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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered ? ?; with Jim Dale force landed Berry Fd, Nashville, TN 15/8/42; Assigned 322BS/91BG [LG-P] Westover 16/8/42; Bassingbourn 30/9/42; Missing in Action on the aircraft's 26th mission, to Stuttgart on 6 September 1943 with Pilot William R. Cox; Co-pilot: William R. James; Navigator: Edgar L. Richardson; Bombardier: James E. Harlow; Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Lester B. Schlaich; Radio Operator: Kerrane A. Smallidge; Ball turret gunner: Henry A. Griswold Jr; Waist gunner: Paul DeMidio, Waist gunner: James N. Witter; Tail gunner: William B. McCrea (10 Returned to Duty); ditched Channel close to shore and all rescued by coast guard. Possibly MIZPAH II painted on one side and FRISCO JINNY the other. 'Frisco Jinny' was the name probably given by Pilot Jack A. Hargis of 91BG/322BS.
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 | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 6 September 1943 in B-17 #4124497 'Mizpah II. ' Returned to base.
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 6 September 1943 in B-17 #4124497 'Mizpah II. ' Returned to base.
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Bombardier | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 6 September 1943 in B-17 41-24497 'Mizpah II. ' Returned to base.
Harlow stayed on in the Air Force, served in Korea and Vietnam and retired with the rank of Lt/Colonel. He was a member of the Missile, Space and Range Pioneers at Patrick AFB.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 6 September 1943 in B-17 #4124497 'Mizpah II. ' Returned to base.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 6 September 1943 in B-17 #4124497 'Mizpah II' piloted by W. R. Cox. Returned to base.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Bombardier | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Killed in Action (KIA) 19 May 1943 in B-17 #41-24483 'Spirit of Alcohol'. He went to Bassingbourn from MacDill Field about November/December 1942. He was on his 17th mission. The pilot (Lt. Baxley) told his parents in a letter that they were...
Military | Captain | Pilot | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Was once co pilot to Capt Robert B Campbell on 'Mizpath II' #4124497
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Navigator | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Assigned to 323BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. Ditched in channel 6-Sep-43 in B-17 41-24497 'Mizpah II'. Returned to base. Failed to Return (FTR) Anklam, Germany. Shot down 9-Oct-43 in B-17 42-29740. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 896.
...
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 6 September 1943 in B-17 #4124497 'Mizpah II. ' Returned to base.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 379th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) crashed near Koblenz on 10 Jan 45 in B-17 #4338955. Mid-air collision. Earlier with the 91st BG , shot down 6 September 1943 in B-17 #4124497 'Mizpah II' piloted by W. R. Cox. After ASR,returned to base.
6 September 1943
This mission was planned as massive attack of 338 B-17s on the industrial areas of Stuttgart, Germany and would be supported by a formation of 69 B-24s flying a diversion. This would be the first action from the UK for the B-24 Groups that had recently...
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ditched | English Channel | 6 September 1843 |
| Failed to Return | Stuttgart, Germany | 6 September 1943 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 12 August 2015 12:31:54 | ED-BB | Changes to nicknames, markings, description, unit associations, person associations, place associations, mission associations and media associations |
| Sources | ||
Nickname correction - Source Wallace R. Forman's "B-17 Nose Art Name Directory" |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:02 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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