Stephen Fecho

Military
media-23255.jpeg UPL 23255 Crew #521
Robert D. Johnson Crew
466th BG - 785th BS
B-24H-30-FO #42-95466 "Madam Shoo Shoo" (this was the a/c they flew overseas. It was not assigned to the 466th BG)

Standing Left to Right: E.S. Stiteler (N), Thompson (B), Herman O. Graf (CP), Robert D. Johnson (P)

Kneeling Left to Right: J.W. Wooten (TG), Anthony D. Malorni (BTG), Stephen Fecho (FE), J.W. Lewis (NTG), R.D. Knight (WG), W. R. Tasker (R/O)

Completed a 31 mission tour 466th Bomb Group collection

466th BG Historian

Object Number - UPL 23255 - Crew #521 Robert D. Johnson Crew 466th BG - 785th BS B-24H-30-FO #42-95466 "Madam Shoo Shoo" (this was the a/c they flew overseas. It was not...

Connections

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Units served with

Three little girls hold up a balloon celebrating the 100th mission of the 466th Bomb Group in front of a B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-95592) nicknamed "Black Cat". Handwritten caption on reverse: 'On our 100 Mission party Day- 18 Aug 1944, Attlebridge, 466th- wouldn't it be something if we could identify these girls? How could I do it?'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 466th Bomb Group 785th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

The nose art of a B-24 Liberator (serial number 41-29374) nicknamed "Hot Box" of the 466th Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'B-24H-15-CF, 41-29374, 466 BG.'
  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Hot Box
  • Unit: 466th Bomb Group 785th Bomb Squadron
The nose art of a B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-95268) nicknamed "Penthouse for Ten" of the 466th Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'B-24, 466 BG Attlebridge.'
  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Penthouse for Ten
  • Unit: 466th Bomb Group 785th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Madam Shoo-Shoo

Missions

  • Date: 25 August 1944
  • Date: 13 August 1944
  • Date: 8 August 1944
B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 305th Bomb Group fly in formation.
  • Date: 4 August 1944

Places

Aerial photograph of Attlebridge airfield, looking north, the fuel store and a T2 hangar are in the upper centre, 31 January 1946. Photograph taken by No. 90 Squadron, sortie number RAF/3G/TUD/UK/51. English Heritage (RAF Photography).
  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Attlebridge Arsenal, Station 120

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Mahanoy, PA 27 July 1921

Enlisted

New York, NY 24 October 1942

Other

Transit to ETO via Southern Route

Losey Army Air Field, Pastillito, PR 10 April 1944 Flew from West Palm Beach to Puerto Rico. 6 hours, 15 minutes 9000 ft.

Other

Transit to ETO via Southern Route

Atkinson Field, British Guiana (now Guyana) 11 April 1944 Flew to Atkinson Field 7 hours 8000 feet

Other

Transit to ETO via Southern Route

Belem, Brazil 12 April 1944 Flew to Belem, Brazil 7 hours (2 spent circling as field was closed in) 2000 to 10000 feet

Other

Transit to ETO via Southern Route

Fortaleza, Brazil 13 April 1944 Flew to Fortaleza, Brazil 5 hours 2000-8000 feet

Other

Transit to ETO via Southern Route

Dakar, French West Africa (now Senegal) 17 April 1944 Flew across the Atlantic Ocean to Dakar 12 hours, 20 minutes 5000 feet

Other

Transit to ETO via Southern Route

Marrakesh, Morroco 18 April 1944 Flew to Marrakesh 6 hours 6000-12000 feet

Other

Transit to the ETO via the Southern Route

RAF Valley, Wales 21 April 1944 Landed at RAF Valley from Marrakesh, Morroco. 11 hours flight time A/C that they picked up new in Topeka, KS, #42-95466, was taken from them.

Other

Transit by Train

Stone, England 22 April 1944 Train from Anglesley to Stone, England

Other

Transit by Train

Stranaer, Scotland 27 April 1944 Trained from Stone to Stranaer

Other

Combat Crew Training

RAF Cluntoe, Northern Ireland 28 April 1944 - 7 May 1944 No.4 Combat Crew Replacement Center

Other

Transit by Ferry

Larne, Northern Ireland 28 April 1944 Took a ferry to Larne, then a train to RAF Cluntoe

Other

Assigned to the 466th bG

RAF Attlebridge 16 May 1944

Other

466th BG Combat Tour

RAF Attlebridge 27 May 1944 - 25 August 1944 Completed a 31 mission tour

Other

1st Combat Mission

Nuenkirchen, Germany 27 May 1944 1st mission. 52x100 lbs bombs. Target - Railroad yards. Altitude - 23,000 ft. Lost oil on #3 engine, feathered it and went back to England. Dropped the bombs on an airfield in France. Escorted back by P-47's. No fighters and little flak. 6 hours, 30 minutes

Other

2nd Combat Mission

Tutow Airfield, Germany 29 May 1944 10x500 lbs bombs. Target - Airfield. Altitude: 20,000 feet Fighters attacked the group behind us. We shot at them but they were too far away. Flak was very thick and accurate. We received 8 holes in our plane. 8 hours, 30 minutes

Other

6th Combat Mission

Avranches, France 6 June 1944 12x500 lbs bombs. Altitude: 15,000 feet. Weather: Heavy white clouds. We took off at 3 am in a light rain. It was dark and pretty rough flying with so many planes in the air. It seemed as if everything that could fly was up today. When we hit the Channel, the sun broke through and down below we could see boats of every kind, all over the Channel. We could see cannons fire from shore and ships firing. I never saw so many planes in the air as I saw today. No fighters, moderate flak. 6 hours

