Walter Francis Brookings

Military ROLL OF HONOUR

Shot down by flak burst and crashed N of St Pol, FR on a mission to Wizernes, FR on 19 Mar 1944 in B-17G #42-31926 'Lovell's Hovel'. Killed in Action (KIA).

Air Medal w/Oak Leaf Clusters; Purple Heart

Connections

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Units served with

384th Bomb Group

Unit Hierarchy: Group
Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Type Category: Bombardment

545th Bomb Squadron

Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Type Category: Bombardment

People

James MacNaughton Lovell

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 384th Bomb Group 545th Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: O-802209
Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

42-31484

Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Nicknames: Mairsy Doats
Unit: 384th Bomb Group 545th Bomb Squadron 546th Bomb Squadron 547th Bomb Squadron

42-31926

Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Nicknames: Lovell's Hovel
Unit: 384th Bomb Group 545th Bomb Squadron

B-17 Flying Fortresses nicknamed "London Avenger", nicknamed "Bermondsley Battler", nicknamed "Rotherhithe's Revenge" and nicknamed "Bermondsley" of the 379th Bomb Group, 15 February 1944. Passed for publication 16 Feb 1944. Censor no: 305411. Handwritten caption on reverse: '16/2/44.' Printed caption on reverse: ' CHRISTENS U.S. FORTRESS BOMBER. Feb. 16th, 1944. As an appreciation of £800,000 raised during Bermondsey's Wings for Victory Week., the people of Bermondsey christened a U.S. Fortress bomber "

42-37792

Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Nicknames: Eleanor Maureen : Bermondsey
Unit: 384th Bomb Group 545th Bomb Squadron 34th Bomb Group 487th Bomb Group 836th Bomb Squadron

42-97124

Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Nicknames: The Joker
Unit: 384th Bomb Group 545th Bomb Squadron

Missions

A battle damaged waist gun position on a B-17 Flying Fortress.

8th Air Force 266

Date: 19 March 1944

8th Air Force 264

Date: 18 March 1944

A B-17 Flying Fortress of the 384th Bomb Group falls towards the ground after having its tails shot away during a mission.

8th Air Force 253

Date: 9 March 1944

A bomber crew of the 381st Bomb Group return to base after a mission in their B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-31761) nicknamed "Rotherhithe's Revenge". Image stamped on reverse: 'Sunday Pictorial for Censor.' [stamp], 'Passed for publication 10 Mar 1944.' [stamp] and '310673.' [Censor no.] Printed caption on reverse: 'BACK FROM BERLIN. Scenes this week at a Bomber station of the U.S. Air Force , somewhere in England. The crew of the Flying Fortress "Rotherhithe's Revenge", a British subscribed ship

8th Air Force 252

Date: 8 March 1944

8th Air Force 244

Date: 2 March 1944

Places

Grafton Underwood

Site type: Airfield
Known as: Grafton Undermud

Events

Event	Location	Date	Description
Born	Brookline, Massachusetts, USA	9 January 1920
	Brookline, MA	1 July 1941	126 Cypress Street
Enlisted	Boston, MA	18 May 1942
Buried	Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial		Plot D Row 12 Grave 33 Normandy American Cemetery Normandy American Cemetery American Cemetery 14710 Colleville-sur-Mer France
Other Killed in Action (KIA)	Wavrans-sur-Ternoise, France	19 March 1944

Revisions

Date4 Dec 2020 04:05:34

Contributor466thHistorian

Changes

Sources

https://384thbombgroup.com/_content/_pages/person.php?PersonKey=472
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2238/images/44016_03_0…
https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/brookings%3Dwalter

Date27 Sep 2014 18:26:52

ContributorAAM

Changes

Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 3242 / MACR 3242, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces, http://384thbombgroup.com/_content/_pages/PersonnelSearch.php?LastName=… / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database