Delivered Cheyenne 22/4/44; Kearney 7/5/44; Grenier 24/5/44; Assigned 511BS/351BG [DS-H] Polebrook 31/5/44; Missing in Action 29m Merseburg 28/7/44 with Pilot Bill Long POW; Co-Pilot Ben Upshaw POW; Flight engineer/top turret gunner Jack Hurley POW; Ball turret gunner Frank Gozy POW; Waist gunner Carmelo Frontino POW; Tail gunner Jim Howarth POW; Navigator Pete Mandros POW* (wounded, bailed out, captured, killed by SA during transport to Friedberg/Hessen the same day); Bombardier Chas Gratiot KIA (during air attack); Radio Operator Don Skoglund POW (wounded, died in german hospital in Bad Nauheim 27th of August 1944); enemy aircraft set an engine afire, with Germans shooting at descending chutes, crashed in a field close to the village Bauernheim, NE of Friedberg/Hessen, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 7817. (*Give as POW in book by Pete Harris/Ken Harbour)
Service
Units
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Group
The 351st Bomb Group flew strategic bombing missions from their base at Polebrook, Northamptonshire from April 1943 to June 1945. The Group's most famous member was Hollywood actor Clark Gable, who flew four/ five missions with them as an observer...
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People
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Military | Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 351st Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Shot down by fighters and crashed near Frankfort in B-17 #42102952
POW
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 351st Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Shot down by fighters and crashed near Frankfort on 7/28/44 in B-17 #42102952
POW
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Military | Flight Officer | Bombardier | 351st Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) Shot down by fighters and crashed near Frankfort in B-17 #42102952
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 351st Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Shot down by fighters and crashed near Frankfort on 7/28/44 in B-17 #42102952
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Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 351st Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Shot down by fighters and crashed near Frankfort on 7/28/44 in B-17 #42102952
POW
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Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 351st Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Shot down by fighters and crashed near Frankfort on 7/28/44 in B-17 #42102952
POW
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 351st Bomb Group
Shot down by fighters and crashed near Frankfurt/Main in B-17 42-102952. Bailed out the burning ship. Captured by German civilians. POW and murdered on transport to Friedberg/Hessen by an SA man the same day.
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Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 351st Bomb Group
Shot down by fighters and crashed near Frankfurt/Main in B-17 #42102952. Wounded during combat, bailed out the burning plane and was captured near the crashplace in the village Bauernheim. Transported as POW to a hospital in Bad Nauheim. Died there on...
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 351st Bomb Group
Shot down by fighters and crashed near Frankfort on 7/28/44 in B-17 #42-102952, Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Places
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Military site : airfield
Polebrook was laid down for RAF Bomber Command use in 1940-1941. Built by George Wimpey and Co. Ltd, it had short runways which were lengthened for USAAF heavy bomber use. The RAF used the base for operational trials - including of B-17 Flying...
Events
Event |
Location |
Date |
Failed to Return (FTR) |
Germany |
28 July 1944 |