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Military
On 13 January 1943 in B-17F #41-24471 'Four of a Kind' while serving as Right Waist Gunner the aircraft was involved in a mid-air collision with B-17F #42-14498 306BG/369BS and broke in two just north of the target at Lille, France. He managed to parachute safely and was captured. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Lieutenant | Navigator | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
On 13 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24471 'Four of a Kind' while serving as Navigator the aircraft was involved in a mid-air collision with B-17F 41-24498 306BG/369BS which broke the aircraft in two just north of the target of Lille, France. He was either...
Military | Captain | Pilot | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
He was an original crew member of the Group.
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Military | Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade) | Waist Gunner | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Neal Meyers was a waist gunner on a B-17, surviving 5 missions. He was awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart on Nov 8, 1942 for downing a Focke-Wulf FW-190 aircraft, wounded on the same mission.
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Group
Constituted as 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942. Activated on 1 Mar 1942. Trained for combat with B-17's. Moved to England, Aug-Sep 1942, and assigned to Eighth AF Eighth Air Force in September 1942 Station 111 Thurleigh. During combat,...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Assigned 369BS/306BG [WW- ] Westover 17-Aug-42; Thurleigh 2-Oct-42; Missing in Action 13-Jan-43 on a mission to bomb the railroad factories of Ateliers D'Hellemmes at Lille, France. Aircraft was sliced in two and the crew members were trapped in the...
13 January 1943
The primary target for this mission is the Atclier d'Hellemmes locomotive works, associated steel works and the railroad marshalling yards at Lille, France. The attacking force is composed of 72 B-17s from: 91BG (13); 303BG (19); 305BG (23) and 306BG ...
Military site : airfield
Built for RAF use in 1941-42, Thurleigh was initially used by RAF Bomber Command before being handed over to the Eighth Air Force. Its runways and hardstandings were improved, and the B-17s of the 306th Bomb Group began using the base. It was their...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Niagara Falls, New York, USA | |
| Prisoner of War (POW) | Krems an der Donau, Austria | 13 January 1943 – 21 July 1945 |
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Held at Stalag 17B, Braunau-Gneikendorf (near Krems) Austria. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 21-Jul-45. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 08 September 2020 18:14:54 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Added a space to the "Summary biography" to aid clarity. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 19 January 2015 21:09:11 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to biography, awards, events, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 19-Jan-2015 Added decorations and made connections to Place and Mission within existing website data; Added POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; Added mission details to Description per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; aso reference MACR 15502. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:16:32 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 15502 / MACR 15502, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey, p. 63, First Over Germany pg. 63, 306th BGA Collection, Russell Strong Index Cards, / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / http://www.306bg.org/crewphotos/Crew%20Pictures%20Adam-Rector/Crew%20Pic... |
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