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B-17 Flying Fortress
Captain Bruce D Barton
B-17F 41-24439 'Chief Sly' was delivered Dow Fd 2-Sep-42; Assigned 322BS/91BG [LG-Q] 6-Sep-42; Bassingbourn 29-Sep-42; battle damaged 20-Dec-42 on mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. Crash-landed Parsonage Farm, Fletching, Sussex, UK; badly damaged by flak and enemy aircraft attacks, just limped home across Channel. 10RTD Salvaged.
P 1Lt Bruce D. Barton (RTD) CP Lt. Paul Burnett (WIA) (RTD)
N Lt Reynolds (RTD); B Lt Lindley (RTD)
E/TTG Sgt Hare (RTD); RO Sgt Haughan (RTD)
BTG Sgt Mitchell (RTD) WG Sgt Sosen (RTD)
WG Stanczyk (RTD) TG Snook (WIA) (RTD)
Group
The 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated at Harding Field, Louisiana on 15-April-1942 and went to MacDill Field, Florida for the first phase of training from 16-May-1942 to 25-June-1942. The Group was then assigned to 2nd Air Force at Walla...
Squadron
Military | Captain | Pilot | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Crash landed in B-17F 41-24439 'Chief Sly’ while serving as Pilot on return from target Romilly-sur-Seine, France. Co-pilot was 2nd Lt. Arthur J. Reynolds. Aircraft was DBR and salvaged. No injuries reported in crash.
Military | Lieutenant | Navigator | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Crash landed in B-17F-5-BO 41-24439 'Chief Sky' while serving as Co-Pilot on return from target Romilly-sur-Seine, France. 20-Dec-42. Crew escaped injury in landing; however, Burnett was injured in a battle with fighters on the return.
Military | Radio Operator | 390th Bomb Group
Marshall Haugen was Radio Operator on 322nd Sqdn's 'Chief Sly' and 'Chief Sly II' and flew over with the 91st BG in the September of 1942.
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Military | Navigator | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Lallie was navigator on 'Chief Sly's' crew, completed 25 missions with 322nd Sqdn, 91st BG 'Ragged Irregulars' and was awarded the DFC.
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20 December 1942
The German Air Depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France is the Primary (P) target for a combined force of 80 B-17s despatched by 91BG (17), 303BG (21); 305BG (23) and 306BG (19). 60 B-17 are effective on the target, but 7 are MIA and 1 is DBR.
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Military site : airfield
Now home to a museum all about the aifield and its USAAF residents (http://www.towermuseumbassingbourn.co.uk/) , Bassingbourn opened in 1938 as part of the RAF's pre-war expansion programme. The RAF continued to use it until late in 1942 when its long...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Damaged Beyond Repair (DBR) | Fletching, Uckfield, East Sussex TN22, UK | 20 December 1942 |
|
Severely damaged by flak, barely made it back to England, crash landed at Parsonage Farm, Fletching, Sussex. Salvaged for spare parts. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 06 December 2014 20:37:52 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 6-Dec-2014. Converted dates in description to military-style signification. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 06 December 2014 20:36:21 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to production block number, manufacturer, nicknames, markings, description, events, unit associations, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 6-Dec-2014. Added target information to description; formatted crew display; added DBR event and details per 'Losses of the 8th & 8th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A Hey, MBE; made connections to Place and Mission within existing website data. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:02 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log |
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