John B Elliott
MilitaryOn 3 January 1943 while serving as Co-Pilot of B-17F 41-24501 two engines were shot out over the target of the U/B (submarine) base at St. Nazaire, France. Pilot 1Lt Ferguson flew the severely damaged plane out to sea but conditions worsened as another engine quit. Turning back to France with German fighters all over the plane, he gave the bail out signal. Navigator Greene and Bombardier Levy fell to their deaths in the surf. Gunners Kerbow and Arnold were killed by gunfire and chute failure. Ferguson chose the runway of a German fighter field to insure early capture.
POW
Connections
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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
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 368th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 3 January 1943
Places
![A bomber crew of the 306th Bomb Group wave to Picture Post Girls in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24471) nicknamed "Four of a Kind" at Thurleigh in December 1942. Image stamped on reverse: '"Picture Post" [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 11 Dec 1942.' [stamp], '238038.' [Censor no.] Handwritten in censor's blue pencil on reverse: 'American Flying Fortress crew are introduced to the girls they will meet at Picture Post Xmas Party.'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379028.jpg.webp?itok=6Gc6iR0j)
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Moosburg, Germany | 3 January 1943 - 6 June 1945 | Held at Stalag 7A, Moosburg, Bavaria. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 6-Jun-45. |
|
Died |
3 September 1971 |
Revisions
Lee Cunningham 16-Jan-2015. Added SN per MACR 16427; Added decorations and POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; made connections to Place, AIrcraft and Mission within existing website data; Edited biography adding crew position.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th and 9th Air Forces Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey p. 61, First Over Germany by Strong p. 60.