Thomas Jefferson Estes
Military
"Iowans of the Mighty Eighth", Chapter 22 "Biographies", by Charles D Taylor.
Object Number - UPL 30792 - First Lieutenant Thomas J Estes, Pilot, 384th Bomb Group.
Estes originally joined the Royal Canadian Air Force where he trained as a fighter pilot. After Pearl Harbour he enlisted in the AAF and was commissioned October 9 1942. In May 1943 he joined the 384th BG at Grafton Underwood where combat missions began the following month. Shot down 25 July 1943 in a massive raid over Hamburg he managed a landing on the North Sea in 'Weary Wiley'. The crew of ten spent two days in life rafts before being picked up by a passing Danish trawler and then transferred to an Air/Sea rescue plane.
His final assignment was training pilots on the B-29.
2 DFCs, 4 Air Medals
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Flak House
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Patches : The Spotted Cow
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 547th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: We Dood It
- Unit: 403rd Air Depot 303rd Bomb Group 384th Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron 545th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Weary Willie | No Name Jive | Old Puss II
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 24 December 1943
- Date: 22 December 1943
- Date: 13 December 1943
- Date: 16 November 1943
- Date: 20 October 1943
Places
Revisions
Added a "-" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop & Hey, p.190 Grafton Underwood 106, http://384thbombgroup.com/_content/_pages/PersonnelSearch.php?LastName=…