John Fletcher
Military | Captain | Pilot | 303rd Bomb Group
Flew 35 missions with the 8th/ Was a volunteer at the museum from its beginning
Frithjof M Lunde
Military
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Captain John E Fletcher and lead crew on bombing mission to Ludwigshafen, Germany, in front of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 44-8137. 427th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group. England, 5 September 1944.
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Scorchy II 42-97058 (359BS) BN-V 41st CBW-B (359BS) - Pilot LtCol R.H. Cole / CoPilot Capt B.M. Goolsby (Back L-R) 1Lt M.J. Walsh (N), LtCol R.H. Cole (P), Capt B.M. Goolsby (CP), Capt R.R. Bowen (B), 1Lt F.M. Lunde (N) (Front L-R) S/Sgt R.H. Lebeck (BT), T/Sgt C.W. Greenhalgh (R), S/Sgt F.Z. Cueto (WG), T/Sgt D. Bumgarner (E), T/Sgt H.J. Rothrock (WG), S/Sgt W.A. Strobel (TG)
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Ole George #42-31574 (358BS) VK-G 41st CBW High (358BS) - Pilot Maj R.H. Cole / CoPilot 1Lt B.M. Goolsby (Back L-R) 1Lt B.M. Goolsby (CP), Maj R.H. Cole (P), 2Lt F.M Lunde (N), 2Lt W.L. Hoover (B), 1Lt R.H. Halpin (TG-O) (Front L-R) T/Sgt D. Bumgarner (E), S/Sgt W. Chraniuk (BT), S/Sgt F.Z. Cueto (WG), S/Sgt H.J. Rothrock (WG), T/Sgt V.S. Kelley (R)
Mission to Posen, Poland (a 10-11 hour mission). Transferred to 427 for last 6 missions. First mission to bomb using radar in thick cloud cover
DFC, Air medal 2 oak leaf clusters, Unit citation, European Theatre, 2 overseas bars
Service
People
Units served with
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8th Air Force
Command
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303rd Bomb Group
Group
The 303rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated on 3-Feb-1942 at Pendleton Field, Oregon. They assembled at Gowen Field, Idaho on 11-February 1942 where it conducted flight training until 12-Jun-1942. The Group then moved to Alamogordo Field, New... -
359th Bomb Squadron
Squadron
Aircraft
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44-8137
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Dallas 18/6/44; Langley 23/7/44; Grenier 11/8/44; Assigned 360BS/303BG [PU-Z] Molesworth 26/8/44; Missing in Action Aschaffenburg 21/1/45 with Dick Duffield, Dick Cambron, Gene Shipp, Tom Wilson, Ray Levine, Don Christ, Phil Hensel, John...
Missions
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605
5 September 1944
Associated Place
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Molesworth
Military site : airfield
Molesworth was one of the early stations used by the Eighth Air Force in the UK, first occupied by the 15th Bomb Squadron’s Douglas Bostons in June 1942. Built in 1940 and extended and improved in 1942, Molesworth is most associated with the 303rd...
Events
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Risor, Norway | 7 February 1921 |
| Died | 31 March 2012 | |
| Buried | Ramsey Creek Preserve, Westminster, South Carolina |
Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 05 March 2017 11:14:02 | Al_Skiff | Changes to service number, person associations, unit associations, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Key image ID. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:10:30 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / self October 2007; family |
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