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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 17/4/43; Smoky Hill 24/4/43; Dow Fd 6/5/43; Assigned 339BS/96BG Andrews Fd 9/5/43 WORRY WART; Snetterton 12/6/43; transferred 532BS/381BG Ridgewell 16/7/43; Missing in Action 1m Hamburg (Heide) 25/7/43 with Capt Joe Alexander, Co-pilot: Bill Crowley, Navigator: Jack Wemmer, Bombardier: Harry Hellman, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Jim Nance, Radio Operator: George Orin, Ball turret gunner: Pete Garvan, Waist gunner: Jim Heist, Waist gunner: Walt Ferens, Tail gunner: George Johnson (10 Prisoner of War); flak damage too serious to attempt UK return, crashed Sudmoor, near Aurich, E of Emden Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 131.
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 20/3/43; force landed Smoky Hill, KS with Frank Spino 3/4/43; Pueblo 8/4/43; Smoky Hill 6/5/43; Dow Fd 19/5/43; Assigned 532BS/381BG [VE-Q] Ridgewell 25/5/43 with Jack Owen, Bill Bohan, Liston Bascom, Frank Ronzio, Bill Lindenmeyer,...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 1/4/43; Pueblo 8/4/43; Smoky Hill 6/5/43; Dow Fd 19/5/43; Assigned 532BS/381BG [VE-E] Ridgewell 22/5/43 with Bill Moore, Dale Wendte, Phil Dreiseszun, Jim Houck, Frank Bryant, Ed Usher, Bill Kithcart, Bill Fortier, Edgerton Zahm,...
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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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 | Major | Pilot | 381st Bomb Group
Pilot, Alexander crew. 381st BG, 532nd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 25 July 1943 in B-17 #42-30153 "Worry Wart". Mission #12 to the Focke-Wulf factory at Hamburg. MACR 131. Flak damaged, vibrating violently over the English Channel, turned 180 degrees back to...
Military | Captain | Bombardier | 96th Bomb Group
Joined 13 June 1942. Shot down 5 January 1944 in B-17 #42-30665 'Hunyak'. Evaded. Escape & Evasion Report E&E 882. Released from active duty 23 December 1945.
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 381st Bomb Group
Co-pilot, Alexander crew. 381st BG, 532nd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 25 July 1943 in B-17 #42-30153 "Worry Wart". Mission #12 to the Focke-Wulf factory at Hamburg. MACR 131. Flak damaged, vibrating violently over the English Channel, turned 180 degrees back...
Military | Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
RWG, Alexander crew. 381st BG, 532nd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 25 July 1943 in B-17 #42-30153 "Worry Wart". Mission #12 to the Focke-Wulf factory at Hamburg. MACR 131. Flak damaged, vibrating violently over the English Channel, turned 180 degrees back to...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
BTG, Alexander crew. 381st BG, 532nd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 25 July 1943 in B-17 #42-30153 "Worry Wart". Mission #12 to the Focke-Wulf factory at Hamburg. MACR 131. Flak damaged, vibrating violently over the English Channel, turned 180 degrees back to...
Military | Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
LWG, Alexander crew. 381st BG, 532nd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 25 July 1943 in B-17 #42-30153 "Worry Wart". Mission 312 to the Focke-Wulf factory at Hamburg. MACR 131. Falk damaged, vibrating violently over the English Channel, turned 180 degrees back to...
Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier | 381st Bomb Group
Bombardier, Alexander crew. 381st BG, 532nd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 25 July 1943 in B-17 #42-30153 "Worry Wart". Mission #12 to the Focke-Wulf factory at Hamburg. MACR 131. Flak damaged, vibrating violently over the English Channel, turned 180 degrees...
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
Tail Gunner, Alexander crew. 381st BG, 532nd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 25 July 1943 in B-17 #42-30153 "Worry Wart". Mission #12 to the Focke-Wulf factory at Hamburg. MACR 131. Flak damaged, vibrating violently over the English Channel, turned 180 degrees...
Military | Private | Radio Repairman | 96th Bomb Group
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
ETTG, Alexander crew. 381st BG, 532nd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 25 July 1943 in B-17 #42-30153 "Worry Wart". Mission #12 to the Focke-Wulf factory at Hamburg. MACR 131. Flak damaged, vibrating violently over the English Channel, turned 180 degrees back to...
13 June 1943
German naval facilities and port areas at Bremen, Germany and Kiel, Germany are the primary targets for this mission. A formation of 151 B-17s despatched from: 91BG (21); 92BG (17); 303BG (27); 305BG (24); 306BG (28); 351BG (21); and 379BG (13) are to...
25 July 1943
This mission was composed of three elements. The primary targets were the diesel engine works at Hamburg, Germany; the shipyards at Kiel, Germany and the aircraft industries at Warnemude, Germany, but weather frustrated the effort. The first element...
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...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Germany | 25 July 1943 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 07 December 2020 19:55:24 | 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 May 2020 21:59:07 | kstrykerAK | Changes to markings, unit associations, person associations and mission 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 27, 28, 293 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 03 November 2017 19:52:34 | ARowe95 | Changes to aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
ARowe95 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 03 November 2017 18:47:09 | ARowe95 | Changes to nicknames |
| Sources | ||
ARowe95 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 03 November 2017 18:46:39 | ARowe95 | Changes to nicknames and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
ARowe95 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:27 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 131 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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