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"A crew of the 379th Bomb Group poses beside a Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" "Peter Wabbit" at an 8th Air Force base in England, 24 July 1943."
Delivered Denver 23/2/43; Sioux City 20/3/43; Kearney 8/4/43; Dow Fd 15/4/43; Assigned 525BS/379BG [FR-A] Kimbolton; then 524BS [WA-T]; Missing in Action Schweinfurt 17/8/43 with Erwalt Wagner, Co-pilot: Bill Barnard, Navigator: Joe Hilderbrand, Bombardier: Ken Gibbs, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Henry Kushman, Radio Operator: Ben Radensky, Ball turret gunner: Francis Donahue, Waist gunner: Marvin Charlson, Waist gunner: Eldred Andruss, Tail gunner: Dean Yates (10 Killed in Action); enemy aircraft, crashed Dorrebach, six miles W of Bingen, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 1350. PETER WABBIT.
Service
Units
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Group
The 379th Bomb Group (H) (heavy), based at Kimbolton, flew more sorties than any other Bomb Group in the Eighth Air Force and dropped a greater bomb tonnage than any other Group. The B-17 Flying Fortress Group was awarded two Distinguished Unit...
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People
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 10 x combat missions. Flew Kassel raid 28-Jul-43, lost control cables on B-17 42-29974 by flak damage.
...
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Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 13 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Schweinfurt raid 17-Aug-43. Shot down by enemy aircraft, crashed Dorrebach, 6 miles W of Bingen, Germany Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 1350
Award: PH.
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Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 14 x combat missions. Co-pilot of B-17 42-29866 'Judy B' on Hamburg mission, when pilot Lt Willis C Carlisle was killed at controls. A/C fought off fighters whilst in uncontrolled plunge from 16,000ft to 3,500ft 25...
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 14 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Le Bourget in B-17 42-29866 16-Aug-43; Shot down by flak. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 1352
Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME
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Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 11 x combat missions. Pilot fatally wounded by fighter attack in B-17 42-29866 'Judy B' on Hamburg mission. Took deflected round (ricocheted off co-pilots seat) in back. Crew fought off fighters and co-pilot...
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 16 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Schweinfurt raid 17-Aug-43. Shot down by enemy aircraft, crashed Dorrebach, 6 miles W of Bingen, Germany Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 1350
Award: AM, PH.
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Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 15 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Schweinfurt raid 17-Aug-43. Shot down by enemy aircraft, crashed Dorrebach, 6 miles W of Bingen, Germany Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 1350
Award: AM, PH.
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 12 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Schweinfurt raid 17-Aug-43. Shot down by enemy aircraft, crashed Dorrebach, 6 miles W of Bingen, Germany Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 1350
Award: Purple Heart
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 18 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Schweinfurt raid in B-17 42-29830 'Peter Wabbit' 17-Aug-43. Shot down by enemy aircraft, crashed Dorrebach, 6 miles W of Bingen, Germany Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 1350...
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Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 13 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Schweinfurt raid 17-Aug-43. Shot down by enemy aircraft, crashed Dorrebach, 6 miles W of Bingen, Germany Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 1350
Award: AM (OLC), PH.
Show more
Missions
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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 ...
Places
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Military site : airfield
Planned for RAF use, Kimbolton airfield was built by W and C French Ltd. in 1941. The airfield was increased in size to accommodate a full US heavy Bomb Group, and the first such unit to us it was the 91st Bomb Group, who arrived in September 1942....
Events
Event |
Location |
Date |
Manufactured |
Long Beach, CA |
1943 |
Built at Boeing.
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Delivered |
Denver AAF, CO |
23 February 1943 |
Delivered Denver AAF 23-Feb-43.
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Assigned |
Kimbolton, UK |
March 1943 |
Assigned 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF.
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Crashed |
Dorrebach, Germany |
17 August 1943 |
Failed to Return (FTR) Schweinfurt 17-Aug-43; ; enemy aircraft, crashed Dorrebach, six miles W of Bingen, Germany. 10 x KIA MACR 1350.
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