Percy C Bolinger
MilitaryHe was an original crew member of the group. He flew on Ralph Gaston crew. On 9 November 1942 assigned target U/B at St. Nazaire, France. On return, crashed into field beyond runway in B-17F #41-24494.
Shot down 18 November 1942 in B-17 #41-24474 'Floozy' while serving as Waist Gunner. Aircraft was on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at La Pallice but was hit by flak over St. Nazaire damaging an engine, letting down over the Bay of Biscay, it was attacked again by FW 190's forcing the pilot to ditch the aircraft into the sea. SSgt Bolinger was captured. MACR 16448.
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
Missions
- Date: 18 November 1942
- Official Description:
- Date: 9 November 1942
- Official Description:
Places
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag 17b, Krems an der Donau, Austria
![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) |
Krems an der Donau, Austria | 18 November 1942 - 18 July 1945 | Held at Stalag 17B, Braunau-Gneikendorf, near Krems, Austria. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 18-Jul-45. |
|
Other Ditched |
Ushant, France | 18 November 1942 | Managed to exit the aircraft after it was ditched into the sea. |
|
Died |
Bartlesville, OK, USA | 3 February 1984 |
Revisions
Added an association to Stalag 17B per WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).
Lee Cunningham 27-Nov-2014. Added ditching location to description and event per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE. ; made aircraft and mission connections within existing data.
Lee Cunningham 4-Nov-2014. Missing AIr Crew Report (MACR) 16448; National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database.
Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs by Hey and Bishop p.45-47, First Over Germany pg 49, Russell Strong Index Cards, 306th BGA Collection,
Data update, National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, 15 September 2014
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs by Hey and Bishop p.45-47, First Over Germany pg 49,