42-29852 Fire Ball
Object Number - UPL 40747
Delivered Cheyenne 26/2/43; Pueblo 12/3/43; Presque Is 9/4/43; Assigned 511BS/351BG [DS-V] Polebrook 16/4/43; Missing in Action 18m Wilhelmshafen 3/11/43 with Elmer Nardi, Co-pilot: Harry Bergman, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Frank Swica, Ball turret gunner: Harlan Burton (4 Killed in Action), Navigator: Orlyn Master, Bombardier: Bradley Squires, Radio Operator: Ganushean Wade, Waist gunner: John Yarush, Waist gunner: Don Happold, Tail gunner: Henry Gates (6 Prisoner of War); enemy aircraft, crashed Wilhelmshafen, Ger., but knocked out the last fighter on the way down. Missing Air Crew Report 1160. FIRE BALL.
Connections
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Units served with
People
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Missions
- Date: 15 May 1943
- Date: 14 May 1943
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Other Failed to Return (FTR) |
Germany | 3 November 1943 | forced Lt. Nardi to abandon the bomb run and jettison the bomb load while he headed for home. Immediately the plane was attacked by three FW 190’s until the tail gunner, Sgt. Gates, shot one down, and Sgt. Burton, the ball turret gunner, shot down the other two. Just as Sgt. Burton shouted that he had downed the second fighter, the B-17 exploded or possibly the right wing broke off completely. The ship went into a tight spin, throwing out the crew members with the exception of the two pilots and the ball turret gunner who went to their deaths with the doomed plane |
Revisions
Corrected the nickname per info in the A/C description.
Added a space before the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity.
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 1160 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database