42-29852 Fire Ball
Object Number - UPL 40747
Delivered Cheyenne 26/2/43; Pueblo 12/3/43; Presque Is 9/4/43; Assigned 511BS/351BG [DS-V] Polebrook 16/4/43; Missing in Action 18m Wilhelmshafen 3/11/43 with Elmer Nardi, Co-pilot: Harry Bergman, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Frank Swica, Ball turret gunner: Harlan Burton (4 Killed in Action), Navigator: Orlyn Master, Bombardier: Bradley Squires, Radio Operator: Ganushean Wade, Waist gunner: John Yarush, Waist gunner: Don Happold, Tail gunner: Henry Gates (6 Prisoner of War); enemy aircraft, crashed Wilhelmshafen, Ger., but knocked out the last fighter on the way down. Missing Air Crew Report 1160. FIRE BALL.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
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
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 511th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 511th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 37375829
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 511th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38223674
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 511th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14022945
- Highest Rank: Master Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 511th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: PIAAF / Presque Is
Missions
- Date: 4 October 1943
- Date: 23 September 1943
- Date: 16 September 1943
- Date: 9 September 1943
- Date: 7 September 1943
- Official Description:
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Other Failed to Return (FTR) |
Germany | 3 November 1943 | forced Lt. Nardi to abandon the bomb run and jettison the bomb load while he headed for home. Immediately the plane was attacked by three FW 190’s until the tail gunner, Sgt. Gates, shot one down, and Sgt. Burton, the ball turret gunner, shot down the other two. Just as Sgt. Burton shouted that he had downed the second fighter, the B-17 exploded or possibly the right wing broke off completely. The ship went into a tight spin, throwing out the crew members with the exception of the two pilots and the ball turret gunner who went to their deaths with the doomed plane |
Revisions
Corrected the nickname per info in the A/C description.
Added a space before the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity.
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 1160 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
