Robert Kettlety
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 381st Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #4231357 'Our Desire. ' Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
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Thomas Paxton Sherwood
Military
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Lt Thomas Sherwood
Co-pilot, Mullane crew. 381st BG, 535th BS, 8th AF. Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 42-31357 "Our Desire". Mission to the ball bearing works at Schweinfurt, GE. MACR 3865. Prisoner of War at Stalag Luft I.
Midway, PA.
Graduate of the Randolph Field Flying Cadet Class of 42-B. Left for Europe on September 1st, 1942 as a member of the 305th Bomb Group, 422nd Bomb Squadron, as an Operations Officer working directly under Lt Col Curtis Lemay. One of only two American pilots who gave Beam Approach Training for blind landings in the early part of WWII. After the BAT program was disbanded, he opted to go to the 381st BG, 535th BS as the Chief Instrument Flight Instructor. Transferred to combat flying and completed 28 missions.
Sherwood was founder of the 381st Bomb Group Association, and played a key role in getting a memorial to the 381st Bomb Group placed at Ridgewell in the 1980s.
Service
People
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John Kirby
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 381st Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #4231357 'Our Desire. ' Prisoner of War (POW). POW -
Curtis LeMay
Military | General | Commanding General | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
306th Temporary Deputy Commander at Wendover, then transferred as Group Commander of 305th BG 4-Jun-42 to 15-May-43. ... -
James Mullane
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 381st Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 42-31357 'Our Desire. ' Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft I. ... -
Patrick O'Phelan
Military | Navigator | 381st Bomb Group
Mullane, J. Crew -
Lewis Sparrow
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #4231357 'Our Desire. ' Prisoner of War (POW). POW -
Edward Stahlke
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #4231357 'Our Desire. ' Prisoner of War (POW). POW -
Thaddeus Tarczynski
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #42-31357 'Our Desire', Prisoner of War (POW). POW -
Frank Troxler
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #42-31357 'Our Desire', Prisoner of War (POW). POW
Units served with
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8th Air Force
Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945. ... -
305th Bomb Group Can Do
Group
The 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy), nicknamed "Can Do" was activated 1-March-1942 at Salt Lake City Air Base, Utah which was their primary training base until 11-Jun-1942 when they relocated to Geiger Field, Washington until 29-Jun-1942, then on to... -
381st Bomb Group
Group
The 381st Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Ridgewell, Essex between June 1943 and April 1945. The Group was awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations, the first for bombing shipyards at Bremen, whilst under heavy attack, on 8 October 1943 and... -
422nd Bomb Squadron
Squadron
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535th Bomb Squadron
Squadron
Aircraft
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42-31357 Our Desire, Man o' War II
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 25/10/43; Gr Island 3/11/43; Romulus 12/11/43; Assigned 535BS/381BG [MS-N] Ridgewell 11/12/43. ...
Missions
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301
13 April 1944
Associated Place
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Ridgewell
Military site : airfield
Built during 1941-42 as an RAF bomber station, Ridgewell operated as a satellite to RAF Stradishall until May 1943. It had three concrete runways, initially 36 pan hardstandings, and two dispersed T2 hangars. Taken over by the Eighth Air Force in June... -
Stalag Luft I
Other location
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381st Bomb Group Memorial, Ridgewell
Other location
Events
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Johnstown, Pennsylvania | 27 August 1914 |
| Enlisted | Harrisburg, PA, USA | 11 July 1941 |
| Based | 13 April 1944 | |
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381st BG |
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| Prisoner of War | 13 April 1944 – 13 May 1945 | |
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Stalag Luft I |
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| Died | 30 September 2006 | |
| Based | Grafton Underwood | |
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305th BG |
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| Buried | ||
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Pleasantville Cemetery |
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Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 03 February 2021 15:08:11 | Emily | Changes to nickname, service number, role and biography |
| Sources | ||
Brought together information from duplicate records including information drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / www.381st.org/UnitHistory/Data/Roster.aspx / 305th Bomb Group Roster Further information provided by Thomas Paxton Sherwood's son John, and the digital archive created for his father at http://tpsarchives.com/ |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 02 August 2018 10:46:55 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from: |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 26 July 2018 04:07:35 | ARowe95 | Changes to biography, awards, events, person associations, unit associations, place associations, mission associations and media associations |
| Sources | ||
ARowe95 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:26:07 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
381st Bomb Group Memorial Association, March 1999; MACR 3865 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia |
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