Other

8th Combat Mission

Beauvais, France 11 June 1944 20x250 lbs bombs. Target: airfield at Beauvais. Altitude: 20,000 ft. Three bombs failed to release. We decided to safety them, but two of them fell out, taking the bomb bay doors with them. The other snagged on a cable and was hanging by it's nose, so we went over the North Sea and Tony cut it loose using a fingernail file and knife. 5 hours, 10 minutes

Other

9th Combat Mission

Guyancourt, France 15 June 1944 12x500 lbs bombs Target: Airfield near Versailles Altitude: 23,000 feet I got a glimpse or Paris in the distance. Lots of flak. The crew in our barracks went down. I hope they got out okay (Historians note: This must have been the Bates Crew who had lost an engine over the target. They were able to land at a "muddy fighter strip south of Crepon" which was an RAF base about 3 miles from the front. The crew returned to England on a US Navy LST.) In the evening we received our Air Medal at the Aero-Club. They had a dance and the girls pinned them on. We kissed them while they took our pictures.

Other

11th Combat Mission

Gorenflos, France 19 June 1944 20x250 lbs bombs Target: Robot plane installatons near Abbeville, France Altitude: 21,000 feet The crew in our hut was classified MIA. We found out we were promoted as of the 15th of June. I made Technical Sergeant as of 10 p.m. The crew from our hut came walking in. They had landed on an Allied held airfield. They were dressed in Navy fatigues that they got from a crew on an LST boat. No one was hurt. We were sure glad to see them! 5 hours, 10 minutes

Other

15th Combat Mission

Lens, France 25 June 1944 40x100 lbs bombs Target: Robot plane installations Altitude:25,000 feet Clouds were thick and high over England. Nobody seemed to be able to get into formation. Most did not get into formation until over France. Planes from 5 different groups mixed in with us. Flak was thick but inaccurate. 4 Hours, 50 minutes

Other

16th Combat Mission

Saarbrucken, Germany 28 June 1944 20x250 lbs bombs Target: marshalling yards Altitude: 23,000 Lots of flak, pretty accurate. Fighters attacked the group behind us. Our #2, #3 and #4 were running rough and throwing oil. After we left the target we had to feather #3 engine as the governor went out of control and it was throwing a lot of oil. We couldn't keep up with the formation and headed home by ourselves. We were happy to see P-38's escorting us. We were "in" six countries today: England, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Germany.

Other

17th Combat Mission

Aschersleben, Germany 29 June 1944 52x100 lbs bombs Target: Airplane Factory Altitude: 25,000 ft High clouds, but clear over target. We couldn't find our formation so we hooked up with another group that was made up of aircraft from different groups. Everybody did a good job. Today I saw our bombs hit the roof of the factory. When we got back we found out that 19 ships didn't go on the misson as they said they were recalled.

Other

Practice Misson

RAF Attlebridge 4 July 1944 It rained all morning (it has been raining since our last mission on June 29). The sun came out in the afternoon so they sent us on a practice mission. Time: 3 hours, 40 minutes We decided to name our plane "Penthouse For Ten" with a picture of an outhouse on top of clouds.

Other

Three Day Pass

Hyde Park, London, England 24 July 1944 "Still in London, but we are leaving tonight. Me and Tony Malorni went to Hyde Park. We were there about 10 minutes when we heard the drone of a buzz bomb. We looked up and saw it diving. We quickly jumped behind a big tree. The bomb hit over 100 yards away and the blast was terrific. It killed 3 and injured 3 other people. For blocks around, windows were broken. That was a little too close for me!

Other

Test Hop

RAF Attlebridge 27 July 1944 "Test Hopped our plane. Just the pilot and four of us gunners. I acted as co-pilot" 1 hour, 30 minutes

Other

27th Combat Mission

Rostock, Germany 4 August 1944 52x100 lbs. bombs Target: Aircraft factory Altitude: 21,000 feet Flak was moderate but very accurate. Fighters off to the side, but they didn't attack us. 7 hours, 30 minutes

Other

Three Day Pass

Norwich, England 9 August 1944 - 11 August 1944 Got a three day pass and went to Norwich. Our group went to Saarbrucken and were hit by a lot of flak. We lost two planes and several other wounded. One of the planes that went down was our plane (#42-95268 "Penthouse For Ten" with the Harry McGregor Crew). Too bad. She was a good ship.

Other

100th Mission Party

RAF Attlebridge 18 August 1944 Today we had our 100th mission party. Glenn Miller and Band played

Other

31st Combat Mission

Lubeck, Germany 25 August 1944 10 Incendiary bomb clusters Altitude: 25,000 ft Flak, barrage type, over target and Denmark Peninsula. When we landed we found out we were FINISHED!

Other

Headed Home

Glasgow, Scotland 18 September 1944 We boarded the Rotterdam at Glasgow, Scotland and were homeward bound. Arriving at pier on 43rd street in Manhattan.

Died

Reading, PA 14 May 2007

Buried

Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Annville, PA 18 May 2007 Indiantown Gap National Cemetery Annville, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, USA
Brooklyn, NY 119 Bedford Avenue

Revisions

Date
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources

466th BG Archives - Stephen Feco Diary

Date
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources

466th BG Archives - Diary of Stephen Fecho

Date
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources

466th BG Archives - Diary of Stephen Fecho

Date
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources

466th BG Archives - Stephen Feco Diaries

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / age 264 in the book SECOND AIR DIVISION by Turner Publishing Co, 1998 edition

Stephen Fecho: Gallery (1 items)