Paul Chryst

Military
Lieutenant Paul Chryst, a navigator of the 91st Bomb Group in position inside his B-17 Flying Fortress. Image by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Chryst, 91st Bomb Group. Written on slide casing: 'Lt Chryst, Navigator.' media-388055.jpg FRE 5707 Lieutenant Paul Chryst, a navigator of the 91st Bomb Group in position inside his B-17 Flying Fortress. Image by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Chryst, 91st Bomb Group. Written on slide casing: 'Lt Chryst, Navigator.' Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

Object Number - FRE 5707 - Lieutenant Paul Chryst, a navigator of the 91st Bomb Group in position inside his B-17 Flying Fortress. Image by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Chryst, 91st...

Paul Chryst enlisted in the Air Corps in August 1942. After training and his commission as a 2nd Lt he was sent overseas and assigned to the 91st Bomb Group, 401st Bomb Squadron as a Bombardier. He was promoted to 1st Lt and flew 35 combat missions between August and December 1944.

Lt. Colonel Paul Chryst (Ret.) wrote on 2 November 2002 in an e-mail posted at http://www.merkki.com/guestbook2002page4.htm :

“We flew our first mission on 3 August 1944 and the last one on 15 Dec 44. I counted 38 missions total; but the Orderly Room said "only 35 completed". My Pilot Class was 43K; but the PT-17 Stearman (training plane) washed me out. Went on to Aerial Gunnery School and graduated to become the FIRST class of Cadets to wear Gunner's wings then on to Bombardier School. We graduated after 12 weeks bombing and another 6 weeks of DR Navigation. My biggest fear while flying was "bail-out" the small hatch next to the Navigator and being killed by hitting the leading edge of the left elevator. If I made it to the ground, my next worry was being killed by some German civilian. At 6'-2" I weighed 125 lbs. and never would have survived the small rations in POW Camp.”

Paul Chryst’s 30 August 2002 oral history interview in Tacoma, Washington at https://digital.library.shsu.edu/digital/collection/p16042coll1/id/53

Connections

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Units served with

Unofficial emblem of the 91st Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

The nose art of a B-17 Flying Fortress nicknamed "Time's A-Wastin'" of the 91st Bomb Group.
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Times A-Wastin
  • Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Hartford, CT 24 August 1920 Son of Sinodis and Helen [Gardner] Chryst.

Enlisted

Reading, PA 11 August 1942 as a Private in the Air Corps, Reading, Pennsylvania

Based

Bassingbourn 3 August 1944 - 15 December 1944 Flew on 35 missions as a Bombardier in the 401st Bomb Squadron/91st Bomb Group

Died

Saratoga Center, Pottstown, PA 31 July 2014 at the Saratoga Center, Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Pottstown, PA Pottstown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Buried

Limerick Garden of Memories, Limerick, Montgomery County, PA Rests at the Limerick Garden of Memories, Limerick, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA

Revisions

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Sources

306th BG Association Directory, 1 September 1999 Edition / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia

Paul Chryst: Gallery (39 items)