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B-17 Flying Fortress
Assigned 367BS/306BG Westover 17-Aug-42; Thurleigh 13-Oct-42; transferred 324BS/91BG [DF-J] Bassingbourn 20-Feb-43; Missing in Action (MIA) 2m Hamm 4-Mar-43. Shot down by Lt Kostler (IV/NJG1) in Me 110, KO’d #1 & #3, oil pouring away before #4 was feathered ditched 40 miles west of Texel Is, Holland, in North Sea; five rescued by Royal Navy minesweeper and landed at Grimsby; EXCALIBUR. 3 KIA 7 RTD (Rescued by Royal Navy). No MACR issued.
P 1LT Allen Brill (KIA); CP 1LT Allan W. Lowry (KIA)
N 1LT Roland P. Ball (RTD); B 1LT Robert F. Brubaker (RTD)
E/TTG TSGT William G. Dickson (RTD); RO SSGT D. C. Wells (RTD)
BTG SSGT James E. Morgan, Jr. (KIA); WG SSGT James M. Bechtel (RTD)
WG SGT L. W. Wolfington (RTD); TG TSGT J. L. Baker (RTD)
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
Home of the Memphis Belle
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
2LT Rollin P. Ball was Navigator on two differentt B-17s that were lost.
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Military | Technical Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Assigned to 324BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. B-17 41-24464 'Excalibur' ditched into North Sea on 4-Mar-43. Returned to base after being picked up by a British minesweeper. RTD
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Assigned to 324BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. Ditched into North Sea on 4-Mar-43 in B-17 41-24464 'Excalibur' after repeated fighter attacks. Losses reports Bechtel survived the ditching after floating in a life raft for 7 hours before a British minesweeper...
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Assigned to 324BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. Killed in Action (KIA) on 4-Mar-43 in B-17 41-24464 'Excalibur', 91BG/324BS while serving as Pilot. Aircraft was ditched into North Sea 40 miles west of Texel Island, Holland after repeated fighter attacks. Plane...
Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Assigned to 324BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. Crew member on B-17 41-24464 'Excalibur' ditched into North Sea on 4-Mar-43. Returned to base (RTD). Failed to Return (FTR) Huls in B-17 42-29998 22-Jun-43; A/C shot down. Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 15576
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Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
B-17 #41-24464 'Excalibur' ditched into North Sea on 4 March 1943. Returned to base. after being picked up by a British minesweeper. Shot down 22 June 1943 in B-17 #42-29998. Killed in Action (KIA).
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Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
On 23 November 1942 in B-17 41-24506 'The Shiftless Skonk' while serving as Co-Pilot. Aircraft crashed near Watford on returning from a mission. Plane had been attacked by fighters.
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Assigned to 324BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. B-17 41-24464 'Excalibur' ditched into North Sea on 4-Mar-943. The A/C had been repeatedly attacked by fighters and broke in half. Morgan along with pilot Brill and co-pilot Lowry was killed. The other crew members...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Radio Operator Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Assigned to 324BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. B-17 41-24464 'Excalibur' ditched into North Sea on 4-Mar-43 after repeated fighter attacks. Returned to base when picked up by British minesweeper after 7 hours in life raft. RTD
Awards: AM, PH, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Assigned to 324BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. B-17 41-24464 'Excalibur' ditched into North Sea on 4-Mar-43. Returned to base. after being picked up by a British minesweeper. RTD
Awards: AM, PH, WWII Victory, EAME.
4 March 1943
After several weather-caused aborted attempts in attacking the marshalling yards at Hamm, Germany, the 8th Air Force is finally successful in attacking this target. A total of 71 B-17s are despatched: 91BG (20); 303BG (18); 305BG (12) amd 306BG (21)....
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...
Military site : airfield
Built for RAF use in 1941-42, Thurleigh was initially used by RAF Bomber Command before being handed over to the Eighth Air Force. Its runways and hardstandings were improved, and the B-17s of the 306th Bomb Group began using the base. It was their...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Assigned | Bassingbourn, UK | 20 February 1943 |
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Transferred to 324BS, 91BG, USAAF. |
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| Failed to Return (FTR) | West of Texel, Netherlands | 4 March 1943 |
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Sustained severe damage from fighter attacks and was forced to ditch in the North Sea 40 miles west of Texel Island, Holland. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 27 February 2022 10:43:17 | Al_Skiff | Changes to events and unit associations |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 23 February 2022 21:55:42 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added some punctuation to the A/C “Description” to aid readability. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 09 December 2016 18:22:02 | Al_Skiff | Changes to unit associations and person associations |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 23 June 2015 20:12:32 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 23-Jun-2015. Corrected typo in FTR notes. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 23 June 2015 20:11:02 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to production block number, manufacturer, nicknames, markings, description, events, unit associations, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 23-Jun-2015. Added Production Block # and Manufacturer and Nickname per "The B-17 Flying Fortress Story", Roger A. Freeman; Made connections to Units, Place and Mission withing existing websitet data; Added FTR event, converted dates to military-style signification; added crew position, rank, names and dispositions per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces", Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:02 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log |
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