Assigned to 704BS, 466BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Granville, France 8-Jun-44 with Odgen crew; downed by fighters, 2 x engines out and fire in lower nose and bomb bay, crew abandoned A/C over the channel. 5 x KIA, 5 x POW MACR 5482
“On June 8, 1944, our bomber group, the 446th B 24 Liberator group, due to overcast weather did not attack its initial target, the Laval airstrip and dropped its bombs on the Granville station, through a cloudy sky, making the results random and invisible. Our squadron was attacked by 15 x Me 109 fighters. Immediately after leaving our objective around 10:30 am, the plane was strafed and fire immediately broke out in the fuselage. Engines 1 and 2 were hit. He was winning so quickly that we risked exploding at any time and I gave the order to quit.
Sergeant Leedy Lewis was killed in flight. He had just called from his upper turret, "Captain!" "I had one !!", Before being cut down by a burst of 20 mm. But, to my knowledge, everyone else jumped despite the fact that we were over the ocean.
"Daisy" exploded shortly after we left and the pieces fell on the Isle of Chausey which, to my astonishment, presented itself to my gaze just below. Five members of the crew, including myself, were rescued and recovered by fishermen from Île Chausey. Despite the searches, the others could not be found at the time. Sergeant Griffith, for example, was one of the first to jump and he was not injured. I think, having fallen too far out to sea, he drowned along with Allaman, Nace and Sawyer. Leedy's body was found in the wreckage of the plane and we buried him on the island. Later, after the war, the US authorities came to look for him and he is now buried in the Saint-James military cemetery ”. words of Pilot 1st Lt James Q. Ogden
Service
Units
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Group
The 446th Bomb Group, who came to be known as "the Bungay Buckaroos" after the name of their Suffolk base, flew B-24 Liberators on strategic, support and interdictory missions over Europe. The Group led the Eighth Air Force and 2nd Bomb Division on the...
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People
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 446th Bomb Group
Assigned to 704BS, 446BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 8-Jun-44 in B-24 42-109830 'Daisy Mae Skraggs. ' Baled out into sea off Les Isles Chaucey, drowned. Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 5482
Awards: PH.
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 446th Bomb Group
Assigned to 704BS, 446BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 8-Jun-44 in B-24 42-109830 'Daisy Mae Skraggs. ' Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 5482
Awards: AM (2OLC), PH, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 446th Bomb Group
Assigned to 704BS, 446BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 8-Jun-44 in B-24 42-109830 'Daisy Mae Skraggs. ' Baled out into sea of Les Isles Chaucey, drowned. Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 5482
Awards: AM (OLC), PH.
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 446th Bomb Group
Assigned to 704BS, 446BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 8-Jun-44 in B-24 42-109830 'Daisy Mae Skraggs. ' Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 5482
Awards: AM, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
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Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 446th Bomb Group
Assigned to 704BS, 446BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Granville France in B-24 42-109830 'Daisy Mae Skraggs' 8-Jun-44; fatally wounded by 20mm cannon shell shortly after having successfully downed an attacking Me109. Killed in Action (KIA) MACR...
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 446th Bomb Group
Assigned to 704BS, 446BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 8-Jun-44 in B-24 42-109830 'Daisy Mae Skraggs. ' Baled out into sea off Les Isles Chaucey, rescued by fisherman. Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 5482
Awards: AM, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 446th Bomb Group
Assigned to 704BS, 446BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 8-Jun-44 in B-24 42-109830 'Daisy Mae Skraggs. ' Baled out into sea of Les Isles Chaucey, drowned. Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 5482
Awards: AM (OLC), PH.
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Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 446th Bomb Group
Assigned to 704BS, 446BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 8-Jun-44 in B-24 42-109830 'Daisy Mae Skraggs. ' Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 5482
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Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 446th Bomb Group
Assigned to 704BS, 446BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 8-Jun-44 in B-24 42-109830 'Daisy Mae Skraggs. ' Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 5482
Awards: AM (2OLC), POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 446th Bomb Group
Assigned to 704BS, 446BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 8-Jun-44 in B-24 42-109830 'Daisy Mae Skraggs. ' Baled out into sea off Les Isles Chaucey, drowned. Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 5482
Awards: AM, PH
Places
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Military site : airfield
From late November 1943, the three bases of Bungay, Seething and Hardwick were the stations of the 20th Combat Wing of the Eighth Air Force. The base had previously housed individual squadrons of the 310th Bomb Group (Twelfth Air Force) and of the 93rd...
Events
Event |
Location |
Date |
Assigned |
Bungay, UK |
1944 |
Assigned to 704BS, 466BG, 8AF USAAF.
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Failed to Return (FTR) Over Water (OW) |
Les Isles Chaucey |
8 June 1944 |
Downed by fighters over channel, after it exploded, parts landed on Isles Chaucey.
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