Flamm Dee Harper
Military
From 434th Fighter Squadron original photo Fall of 1944. Personal collection of Stephen G. McChrystal. ID from EOW 479th FS album.
Object Number - UPL 61129 - 2Lt Flamm D. Harper 434th FS 479th FG 1944
Downed twice, evaded twice. Force-landed in France on 15 July 1944, he managed to evade with the help of the French Résistance and was back in England 3 weeks later. Shot down over North Korea on 28 June 1953, he again evaded capture and was rescued by helicopter the following day.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
- Nicknames: Little Edris
- Unit: 479th Fighter Group 434th Fighter Squadron
Missions
- Date: 15 July 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
9 April 1920 | Rexburg, Idaho, United States | |
|
Enlisted |
11 August 1942 | Salt Lake City, Utah | |
|
Other evaded capture |
14 July 1944 - 7 August 1944 | Helped by French citizens and Résistance members, he was ultimately hidden in a huge Maquis camp East of Luchapt. He and two other evading American airmen participated in Maquis operations against the Germans, in a joint force with the British SAS (Special Air Service.) Harper and the 2 others were then brought North to an airfield at Villemort, also in the Vienne Department of France. Flown back to England in an RAF Hudson, landing at Tempsford in the morning of 7 August 1944. | |
|
Other Crash-landed in a field |
15 July 1944 | in Concise, about 3km North-West of Montmorillon (Vienne Department), France, after his P-38 was hit by exploding debris from the ammunition dump he had just strafed at very low altitude. It was his 29th mission. | |
|
Other shot down |
28 June 1953 | in an F-86F-30 Sabrejet Serial 52-4312 of the 18th Fighter Bomber Group on a mission to bomb a railroad bridge in the Haeju Peninsula, North Korea | |
|
Other ejected |
28 June 1953 | over land about five miles from the coast, inside North Korea | |
|
Other Evaded capture |
28 June 1953 - 29 June 1953 | After landing hard on a boulder, he sustained broken ribs and temporary paralysis. He started heading for the coast, but with his survival radio being dead, he realized his best signaling device was his parachute. So, he headed back to retrieve it and noticed that 2 enemy soldiers had found his chute. Harper shot both soldiers with his .45 pistol and spread his chute on the ground. F–84 Thunderjets on a search for him relayed his position to an H-19 rescue helicopter. Hanging in the helicopter’s sling, he was reeled in by a crewman and brought safely to base. | |
|
Died |
1 August 2008 | ||
|
Born |
Weber County, Utah | ||
|
Buried |
Flamm Harper rests at the Calls Fort Cemetery in Honeyville, Utah |
Revisions
From 434th Fighter Squadron original photo Fall of 1944. Personal collection of Stephen G. McChrystal. ID from EOW 479th FS album.
NARA WWII Enlistment records
MACR 6780
Escape & Evasion Report E&E 881
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Unit roster in the book THE 479TH FIGHTER GROUP, D790.G479
