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Military
B-17F 41-24496, 'Chenault's Pappy', 306BG/423BS, on which he was serving as Engineer/Top Turret Gunner, was attacked by FW190s after leaving the target area near St. Nazaire 17-November-1942. Killed in Action (KIA) 3 crew members were injured as the plane suffered severe damage. A/C landed at Exeter and was salvaged for parts.
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
B-17F 41-24496 'Chennault's Pappy' Delivered Great Falls, Montana, force landed Nashville, Tennessee with Jim Dale; repaired & assigned 423BS/306BG Westover 15-Aug-42; Thurleigh 8-Sep-42.
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17 November 1942
The U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France are the Primary (P) target for a combined force of 49 B-17s despatched from 91BG (20), 303BG (16) and 306BG (13). Another element of 14 B-24s despatched from 93BG also joins the bombing force on St. Nazaire. The...
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Killed in Action (KIA) | 17 November 1942 | |
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Killed when the aircraft was attacked by German fighters. His remains were aboard the aircraft when it returned to England at RAF Exeter. |
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| Buried | 1945 | |
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The American Battle Monument Commission does not have a record that his remains are in any American cemetery in Europe. However, it is possible that he was originally buried at Cambridge American Cemetery and that after the war his remains were repatriated to the United States to the State of his home of record. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 27 November 2014 19:37:33 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to biography, events, place associations and aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 27-Nov-2014. Edited description to add crew position; made place and aircraft associations with existing data. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 02 November 2014 17:38:59 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 2-Nov-2014. "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A Hey MBE. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:17:59 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Combat Chronology Supplement, 3Losses of the 8th and 9th Air Forces Volume I by Bishop and Hey p. 46 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia |
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