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43-37591

B-17 Flying Fortress

Delivered Cheyenne 2/5/44; Hunter 2/5/44; Dow Fd 24/5/44; Assigned 349BS/100BG [XR- ] Thorpe Abbotts 27/5/44; Missing in Action Abbeville 5/6/44 with Chas Peterson, Co-pilot: Jim Keefe, Navigator: Elmer Vishion, Bombardier: Jim Jones, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Carl Phillips, Radio Operator: Paul Zima, Ball turret gunner: Jim Heller, Waist gunner: Dick Sawaya, Tail gunner: Corwin Alspach (9 Killed in Action); Waist gunner: Andy Addison (Prisoner of War); mid air coll with 42-107095 (100BG); crashed two miles E of Hardelot, four miles S of Boulogne, Fr. Missing Air Crew Report 5383.

Service

Aircraft

  • 42-107095 'LITTLE BIT'

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Tulsa 18/2/44; Gr Island 2/3/44; Grenier 3/4/44; Assigned 349BS/100BG [XR-F] Thorpe Abbotts 7/4/44; Missing in Action French A/Fds 5/6/44 with Mark Wilson, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: John McAuliffe, Radio Operator: Gene Sweeney, Ball...

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Units

  • 8th Air Force

    8th Air Force


    Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945. ...

  • 100th Bomb Group

    100th Bomb Group

    Group
    "The Bloody Hundredth", so-called because of a reputation for losing a high number aircraft and crews, flew B-17s from Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk. Their losses were not the highest of any Eighth Air Force Group but on several occasions the Group lost many...

  • 349th Bomb Squadron

    349th Bomb Squadron

    Squadron

People

  • Andrew Addison

    Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Chas Peterson crew. Failed to Return Abbeville mission in B-17 43-37591; collided with another aircraft 5-Jun-44. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 5383. Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

  • Corwin Alspach

    Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Chas Petersen crew. Failed to Return Abbeville mission in B-17 43-37591; collided with another aircraft 5-Jun-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 538. Awards: PH.

  • James Heller

    Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return Abbeville mission in B-17 43-37591; collided with another aircraft 5-Jun-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 538. Awards: PH.

  • James Jones

    Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier | 100th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Chas Peterson crew. Failed to Return Abbeville mission in B-17 43-37591; collided with another aircraft 5-Jun-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 5383. Awards: PH.

  • James Keefe

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 100th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Chas Peterson crew. Failed to Return Abbeville mission in B-17 43-37591; collided with another aircraft 5-Jun-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 5383. Awards: PH.

  • Charles Petersen

    Military | Flight Officer | Pilot | 100th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return Abbeville mission in B-17 43-37591; collided with another aircraft 5-Jun-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 538. Awards: PH.

  • Carl Phillips

    Military | Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Chas Petersen crew. Failed to Return Abbeville mission in B-17 43-37591; collided with another aircraft 5-Jun-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 538. Awards: PH.

  • Richard Sawaya

    Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Chas Peterson crew. Failed to Return Abbeville mission in B-17 43-37591; collided with another aircraft 5-Jun-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 5383. Awards: PH.

  • Elmer Vishion

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 100th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Chas Peterson crew. Failed to Return Abbeville mission in B-17 43-37591; collided with another aircraft 5-Jun-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 5383. Awards: PH.

  • Paul Zima

    Military | Sergeant | Radio Operator | 100th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Chas Peterson crew. Failed to Return Abbeville mission in B-17 #43-37591; collided with another aircraft 5-Jun-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 5383. Awards: AM, PH

Missions

  • 392

    5 June 1944

Places

  • Thorpe Abbotts

    Military site : airfield
    Home of the 'Bloody Hundredth’, a Bomb Group with a reputation for high casualty rates, Thorpe Abbotts was under USAAF control from June 1943 to the end of the war. Some of the airfield survives today, and the control tower houses the 100th Bomb Group...

Events

Event Location Date
Manufactured Long Beach, CA 1944

Built at Boeing.
Assigned Thorpe Abbots, UK 1944

Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF.
Delivered Cheyenne AAF, WY 2 May 1944

Delivered Cheyenne AAF 2-May-44.
Crashed East of Hardelot, France 5 June 1944 – 5 June 1944

Failed to Return (FTR) Abbeville with Chas Petersen crew; mid air collision with 42-107095 crashed 2 mles east of Hardelot, Fr. 1 x POW, 9 x KIA MACR 5383
Nicknames
Not yet known
Production block number
B-17G-65-BO
Manufacturer
Boeing
Markings and paint scheme/livery
Not yet known

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
18 April 2021 17:44:08 jmoore43 Changes to description
Sources

Added a space before the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity.
Date Contributor Update
07 June 2020 11:38:03 Al_Skiff Changes to production block number, events, aircraft associations, unit associations and mission associations
Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/28650458
https://b17flyingfortress.de/en/b17/43-37591/
https://100thbg.com/index.php?option=com_bombgrp&view=macr&id=106&Itemid...
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:41:21 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 5383 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

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