42-31812 Destiny's Child

The nose art of a B-17 Flying Fortress nicknamed "Destiny's Child." of the 91st Bomb Group. media-408149.jpg FRE 3569 The nose art of B-17G serial 42-31812 "Destiny's Child" (coded LL-H) of the 401st Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group. Roger Freeman Collection

RAGGED IRREGULARS OF BASSINGBOURN by Marion Havelaar & William N. Hess.

Object Number - FRE 3569 - The nose art of B-17G serial 42-31812 "Destiny's Child" (coded LL-H) of the 401st Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group.

Delivered Cheyenne 24/12/43; Kearney 7/1/44; Grenier 24/1/44; Assigned 401BS/91BG [LL-H] Bassingbourn 20/2/44; (completed first 44 missions on original engines for which crew chief Jack Gaffney awarded Bronze Star). Missing in Action on its 53rd mission, to Leipzig 20 July 1944 with Pilot Charles E. Van Ausdall; Navigator: Richard D. Loomis; Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Charles E. Sullivan; Tail gunner: Vernon Winters (4 Killed in Action). Co-pilot: Joseph F. Sammon; Bombardier: John R. Butler Jr; Radio Operator: Richard H. Hamilton; Ball turret gunner: Anson M. Riley; Waist gunner: Winton W. Blevins Jr (5 Prisoner of War). Hit by Me 109s which KO’d engine #4 and riddled ship. Crashed near Chemnitz-Borna, Germany. Missing Air Crew Report 7281. DESTINY'S CHILD. Note : MACRs 7281 and 7283. Confusion in the MACR and German KU reports about #42-31812 and #43-37624, shot down the same day, 20 July 1944. MACR 7281, linked to #42-31812 has translations of the German KU 2526 report ( https://catalog.archives.gov/id/147890293 ) which mentions aircraft letters as LL-P (which is #43-37624) and LL-H (#42-31812). Names of both planes’ crews appear in MACR 7281, most of them concerning Lt Fusco’s crew from #43-37624… Page 17 of MACR 7283 for #43-37624 has #42-31812’s Radio Operator Hamilton’s name as part of the Fusco crew… German report AV-1215/44 on pages 205 and 206 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/18238571 about the death of Navigator Loomis of #42-31812 has that plane’s crash location near Chemnitz-Borna. On the other hand, MACR 7283 (linked to 43-37624) refers to KU-865A ( https://catalog.archives.gov/id/142687464 )… where #42-31812’s Radio Operator’s name (page 3) and dog tag (page 9) appear, although he’s not listed on the MACR 7283 page where all the names and home addresses of the Fusco crew are listed… On many of the German records pages, #43-37624 is mentioned as crashed near Sankt Egidien, 6km SE of Glauchau (27km West of Chemnitz).

Connections

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Units served with

Unofficial emblem of the 91st Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 38539322
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: waist gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 18043858 at enlistment, then O-769095
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 39167239
  • Highest Rank: Master Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Crew chief
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 31252904
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator/Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 17120493 at enlistment, then O-717239
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator

Places

Missions

Events

Event Location Date Description

Other

Failed to Return (FTR)

Germany 20 July 1944 Hit by enemy fighters, crashed near Chemnitz-Borna, Germany

Revisions

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

Roger Freeman Photo.

Date
Contributoracbernstein1
Changes
Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

MACRs 7281 and 7283. Corrected #42-31812 crash location. Confusion in the MACR and German KU reports about 42-31812 and 43-37624, shot down the same day, 20 July 1944. MACR 7281, linked to 42-31812 has translations of the German KU 2526 report ( https://catalog.archives.gov/id/147890293 ) which mentions aircraft letters as LL-P (which is 43-37624) and LL-H (42-31812). Names of both planes’ crews appear in MACR 7281, most of them concerning Lt Fusco’s crew from 43-37624… Page 17 of MACR 7283 for 43-37624 has 42-31812’s Radio Operator Hamilton’s name as part of the Fusco crew… German report AV-1215/44 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/18238571 about the death of Navigator Loomis of 42-31812 has that plane’s crash location near Chemnitz-Borna. On the other hand, MACR 7283 (linked to 43-37624) refers to KU-865A ( https://catalog.archives.gov/id/142687464 )… where 42-31812’s Radio Operator’s name (page 3) and dog tag (page 9) appear, although he’s not listed on the MACR 7283 page where all the names and home addresses of the Fusco crew are listed… 43-37624 crash location on many of the German records pages indicate near Sankt Egidien, 6km SE of Glauchau (27km West of Chemnitz)...

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

Corrected typos in Biography ("for clarity's sake"...). Completed crew names. Co-Piot's name is Sammon, not Sammons...
MACR 7281

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added a space in front of the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity.

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

Roger Freeman Photo.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 7281 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

42-31812: Gallery (4 items)