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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 14/7/44; Hunter 22/7/44; Presque Is 31/7/44; Assigned 7BS/34BG Mendlesham 2/8/44; crashed on take off for mission 20/1/45 with Ray Austin, Co-pilot: Ray Sorrell, Radio Operator: Ken Davis, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Felix Williams, Ball turret gunner: Cecil Cobb (5 Returned to Duty); Navigator: Pete Sommer, tog - Bob Yates, Waist gunner: Jim Fisher, photos - Dick Rivett, Tail gunner: Tom Hickerson (5 Killed in Service); (MACR 11253?) crash landed base; Returned to the USA Bradley 21/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 23/6/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Kingman 17/12/45. DIES IRAE.
Group
After forming part of the American defence force, first on America's east coast and then on its west, the Group was assigned to the Eighth Air Force in April 1944 and entered combat in May 1944. The Group helped with the preparation for the Normandy...
Squadron
Military | Staff Sergeant | 34th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) 20 January 1945
Military | Staff Sergeant | 34th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) 20 January 1945
Military | Sergeant | Unknown | 34th Bomb Group
Shot down 19 July 1944 in AC #4440284. Evader. Killed in Action (KIA) 20 January 1945. Plane's name was This Above All
Military | First Lieutenant | 34th Bomb Group
Killed in Action on 20 January 1945. Sommer's name is commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Bombardier / Toggellier | 34th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) 20 January 1945
Military site : airfield
Built in 1942-1943, Mendlesham's first flying unit was the RAF's No. 310 Squadron - a Czechoslovakian unit. The airfield then became home to the USAAF 34th Bomb Group. This unit flew missions from Mendlesham in B-24s and B-17s.
Military site : airfield
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Germany | 20 January 1945 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2014 18:41:26 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 11776 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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