Please click here for more information, there is also plenty to explore in our online archive.
The American Air Museum is a charity - Find out how you can support us
Military
Assigned to 323BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. Ditched in channel 6-Sep-43 in B-17 41-24497 'Mizpah II'. Returned to base. Failed to Return (FTR) Anklam, Germany. Shot down 9-Oct-43 in B-17 42-29740. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 896.
Awards: AM, POW, WWII Victory, EAME, AF Commendation.
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Assigned to 323BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Anklam, Germany. Shot down 9-Oct-43 in B-17 42-29740. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 896.
...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 6 September 1943 in B-17 #41-24497 'Mizpah II', Returned to base.
Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945.
...
Group
The 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated at Harding Field, Louisiana on 15-April-1942 and went to MacDill Field, Florida for the first phase of training from 16-May-1942 to 25-June-1942. The Group was then assigned to 2nd Air Force at Walla...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered ? ?; with Jim Dale force landed Berry Fd, Nashville, TN 15/8/42; Assigned 322BS/91BG [LG-P] Westover 16/8/42; Bassingbourn 30/9/42; Missing in Action on the aircraft's 26th mission, to Stuttgart on 6 September 1943 with Pilot William R. Cox;...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 11/2/43; Rapid City 22/2/43 - original group ship with 95th BG; Kearney 12/3/43; Assigned 412BS/95BG [QW-R] RAF Alconbury; force landed Alconbury after sustaining NBD with Don Eastling 19/5/43; transferred to 337BS/96BG [AW-G]...
Military site : airfield
Now home to a museum all about the aifield and its USAAF residents (http://www.towermuseumbassingbourn.co.uk/) , Bassingbourn opened in 1938 as part of the RAF's pre-war expansion programme. The RAF continued to use it until late in 1942 when its long...
Other location
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Assumption, Illinois | 13 November 1922 |
|
Son of Charles Leo and Vallie [Purdy] Richardson. |
||
| Based | Bassingbourn | 1943 – 9 October 1943 |
|
Assigned to 323BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. |
||
| Survived ditching | English Channel | 6 September 1943 |
|
Ditched in channel 6-Sep-43 in B-17 41-24497 'Mizpah II'. Returned to base. |
||
| Shot down POW | Denmark | 9 October 1943 |
|
Failed to Return (FTR) Anklam, Germany. Shot down 9-Oct-43 in B-17 42-29740. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 896. |
||
| Prisoner of War (POW) | Barth, Germany | 9 October 1943 – May 1945 |
|
Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft I. |
||
| Died | San Antonio, TX, USA | 29 April 2017 |
| Buried | 1520 Harry Wurzbach Rd, San Antonio, TX 78209, USA | May 2017 |
|
Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 14 February 2018 18:13:27 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/28612528 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 14 February 2018 17:30:04 | Al_Skiff | Changes to middlename, service number, highest rank, biography, awards, events, unit associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/28612528 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:08:07 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor; MACR 896, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop & Hey p. 267-8 |
||
