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41-24342

B-17 Flying Fortress

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Assigned 92BG Bovingdon 8/42; 414BS/97BG Polebrook 24/8/42; transferred Maison Blanche, Alg. 20/11/42; Missing in Action Foggia 7/9/43 with Bill Bispham, Pilot: Everett Blogg, Navigator: Glenn J. Rhodes Jr., Co-pilot: Dan Grover, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Roy Dudgeon, Radio Operator: Casimir Chester, Ball turret gunner: Myron Johnson, Waist gunner: Edwin Grogan, Waist gunner: Albt Cahill, Tail gunner: Morton Schlesinger (8 Killed in Action); Missing Air Crew Report 642. STINKY JR.

Service

Units

  • 97th Bomb Group

    97th Bomb Group

    Group
    The 97th Bomb Group flew the Eighth Air Force's first heavy bomber mission from the UK when they bombed a marshalling yard at Rouen on 17 August 1942. Just a month later though the Group were reassigned to the Twelfth Air Force and left England for the...

  • 414th Bomb Squadron

    414th Bomb Squadron

    Squadron

People

  • William Bispham

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 97th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 414BS, 97BG, 12AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Foggia mission in B-17 41-24342 'Stinky Jr' 7-Sep-43; Downed by flak, A/C exploded over Foggia, Killed in Action (KIA), MACR 642. Awards: PH.

  • Everett Blagg

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 97th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 414BS, 97BG, 12AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Foggia mission in B-17 41-24342 'Stinky Jr' 7-Sep-43; Downed by flak, A/C exploded over Foggia, Killed in Action (KIA), MACR 642. Awards: PH.

  • Albert Cahill

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 97th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 414BS, 97BG, 12AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Foggia mission in B-17 41-24342 'Stinky Jr' 7-Sep-43; Downed by flak, A/C exploded over Foggia, Killed in Action (KIA), MACR 642. Awards: PH.

  • Casimir Chester

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist gunner | 97th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 414BS, 97BG, 12AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Foggia mission in B-17 41-24342 'Stinky Jr' 7-Sep-43; Downed by flak, A/C exploded over Foggia, Killed in Action (KIA), MACR 642. Awards: AM (2OLC), PH.

  • Roy Dudgeon

    Military | Technical Sergeant | Flight Engineer | 97th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 414BS, 97BG, 12AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Foggia mission in B-17 41-24342 'Stinky Jr' 7-Sep-43; Downed by flak, A/C exploded over Foggia, Killed in Action (KIA), MACR 642. Awards: PH.

  • Edwin Grogan

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Radio operator | 97th Bomb Group
    Edwin Frances Grogan, originally of Turners Falls, MA, served in the 414 Bomb Squadron, and was killed in action over Foggia Italy on 7 September 1943 in B-17 Flying Fortress 41-24342. ...

  • Dan Grover

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 97th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 414BS, 97BG, 12AF USAAF. Downed by flak over Foggia in B-17 41-24342 'Stinky Jr' 7-Sep-43; A/C exploded, baled out or blown clear. Returned (RTD). Awards: AM, WWII Victory, EAME.

  • Myron Johnson

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist gunner | 97th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 414BS, 97BG, 12AF USAAF. Downed by flak over Foggia in B-17 41-24342 'Stinky Jr' 7-Sep-43; A/C exploded, blown clear. Prisoner of War (POW), MACR 642. Awards: AM (2OLC), PH (OLC), GC, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

  • Glenn Rhodes

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 97th Bomb Group
    Shot down on B-17 41-24342 'Stinky Jr' on 7 September 1943, on a mission to Foggia, Italy. The aircraft received a direct flak hit, which tore the wing off. The aircraft exploded, but Rhodes survived the crash and was taken as a Prisoner of War at...

  • Morton Schlesinger

    Military | Sergeant | Ball turret gunner | 97th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 414BS, 97BG, 12AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Foggia mission in B-17 41-24342 'Stinky Jr' 7-Sep-43; Downed by flak, A/C exploded over Foggia, Killed in Action (KIA), MACR 642. Awards: AM (4OLC), PH.

Places

  • Polebrook

    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
Assigned Bovingdon, UK August 1942

Assigned to 92BG, 8AF USAAF.
Assigned Polebrook, UK 24 August 1942

Assigned to 414BS, 97BG, 8AF USAAF.
Relocated Maison Blanche, Algeria 20 November 1942

Relocated to Algeria. Re-assigned to 12AF USAAF.
Crashed Foggia, Italy 7 September 1943

Missing in Action Foggia 7-Sep-43; Hit by flak lost wing and then exploded. 1 x RTD, 2 x POW, 7 x KIA MACR 642
Nicknames
'Stinky Jr'
Production block number
B-17F-1-BO
Manufacturer
Boeing
Markings and paint scheme/livery
Not yet known

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
16 May 2022 11:14:31 Al_Skiff Changes to unit associations
Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/28599840
Date Contributor Update
19 January 2022 20:38:20 Ross Smith Changes to media associations
Sources

https://www.reddog1944.com/414th_Squadron_Planes_and_Crews.htm
Date Contributor Update
17 July 2021 18:25:20 jmoore43 Changes to description
Sources

Added a space before the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity.
Date Contributor Update
14 November 2019 18:52:05 Al_Skiff Changes to production block number, nicknames, events and unit associations
Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/28599840
Date Contributor Update
01 November 2019 09:25:32 Emily Changes to description
Sources

Changes to biography as per information in Missing Air Crew Report 642 which confirms William Bispham was pilot on the aircraft when it was shot down.
Date Contributor Update
01 November 2019 09:08:04 Emily Changes to markings and media associations
Sources

Removed media association not depicting aircraft.

Link to photo of aircraft removed from markings field to source message
http://www.reddog1944.com/414th_Squadron_Planes_and_Crews.htm#StinkyJr
Date Contributor Update
01 November 2019 01:51:01 Rhodes Changes to description
Sources

Father's (aircraft pilot) details.
Date Contributor Update
07 August 2019 18:36:36 Rhodes Changes to description
Sources

I updated the crew data to reflect that seven were KIA and not ten. My father, Glenn Rhodes survived and was taken prisoner, along with Myron Johnson, his waist gunner. I am still attempting to find the name of the third survivor.
Date Contributor Update
07 August 2019 18:32:55 Rhodes Changes to description and person associations
Sources

The crew data needs to be edited. Glenn J. Rhodes Jr. (my father) was the pilot, not the navigator.
Date Contributor Update
07 August 2019 18:31:25 Rhodes Changes to person associations
Sources

The crew data needs to be edited. Glenn J. Rhodes Jr. (my father) was the pilot, not the navigator.
Date Contributor Update
07 August 2019 17:59:59 Rhodes Changes to nicknames and markings
Sources

http://www.reddog1944.com/414th_Squadron_Planes_and_Crews.htm#StinkyJr
This is the plane my father was shot down in.
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:40:02 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

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

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