Ellis Colvin
Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 447th Bomb Group
Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.
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Military
Clarence Aaberg was on his 3rd mission, and pilot of B-17 #42-37855 on return from a mission to Regensburg, Germany on 25 February 1944. The Fortress had lost #3 engine 10 minutes after target. The crew saw a lot of German fighters around, a few shooting rockets at them, but they never came in close. The bomber made it back to the French coast on 3 engines but was then hit by Flak and the engines #1 and #4 went out right after they left French coast. Aalberg managed to cross the Channel on one engine and once over southern England ordered his crew to bail out over England. All did this safely but Aaberg was the last to leave the plane, bailed out too low and was killed when his parachute failed to open. The B-17 crash landed in woods at Starvecrow Hill, a mile north of Tonbridge, Kent. It was a total loss.
Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 447th Bomb Group
Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 447th Bomb Group
Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant | Radio Operator | 447th Bomb Group
Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.
Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.
Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 447th Bomb Group
Flew first mission 4 Feb 1944. 30 missions on 2 June 1944. Flew in 'Journey's End' and 'Mr Terrific'. Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Flight Engineer; Top Turret Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.
Group
The 447th Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses on strategic bombardment missions out of Rattlesden, Suffolk. With their first mission coming on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1943, their main focus was hitting sites that would weaken enemy forces...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 21/9/43; Harvard 10/10/43; Assigned 92BG Podington 18/11/43; transferred 447BG Rattlesden 1/44; sustained battle damaged Regensburg 25/2/44 with Clarence Aaberg (KIA - nursed it across the English channel, jumped after he ordered the...
25 February 1944
On this final operation of BIG WEEK, Day 6, a combined force of 754 heavy bombers from 1st, 2nd and 3rd Air Divisions are despatched to bomb the German aircraft industries at Regensburg, Augsburg, Stuttgart and Furth, Germany. Mission Summary follows:
...
Military site : airfield
Built for the Eighth Air Force in 1942, Rattlesden had three concrete runways, 50 hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. Intended to be a twin-engine B-26 bomber base, it was originally a satellite for nearby Rougham, and first occupied from...
Event | Location | Date |
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Born | Divide County, North Dakota, USA | 26 April 1918 |
Enlisted | 18 November 1941 | |
Missoula, Montana, as a Private in the Air Corps |
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Killed In Action (KIA) | 25 February 1944 | |
in the crash of B-17 42-37855 he was piloting. Last one to bail out on return from the Regensburg mission, his parachute didn't open due to the low altitude at which he managed to jump after all his crew members had safely left the plane |
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Died | Tonbridge, Kent, UK | 25 February 1944 |
Buried | Cambridge American Cemetery | 1945 |
Plot D, Row 1, Grave 49 Also see: |
Date | Contributor | Update |
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15 January 2021 00:08:48 | pamccolgan | Changes to media associations |
Sources | ||
447 Bomb Group History |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
23 December 2020 20:40:41 | jmoore43 | Changes to events |
Sources | ||
Updated Buried event with info from Born event. |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
23 December 2020 20:36:56 | jmoore43 | Changes to events |
Sources | ||
Updated the Born & Buried events per Find-a-grave Memorial ID 47104673. |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
23 September 2020 18:40:50 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography and events |
Sources | ||
Removed a duplicate Buried event. |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
03 November 2018 09:30:33 | ED-BB | Changes to service number, biography, events and person associations |
Sources | ||
NARA WWII Enlistment records |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
29 April 2017 01:56:43 | Vanessa | Changes to biography |
Sources | ||
Richard Pitt Jr. diary, Clarence's flight engineer and top turret gunner. |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
19 July 2016 16:35:08 | millebr | Changes to middlename and awards |
Sources | ||
TogetherWeServed.com; Fold3.com; Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
22 January 2016 19:37:02 | Rich11 | Changes to nickname and events |
Sources | ||
Clarence akaerg plane was hit by ack ack over France |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
20 June 2015 20:16:49 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to biography, events and place associations |
Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 20-Jun-2015. Added map location to KOM event, made connection to Place; per "Losses of the 8ht & 9th Air Forces", Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; Added burial grave location per American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) records. Slight edits to Biography. |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
11 June 2015 13:20:07 | A. van Erp | Changes to events |
Sources | ||
Date | Contributor | Update |
22 May 2015 20:35:19 | bombercommand | Changes to events and media associations |
Sources | ||
Find A Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=133328061 |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
28 February 2015 23:58:44 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to events |
Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 28-Feb-2015. Combined Born events. |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
20 October 2014 12:29:51 | IWMPM | Changes to service number, biography, awards and events |
Sources | ||
ABMC http://www.abmc.gov/search-abmc-burials-and-memorializations/detail/WWII... |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
29 September 2014 15:32:17 | samc | Changes to awards |
Sources | ||
Removed dummy content. |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
29 September 2014 15:31:25 | samc | Changes to awards |
Sources | ||
d |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
29 September 2014 13:26:32 | LucyM | Changes to awards |
Sources | ||
Test edit |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
27 September 2014 18:06:13 | AAM | AAM ingest |
Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces |