Edward Tappan

Military
media-19059.png UPL 19059 Edward Tappan - 1943

Added photo

Object Number - UPL 19059 - Edward Tappan - 1943

Born and raised in North Carolina, Ed Tappan and his family moved to Arizona in 1931. Ed attended the Evans School for Boys in Tucson and competed on the school’s early rodeo teams. He studied later at the University of Arizona, enlisting in September 1942, initially in the Cavalry as he was a gifted horseman. Transferred to the Air Forces, he followed pilot training and was sent overseas at the beginning of 1944. He was assigned to the 801st Bomb Group/36th Bomber Squadron and flew Carpetbagger missions.

2nd Lt Edward Tappan was Co-Pilot of B-24D '"Star Spangled Hell", 42-72873. Took off from Harrington at 23:13hrs on 4 July 1944 on a secret Carpetbagger mission of weapons and supplies delivery to the French Underground in the Loir-et-Cher area, France. Missing Air Crew Report - MACR 6990. After successful drop, shot down by ME110 over Orléans, France. A/c caught fire and crashed at 00:10hrs, 5 July, near Champgirault at Trancrainville (Eure and Loire). Edward Tappan was stuck in the top escape hatch after bail out order and was blown clear when a/c exploded. 7 members of the 8-man crew were killed in the explosion and they are commemorated on a plaque on a wall at the entrance to the Trancrainville cemetery. Ed Tappan was the only survivor of the 8-member crew and was helped by many French citizens in his evasion of capture in the Loir-et-Cher and Eure-et-Loir French Departments. Having reached a secret camp in the Foret de Fréteval, South of Châteaudun, France, he was liberated by US troops on 13 September 1944, together with 151 other Allied military evaders who had been sheltered in the woods. Ed Tappan would fly again, in a C-47 transport plane, with his brother Lt. Colonel Arthur E. Tappan, a pilot in the 62nd Troop Carrier Squadron, who managed to allow him on board as an observer on a few ferrying and supply missions over Europe. Ed flew back to the United States in late fall 1944 and after a short furlough, he taught Chinese students to fly the B-25 at Douglas Army Airfield in Arizona.

Honorably discharged the following year, he started raising and training quarter horses as well as managing a boat business in Tucson, Arizona. He raised four sons with his wife Margaret. Sadly, Margaret passed away in 1991 and couldn’t accompany Ed when he visited France in the summer of 1994 to reconnect with French people or their descendants who had helped him escape 50 years before.

See Ed Tappan’s evasion story at http://www.evasioncomete.org/ftappaned.html

Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 36th Bomb Squadron (Radar Counter Measures).
  • Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment
A B-24D Liberator 'Carpetbagger' - extensively modified for specialised operations - taxiis on the perimeter track at Harrington airfield. Printed caption on reverse: 'A Carpetbagger B-24D taxiing on the perimeter at Harrington. Photo - "Red" Monaghan.'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 492nd Bomb Group 801st Bomb Group 36th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-1574610 and 32206722 on enlisting
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 801st Bomb Group 36th Bomb Squadron 492nd Bomb Group
  • Service Numbers: 18098768
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator/Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 801st Bomb Group 850th Bomb Squadron 492nd Bomb Group
  • Service Numbers: 14132120 and O-688180
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 801st Bomb Group 36th Bomb Squadron 492nd Bomb Group
  • Service Numbers: 32860380
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 801st Bomb Group 93rd Bomb Group 36th Bomb Squadron 850th Bomb Squadron 492nd Bomb Group
  • Service Numbers: 14025966 and O-707382
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Raggedy Ann II, Star Spangled Hell
  • Unit: 44th Bomb Group 801st Bomb Group 36th Bomb Squadron 67th Bomb Squadron 492nd Bomb Group

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

North Carolina, United States 9 August 1921

Enlisted

Phoenix, Arizona, United States 15 September 1942

Other

Evaded (EVD)

Bellande, Villebout, France 5 July 1944 - 13 August 1944 Tappan landed in parachute near Neuvy-en-Beauce (Eure-et-Loir), France. Helped by French patriots, he managed to evade capture and reached a secret camp in the Fréteval Forest near Bellande, in the frame of Mission “Marathon” organized by the Belgian COMETE evasion network. Liberated by US troops. Escape & Evasion Report E&E 1016.

Died

Sonoita, Arizona, United States 10 October 1996
Tucson, Arizona, United States

Revisions

Date
Changes
Sources

Merged with duplicate entry to include details fom:
- Combat Chronology, USAAF SN Website;
- the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

First name is Edward not Eward
MACR 6990
NARA WWII Enlistment records
www.801492.org
Research for Edward Tappan’s page at http://www.evasioncomete.org/ftappaned.html

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

801st BG Roster, http://www.801492.org/MainMenu.htm">http://www.801492.org/MainMenu.htm>; Losses of 8th AF, vol.4 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia

Edward Tappan: Gallery (4 items)