FRE 1686

IMAGE

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Two airmen of the 398th Bomb Group examine the damaged tail of a B-17 Flying Fortress. Damaged received while on the April 8,1945 mission to Derben, Germany. Just after bombs-away a direct hit by flak completely tore the tail gunner position away and disabled the rudder controls. The tail gunner, S/Sgt. Wallace E. Kasch, was carried away without his chute, his remains were never found. It took the skill of the two pilots, Lt. Col. Edwin B. Daily and 1st Lt. John L. Hahn, to get the aircraft back to base using the engines for directional control. MACR 13869

Connections

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Units

The insignia of the 398th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 398th Bomb Group 600th Bomb Squadron Headquarters (398th Bomb Group)
  • Service Numbers: O-437440
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
  • Role/Job: Pilot / Squadron Commander / Group Operations Officer
Two airmen of the 398th Bomb Group examine the damaged tail of a B-17 Flying Fortress.
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 398th Bomb Group 600th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-774634
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Co pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 398th Bomb Group 600th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 35895845
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner

Aircraft

An airman stands inside the severely-damaged nose of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 44-8811) of the 398th Bomb Group. Official caption printed on image: 'A/C 44-8811, (GAD- 144-4-398)(8-4-45)(Flak Damage & Crash Landing).'
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 398th Bomb Group 600th Bomb Squadron

Locations

Mission

Revisions

Date:
ContributorSuperman
ChangesChanges to caption, unit associations, person associations, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations
Sources

From MACR 13869

Date:
ContributorAAM
ChangesAAM ingest
Sources

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection