Military
On 9 November 1942 assigned target U/B at St. Nazaire, France. On return, crashed into field beyond runway in B-17F-15-BO 41-24494.
Shot down 18 November 1942 in B-17 41-24474 'Floozy' while serving as Right Waist Gunner. The aircraft 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 and the pilot was forced to ditch the aircraft into the sea 2 miles off the Ile d'Oussant off the tip of the Brest Peninsula, France. SSgt Conte was captured POW MACR 16448.
POW
Group
Constituted as 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942. Activated on 1 Mar 1942. Trained for combat with B-17's. Moved to England, Aug-Sep 1942, and assigned to Eighth AF Eighth Air Force in September 1942 Station 111 Thurleigh. During combat,...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Assigned to 306BG/367BS at Westover 17-Aug-42; Thurleigh 17-Sep-42. Damaged by anti-aircraft fire over St. Nazaire, France while on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at La Pallice, France. The aircraft was then attacked by German FW-190 fighters over...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Assigned to 306BG/367BS at Westover 16-Aug-1942; Thurleigh 13-October-1942. 9-Nov-42 despatched on mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France it was damaged by flak. Upon return it landed at Portreath, over-ran the runway, overran a dirt...
9 November 1942
The U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France are the target of this mission conducted by a combined force of 33 B-17s from 91BG and 306BG together with a combined force of 14 B-24s from 44BG and 93BG. The B-24 formation bombs from altitudes between 17,500 ft...
18 November 1942
The U-Boat pens at Lorient and La Pallice, France are the Primary (P) targets for this mission. However, those at St. Nazaire, France are attacked by 21 B-17s of 303BG when they are mistaken for those of Lorient. The force attacking Lorient is composed...
Military site : airfield
Built for RAF use in 1941-42, Thurleigh was initially used by RAF Bomber Command before being handed over to the Eighth Air Force. Its runways and hardstandings were improved, and the B-17s of the 306th Bomb Group began using the base. It was their...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Prisoner of War (POW) | Krems an der Donau, Austria | 18 November 1942 – 6 June 1945 |
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Held at Stalag 17B, Braunau-Gneikendorf, near Krems, Austria. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 6-Jun-45. |
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| Ditched | Ushant, France | 18 November 1942 |
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Managed to exit aircraft after it was ditched into the sea. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 27 November 2014 22:48:41 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to biography, events, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 26-Nov-2014. Added ditching location and event per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A.Hey MBE; made mission and aircraft connections within existing data. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 04 November 2014 22:53:59 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to service number, highest rank, biography, awards, events, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 4-Nov-2014. Missing AIr Crew Report (MACR) 16448; National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:03:07 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
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 pp.45-47 |
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