42-31114 Prowlin Tom
Comparison to same aircraft prior to nose damage.
Delivered Cheyenne 21/9/43; Gr Island 6/10/43; Assigned 568BS/390BG [BI-G] Framlingham 25/10/43; Missing in Action Orleans 8/6/44 with Edwin Sechrist, Navigator: Vital Turmenne, tog-S/Sgt Henry Wilson, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Merrill Caldwell, Radio Operator: Lou Lewis, Ball turret gunner: Wendell Oge, Waist gunner: Bob Tucker, Waist gunner: Mike Ruta (8 evaded capture); Co-pilot: Jim Duncan (Prisoner of War); Tail gunner: Dave Helps (Killed in Action); flak, crashed Maissemy, six miles NW of St Quentin, Fr. Missing Air Crew Report 5479. PROWLIN' TOM.
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 390th Bomb Group 568th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 390th Bomb Group 568th Bomb Squadron
- Role/Job: Bombardier
Places
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Other Failed to Return (FTR) |
8 June 1944 |
Revisions
I was just watching an episode of Public Television's Antique Roadshow and a woman was having a flight jacket belonging to a Prowling Tom crew member. The font on the jacket paint matched the nose art and had a black cat coming out of a cloud. She described the crew member as having survived and having parachuted receiving shrapnel wounds to the shoulder.
Added a space before the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity.
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 5479 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database