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"A crew of the 379th Bomb Group poses beside a Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" 'Judy B' at an 8th Air Force base in England, 16 July 1943."
Crew list for 17-Jul-43: Lt Willis C Carlisle, Lt Charles R Bigler, Lt John W Bradley, Lt Joseph G Glaser Jr, T/Sgt Benjamin B Johnson, T/Sgt Albert P Tyler, Cpl Charles J Kukawski, Sgt James A Dyson, Sgt Vernon F Bennett, Sgt John A Stachura.
Pictured L-R:
Rear: 2Lt Lt Charles R Bigler, 1Lt Willis C Carlisle, Lt Joseph G Glaser Jr, Lt John W Bradley.
Front: Cpl Charles J Kukawski, T/Sgt Benjamin B Johnson, T/Sgt Albert P Tyler, Sgt John A Stachura.
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"A crew of the 379th Bomb Group poses for the photographer at an 8th Air Force base in England, 26 July 1943."
Rear L-R: Lt John W Bradley, Lt Joseph G Glaser Jr, Lt Charles R Bigler, T/Sgt Albert P Tyler.
Front L-R: ??, S/Sgt John A Stachura, ??, Sgt Charles J Kukawski, T/Sgt Benjamin B Johnson.
Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. Finished 30 missions and then volunteered for 3 more. Lead Bombardier on grapefruit mission (glide bomb) to Cologne, Germany 28-May-44. Earlier on Hamburg mission, 25-Jul-43, pilot Lt Carlisle killed, I then assisted co-pilot Lt Bigler in flying plane safely back with no oxygen.
Awards: DFC (2OLC), AM (5OLC), WWII Victory, EAME.
Service
People
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Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 14 x combat missions. Co-pilot of B-17 42-29866 'Judy B' on Hamburg mission, when pilot Lt Willis C Carlisle was killed at controls. A/C fought of fighters whilst in uncontrolled plunge from 16,000ft to 3,500ft 25...
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Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 11 x combat missions. Fatally wounded by fighter attack in B-17 42-29866 'Judy B' on Hamburg mission. Took deflected round (ricocheted off co-pilots seat) in back. Crew fought of fighters and co-pilot returned A/C...
Units served with
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Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945.
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Group
The 379th Bomb Group (H) (heavy), based at Kimbolton, flew more sorties than any other Bomb Group in the Eighth Air Force and dropped a greater bomb tonnage than any other Group. The B-17 Flying Fortress Group was awarded two Distinguished Unit...
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Aircraft
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 27/2/43; Sioux City 16/3/43; Kearney 8/4/43; Dow Fd 15/4/43; Assigned 524BS/379BG [WA-L] Kimbolton 21/4/43; Missing in Action Le Bourget 16/8/43 with Chas Biglar, Bombardier: John Boyle, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Albt Tyler,...
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 1/5/43; Gore 13/5/43; Smoky Hill 14/5/43; Dow Fd 30/5/43; Assigned 524BS/379BG [WA-V] Kimbolton 1/6/43; transferred 1 Base Air Depot, Burtonwood 4/8/44; APH Knettishall, Crashed due to flak short of target [Oldenburg power station]...
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 28/10/43; Assigned 526BS/379BG [LF-D] Kimbolton 20/1/44; transferred AFSC with Azon/Aphrodite (388BG) Knettishall 7/6/44; Missing in Action v-sites Watten, Fr; 6/8/44 with Lt J. Sollars & T/Sgt H. Graves (2 Returned to Duty); lost...
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 14/1/44; Dalhart 26/1/44; Kearney 22/2/44; Grenier 24/2/44.
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Dallas 23/4/44; Langley 12/6/44; Dow Fd 2/7/44; slated 96BG, Assigned 305BG Chelveston 4/7/44; transferred 384BG Grafton Underwood 29/7/44; transferred 526BS/379BG [LF-X] Kimbolton 4/8/44; Missing in Action Dresden 14/2/45 with ?; force...
Missions
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25 June 1943
This mission was intended to be the first major attack on the industrial area of Hamburg, Germany but weather and contrails made fromation flying too difficult and dangerous. As a result, the main formation 197 B-17s from: 91BG (18); 92BG (23); 303BG ...
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25 July 1943
This mission was composed of three elements. The primary targets were the diesel engine works at Hamburg, Germany; the shipyards at Kiel, Germany and the aircraft industries at Warnemude, Germany, but weather frustrated the effort. The first element...
Associated Place
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Military site : airfield
Planned for RAF use, Kimbolton airfield was built by W and C French Ltd. in 1941. The airfield was increased in size to accommodate a full US heavy Bomb Group, and the first such unit to us it was the 91st Bomb Group, who arrived in September 1942....
Events
Event |
Location |
Date |
Born |
Williamston, Mich |
22 April 1920 |
Enlisted |
Detroit, MI |
1 October 1941 |
Detroit, Michigan
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Based |
Kimbolton |
May 1943 – August 1944 |
Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF.
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Died |
Jupiter, FL |
6 February 2011 |
Buried |
Michigan, USA |
10 February 2011 |
Michigan, USA
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