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B-17 Flying Fortress
Official caption: Lt. John T Hardin, pilot of the 322nd Bomb Squadron, looks out of his plane, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress "The Bearded Beauty" at the 91st Bomb Group base at Bassingbourne [Bassingbourn], England 27 February 1943.
B-17 Flying Fortresses (LG-O, serial number 41-24453) and (LG-P) of the 91st Bomb Group in flight.
US B-17F Fortress 41-24453 "Mizpah" "The Bearded Beauty" Force-lands at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton. 22 January 1943. The crew of the American Flying Fortress which made a forced landing at RNAS Yeovilton with Captain M S Thomas, DSO, RN, and Lt H R Arnold, RNVR.
B-17 41-24453 MIZPAH - THE BEARDED LADY aka THE BEARDED BEAUTY
Mizpah, (41-24453) Hargis Crew, 322nd BS, 91st BG. 13 July 1943
Mizpah, (41-24453) Chima Crew, 322nd BS, 91st BG. 13 July 1943
The Bearded Beauty, (41-24453) Hardin Crew, 322nd BS, 91st BG. 27 February 1943
Assigned 322BS/91BG [LG-O] Bangor 29/8/42; Bassingbourn 29/9/42; in taxi accident with John Hardin 18/11/42 at RNAS Yeovilton; MIZPAH - THE BEARDED LADY aka THE BEARDED BEAUTY.
Missing in Action 28m Schweinfurt 17/8/43 with Everett Kenner, Co-pilot: George Bryan decapitated, Navigator: Rich Martin chute failed to open, Waist gunner: Gardner Moore, Tail gunner: Bill Hagin (5 Killed in Action).
Bombardier: Herb Egender, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Glen Chase, Radio Operator: George Vender, Ball turret gunner: John O’Toole, Waist gunner: Jim Bowcock (5 Prisoner of War);
Hit by enemy aircraft, along top of fuselage and KO’d #2 engine, dropped out and crashed Mayen, 15 miles W of Coblenz, Germany
See Missing Air Crew Report 275.
B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17F #41-24999 'Fury' was assigned 91BG/322BS [LG-P] at Bangor 2-Sep-42; Bassingbourn 29-Sep-42; 3m Despatched 18-Nov-42 to bomb the U-Boat pens at La Pallice, France. Upon return the aircraft sustained a mid-air collision with B-17F #41-24453 (91BG) ...
Group
The 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated at Harding Field, Louisiana on 15-April-1942 and went to MacDill Field, Florida for the first phase of training from 16-May-1942 to 25-June-1942. The Group was then assigned to 2nd Air Force at Walla...
Squadron
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 26 July 1943 in B-17 #42-3119. Plane ditched in North Sea. Returned to base. Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #41-24453 'Mizpah/ The Bearded Beauty/ The Bearded Lady'. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 41-24453 'Mizpah/ The Bearded Beauty/ The Bearded Lady'. Killed in Action.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #41-24453 'Mizpah/ The Bearded Beauty/ The Bearded Lady'. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #41-24453 'Mizpah/ The Bearded Beauty/ The Bearded Lady'. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #41-24453 'Mizpah/ The Bearded Beauty/ The Bearded Lady'. Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | Captain | Pilot | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
John T Hardin was a pilot with the 91st Bomb Group.
...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #41-24453 'Mizpah/ The Bearded Beauty/ The Bearded Lady'. Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #41-24453 'Mizpah/ The Bearded Beauty/ The Bearded Lady'. Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | Staff Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #41-24453 'Mizpah/ The Bearded Beauty/ The Bearded Lady'. Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #41-24453 'Mizpah/ The Bearded Beauty/ The Bearded Lady'. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
17 August 1943
The mission flown on 17-Aug-43, the 1st anniversary of the 1st mission flown by the 8th Air Force, is probably the most written about mission of the war. This is the famous Schweinfurt/Regensburg mission on which 60 B-17s are lost. It has been dubbed ...
Military site : airfield
Now home to a museum all about the aifield and its USAAF residents (http://www.towermuseumbassingbourn.co.uk/) , Bassingbourn opened in 1938 as part of the RAF's pre-war expansion programme. The RAF continued to use it until late in 1942 when its long...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Koblenz, Germany | 17 August 1943 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 22 July 2021 20:23:21 | acbernstein1 | Changes to nicknames |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 02 February 2020 19:45:42 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added a space in front of the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” for clarity. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 January 2015 13:11:44 | Lucy May | Changes to nicknames, description, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
From information in the Biography field. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:02 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 275 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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