John King Hickey

Military

John Hickey flew on C. Dale Briscoe crew from January 1943 to July 1943. He joined Briscoe's crew as it was formed in Boise, Idaho in August 1942. Reported to the ETO on 15 Jan 1943. He also served in the 2nd Bomb Wing (Col. LeMay's) July-Aug 1943 as a Bombardier instructor.



Most Memorable experience w/306th:

'On May 1, 1943 returning from bombing of sub pens in France our lead navigator apparently mistook Brest Peninsula for England and led the formation in behind it. We flew over a surfaced submarine at about 1,000-1500 ft. I strafed it with my nose gun then passed it to Vic Rose, our BTG. I enjoyed seeing German crew members jumping into the water. We saw German fighters shooting at our formation as their wheels came up on Brest Air Field. When they attacked us we headed out to sea. Machine gun bullets hittings our fuselage sounded like rain on a tin roof.'



'John Roller, our waist gunner, was seriously hit. After administering first aid by injecting morphine, I manned the tail gun position which he had been filling that day. When we landed at the first available base our crew was pleased just to be alive. It was necessary to leave our plane there and catch a ride back to Thurleigh. Since my guns had good barrels I took them with me, thinking I was doing our squadron a favor. Instead I caught some flak from Lt. Aronson, our squadron armaments Officer. It seemed my volunteer action deprived him of securing new replacement barrels. All in all it was a very interesting day. '



DFC w/1OLC; Bronze Star; AM w/3OLC;

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

Official insignia of the 306th Bomb Group, approved 6 January 1943, and updated 2 October 1951.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 306th Bomb Group 364th Fighter Group 1st Scouting Force 384th Fighter Squadron 857th Bomb Squadron Headquarters (1st Combat Bomb Wing)
  • Service Numbers: 18052358 / O-441827
  • Highest Rank: Colonel
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Little Audrey aka Joan of Arc
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 306th Bomb Group 358th Bomb Squadron

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

15 October 1920

Revisions

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

306th BG Association Directory, 1 September 1999 Edition, First Over Germany pg. 91, 306th BGA Collection, Russell Strong Index Cards, / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / http://www.306bg.org/crewphotos/Crew%20Pictures%20Adam-Rector/Crew%20Pi…