Bert W Stimmel
MilitaryImage courtesy of Daniel Ferris
Bert was an actor, dancer, choreographer and theatre director. During the Second World War,
he flew 30 missions as a B-17 radio operator with the 401st Bomb Group. A graduate of Yale University, Bert returned to Europe to work on theatre productions in London’s West End, before forming his own dance company. He lived for 30 years in the Middle East, much of the time spent with the Caracalla Dance Theatre in Beirut. This city was for many years at the heart of a bitter civil war. ‘I flew in the Second World War and my B-17 crashed in the North Sea, so I’ve no problem with danger here,’ he said.
RTD. Shot down 4 January 1944 in B-17 #42-31089 'Carolyne. ' Target Kiel, Germany. Plane ditched in North Sea after both engines on left side stopped.
Read the full article about the Caracalla Dance Theatre here: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/arts-giant-steps…
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Carolyne
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 612th Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: USAAF heritage site
- Known as: AAM
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Benefield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Toledo, Ohio | ||
Beirut, Lebanon |
Revisions
American Air Museum caption panel that accompanies Bert Stimmel's display in the 'Somewhere in England' gallery of the AAM.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 6468, Losses of 8th & 9th Air Forces,
href="http://www.401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=372">http://www.401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=372>