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B-17 Flying Fortress
Robert C. Pearson crew. Standing (Left to Right): M. Guy Boyd; Robert Pearson; Lonnie Rutledge; Everett Moore;Bruce Rinker; John Dunbar Front row (Left to Right) Jack "Goose" Goss; Albert Purcell; John Westwood; Randall Villa
Delivered Cheyenne 3/4/43; Kearney 15/4/43; Wendover 2/5/43; Hill 15/5/43; Wendover 18/5/43; Kearney 23/5/43; Dow Fd 28/5/43; Assigned 351BS/100BG [EP- ] Thorpe Abbotts 1/6/43; Missing in Action La Pallice 4/7/43 with Bob Pearson, Co-pilot: Melville Boyd{broke arm], Navigator: Bruce Rinker, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Jack Goss, Radio Operator: Randall Villa, Ball turret gunner: Everett Moore, Waist gunner: John Westwood, Waist gunner: Lorrie Rutledge,Tail gunner: Albt Purcell (9 Prisoner of War); Bombardier: John Dunbar (evaded capture); ship lost power on two engines, and a third shot out by Me 109, crashed three miles W of La Pallice, near Isle D'Orlean, Fr; Missing Air Crew Report 685. NEVADA WILDCAT.
Group
"The Bloody Hundredth", so-called because of a reputation for losing a high number aircraft and crews, flew B-17s from Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk. Their losses were not the highest of any Eighth Air Force Group but on several occasions the Group lost many...
Squadron
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 100th Bomb Group
Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #42-30051, Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier, Flight Engineer; Top Turret Gunner
Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #4230051. Evaded (EVD).
Successfully repatriated via RAF from Gibraltar to Prestwick, Scotland on 08 Aug 1942.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner
Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #4230051. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner
Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #4230051. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot
Prisoner of War (POW) Shot down 04-Jul-43 in B-17 #42-30051.
POW
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner
Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #4230051. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Lieutenant | Navigator
Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #4230051. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner
Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #4230051. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator
Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #4230051. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Staff Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner
Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #4230051. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military site : airfield
Home of the 'Bloody Hundredth’, a Bomb Group with a reputation for high casualty rates, Thorpe Abbotts was under USAAF control from June 1943 to the end of the war. Some of the airfield survives today, and the control tower houses the 100th Bomb Group...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | France | 4 July 1943 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2014 18:40:26 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 272 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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