Delivered Cheyenne 24/1/44; Kearney 15/2/44; Presque Is 2/3/44; Assigned 351BS/100BG [EP-B] Thorpe Abbotts 6/3/44. Missing in Action Merseburg 29 July 1944 with Pilot William L. Greiner Jr, Co-pilot James D. Coccia, Navigator Robert D. Fulkerson, Bombardier Robert E. Marsho, Flight Engineer/Top Turret gunner John R. Vuchetich, Radio Operator Harry E. Whitford, Ball Turret gunner Frank Madrid, Tail gunner Harry G. Feldkamp (8 Prisoners of War - POW). Waist gunner Bernie Baumgarten, severely wounded by fighter shells couldn't be helped out ot the sinking Fortress and he went down into the sea with.(Killed in Action and still listed as Missing In Action). Enemy aircraft KO’d one engine and the Fortress dropped back before another attack by an Me 262 jet. Ditched North Sea, North of Ameland Island, West Friesland, The Netherlands. Missing Air Crew Report - MACR 7815.
Service
Units
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Group
"The Bloody Hundredth", so-called because of a reputation for losing a high number aircraft and crews, flew B-17s from Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk. Their losses were not the highest of any Eighth Air Force Group but on several occasions the Group lost many...
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People
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Military | Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
Bernard Baumgarten had been severely wounded in the enemy fighters attack of B-17 #42-107007 on the Munich mission 29 July 1944. The Fortress ditched off Ameland Island, West Friesland, The Netherlands and, despite the efforts of fellow crew members...
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 100th Bomb Group
James Coccia was Co-Pilot of B-17#42-107007. Shot down by fighters on 29 July 1944. Ditched North of Ameland Island, West Friesland, The Netherlands. Prisoner of War (POW).
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 100th Bomb Group
Attended Duke University and University of Wichita
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Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
Harry Feldkamp was Tail gunner on board B-17#42-107007. Shot down by fighters on 29 July 1944. Ditched North of Ameland Island, West Friesland, The Netherlands. Prisoner of War (POW).
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator
Robert Fulkerson was Navigator on board B-17#42-107007. Shot down by fighters on 29 July 1944. Ditched North of Ameland Island, West Friesland, The Netherlands. Prisoner of War (POW).
Interned mostly at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan/Zagan, Poland.
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Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 100th Bomb Group
William Greiner was Pilot of B-17#42-107007. Shot down by fighters on 29 July 1944. Ditched North of Ameland Island, West Friesland, The Netherlands. Prisoner of War (POW).
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Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
Frank Madrid was Ball Turret gunner on board B-17#42-107007. Shot down by fighters on 29 July 1944. Ditched North of Ameland Island, West Friesland, The Netherlands. Prisoner of War (POW).
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 100th Bomb Group
Bombardier on board B-17#42-107007. Shot down by fighters on 29 July 1944. Ditched North of Ameland Island, West Friesland, The Netherlands. Prisoner of War (POW).
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
As told on page 291 of Roger Freeman's "The Mighty Eighth War Diary", Homer Parish was underneath B-17 #42-107007 on return from the 11 July 1944 mission to Munich, cleaning his guns. Suddenly, one of the guns began to fire, sweeping the area as the...
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
John Vuchetich was Top Turret gunner on board B-17#42-107007. Shot down by fighters on 29 July 1944. Ditched North of Ameland Island, West Friesland, The Netherlands. Prisoner of War (POW).
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Missions
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11 July 1944
More than 1000 planes bombed Munich. Flak cut our control cables to elevators and rudder. Flew back by wing trim tabs. Shippy spliced cables before landing. Nine hour ride. Flak hit Sgt Rollinger's oxygen mask and injured his nose and eyes.
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Places
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Military site : airfield
Home of the 'Bloody Hundredth’, a Bomb Group with a reputation for high casualty rates, Thorpe Abbotts was under USAAF control from June 1943 to the end of the war. Some of the airfield survives today, and the control tower houses the 100th Bomb Group...
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Events
Event |
Location |
Date |
Failed to Return (FTR) Over Water (OW) |
Ameland Island, West Friesland, The Netherlands |
29 July 1944 |
ditched in the North Sea
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