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43-37820

B-17 Flying Fortress

Delivered Cheyenne 26/5/44; Kearney 7/6/44; Grenier 17/6/44; Assigned 832BS/486BG [4N-A] Sudbury 28/6/44; 833BS [3R-T]; [75m Missing in Action Brandenburg 10/4/45 with Melvin Thaler, Carl Oestreich, Don Wheeler, Art Greenfield togg), Neal Fielder, Chas Grannis, Wallace Minard, Bob Farrell, Leon Lanier tg, George Philips obs (10 Prisoner of War); flak, crashed Ziesar, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 13910.

radio call sign: Trappist Tear

Service

Units

  • 486th Bomb Group

    486th Bomb Group

    Group
    The 486th Bomb Group flew both B-24s and B-17s, swapping from the former aircraft to the latter in late July 1944 after 49 missions. In total the Group flew 292 missions during the war and remarkably the 834th Bomb Squadron lost no aircraft or...

  • 832nd Bomb Squadron

    832nd Bomb Squadron

    Squadron

People

  • Richard Douglas

    Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier | 486th Bomb Group
    See the official crew and mission list of Capt. Robert J. Whitney at: https://486th.org/BS832/Whitney.htm

  • W. Douglas

    Military | Pin Point Navigator | 486th Bomb Group
    See the official crew and mission list of Capt. Robert J. Whitney at: https://486th.org/BS832/Whitney.htm

  • Robert Farrell

    Military | Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 486th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 832BS, 486BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Brandenburg in B-17 43-37820; shot down near Ziesar 10-Apr-45 Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 13910 Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

  • Robert Fennell

    Military | Sergeant | Flight Engineer | 486th Bomb Group
    See the official crew and mission list of Capt. Robert J. Whitney at: https://486th.org/BS832/Whitney.htm

  • Neal Fielder

    Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 486th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 832BS, 486BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Brandenburg in B-17 43-37820; shot down near Ziesar 10-Apr-45 Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 13910 Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

  • Charles Grannis

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Radio Operator | 486th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 832BS, 486BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Brandenburg in B-17 43-37820; shot down 10-Apr-45 Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 13910 Awards: DFC, AM (4OLC), PH, WWII Victory, EAME.

  • Arthur Greenfeld

    Military | Sergeant | Togglier / Nose Gunner | 486th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 832BS, 486BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Brandenburg in B-17 43-37820; shot down 10-Apr-45 Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 13910 Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

  • James Groat

    Military | Radio Operator Gunner | 486th Bomb Group
    See the official crew and mission list of Capt. Robert J. Whitney at: https://486th.org/BS832/Whitney.htm

  • Leo Lanier

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 303rd Bomb Group
    Assigned to 832BS, 486BG, 8AF USAAF. Completed 26 mission tour, volunteered for 2nd tour, shot down on 7th mission of his 2nd tour. 15-Oct-43 A/C accident on return from mission in B-17 42-5393 'Thumper Again' RTD. Failed to Return (FTR) Brandenburg in...

  • Wallace Minard

    Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 486th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 832BS, 486BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Brandenburg in B-17 43-37820; shot down near Ziesar 10-Apr-45 Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 13910 Awards: DFC, AM (4OLC), PH, WWII Victory, EAME.

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Missions

  • 669

    7 October 1944

Places

  • Sudbury

    Military site : airfield
    Situated between the villages of Great Waldingfield and Acton, the airfield was used by the 486th Bomb Group from March 1944 to August 1945. Facilities for administrative offices for the Combat Wing were also made available here and along with barrack...

Events

Event Location Date
Manufactured 1944
Assigned 1944

Assigned to 832BS, 486BG, 8AF USAAF.
Delivered Cheyenne AAF, WY 26 May 1944

Delivered Cheyenne AAF 26-May-44.
Crashed Ziesar, Germany 10 April 1945

Failed to Return (FTR) Brandenburg in B-17 43-37820; shot down near Ziesar 10-Apr-45 10 x POW MACR 13910
Nicknames
Not yet known
Production block number
B-17G-70-BO
Manufacturer
Boeing
Markings and paint scheme/livery

Square "W" on tail assigned to 832rd Bomb Squadron, 486th bomb Group, 8thAAF, England.

* If you look at the photos of any group's aircraft (a/c) you'll note two sets of codes on the fuselage in addition to the tail number. Tail numbers are truncated versions of the aircraft serial number. So, for the a/c having a serial number 42-98008, the tail number is 298008. The squadron codes are letter-number combinations. For the four squadrons of the 486th, these are:
832nd - 3R
833rd - 4N
834th - 2S
835th - H8.

Then, each plane in the squadron has an ID letter. There are two letters I and Q that are not used if I remember correctly. In the early months of the 486th's combat tour, the plane ID appeared on the tail under the tail number, but in he last months of the war when the colors were added, the plane ID letter was moved to the fuselage and painted in the squadron colors:
832nd - Yellow
833rd - Blue
834th - Red
835th - Green

The squadrons had radio call signs:
832nd - Trappist
833rd - Pebbly
834th - Deepseat
835th - Nitedress

The individual aircraft would then have a radio call sign based upon the squadron and their a/c ID. If an aircraft had the ID combination of 3R:T, then that aircraft would be called on the radio as "Trappist Tear", where Tear was the phonetic code for "T". The WWII phonetic alphabet was different than the current one in use.

(This explanation of aircraft serial numbers and call signs is courtesy of the Historian/Webmaster of the official web page of the 486th Bombardment Group [ http://www.486th.org/ ] and he can be reached at: webmaster486@comcast.net)

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
17 May 2022 12:22:55 Al_Skiff Changes to unit associations
Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/29435098
Date Contributor Update
13 November 2021 17:57:46 hansvonmaltzahn Changes to nicknames and markings
Sources

From a personal email sent by the historian/webmaster of the 496th Bomb. Group web page, dated 8th Nov. 2021, and sent to Hans V. von Maltzahn, discussing the B17G bomber, #43-37820, and how Trappist Tear is not a nickname, but a call sign based on the explanation above. hv
Date Contributor Update
04 November 2021 18:54:58 hansvonmaltzahn Changes to person associations and mission associations
Sources

See Flight Captain Whitney's Crew & Mission sheet at the official 486th Bomb. Group web page at this address:
https://486th.org/BS832/Whitney.htm
Date Contributor Update
15 June 2020 18:48:35 Al_Skiff Changes to production block number, nicknames, events, unit associations and place associations
Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/29435098
Date Contributor Update
17 August 2018 21:59:01 gfeindel Changes to person associations
Sources

logbook David B Roper, 833rd bomb Squadron, mission to Brest , France, Sept 3rd 1944
Date Contributor Update
17 August 2018 21:56:29 gfeindel Changes to nicknames and markings
Sources

486th bomb group web site.
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:41:24 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 13910 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

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