Skip to main content
Edit entry 

42-107123

B-17 Flying Fortress

Delivered Tulsa 2 March 1944; Kansas City 7 March 1944; Grenier 21 April 1944. Assigned 398BG Nuthampstead 25 April 1944 (no operations). Transferred 339BS/96BG [BX- ] Horham 28 April 1944. Missing in Action Brux, Czechoslovakia, 12 May 1944 with Pilot Harold H. Tucker, Co-pilot Robert A. Greenwoodchute failed, Navigator: Samuel R. Detwiler Jr, Bombardier: Walter Slemensky,Tail gunner: Jennings C. Greuter, Flight engineer/Top Turret gunner: Lloyd D. Stoller, Radio Operator: James A. Davis Jr, Ball turret gunner: Willis D. Boatwright, Waist gunner: Lavern B. Maisak, Waist gunner: Lawrence L. Witt. Shot down by enemy aircraft, crashed near Merzhausen, four miles SW of Usingen, Germany. 5 men are killed in action (KIA-) : Sam Detwiler Jr, Bob Greenwood, Jennings Greuter, Walt Slemensky and their pilot Harry Tucker. The 5 others are made Prisoners of War (POW). Missing Air Crew Report : MACR 5359.

Service

Units

  • 8th Air Force

    8th Air Force


    Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945. ...

  • 96th Bomb Group

    96th Bomb Group

    Group
    The 96th Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses to targets across occupied Europe from May 1943 to April 1945. ...

  • 339th Bomb Squadron

    339th Bomb Squadron

    Squadron

People

  • Willis Boatwright

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 96th Bomb Group
    Willis Boatright was a Ball Turret Gunner in the 96th Bomb Group / 339th Bomb Squadron. Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107123. Prisoner of War (POW).

  • James Davis

    Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 96th Bomb Group
    Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107123. Prisoner of War (POW). Re-enlisted as a Sergent in the USAAF in Albany, New York on 12 November 1946. James Davis served in the Air Force in Korea and Viet-Nam.

  • Samuel Detwiler

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 96th Bomb Group
    Samuel Detwiler was a Navigator in the 96th Bomb Group / 339th Bomb Squadron. Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107123. Killed in Action (KIA).

  • Robert Greenwood

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 96th Bomb Group
    Robert Greenwood was a Co-Pilot in the 96th Bomb Group / 339th Bomb Squadron. Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107123. Killed in Action (KIA).

  • Jennings Greuter

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 96th Bomb Group
    Jennings Greuter was a Tail Gunner in the 96th Bomb Group / 339th Bomb Squadron. Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107123. Killed in Action (KIA).

  • Robert Maisak

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner | 96th Bomb Group
    LaVern Maisak was a Left Waist Gunner in the 96th Bomb Group / 339th Bomb Squadron. Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107123. Prisoner of War (POW).

  • Walter Slemensky

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 96th Bomb Group
    2nd Lt Walter Slemensky was a Bombardier in the 96th Bomb Group / 339th Bomb Squadron. Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107123. Killed in Action (KIA).

  • Lloyd Stoller

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 96th Bomb Group
    Lloyd Stoller was a Top Turret Gunner in the 96th Bomb Group / 339th Bomb Squadron. Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107123. Prisoner of War (POW).

  • Harold Tucker

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 96th Bomb Group
    Harold Tucker was a Pilot in the 96th Bomb Group / 339th Bomb Squadron. Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107123. Killed in Action (KIA).

  • Lawrence Witt

    Military | Technical Sergeant | Flight Engineer/Gunner | 96th Bomb Group
    Lawrence Witt was a Flight Engineer/Gunner in the 96th Bomb Group / 339th Bomb Squadron. Shot down 12 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107123. Prisoner of War (POW). ...

Missions

  • 353

    12 May 1944

Places

  • Horham

    Military site : airfield
    Horham airfield was planned and built for RAF use, but handed over to the Eighth Air Force and used initially by the 47th Bomb Group. When they joined the Twelfth Air Force in January 1943, it became home to the B-26 Marauders of the 323rd Bomb Group....

  • Nuthampstead

    Military site : airfield
    Built during 1942-43, Nuthampstead was the nearest Eighth Air Force heavy bomber base to London. It had three concrete runways, 50 loop hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. It was first occupied from September 1943 to April 1944 by the 55th...

  • Snetterton

    Military site : non-airfield

  • Snetterton Heath

    Military site : airfield
    Intended to be an RAF bomber base, construction of Snetterton Heath started in Autumn 1942 but continued until mid-1943, because it was extended after allocation as an Eighth Air Force bomber base. It had eventually three concrete runways, 50...

Events

Event Location Date
Failed to Return (FTR) Merzhausen, Germany 12 May 1944
Nicknames
Not yet known
Production block number
B-17G-35-DL Fortress
Manufacturer
Douglas
Markings and paint scheme/livery

BX-

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
29 May 2020 20:06:15 kstrykerAK Changes to markings, unit associations and place associations
Sources

Snetterton Falcons II: The 96th Bomb Group in World War II by Robert E Doherty & Geoffrey Ward, Second Edition with Errata & Supplemental Information, Taylor Publishing, 1996. pages 140, 147, 293

See also https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/106588 Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
Lawrence L. Witt was a Detroit native who served in the Army Air Force during World War II and was a prisoner of war (POW) for eleven months after getting shot down over Nazi Germany. His daughter Laura A. Edge later researched her father’s story and wrote a book about his and other airmen’s experiences as prisoners of war in WWII. Correspondence, various documents relating to military and prisoner of war experience, and audio-visual materials including oral histories of several WWII veterans.
Date Contributor Update
13 May 2019 15:23:41 phil marchese Changes to media associations
Sources

The olive drab F series Our Baby is no a match as a key image. If crew is associated, the mage can be associated with yhe peope, not the aircraft.
Date Contributor Update
03 March 2019 23:14:23 phil marchese Changes to markings
Sources

FLYING FORTRESS 1936 1945
Date Contributor Update
02 June 2016 15:26:03 ED-BB Changes to media associations
Sources

Associated media
Date Contributor Update
31 May 2016 15:54:57 ED-BB Changes to description, events, person associations, place associations and mission associations
Sources

NARA WWII Enlistment records
MACR 5359
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:40:15 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 5359 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

Share