Charles R Grice

Military

10-Jul-1942 Assigned as Navigator of B-17F #41-24619 [GN-S] "S-for-Sugar", 303BG/427BS at Alamogordo Field, Alamogordo, New Mexico. It appears from available records that he and his crew were re-assigned to B-17F #42-2966 at Dow Field, Bangor, Maine on or about 5-Oct-42. He, his crew and B-17F #42-2966 arrived at Molesworth, UK on 28-Oct-42.



B-17F #41-24619 arrived at Molesworth, UK piloted by MAJ Charles C. Sheridan, CO 427BS on 25-Oct-42.



On 23-Jan-1943 in B-17F #41-24584 "Susfu" while serving as Navigator the aircraft was shot down by enemy fighters and crashed at Abbey Pleyben near Edern, France. He managed to parachute safely from the stricken aircraft and was captured as a Prisoner of War.



Participated in 7 Operations (4 were Aborted) See Biography events.

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

Official emblem of the 303rd Bomb Group approved 7 November 1942.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

The tail of a B-17 Flying Fortress (GN-V, serial number 41-24569) nicknamed "Memphis Tot" of the 427th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, shot down near Zwolle. Handwritten caption on reverse: '124569. Memphis Tot. SD. 4/2/43. 427BS. Near Zwolle.'
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Memphis Tot
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 427th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Susfu
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 427th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Bad Check
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 427th Bomb Squadron
A bomber crew of the 303rd Bomb Group, with their B-17 Flying Fortress (GN-V, serial number 42-2966), after a raid on Germany. From left to right they are: Sergeant Ward W. Kirkpatrick (Kalispel, Montana); Technical Sergeant Lucian W. Means, (Luguna Beach, California); First Lieutenant Milton K. Conver (Cincinnatti, Ohio); Second Lieutenant John W Dillenger (Avoca, Iowa), Co-Pilot; Captain B.B. Southworth (Columbus, Ohio), Pilot; Sergeant Jack Belk (Temple, Texas); Sergeant William Fleming (Burdine, Kentu
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: No 11 Combat Crew Replacement Center No 1 Combat Crew Replacement Center 303rd Bomb Group 427th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Other

Assigned to Aircraft

Alamogordo, NM 88310, USA 10 July 1942 Assigned as Pilot with crew of B-17F 41-24619 "S-for-Sugar", 303BG/427BS at Alamogordo Field, Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Other

Change in Aircraft Assignment

Bangor, ME, USA 5 October 1942 Re-assigned, with crew, to B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BS at Dow Field, Bangor, Maine.

Other

Arrived in UK

Molesworth, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28, UK 28 October 1942 Arrived at Molesworth, UK as Navigator of B-17F 42966, 303BG/427BS.

Other

Mission #1, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BS - Aborted

Saint-Nazaire, France 17 November 1942 Served as Navigator of B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France, but mechanical failures forced the pilot to abort the sortie. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #2, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BS - Aborted

Saint-Nazaire, France 18 November 1942 Served as Navigator of B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France, but mechanical failures forced the pilot to abort the sortie. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #3, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 41-24569, 303BG/427BS - Aborted

Lorient, France 22 November 1942 Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24569 "Memphis Tot", 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France, but mechanical failures forced the pilot to abort the sortie. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #4, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 41-24517, 303BG/427BS

Saint-Nazaire, France 23 November 1942 Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24517 "Kali", 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St, Nazaire, France. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #6, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 41-24587, 303BG/427BS

Rouen, France 20 December 1942 Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24587 "Bad Check", 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Rouen, France. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #5, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BS

Romilly-sur-Seine, France 20 December 1942 Served as Navigator of B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France, but mechanical failures forced the pilot to abort the sortie. RTB OK.

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Zagan, Poland 23 January 1943 - 7 June 1945 Held at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia (now Poland) moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 7-Jun-45.

Other

Mission #7, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 41-24584, 303BG/427BS - POW

Lorient, France 23 January 1943 Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24584 "Susfu", 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France. The aircraft was shot down by enemy aircraft, but he managed to bale out of the stricken aircraft and was captured as a Prisoner of War (POW).

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added several "#" to all the A/C serial numbers in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Mission #7 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 23-Jan-43: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/011.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Mission #6 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 20-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/007.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Mission #5 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 12-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/006.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Mission #4 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 23-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/004.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Mission #3 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 22-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/003.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Made connections to all aircraft and mission participations per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, HIstorian: http://www.303rdbg.com/

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 19-Dec-2015. Added Mission #2 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 18-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/002.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Mission #1 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 17-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/001.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Arrived in UK event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Harry A. Robey crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-427-robey.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Change in Aircraft event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Harry A. Robey crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-427-robey.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Assigned to Aircraft event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Harry A. Robey crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-427-robey.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added biography information from 10-Jul-42 through 25-Oct-42 to Summary Biography per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Harry A. Robey crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-427-robey.html; made connections to Aircraft and Missions per 303BG website Mission Reports: http://www.303rdbg.com/

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 22-Jan-2014. Added SN per MACR 15571; Added decoration and POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; made connections to Place, Aircraft and Mission within existing website data; Edited Biography per "Losses of the 8th & 9th AIr Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Jan-2015. Corrected Squadron association, deleted erroneous aircraft association. Airman was NOT a POW.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

MACR 15571 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database