Charles L Stevenson
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Herman F. Allen's wartime scrapbook, per daughter Pat DiGeorge
Object Number - UPL 5628 - Officers of the original Charles W. Smith crew: Charles W. Smith, Merle P. Brown, Charles L. Stevenson, Herman F. Allen
Killed in Action (KIA) in B-17 on mission to Halberstadt, Gr on 11 Jan 1944.
Connections
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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
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Liberty Lady
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 368th Bomb Squadron
Places
![A bomber crew of the 306th Bomb Group wave to Picture Post Girls in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24471) nicknamed "Four of a Kind" at Thurleigh in December 1942. Image stamped on reverse: '"Picture Post" [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 11 Dec 1942.' [stamp], '238038.' [Censor no.] Handwritten in censor's blue pencil on reverse: 'American Flying Fortress crew are introduced to the girls they will meet at Picture Post Xmas Party.'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379028.jpg.webp?itok=6Gc6iR0j)
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
23 May 1920 | ||
|
Died |
11 January 1944 | ||
|
Buried |
Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly, New Jersey | On January 11, 1944, Pilot Charles W. Smith and crew flew in the B-17 “Weary bones” toward a fighter aircraft factory at Halberstadt … deep penetration into Germany and only 144 miles from Berlin. On that date, according to the Air Force Historical Studies Office, the 8th Air Force bombers met fierce opposition, estimated at 500 fighters encountered, and 60 bombers were lost. During these attacks, the nose of Weary Bones was struck by shell fire. The bombardier called on the intercom: “The navigator has been hit!” He was the only crew member close enough to give aid to his wounded comrade but Stevenson died instantly. Smith wrote this account in the year 2000, saying that “the horror of those few seconds during the afternoon of January 11, 1944 still remains to haunt the surviving crew members of Weary Bones. |
Revisions
ContributorPatDiGeorge
Changes
Sources
Pat DiGeorge. Charles Stevenson was navigator with my father Herman F. Allen
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources
Combat Chronology Supplement p. 206, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia