Francis M McMurtry Jr

Military ROLL OF HONOUR

Shot down on 20 December 1942 in B-17F #41-24566 'Zombie' while serving as Co-Pilot. Killed in Action (KIA). Originally assigned to 1LT Arthur E. Reddig's crew in B-17F #41-24568 "Lady Fairweather". Flew two missions with 1LT Reddig: 18-Nov-42 and 22-Nov-42, both missions as Co-Pilot. The 22-Nov-42 mission was aborted by 1LT Reddig. He did not fly in B-17F #41-24568 with 1LT Reddig on its fateful mission of 23-Nov-42. He sat out that mission so that Capt Charles G. Miller could fly with 1LT Reddig on his first orientation mission to combat. 1LT Reddig served as Co-Pilot on that fateful mission. Participated in 3 Operations (1 was 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

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Zombie
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 359th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Lady Fairweather
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 359th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Other

Commissioned

6 February 1942 Commissioned as pilot.

Other

Assigned to Aircraft

Alamogordo, NM 88310, USA 27 July 1942 Asssigned as Co-Pilot of B-17F 41-24568 "Lady Fairweather", 303BG/359BS at Alamogordo Field, Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Other

Assigned to Squadron

Biggs Field, TX 79918, USA 25 September 1942 Assigned to 303BG/359BS.

Other

Arrived in UK

Molesworth, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28, UK 25 October 1942 Arrived as Co-Pilot of B-17F 41-24568 "Lady Fairweather", 303BG/359BS at Molesworth, UK.

Other

Mission #1, 2LT Francis M. McMurtry, Jr. w/B-17F 41-24568, 303BG/359BS

Saint-Nazaire, France 18 November 1942 Served as Co-Pilot of B-17F 41-24568 "Lady Faairweather:, 303BG/359BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire France. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #2 2LT Francis M. McMurtry, Jr. w/B-17F 41-24568, 303BG/359BS - Aborted

Lorient, France 22 November 1942 Served as Co-Pilot of B-17F 41-24568 "Lady Fairweather", 303BG/359BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France, but mechanical failures caused the pilot to abort the sortie. RTB OK.

Other

Killed in Action (KIA)

Dieppe, France 20 December 1942 Killed when aircraft was attacked by German fighters and crashed into the English Channel near Dieppe, France.

Other

Mission #3 2LT Francis M. McMurtry, Jr. w/B-17F 41-24566, 303BG/359BS - KIA

Romilly-sur-Seine, France 20 December 1942 Served as Co-Pilot of B-17F 41-24566 "Zombie", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb th German air depot at Rommilly-sur-Seine, France. The aircraft sustained heavy battle damage from fighters and anti-aircraft fire and crashed into the English Channel on the return. All crew lost KIA

Born

Burkburnett, Texas

Other

Commemorated

Neupré, Belgium Commemorated on the Wall of the Missing, Ardennes American Cemetery.

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

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

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 11-Dec-2015. Added Mission #3 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 11-Dec-2015. Added Mission #2 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 11-Dec-2015. Added Mission #1 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 11-Dec-2015. Added Arrived in UK event per 303Bg website, Gary Moncur, Historian, crew page of Arthur E. Reddig: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-359-reddig.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 11-Dec-2015, Added Assgined to Aircraft event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, HIstorian, Arthur E. Reddig crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-359-reddig.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 11-Dec-2015. Added Mission participations to Summary Biography per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, www.303rdbg.com

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 12-May-2015. Added Commissioned and Assigned to Group events to biography; added aircraft details for 41-24568 and other information to Description. All per 303BG web site: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-359-reddig.html

Date
Changes
Sources

Combined two entries into a single entry. This record now includes information from the following source: MACR 15708 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 4-Dec-2014. Added KIA event per MACR 15708; Added Commemoration event per American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) record. made connections to place, aircraft and mission within existing website data.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 15708