44-8813
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 5/1/45; Hunter 12/1/45; Grenier 7/2/45; Assigned 526BS/379BG H2X Kimbolton 21/2/45; mid air coll with 44-8198 over Braintree, Ex, UK 10/5/45 with Elliott Porter; Salvaged 11/5/45.
44-8198
B-17 Flying Fortress
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Piece of the wreckage of the wing from 44-8198 from Ridgewell museum
44-8198 was on a sightseeing trip to Germany two days after VE Day when it collided with 44-8813 over Braintree, Essex on 10 May 1945.
Delivered Dallas 7/7/44; Langley 5/8/44; Hunter 2/9/44.
Assigned to the 526th Bomb Squadron of the 379th Bomb Group at Kimbolton 5 October 1944.
Salvaged n/battle damaged 11/5/45.
A memorial to the 11 men who died in the crash was unveiled at Rivermead, Bocking, Braintree on 10 May 2015. Some of the wreckage from the crash is now owned by the museum at Ridgewell.
Service
Aircraft
Units
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379th Bomb Group
Group
The 379th Bomb Group (H) (heavy), based at Kimbolton, flew more sorties than any other Bomb Group in the Eighth Air Force and dropped a greater bomb tonnage than any other Group. The B-17 Flying Fortress Group was awarded two Distinguished Unit... -
526th Bomb Squadron
Squadron
People
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Merrill Blanck
Military | Staff Sergeant | 379th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) -
Robert Brockman
Military | Staff Sergeant | Crew Chief | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 526BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. Staff Sergeant Robert J. Brockman was a Ground Crew Chief for the 526th Bomb Squadron of the 379th Bomb Group. ... -
Wagner Crane
Military | Master Sergeant | 379th Bomb Group
KIS -
Jerome Geers
Military | Technical Sergeant | 379th Bomb Group
Killed in a mid-air collision while on a sightseeing tour of damaged Europe. 44-8198 was on a sightseeing trip to Germany two days after VE Day when it collided with 44-8813 over Braintree, Essex on 10 May 1945. -
Leslie Lusk
Military | Sergeant | 379th Bomb Group
Killed in a mid-air collision while on sightseeing tour of damaged Europe. He is memorialised at the site of the crash in Bocking, Essex. -
William Manning
Military | Flight Officer | Navigator | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 526BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 12 x combat missions. ETD Awards: AM, WWII Victory, EAME. -
Paul Messina
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 379th Bomb Group
Flew on last 379th flight on 25 April 1945 to Pilsen. Killed in mid-air collision while on a sightseeing tour of damaged Europe. -
George Miller
Military | Corporal | Ground Crew | 379th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA). Passenger on B-17G #44-8198 which collided with a second B-17 over Braintree, Essex England. All 11 men on board died. -
Irving Nussbaum
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 379th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) in a mid-air collision while on a sightseeing tour of damaged Europe at Braintree England -
Thomas Piers
Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 379th Bomb Group
KIS killed in a mid-air collision while on a sightseeing tour of damaged Europe at Braintree England.
Places
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Kimbolton
Military site : airfield
Planned for RAF use, Kimbolton airfield was built by W and C French Ltd. in 1941. The airfield was increased in size to accommodate a full US heavy Bomb Group, and the first such unit to us it was the 91st Bomb Group, who arrived in September 1942.... -
Ridgewell
Military site : airfield
Built during 1941-42 as an RAF bomber station, Ridgewell operated as a satellite to RAF Stradishall until May 1943. It had three concrete runways, initially 36 pan hardstandings, and two dispersed T2 hangars. Taken over by the Eighth Air Force in June... -
Bocking B-17 Memorial
Crash site
Events
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Assigned | Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, UK | 5 October 1944 |
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Assigned to the 526th Bomb Squadron of the 379th Bomb Group |
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| Crashed | River Mead, Braintree, Essex CM7 9AX, UK | 10 May 1945 |
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44-8198 was on a sightseeing tour of Germany, just two days after VE Day, when it was hit by 44-8813, severing its tail. All 11 men on board died. |
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Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 2015 16:35:25 | Jenny | Changes to description, events, aircraft associations, unit associations, person associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
Information from the memorial panel at Bocking and the memorial service. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:41:56 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log |
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