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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Long Beach 23/9/43; Gr Island 6/10/43; Presque Is 14/10/43; Assigned 563BS/388BG [ –P] Knettishall 14/10/43; Missing in Action Merseburg 29/7/44 with Russell Boyce, Bombardier: Jack Graves, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Calvin Leitz, Radio Operator: John Turpen, Ball turret gunner: Norman Hubbert, Waist gunner: Ken Ernester,Tail gunner: Alf Japhen (7 Killed in Action); Co-pilot: Darrell Hornsby, Navigator: Emmett Lawless (2 Prisoner of War); enemy aircraft KO’d #2 and #3, crashed Rottendorf, N of Rossleben, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 7820.
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 | Major | Bombardier/Lead Bombardier | 388th Bomb Group
Retired from the USAF with the rank of Lt. Colonel
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) Shot down by fighters and crashed at Rottendorf in B-17 #4239866
Military | Staff Sergeant (Technician Third Grade) | Tail Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
On the return from a mission to Klein Machnow, Berlin on 6 Mar 1944, B-17G #42-37886 'Blitzing' Betsy' was severely damaged by attacks from several FW190s causing it to collide with another 388th B-17, exploding in mid-air and crashing near Emmen,...
Military | Colonel | Group Commanding Officer | 388th Bomb Group
Retired from the USAF with the rank of Brigadier General
Military | Captain | Navigator/Squadron Navigator | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Lieutenant | Bombardier | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) Shot down by fighters and crashed at Rottendorf in B-17 #4239866
Military | Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Shot down by fighters and crashed at Rottendorf on 7/29/44 in B-17 #4239866
POW
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) 29 July 1944 Shot down by fighters and crashed at Rottendorf in B-17 #4239866
DFC/ AM w/ 3 Oak Leaf Cluster/ PH
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) 29 July 1944 Shot down by fighters and crashed at Rottendorf in B-17 #4239866
DFC/ AM w/ 3 Oak Leaf Cluster/ PH
29 July 1944
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
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Germany | 29 July 1944 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 09 March 2015 15:43:34 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Information sent by Dick Read relating to Arthur M. Read and the 388th Bomb Group. (From 'The 388th At War' by Ed Huntzinger). |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:51 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 7820 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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