41-24559 Ooold Soljer

A B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24559) nicknamed "Old Soljer" of the 303rd Bomb Group. Passed as censored 25 Jan 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'B-17 "Old Soljer". 25 Jan 1943.' Printed caption attached: 'How The Boys Live And Work At Flying Fortress Station In England. Wide World Photo Shows:- Side view of Fortress. This one's been named "Old Soljer" by her crew, who have painted the name on the side of the fuselage, as shown here. WW/ALA. 26-1-43.' On reverse: Ministry of Information, As media-407636.jpg FRE 4248 A B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24559) nicknamed "Old Soljer" of the 303rd Bomb Group. Passed as censored 25 Jan 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'B-17 "Old Soljer". 25 Jan 1943.' Printed caption attached: 'How The Boys Live And Work At Flying Fortress Station In England. Wide World Photo Shows:- Side view of Fortress. This one's been named "Old Soljer" by her crew, who have painted the name on the side of the fuselage, as shown here. WW/ALA. 26-1-43.' On reverse: Ministry of Information, Associated Press, US Army Press Censor ETO and US Army General Section Press & Censorship Bureau [Stamps]. Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

Object Number - FRE 4248 - A B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24559) nicknamed "Old Soljer" of the 303rd Bomb Group. Passed as censored 25 Jan 1943. Handwritten caption...

B-17F 41-24559 'Ooold Soljer' was assigned 360BS/303BG [PU-C] Bangor 14-Oct-42; Molesworth 16-Oct-42. 


16-Feb-43 Mission #10 - U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France - Aborted. The ball turret gunner's heated suit failed and the interphone equipment malfunctioned and aircraft forced to RTB. 
26-Feb-43 Mission #11 - Naval facilities and U-Boat pens at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Homer Bigart, War Correspondent of the New York Herald Tribune flew as an observer. Walter Cronkite, Jounalist flew as an observer on B-17F 41-24619 "S for Sugar", 303BG/427BS on this mission also. 
31-Mar-43 MISSION # 19 FINAL OPERATION - Shipyards, Rotterdam, Holland. 
The aircraft sustained a mid-air collision with B-17F 42-29573 "Two Beauts" 303BG/358BS over Wellingborough, UK in 10/10ths cloud cover while on a mission to bomb the port area of Rotterdam, Holland. The right wing from the #4 engine outward was sheared off and the aircraft crashed at Mears Ashby, Northamptonshire killing 8 of the crew. 2 bailed out successfully. 8KOM (Killed on Mission) 2RTD No MACR issued. 

 

Connections

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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

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 427th Air Service Group 358th Bomb Squadron 360th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-726969
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Navigator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 19059387
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade)
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 15068650
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-791048
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron The Writing 69th
  • Role/Job: War Correspondent

Places

Missions

Revisions

Date
Contributoracbernstein1
Changes
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Contributoracbernstein1
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Contributoracbernstein1
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Contributorjmoore43
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Sources

Corrected a misspelled word in the "Description".

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ContributorLee8thbuff
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Lee Cunningham 3-May-2016. Edited and Mission events for accuracy and format per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
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Lee Cunningham 3-Aug-2015. Added FINAL OPERATION to Description.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
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Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015. Added Operation/Mission count to Description based on analyis of 303BG Mission Reports associated with this aircraft from Gary Moncur, Historian 303rd Bomb Group website.

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ContributorLee8thbuff
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Lee Cuuningham 20-Jul-2015. Edited final operation for this aircraft as MISSION #19 event per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Reprot of 31-Mar-43, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/027.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
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Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015 Added MISSION #18 per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 22-Mar-43, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/026.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
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Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015 Added MISSION #17 event per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 22-Mar-43, Gary Moncur; Historian, http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/025.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
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Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015. Added MISSION event #16 per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 13-Mar-53, Gray Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/023.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015 Added MISSION #15 event per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 12-Mar-43, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/022.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
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Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015 Added MISSION #14 event per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 6-Mar-43, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/020.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
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Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015. Added MISSION #13 event per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 4-Mar-43; Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/018.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
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Lee Cunnningham 20-Jul-2015 Added MISSION #12 event per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 27-Feb-43, Gary Moncur, Historian, http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/018.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015. Added MISSION #11 event per 303BG Mission Report of 26-Feb-43, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/017.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunnningham 20-Jul-2015 Added MISSION #10 event per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 16-Feb-43, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/016.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015. Added MISSION #8 event per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 4-Feb-43, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/014.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
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Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015 Added MISSION #6 event per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 27-Jan-43, Gray Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/012.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015. Added MISSION #5 event per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 23-Jan-43, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/011.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
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Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015. Added MISSION #4 event pr 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 13-Jan-43, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/010.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
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Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015. Added MISSION #3 event per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 6-Dec-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/005.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Jul-2015. Added MISSION # 2 event per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 18-Nov-43, Gary Moncur, historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/002.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
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Sources

Lee Cunningham 19-Jul-2015. EXPERIMENT Tweaking display of crew MISSION # 1

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
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Lee Cunningham 19-Jul-2015. EXPERIMENT - Added MISSION # 1 event with edit to Description per 303rd Bomb Group Mission Report of 17-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/001.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 13-Feb-2015. Added Block Number and Nickname per "The B-17 Flying Fortress Story" Roger A, Freeman with David Osborne, Added Mid-Air event , and crafted Description based on "Losses of the 8th & 9th AIr Forces" Stan Bishop & John A,. Hey MBE; Added crew position, rank, full proper name and disposition per 303rd Bomb Group website, historian Gary Moncur; Made connections to Place and Mission within existing website data; Formatted crew display.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log

41-24559: Gallery (3 items)