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B-17 Flying Fortress
A bomber crew of the 388th Bomb Group with their B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-30207) nicknamed "Big Red.' Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Bailey Crew.' Richard H. Bailey Crew 388th BG - 561st BS Standing Left to Right: George Bartuska (B), Richard H. Bailey (P), William L. Tobin (CP), Laurence M. Bairstow (N) Kneeling Left to Right: Ned Transou (R/O), John J. Thompson (FE), Donald E. Marble (WG), Ralph Higgins (TG), Edward L. Gwinnell (WG), Roy L. Graziani (BTG)
Delivered Cheyenne 29/4/43; Sioux City 11/5/43; Smoky Hill 9/6/43; Dow Fd 12/6/43; Assigned 561BS/388BG [ -T] Knettishall 14/6/43; Missing in Action Bordeaux 27/3/44 with Julius Lederman, Co-pilot: Waite Law, Bombardier: John Luzell (3 Prisoner of War); Navigator: John Carroll, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Herman Hermanson (2 evaded capture); Radio Operator: Blair Harman, Ball turret gunner: Lou Mizera, Waist gunner: George Schartzkopf, Waist gunner: Joe Kapec,Tail gunner: George Hewett (5 Killed in Action); flare set off fire in radio room, circled & crashed La Gombretiere, Aizenay, nine miles NW of La Roche-sur-Yon, 17 miles S of Nantes, Fr. Missing Air Crew Report 3540. BIG RED.
Group
The 388th Bomb Group flew strategic bombing mission from Knettishall, Suffolk from June 1943 to the end of the war. During this time, though, detachments were sent to Fersfield, Norfolk to conduct Aphrodite missions. In these Aphrodite missions veteran...
Squadron
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Retired from the USAF with the rank of Major
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 388th Bomb Group
Also served in Korea and Vietnam. Retired from the USAF with the rank of Colonel.
Military | Major | Bombardier/Lead Bombardier | 388th Bomb Group
Retired from the USAF with the rank of Lt. Colonel
Military | Captain | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
On a mission to Klein Machnow, Berlin on 6 Mar 1944, another B-17 from the 388th went out of control after being attacked by fighters and collided with B-17G #42-40054 which exploded and crashed SE of Emmen, Holland. Prisoner of War (POW).
Military | Technical Sergeant | Engineer | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 388th Bomb Group
Shot down apparently by flak and crashed S of Nantes, FR on a mission to Bordeaux/Merignac airfield, FR on 27 Mar 1944 in B-17F #42-30207 'Big Red'. Evaded.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant (Technician Third Grade) | Ball Turret Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant (Technician Third Grade) | Right Waist Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Sergeant | Radio Operator, Radio Operator Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Shot down apparently by flak and crashed S of Nantes, FR on a mission to Bordeaux/Merignac airfield, FR on 27 Mar 1944 in B-17F #42-30207 'Big Red'. Killed in Action (KIA).
24 July 1943
Three targets in Norway are the primary targets for this first mission flown by 8th AIr Force to Norway. They are the nitrate works at Heroya and the port areas at Trondheim and Bergen. The first element is a combined force of 180 B-17s from: 91BG (22)...
26 July 1943
The German rubber industry at Hannover, Germany and the U-Boat shipyards at Hamburg, Germany are the primary focus of this mission. In addition, a German ship convoy and targets of opportunity at Wilhelmshaven and Wesermunde are bombed. The first...
28 July 1943
The German aircraft industry at Kassel (Fieseler works) and Oscherleben, Germany are the primary targets of this mission. 182 B-17s from: 91BG (20); 92BG (17); 303BG (20); 305BG (21); 306BG (24); 351BG (21); 379BG (19); 381BG (20); and 384BG (20) are...
12 August 1943
This mission is separated into two elements. The first element is a combined force of 183 B-17s from 1st Bomb Division: 91BG (22); 92BG (19); 303BG (20); 305BG (20); 306BG (20); 351BG (21); 379BG (21); 381BG (20); and 384BG (20) are dispatched to bomb...
15 August 1943
German airfields in Holland and France are the targets for this mission. All of the attacks were made late in the afternoon just prior to sunset. The mission is composed of two elements. The first element is a combined force of 180 B-17s from: 91BG (20...
16 August 1943
This mission consists of two elements of B-17s despatched to bomb the German airfields of Le Bourget (Paris), Poix and Abbeville, France. The first element is a combined force of 180 B-17s from: 91BG (21); 92BG (17); 303BG (20); 305BG (20); 306BG (20);...
17 August 1943
The mission flown on 17-Aug-43, the 1st anniversary of the 1st mission flown by the 8th Air Force, is probably the most written about mission of the war. This is the famous Schweinfurt/Regensburg mission on which 60 B-17s are lost. It has been dubbed ...
24 August 1943
The 8th Air Force is intent on dishing out some "pay back" to the Luftwaffe for the toll it took on bombers of the 17-Aug-43 mission to Schweinfurt/Regensburg. So, This mission has three attack elements and a diversion element. The attack elements are...
3 September 1943
German airfields in France and the Caudron-Renault works at Paris are the targets for this mission. The mission is composed of three elements. The first element is a combined force of 168 B-17s from: 91BG (14); 351BG (19); 381BG (22); 92BG (19); 305BG ...
7 September 1943
Two German airfields, one at Brussels, Begium and the other at Bergen, Holland, and the V-Weapons sites around Watten, France are the primary targets for this mission.
...
Military site : airfield
Knettishall was built to Class A standard for an American Bomb Group that would be bringing up to forty heavy bombers with them in three or four Squadrons. The 388th Bomb Group, which stayed at Knettishall for their entire service in the ETO, flew B-17...
Other location
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Delivered | Cheyenne, WY, USA | 29 April 1943 |
| Assigned | Knettishall, Diss IP22 2TH, UK | 14 June 1943 |
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388 BG |
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| First 388th BG Combat Mission | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 17 July 1943 |
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Originally assigned to the R.H. Bailey Crew |
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| Failed to Return (FTR) | La Gombretière, 85190 Aizenay, France | 27 March 1944 |
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Flares set off fire in radio room during mission 33 combat missions completed plus 7 aborts |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 10 December 2017 21:26:16 | 466thHistorian | Changes to production block number, nicknames, markings, description, events, person associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
http://www.388bg.info/servlet/Controller?pageType=detail&id=42-30207&dat... |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:27 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 3540 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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