Bert B Bessellieu

Military

B-17G 42-31202 turned back at mid-channel on an operational mission on 29 Mar 1944 and the a/c ran off the runway upon landing. All crew safe and returned to duty.

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

A pathfinder B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 44-8258) of the 401st Bomb Group. Image by Robert Astrella. Written on slide casing: '48258 14 A, Mount Farm.'

401st Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

Charles H Bedell

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 32577472
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner

Carl T Floto

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron 615th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator
Lieutenants Wardlaw Hammon and Walter B Keith, Co-pilot and pilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress of the 401st Bomb Group, talk with Captain RJ White. Image stamped on reverse: 'Planet News.' [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 12 Dec 1943.' [stamp] and '296491.' [Censor no.] Printed caption on reverse: 'Photo shows: The pilot and co-pilot talking with Captain RJ White. Left to right: Lieut Wardlaw Hammond, co-pilot of Philadelphia, Penn: Lieut Walter B Keith, pilot, of Hodgeville, Kentucky: and Capt RJ White of K

Wardlaw McGill Hammond

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Robert L Keith

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
A bomber crew of the 401st Bomb Group with their new B-17 Flying Fortress. Passed for publication 12 Dec 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'RF.' Printed caption on reverse: 'Flying Fortress Crew Back In Action Following Crash On English Village. Photo Shows:- Some of the crew walking from their new ship at a station "somewhere in England". L.-R.:- T/Sgt. William D. Woodward, top-turret gunner, of Georgetown, South Carolina; Sergeant Waldon D. Cohen, Ball-turret gunner, of Altoona, Pennsylvania; Sgt. H

Harold J Kelsen

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner

Aircraft

42-31202

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

20 January 1920 Mississippi

Enlisted

23 December 1942 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi

Died

10 September 1976

Buried

Bert Bessellieu rests at the Lee Cemetery, Pearl River County, Mississippi

Revisions

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

NARA WWII Enlistment Records
Veterans BIRL database

Date
Contributorgeneral ira snapsorter
Changes
Sources

Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia ;
- / http://www.401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=501

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces