S/Sgt. Russell T. Hatchett “Tom” Ball Turret Gunner

U.S. Army 8th Air Force

447th Bomb Group 711 bomb Squadron

B-17 Flying Fortress AC 42-31582 “Ol’Scrapiron”

Rattlesden, Suffolk, England, spring 1944.





Brief history:



In April 1944 Tom and the crew arrived in Rattlesden England after training in the States. The original crew consisted of:



Co-Pilot; Able W. Dahlgran (later became the original crew pilot after Stevenson was killed in action);

Pilot; Robert C. Stevenson, nick named “Ol’Scrapiron”. (Killed in action on his 2nd orientation mission)

Navigator; Erwin A Smith

Bombardier; Gordon T. Todd (wounded in action by flak, facial injury)

Gunner/Radio; Kenneth L. Ramey

Waist Gunner; Albert Acuna (Wounded in action by flak, lost an eye)

Gunner Engineer Top Turret; Lorn B. Heeb (Ben)

Ball Turret; Russell T. Hatchett (Tom)

Tail Gunner; Jack D. Keller

Waist Gunner; William Levinsky (Bill).



Tom and the crew flew practice missions and trained together for several weeks after arriving in Rattlesden. As one might expect they became good friends and were a close group of guys. Typically, when they went out together to relax and forget about the war, the officers would go as a group and the enlisted as a group. One evening the 4 officers were out having a good time when a group of local hooligans began to harass them. Stevenson was described by his crew to be very kind & mild mannered type of guy. It took a lot of crap to get him mad. As the story goes, the locals continued until Stevenson reached his limit. An altercation broke out and Lt. Stevenson proceeded to take on all comers till there was no one left standing. He was quite the scraper! Afterward the other 3 officer’s nick named him “Ol’Scrapiron”. The rest of the crew members learned of the story later.



As part of their training, new Pilots would always fly two combat missions with an experienced crew. These missions were called combat orientation flights. So on April 29, 1944, Robert Stevenson was flying his second orientation mission as Co-pilot with Pilot E. D. Johnson in A/C # 97501 to Berlin Germany. Sadly that aircraft was shot down with no survivors. The remaining crew at that point having lost their pilot began to fly their combat missions somewhat split up with other crews in various aircraft. The remaining crew members continued to fly, gain experience and get promotions. When Lt. Able W. Dahlgran, the original Co-Pilot, was promoted to Pilot he asked that his original crew be reassembled so they could fly together. His request was granted. Additionally a new Co-Pilot was added to the crew, Lt. Kurtis Brown. They were assigned to A/C # 31582. The B-17 they were assigned to had already completed 5 Missions with other crews. The crew voted to name their ship “Ol’Scrapiron” in honor of the original Pilot, Robert C. Stevenson.