William H Binnebose Jr | American Air Museum in Britain

William H Binnebose, Jr. Right Waist Gunner

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S/Sgt William H. Binnebose Jr (photo courtesy Binnebose family)

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Memorial to plane and crew located in Pooler, GA at the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force. Anne Brusselmans was a helper to evaders H Sarnow and M Minnich. Betty Binnebose Lewis co-ordinated placement of plaques with Yvonne Daley Brusselmans daughter of Anne.

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Served 3 March 1942-1 January 1946. Flew 9 missions, not all on Our Bay-Bee. WIA 26 Jul 1943 B-17 #42-30274. Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30274 'Our Bay-Bee', Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag 17B, Krems. Also wounded while POW, shot when 2 other prisoners (Ralph Lavoie and Jim Proakis) attempted to escape.

Air Medal/ Purple Heart/ Prisoner of War/ Presidential Unit Citation

Service

People

Roscoe Alderman

Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 95th Bomb Group
WIA 26 July 1943 on board B-17 #42-30274. Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30274 'Our Bay-Bee', Prisoner of War (POW).
Walter Baker

Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30274 'Our Bay-Bee', Prisoner of War (POW).
Albert Bergeron

Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 95th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30274 'Our Bay-Bee', Prisoner of War (POW).
Alvin Forney

Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 95th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30274 'Our Bay-Bee'. Prisoner of War (POW).
Walter McDermott

Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 95th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30274 'Our Bay-Bee', Prisoner of War (POW). POW
Martin Minnich

Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30274 'Our Bay-Bee', Evaded (EVD). Helped by the Belgian Comète evasion network, he was back in England on 23 November 1943. See the story of his evasion at https://www.evasioncomete.be/fminnicmg.html
Cedric Nussbaum

Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 95th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30274 'Our Bay-Bee', Prisoner of War (POW). POW
Henry Sarnow

Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 95th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30274 'Our Bay-Bee', Evaded (EVD). Helped by the Belgian Comète evasion network, he was back in England on 23 November 1943; See the story of his evasion at https://www.evasioncomete.be/fsarnowhp.html
John White

Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 95th Bomb Group
A Ball Turret gunner on B-17 #42-30274, Sgt John White was not a regular "Our Bay-Bee" Crew member. He was flying as a substitute the day they were shot down and it was the only mission he flew with the William Baker crew. He landed in Belgium and...

Units served with

95th Bomb Group

Group
The 95th Bomb Group was the only Eighth Air Force Group to be awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations. The first, shared by all four Bomb Wing Groups, was for the bombing of an aircraft factory under intense enemy fire at Regensburg on 17 August...
334th Bomb Squadron

Squadron
335th Bomb Squadron

Squadron

Aircraft

42-30274 'Our Bay-Bee'

B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 8 May 1943; Gore 9 May 1943; Smoky Hill 17 May 1943; Dow Field 5 June 1943; Assigned 334BS/95BG [BG-Q] Horham 15 June 1943; 5 missions. Missing in Action Regensburg 17 August 1943 with a 335BS crew. Pilot 1st Lt Walter A. Baker;...

Missions

VIII Bomber Command 70

29 June 1943
1st Bomb Wing despatches two formations: one has the air depot at Villacoublay, France as their primary; and one has the Luftwaffe airfield at Tricqueville, France as their primary. ...
VIII Bomber Command 71

4 July 1943
The aircraft factories at Le Mans and Nantes, France and the lock gates and harbour facilities at La Pallice, France are the primary targets for this mission. The mission is comprised of three elements: ...
VIII Bomber Command 72

10 July 1943
German airfields at Caen, Abbeville, and Le Bourget at Paris, France are the primary targets for this mission. 112 B-17s form a combined force from 91BG; 92BG; 305BG; 306BG; 351BG and 381BG to bomb the German airfield (Carpiquet) at Caen, France. Cloud...
VIII Bomber Command 73

14 July 1943
The German air depot at Villacoublay, France and the German airfields Amiens/Glisy and Le Bourget at Paris, France are the primary targets for this mission. These attacks are made by three separate elements: 116 B-17s are despatched from 92BG (15);...
VIII Bomber Command 77

26 July 1943
The German rubber industry at Hannover, Germany and the U-Boat shipyards at Hamburg, Germany are the primary focus of this mission. In addition, a German ship convoy and targets of opportunity at Wilhelmshaven and Wesermunde are bombed. The first...
VIII Bomber Command 82

15 August 1943
German airfields in Holland and France are the targets for this mission. All of the attacks were made late in the afternoon just prior to sunset. The mission is composed of two elements. The first element is a combined force of 180 B-17s from: 91BG (20...
VIII Bomber Command 84

17 August 1943
The mission flown on 17-Aug-43, the 1st anniversary of the 1st mission flown by the 8th Air Force, is probably the most written about mission of the war. This is the famous Schweinfurt/Regensburg mission on which 60 B-17s are lost. It has been dubbed ...

Associated Place

Horham

Military site : airfield
Horham airfield was planned and built for RAF use, but handed over to the Eighth Air Force and used initially by the 47th Bomb Group. When they joined the Twelfth Air Force in January 1943, it became home to the B-26 Marauders of the 323rd Bomb Group....

Events

Event	Location	Date
Born	Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin	11 January 1924
Prisoner of War (POW)	Germany	17 August 1943
Prisoner of War (POW)
Died		9 October 1996
Buried	Nekoosa, Wisconsin

Date	Contributor	Update
19 April 2020 19:35:28	jmoore43	Changes to biography
Sources
Added a "-" to the A/C serial # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
Date	Contributor	Update
19 January 2017 01:22:15	Betty Binnebose Lewis	Changes to nickname
Sources
Betty Binnebose Lewis
Date	Contributor	Update
06 January 2015 13:20:57	Lucy May	Changes to biography and awards
Sources
Added medals based on information in the Biography field.
Date	Contributor	Update
04 January 2015 21:41:14	Betty Binnebose Lewis	Changes to media associations
Sources
Betty Binnebose Lewis Daughter
Date	Contributor	Update
03 January 2015 22:07:00	Betty Binnebose Lewis	Changes to service number, highest rank, person associations and mission associations
Sources
Betty Binnebose Lewis Daughter
Date	Contributor	Update
14 October 2014 20:22:18	Betty Binnebose Lewis	Changes to biography
Sources
daughter Betty Binnebose Lewis
Date	Contributor	Update
14 October 2014 20:16:48	Betty Binnebose Lewis	Changes to role
Sources
daughter Betty Binnebose Lewis
Date	Contributor	Update
14 October 2014 19:58:20	Betty Binnebose Lewis	Changes to middlename
Sources
Submitted by daughter, Betty Binnebose Lewis
Date	Contributor	Update
13 October 2014 14:29:13	Lucy May	Changes to events and aircraft associations
Sources
MACR 402 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
Date	Contributor	Update
12 October 2014 16:21:50	Lucy May	Changes to unit associations
Sources
Bomb Squadron listed as 335th Bomb Squadron by 95th BG roster: http://95thbg.org/95th_db_pages/left_formation_code/gethonoroll.php
Date	Contributor	Update
27 September 2014 18:27:54	AAM	AAM ingest
Sources
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 402