media-22970.jpeg UPL 22970 William J. Waldron Crew at the completion of B-17 crew training at Ardmore, Oklahoma, about September 1944.
B-17G-45-VE #44-8055 - 222nd Base Unit - Ardmore AAF
Back row (L to R):
William J. Waldron (pilot), Oscar F. Eshleman (copilot), Joseph S. Shuster (navigator), and Russell C. Neu (bombardier)
Front row (L to R):
Benedict A. Andrew (engineer-top turret gunner), George J. Ferenchak (radio operator), Eugene S. Isley (armorer-waist gunner), Charles K. Brokke (waist gunner), Reuben F. Baganz (ball turret gunner), and James P. Naughton (tail gunner).

The crew deployed to England and was assigned to the 836th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group, at Army Air Forces Station 137 near the village of Lavenham, Suffolk, England on 19 October 1944. Charles Brokke was taken off the crew after arrival at Lavenham. The crew flew with only waist gunner, as was the custom at that time.

The crew was shot down near Liege, Belgium on December 24, 1944. Eshleman, Shuster, Andrew, Ferenchak, Baganz, and Naughton were killed in action. Waldron, Neu, and Isley survived.

"The B-17 Flying Fortress Story" - Roger Freeman
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