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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Tulsa 31/1/44; Kearney 5/2/44; Assigned 710BS/447BG [IJ-L] Rattlesden 3/3/44; Missing in Action Augsburg 13/4/44 with Joe Thornbury, Co-pilot: Albt Cowey, Navigator: Dominick Padula, Bombardier: George Filush, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Harry Smith, Radio Operator: George S. George, Ball turret gunner: Dante Rich, Waist gunner: Lloyd Roach, Waist gunner: Harry Kiehn,Tail gunner: Stan Saviski (10INT); flak KOd #2, bomb load salvoed, force landed Dubendorf Afd, Switz. Missing Air Crew Report 4297.
Group
The 447th Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses on strategic bombardment missions out of Rattlesden, Suffolk. With their first mission coming on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1943, their main focus was hitting sites that would weaken enemy forces...
Squadron
Military | Flight Officer | Co-Pilot | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #42107021. Landed in Switzerland. Interned.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #42107021. Landed in Switzerland. Interned.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Radio Operator | 447th Bomb Group
Military | Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #42107021. Landed in Switzerland. Interned.
Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 447th Bomb Group
Robert John Kropp was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 18 Nov 1915. As a child, he worked as a newsboy. He graduated high school and college and worked for a long time as treasurer at McGillis and Gibbs, a company that sold telephone poles. Robert...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #42-107021. Landed in Switzerland. Interned (INT).
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #42107021. Landed in Switzerland. Interned.
Military | Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #42107021. Landed in Switzerland. Interned.
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #42107021. Landed in Switzerland. Interned.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 #42-107021. Landed in Switzerland, Interned (INT).
Military site : airfield
Built for the Eighth Air Force in 1942, Rattlesden had three concrete runways, 50 hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. Intended to be a twin-engine B-26 bomber base, it was originally a satellite for nearby Rougham, and first occupied from...
Military site : airfield
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Germany | 13 April 1944 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2014 18:40:15 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 4297 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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