)
Military | Staff Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 3068
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA)
Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA)
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 3068.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 388th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW)
Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA)
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA)
Military | Staff Sergeant | Radio Operator | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 3068
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 388th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW)
19 August 1943
The German airfields at Gilze-Rijen, Holland and Woensdrecht, Holland are the targets for this mission. The attacks will be made by two elements. The first element is a combined force of 125 B-17s from: 91BG (8); 92BG (19); 303BG (20); 305BG (19);...
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...
Military site : airfield
Built originally to accommodate two RAF bomber squadrons, the first USAAF unit to occupy the base was the 15th Bomb Squadron in September 1942. Podington was then used as a satellite for nearby Chelveston. Work to lengthen the runways, although this...
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...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Germany | 19 August 1943 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 31 January 2020 23:19:46 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added a space in front of the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” for clarity. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:26 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 3068 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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