Arthur E Reddig

Military ROLL OF HONOUR

Shot down 23 November 1942 in B-17 #41-24568 'Lady Fairweather' while serving as Co-Pilot Aircraft was shot down by German aircraft and crashed into the sea near Belle-Ile en Mer, France. Killed in Action (KIA). The loss is documented on MACR 15075 which has CPT Charles G. Miller as pilot. The crew of this aircraft was that of 1LT Arthur E. Reddig. This mission was the first combat mission for CPT Miller and was considered his "orientation" mission. He was not a regular member of this crew. The regular Co-Pilot of the Reddig crew was 2LT Francis McMurtry and he did not participate in any aircraft on this mission. 2LT McMurty was later KIA on 20-Dec-42 (on his third mission) in B-17F #41-24566 flying with the crew of 1LT Orville S. Witt.







AM, PH

Connections

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Units served with

Official emblem of the 303rd Bomb Group approved 7 November 1942.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Lady Fairweather
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 359th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Enlisted

Unorganized Territory of Fort Snelling, MN 55417, USA 11 July 1941

Other

Completed Basic Military Training

22 August 1941

Other

Completed Basic Flight Training

5 February 1942

Other

Commissioned

6 February 1942 Commissioned as Pilot - 2LT Second Lieutenant.

Other

Assigned to Group

GOWEN FIELD CACTF, Boise, ID 83716, USA 15 April 1942 Assigned to 303rd Bomb Group

Other

Advanced Flight Training

Alamogordo, NM 88310, USA 12 June 1942 - 6 August 1942

Other

Assigned with Crew

Biggs Field, TX 79918, USA 27 July 1942 Original crew P 1LT Arthur E. Reddig; CP 2LT Francis M. McMurtry N 2LT John Ercegovich, Jr. B 2LT Grady B. Ward E/TTG SGT Robert W. Van Fleet; RO SGT Devon B. Nolen BTG SGT Gerald S. Sturgis, LWG Sgt Ferrell A. Mann RWG SGT Edmund Q. Borysiewicz; TG SSGT Melvin M. Tanzer SSGT Borysiewicz was reassigned to some other unit before the 303rd departed for England. There are no records that he flew any missions with the 303rd. SSGT Tanzer was transferred to the 427th Bomb Squadron in an Administrative position on 25-Oct-42.

Other

Assembled with Air Echelon

Biggs Field, TX 79918, USA 7 August 1942 - 24 August 1942

Other

Assigned to Aircraft

Bangor International Airport (BGR), 287 Godfrey Boulevard, Bangor, ME 04401, USA 9 October 1942 Assigned to B-17F 41-24568

Other

Promoted in Rank

Bangor International Airport (BGR), 287 Godfrey Boulevard, Bangor, ME 04401, USA 10 October 1942 1LT First Lieutenant. Date is approximate. Known that he was a 1LT when he arrived in England. Location Dow Field, Maine.

Other

Arrived in the UK

Prestwick, South Ayrshire, UK 24 October 1942

Other

Arrived at Station

Molesworth, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28, UK 25 October 1942

Other

Mission #1 1LT Arthur E. Reddig, w/B-17F 41-24568, 303BG/359BS

Saint-Nazaire, France 18 November 1942 Flew VIII Bomber Command Mission 21. Served as Pilot of B-17F 41-24568 "Lady Faiweather", 303BG/359BS. The actual briefed target was La Pallice, but the 303rd mistook St. Nazaire for La Pallice even though they are 100 miles away from each other. RTB OK

Other

Mission #2 1LT Arthur E. Reddig, w/B-17F 41-24568, 303BG/359BS - Aborted

Lorient, France 22 November 1942 Flew VIII Bomber Command Mission 22 Served as Pilot of B-17F 41-24568, 303BG/359BS to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France but 1LT Reddig aborted the mission, no reason stated in Mission Report. RTB OK.

Other

Killed in Action (KIA)

Belle Île, France 23 November 1942 Killed when the aircraft was shot down by German fighters and crashed in flames near the Belle-Ile en Mer, France. His remains were never recovered.

Other

Mission #3 1LT Arthur E. Reddig, w/B-17F 41-24568, 303BG/359BS

Saint-Nazaire, France 23 November 1942 Flew VIII Bomber Command Mission 23 to bomb U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France. Served as Pilot of B-17F 41-24568 "Lady Fairweather", 303BG/359BS. Aircraft and crew MIA.

Born

North Dakota

Other

Commemorated

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Madingley Road, Coton, Cambridgeshire CB23 7PH, UK Commemorated on the Wall of the Missing. Cambridge American Cemetery.

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added a "#" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" for clarity.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 5-Dec-2015. Edited Mission #3 title and description per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, historian, Mission Report of 23-Nov-42.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 5-Dec-2015. Edited Mission #2 event title and Description per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 22-Nov-42.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 5-Dec-2015. Edited Mission #1 title and description per 303BG websit, Gary Moncur, historian, Mission Report of 18-Nov-42.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 5-Dec-2015. Added location to Assigned with Crew event and location per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, historian, Arthur E. Reddig crew page.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 1-May-2015. Edited Biography event removing duplicate of "Enlisted".

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 1-May-2015. Added additional information to the biography concerning the association of CPT Miller with the Reddig crew on this mission per the 303BG website: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-359-reddig.html.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 9-Apr-2015. Changed date on his completion of basic training based on a six eek training period that was stanfard at that time.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 31-Mar-2015. Added Promotion in Rank. He was commissioned as a 2LT on 6-Feb-42 and it is known that he was a 1LT when he arrived in the UK on 24-Oct-42, so promotion to 1LT had to occur. In peace-time promotion from 2LT to 1LT requires 18-months in grade, but war-time would probably have an accelerated advancement schedule. It is possible that he may have been promoted to 1LT when his crew was assigned on 27-Jul-42 or when he completed Advance Flight training on 6-Aug-42. "Best guess" based on analysis of his military history chronology.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 31-Mar-2015. Correction typo in Third Mission description.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 31-Mar-2015. Added Mission events per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, historian, http://www.303rdbg.com/

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 31-Ma5-2015. Added Biography events: Completion of Basic Military Tng; Completed Basic Flight Tng; Completed Advanced Flight Tng; Assembled with Air Echelon based on USAAF 303BG record at http://www.usaaf.com/8thaf/bomber/303bg.HTM; Assigned with Crew; Arrived UK; Arrived at Station per 303rd Bomb Group website, Gary Moncur, historian http://www.303rdbg.com/c-359-reddig.html; Assigned to Aircraft based on "The B-17 Flying Dortress Story" Roger A. Freeman.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 29-Mar-2015. Enlistment date from National Archives Records Administration (NARA) Enlistment records database.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Mar-2015. Added Map locationt KIA event wihtin existing website data.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 12-Mar-2015. Corrected SN to "O" (oh) from "0" (zero); Added Commissioned even and Assigned event per 303BG website: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-359-reddig.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 1-Dec-2014. Edited biography for correct crash location; added KIA event per MACR 15075; added Commemoration event per American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) record.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 6-Nov-2014. Correction to loss date in description.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 6-Nov-2014. Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 15075; American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC)

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, MACR 15075 , Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. One by Bishop and Hey, p. 48,

http://www.303rdbg.com/359reddig.html