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B-17 Flying Fortress
42-30301 Idiots' Delight
"M/Sgt Bingham watches Sgt Pilla paint another bomb on the side of Boeing B-17 'Idiots' Delight', of the 8th Air Force. England."
42-30301 "Idiot's Delight" Back, L-R Wolfe, Crimmins, Laney, Rhoads, Gruneisen, Sikes Front, L-R Lightfoot, Milton, Gerrits, Stokes
42-30301 Idiots' Delight
42-30301 Idiots' Delight
A B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-30301) of the 94th Bomb Group.
42-30301 Idiots' Delight
42-30301 Idiots' Delight
The tail of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-30301) of the 94th Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: '94BG.'
Master Sergeant P. "Bing" Bingham and Sergeant George King, ground crewmen of the 94th Bomb Group work on a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-30301) nicknamed "Idiot's Delight". Printed caption on reverse: '4230301 - Idiot's Delight, call sign 'J'. 332 Sq. 94th Bomb Group. M/Sgt. P. Bingman (Bing) Crew Chief. Sgt. George King working on engine.'
Idiot's Delight was the first B-17 of the 94th Bomber group to survive 50 missions; not once turning back due mechanical failure. The first mission was flown July 14th 1943 and the 50th was 22nd March 1944. The 94th suffered huge casualties during this period; 80 B-17s were lost.
19th June 1944: The B-17 was hit by flak flying over the Pas de Calais. The pilot, Theodore A Milton, was forced to ditch the plane in the Channel where nine of the ten crew lost their lives. One crew member survived as a POW.
Delivered Cheyenne 11/5/43; Smoky Hill 25/5/43; Kearney 26/5/43; Dow Fd 2/6/43; Assigned 332BS/94BG [XM-J/B2] Earls Colne 5/6/43; Rougham 13/6/43 MISSY G; Missing in Action Pas de Calais 19/6/44 with Theo Miltoninc 447BG crew, Co-pilot: Dave Gerrits, Navigator: Marvin Stokes, Bombardier: Gene Lightfoot, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Edgar Sikes, Ball turret gunner: Hugh Crimmins, Waist gunner: Dewey Rhoads, Waist gunner: Willard Laney,Tail gunner: Art Gruneisen (9 Killed in Action); Radio Operator: Jim Wolfe (Prisoner of War); flak hit near Alderney, ditched Channel. Missing Air Crew Report 5901. IDIOTS’ DELIGHT.
Group
The 447th Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses on strategic bombardment missions out of Rattlesden, Suffolk. With their first mission coming on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1943, their main focus was hitting sites that would weaken enemy forces...
Group
Activated 15 June 1942 at MacDill Field, Florida. Initial organization and training at Pendleton Field, Oregon on 29 June 1942. Primary flight training at Davis-Monthan Field in Arizona from 28 Aug. 42 to 31 Oct. 42; then at Biggs Field, El Paso, Texas...
Squadron
Military | Master Sergeant | Crew cheif | 94th Bomb Group
Assigned to 332BS, 94BG, 8AF USAAF. Ground crew for B-17 Frenesi and the John R Israel Crew #19-9-153
Worked as crew chief on Idiot's Delight (42-30301) in Bury St Edmunds, England
Awards: BS, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down in channel on 6/19/44 in B-17 #4230301 Killed in Action (KIA)
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down in Channel on 6/18/44 in B-17 #4230301 Killed in Action (KIA)
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down over Channel on 6/19/44 in B-17 #4230301 Killed in Action (KIA)
Military | Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down in Channel in B-17 #4230301 Killed in Action (KIA)
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down in Channel on 6/18/44 in B-17 #4230301 Killed in Action (KIA)
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down in Channel on 6/18/44 in B-17 #4230301 Killed in Action (KIA)
Military | Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down in channel on 6/19/44 in B-17 #4230301 Killed in Action (KIA)
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 94th Bomb Group
Radio operator on the Linwood F McMackin crew, mostly flying Idiot's Delight.
...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down in channel by flak in B-17 #4230301
14 July 1943
The German air depot at Villacoublay, France and the German airfields Amiens/Glisy and Le Bourget at Paris, France are the primary targets for this mission. These attacks are made by three separate elements: 116 B-17s are despatched from 92BG (15);...
22 March 1944
The German aviation industries at Oraneinburg and Basdorf were the intended primary target for this mission but dense cloud cover prevented the attack on these targets. The secondary target of Berlin, Germany and surrounding Targets of Opportunity (TOs...
Military site : airfield
The airfield was purpose-built for American bomb groups and as such had a 2,000 yard main runway that lain in concrete with a tarred and wood-chipped surface. The scale of bases such as this meant that very often the technical, administrative and...
Other location
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Delivered | Cheyenne, WY, USA | 11 May 1943 |
| Delivered | Smoky Hill, KS, USA | 25 May 1943 |
| Delivered | Kearney, NE, USA | 26 May 1943 |
| Delivered | Dow, IL, USA | 2 June 1943 |
| Assigned | Earls Colne, Essex, UK | 5 June 1943 |
| Assigned | Rougham, Bury Saint Edmunds, Suffolk, UK | 13 June 1943 |
| Failed to Return (FTR) Over Water (OW) | English Channel | 19 June 1944 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 06 June 2019 19:40:51 | phil marchese | Changes to markings |
| Sources | ||
94 BG ASSOC B-17F album and comments |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 02 January 2017 19:34:28 | Yorkshireman | Changes to nicknames |
| Sources | ||
Hutchinson & Cortright |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:28 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 5901 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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