42-95932 Fifinella, Fifinella Dog
IWM, Roger Freeman Collection
Object Number - FRE 7338 - Two airmen of the 391st Bomb Group with the nose art of a B-26 Marauder (serial number 42-95932) nicknamed "Fifinella". Written on slide casing: '391...
Assigned to 575BS, 391BG, 9AF USAAF. 109 x combat missions flown. Failed to Return (FTR) bombing mission to Ahrweiler, Germany. Shot down by fighters, fell out of formation with right engine ablaze. 23-Dec-44 2 x POW, 4 x KIA. MACR 11551.
Crew: Pilot 1Lt Clark A. Tavener [CA], Co 1Lt Patrick H. Wilkinson [MS], Bomb/Nav 2Lt Marc W Castle [IL], Radio T/Sgt Joseph W. Wyne [OH] POW, Eng/Gunner Cpl John F McGettigan [PA], Arm/Gunner Cpl Frank D. Dick [CA] POW.
This aircraft appears in an amateur film by Lieutenant Donald J. Hudson, US 9th Army Air Force pilot, which records activities of the USAAF 391st Bombardment Group, based at RAF Matching, England, during the Second World War. The footage was shot between October 1943 and October 1944.
The B-26 Marauder aircraft in the film is named after "Fifinella", an attractive female gremlin designed by Walt Disney Productions, originally for a proposed film (not produced) of Roald Dahl's book "The Gremlins". Fifinella was also the mascot of WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots).
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 391st Bomb Group 575th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17160225
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Flight Engineer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 391st Bomb Group 575th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17151739 / O-927500
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bomb/Nav
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 391st Bomb Group 575th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19180100
- Highest Rank: Corporal (RAF)
- Role/Job: Tail gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 391st Bomb Group 575th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O733165
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier / Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 391st Bomb Group 575th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35596133
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator / Gunner
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Matching Green
Missions
- Date: 23 December 1944
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Crashed Failed to Return (FTR) |
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany | 23 December 1944 | Failed to Return (FTR) bombing mission to Ahrweiler, Germany. Shot down by fighters, fell out of formation with right engine ablaze. 23-Dec-44 2 x POW, 4 x KIA. MACR 11551. |
|
Manufactured |
Offutt AFB, NE, USA | Built at Martin. | |
|
Delivered |
Nebraska, USA | Delivered to USAAF. | |
|
Assigned |
Matching, Harlow CM17, UK | Assigned to 575BS, 391BG, 9AF USAAF. |
Revisions
MACR 14876 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
