Alvar B Platt
Military
It is believed that the positions are as follows.
Back Row L-R King, Robert Shaw (Regular Copilot not on the 1st of May flight), Rand, Sternglanz, Hatch.
Front Row L-R. Kuzoswski, Shumard, Farrar, Wawrzynek, Platt
Addition to Caption
Object Number - UPL 42994 - 41-24547 Vertigo and Crew. This is the crew that went down on the aircraft on the 1st of May 1943 but the only positively identified one is SSGT...
Shot down 1 May 1943 in B-17 #41-24547 'Vertigo' on a mission to target U-boats, heavy flak and fighters attacked. Plane crashed into Channel about 4 miles off Brest and quickly sank. One of 5 survivors to become Prisoner of War (POW)s, he was imprisoned at Stalag 17B.
On Alvar’s 17th mission, his plane was shot down over the English Channel. He and four other survivors floated in a dingy for 30 hours before being picked up by the Germans. He was hospitalized in Paris for a month, sent to Stalag 7A, and then to Stalag 17B where he remained until liberated two years later. (Written by wife, Leona)
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18049941
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 6146062
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 1102931
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16042107
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-661868
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Vertigo
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 1 May 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag 7a, Moosburg
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag 17b, Krems an der Donau, Austria
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Died |
Indio, California | 27 February 2017 | |
|
Born |
Ripon, California, USA | ||
|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
France | 1 May 1943 |
Revisions
Added a "-" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 3573 / MACR 3573, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs by Bishop & Hey p. 112, NARA POW / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database