Peter Mikonis
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
addition to original post
Object Number - UPL 37194 - The memorial tablet to 42-37958 and her crew close to the crash site on Snag Farm in Stoke Trister Somerset with Tributes in grateful memory
Assigned to 401BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. Killed on mission to Toulouse, France crashed in farmyard at Snag Farm, Stoke Trister, Wincannon, Somerset . Plane was named 'Old Faithful' 42-37958.
2nd Lt Peter Mikonis the pilot of 'Old Faithful' was attempting to bring the damaged plane back to base when it crashed onto a farmyard near the town of Wincanton on the South Coast of England. On 25th June 1984 the townspeople held a special commemorative service for the nine men who had lost their lives forty years earlier.
Awards: PH.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39410287
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Flight Engineer/Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39460654
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 37485106
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36277657
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19186322 / O-819862
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Old Faithful
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Memorial
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Enlisted |
Atlantic City, NJ | 16 September 1940 | Atlantic City, New Jersey |
|
Other Killed in action |
Wincanton, UK | 25 June 1944 | Failed to Return (FTR) Toulouse, France in B-17 42-37958; A/C hit by flak in #3 engine, returned to UK, wing collapsed. Killed in Action (KIA) |
|
Buried |
26 June 1944 | Cambridge American Cemetery Coton, Cambs, UK Plot B Row 1 Grave 38 | |
|
Born |
Pennsylvania | Son of Peter V Mikonis. | |
|
Based |
Bassingbourn | 25 June 1944 | Assigned to 401BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. |
Revisions
Biography completed by historian Helen Millgate. Information sourced from newsletters of the 91st Bomb Group related to the service of Peter Mikonis.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / losses of the 8th & 9th pages 442
