Joseph P O'Donnell

Military

Assigned to 815BS, 483BG, 15AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Weiner Neustadt in B-17F 42-29856 flak hit, lost two engines and trailing fuel, crew baled out before aircraft exploded. Prisoner of War (POW). 10-May-44. MACR 4836.



Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

Connections

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Units served with

Seen through a 433rd Bomb Group B-17 Flying Fortress' strike camera, a 816th Bomb Squadron B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-5786) nicknamed "Whizzer II" goes down over Nis in Yugoslavia on the 15th of April 1944 in a gout of flame after taking a direct flak hit. There were no survivors. Official caption on image: "(483BG:4M3:2VI) (4:15:1208) (24:21300) ([south-west arrow] 140 [degrees]) (Nis M/Y Yugo) (Ship 111 816 Sq)." Handwritten caption on reverse: '15/4/44. 483BG, 15AF. Nis, Yugoslavia. 42-5786
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Fifteenth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Patches
  • Unit: 483rd Bomb Group 815th Bomb Squadron 99th Bomb Group 346th Bomb Squadron

Places

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft 4, Gross Tychow, Pomerania

Events

Event Location Date Description

Other

Shot down / baled out

Wiener Neustadt, Austria 10 May 1944 Failed to Return (FTR) Weiner Neustadt in B-17F 42-29856 flak hit, lost two engines and trailing fuel, crew baled out before aircraft exploded. POW. 10-May-44. MACR 4836.

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Tychowo, Poland 10 May 1944 Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft IV.
Riverside, NJ 08075, USA

Based

Tortorella 10 May 1944 Assigned to 815BS, 483BG, 15AF USAAF.

Revisions