B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Tulsa 25/1/44; Kearney 16/2/44; Assigned 418BS/100BG [LD-T] Thorpe Abbotts 7/3/44; on mission to Laon-Athis 8/5/44 with Burdette Williams the ship was hit by bomb from above aircraft which killed Tail gunner: Ray Cohen 8/5/44, rest RTD; Missing in Action Politiz 29/5/44 with Burdette Williams, Navigator: Walt Pickett, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Gordon Tricker Wounded in Action, Radio Operator: Melvin Evans, Ball turret gunner: Larry Boyer, Waist gunner: Elry Yaroch (6 Prisoner of War); Co-pilot: Ellie Nesmith, Bombardier: Vernon Breazeale, Waist gunner: Willard Goos drowned after bailing out, Tail gunner: Lyle Nord (4 Killed in Action); enemy aircraft, crashed Torgau, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 5237 & 4214. SHINING HOUR.
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...
Squadron
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner
Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #42107011. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier
Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #42107011. Killed in Action (KIA).
PH
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator
Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107011, Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Technical Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner
Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #42107011. Killed in Action (KIA).
PH
Military | Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 100th Bomb Group
29 MAY 44 LEIPZIG (EAC). Killed in Action.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
WIA. B-17F #42-3393 'Just-A-Snappin'. On mission to Bremen on 8 Oct 1943 A/C severely damaged by flak and enemy fighters. A/C returned to base alone and crashed near Ludham.
Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107011. Killed in Action (KIA).
PH
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator
Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #42107011. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Staff Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner
Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #42107011. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot
Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17G #42-107011. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Technical Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner
Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107011, Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
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...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Germany | 29 May 1944 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 30 March 2020 22:09:32 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added a space in front of the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 03 October 2015 23:02:02 | Adaero | Changes to markings |
| Sources | ||
Douglas Yaroch- son of crew member T-Sgt Elroy A Yaroch |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 03 October 2015 23:00:38 | Adaero | Changes to nicknames and markings |
| Sources | ||
Douglas Yaroch- son of crew member T- Sgt. Elroy A Yaroch, Shining Hour |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:15 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 5237 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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