B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 9/3/44; Gr Island 29/3/44; Grenier 20/4/44; Assigned 600BS/398BG [N8-W] Nuthampstead 5/5/44; (7m) Missing in Action Dessau, Ger 30/5/44 with Tom Thompson, Ball turret gunner: Ernie Pennell, Waist gunner: Vic Frisbie (3 Killed in Action); Co-pilot: Conrad Zufall, Navigator: Ralph Garson, Bombardier: Bob Doherty, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: John Namey`Wounded in Action`, Radio Operator: George Gagne, Tail gunner: George Hartwell (6 Prisoner of War); flak, ship exploded crashed Aken, nine miles W of Dessau, Ger; Missing Air Crew Report 5312.
Group
The 398th Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Nuthampstead, Hertfordshire on strategic bombing raids over Germany. The Group switched focus in the days before D-Day, when they targeted enemy positions on the Cherbourg peninsula. When the Allies...
Squadron
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 398th Bomb Group
Assigned to 600BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. Six combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Dessau in B-17 42-102498 'Tail end Charlie' 30-May-44; baled out Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 5312
Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 398th Bomb Group
Assigned to 600BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. Six combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Dessau in B-17 42-102498 30-May-44; shot down, baled out into small lake and drowned. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 5312
Awards: AM, PH.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Radio Operator | 398th Bomb Group
Assigned to 600BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Dessau in B-17 42-102498 30-May-44; Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 5312
Awards: AM, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 398th Bomb Group
Assigned to 600BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 30-May-44 in B-17 42-102498 'Tailed Charlie'. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 5312
Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 398th Bomb Group
Assigned to 600BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 30-May-44 in B-17 42-102498. Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 5312
Awards: PH, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 398th Bomb Group
Assigned to 600BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Dessau in B-17 42-102498 30-May-44; Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 5312
Awards: AM, PH, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 398th Bomb Group
Assigned to 600BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Dessau in B-17 42-102498 30-May-44; Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 5312
Awards: AM, PH.
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 398th Bomb Group
Assigned to 600BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Dessau in B-17 42-102498 30-May-44; Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 5312
Awards: AM (OLC), PH.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 398th Bomb Group
Assigned to 600BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Dessau in B-17 42-102498 30-May-44; Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 5312
Awards: POW, AM, WWII Victory, EAME (1 x Battle Star).
Military site : airfield
Built during 1942-43, Nuthampstead was the nearest Eighth Air Force heavy bomber base to London. It had three concrete runways, 50 loop hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. It was first occupied from September 1943 to April 1944 by the 55th...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Germany | 30 May 1944 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 30 April 2022 19:51:01 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added a space before the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid readability. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 06 April 2022 05:29:42 | Dennis Arroyo | Changes to nicknames and description |
| Sources | ||
Family Friend. George Gagne last name misspelled. Should be Gagne, not Cagne |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:10 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 5312 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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