42-31816
Image courtesy of Fred Docq.
Delivered Cheyenne 10 January 1944; Great Falls 14 January 1944; Kearney 28 January 1944. Assigned 366BS/305BG [KY-V] Chelveston (a GH ship) 15 nFebruary 1944. Missing in Action Oberpfaffenhofen 24 April 1944 with Capt Joseph W. Lincoln; Co-pilot: Albert N. Pagnotta; Navigator: Philip S. Campbell; Bombardier: Milton M. Goldfeder; Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Joseph A. Rhodes; Left Waist gunner: Eugene C. Snodgrass; Right Waist gunner: William E. Bergman;Tail gunner: Virgil R. Marco (8 evaded capture); Radio Operator: Isaac W. Denemy, killed instantly by several fighter bullets through the chest; Ball turret gunner: James M. Mayfield, wounded upon bailing out, his parachute didn't open fully. Suffering from a broken back, compound fractures of both legs and inner injuries, he was captured and hospitalized in Hirson, then in Reims where he died on 19 June 1944. A patient in the same hospital said both his legs had been amputated.
Flak had KOd an engine, then on return the Fortress was hit by enemy aircraft and made a crash-landing in Leuze, near Aubenton, France, with Pilot Lincoln, Co-Pilot Pagnotta, Bombardier Goldfeder and Top Turret Gunner Rhodes in the cockpit and Denemy, dead in the radio compartment. Missing Air Crew Report - MACR 4275.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 366th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 366th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 366th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36539376
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 366th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 366th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Pilot
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Missions
- Date: 24 April 1944
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Other Failed to Return (FTR) |
Near Leuze, France | 24 April 1944 | crash-landed |
Revisions
Corrected spelling of surname from Virgil 'Marro' to 'Marco'.
See page 7 of MACR 4275: https://fold3.com/image/28627912/
Changed crash site from Belgium to France. Information provided by Fred Docq, who found peices of the aircraft
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 4275 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database