Raymond J Check
Military ROLL OF HONOURFold3.com
He was assigned to the 303rd BG on approximately 15 April 1942.
He reported to Group on 23 Jun 1943. He graduated from Pilot Class 42-B at Luke AAB, AZ.
27 October 1942 in B-17F-20-BO #41-24508 while flying in a 2 ship low level formation mission, A/C hit trees. Check was able to make a safe landing and all returned to action.
Captain Check took off on his twenty-fifth mission, and which should have been the last of his tour, on June 26, 1943, flying Chennault's Pappy III. It was a milk-run bombing mission of a German airfield in Tricqueville, France. A big party was planned for the evening of their return.
During the bomb run, Check's temporary co-pilot, Lt. Col. James W. Wilson (an old squadron leader who wanted to go on Check's final mission), removed his gloves to make some adjustments to the engine. During the final seconds of the bomb run, a German fighter swooped down unnoticed from the sun. One 20mm cannon shell hit Cap. Check in the neck, exploded and killed him. A fire started in the cockpit, badly burning Wilson's hands. A crewmate put out the fire with an extinguisher. Col. Wilson continued flying with a melted oxygen mask, steering with his arms above the elbows, since his hands were too badly burned.
Still under attack, a machine gun bullet hit the box of flares behind the pilot's seat. The flares exploded, created another fire and blew open the bomb bay doors. Fortunately, there was a third pilot on board, Lt. William Cassedy, Check's normal co-pilot, who was acting as a waist gunner that day. Cassedy replaced Wilson in the co-pilot seat. With only one other uninjured man on board, Cassedy brought Chennault's Pappy III back to base. The radio was out and there were no remaining flares to announce an emergency landing. Instead of landing the plane into the wind as normal, Cassedy purposefully landed the plane downwind against incoming traffic. He wanted to avoid the reception group waiting to celebrate Check's 25th mission. It included an American army nurse who was going to marry Captain Check the next day. Raymond Check rests at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in England, Plot C, Row 4, Grave 41.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14070626 at enlistment, then O-793065
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14066572 at enlistment, then O-729733
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 20905440 at enlistment, then O-xxxxxx
- Highest Rank: Colonel
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 12030508
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner / Flight Engineer
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 26 June 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Granville, North Dakota | 27 September 1917 | |
Enlisted |
11 July 1941 | Fort Snelling, Minnesota | |
Other Killed In Action |
26 June 1943 | hit by shrapnel from German fighter | |
Buried |
|||
Granville, North Dakota |
Revisions
NARA WWII Enlistment records
Cliff Bishop's "Fortresses of the Big Triangle First"
Gerald Astor's "The Mighty Eighth"-Chapter VII "The Buildup"
ABMC website
Combat Chronology Supplement p. 205, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs by Bishop and Hey, Vol. 1 p. 40, 501, First Over Germany pg. 25, 39, 48, 105, & 133-8; 306th BGA Collectioni, Russell Strong Index Cards, National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / http://www.306bg.org/crewphotos/Crew%20Pictures%20Adam-Rector/Crew%20Pi…