Eugene Oliver Lescarbeau

Military
media-19323.jpeg UPL 19323 * 42-5917 * "The Bouncing Bitch".
Albert Batich, navigator, is standing in the middle of the back row (not wearing a hat).
Eugene Lescarbeau, waist gunner, is kneeling on the far left.

This ship came to the 379th BG in June 1943 & was originally assigned to the 524th BS Fuselage Code WA-Y. After a few missions she was transferred to the to the 526th BS & given two codes LF-Y then LF-L. She had only nine missions.. Pilot: We were flying at 28,000 and were hit by AA fire. The order to bail out was given but only six of the crew were able to do so. I believe the rest of the crew were killed before or during the way down; all controls & communications were out. The ship crashed near Ratzburg, Germany.

Albert Batich was identified in this photo by his son-in-law, Louis LaRusso.

Object Number - UPL 19323 - * 42-5917 * "The Bouncing Bitch". Albert Batich, navigator, is standing in the middle of the back row (not wearing a hat). Eugene Lescarbeau,...

Shot down 25 July 1943 in B-17 #42-5917. Prisoner of War (POW).

Eugene was known as "Frenchy" in Stalag Luft XVIIb and played the bass fiddle in one of the bands formed in the camp.

Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 379th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Bouncin Bitch
  • Unit: 379th Bomb Group 524th Bomb Squadron 526th Bomb Squadron

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Enlisted

Boston, MA, USA 6 January 1942

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Germany 25 July 1943 - 31 May 1945

Born

Massachusetts, USA

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Capitalized the words in the "Role/job" field to aid readability.

Added a "-" to the A/C tail # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.

 

Date
ContributorAvianMan
Changes
Sources

Zoom from group photo

Date
ContributorAvianMan
Changes
Sources

Changed the previous entry from "bass guitar" to "bass fiddle". Eugene played the bass fiddle (or upright bass) and discusses it in his POW journal. The previous source does not specify guitar or fiddle. Eugene was my grandfather (in-law)

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

'Stalag XVIIb: Prisoner of War' by Richard H Hoffman - a memoir written by one of the trumpeters in the POW band.
See photo on Googlebooks: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=x2ZIaHzXxBwC&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=Eu…

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

Added information from duplicate record. Sources:
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1767

Also:
Enlistment record: https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=6&tf=F&q=Les…
POW record: http://www.ww2pow.info/index.php?page=directory&rec=86870

Date
ContributorAvianMan
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Sources

War Journal

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

MACR 1767 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

Eugene Oliver Lescarbeau: Gallery (2 items)