B-17 Flying Fortress
Image of the B-17 #41-24489 / Terry and the Pirates. Assigned 367BS/306BG Westover 17-Aug-42; Thurleigh 13-Oct-42; Missing in Action 20-Dec-42 on mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. Shot down by enemy aircraft and crashed near Paris. 3KIA 7POW. No MACR issued.
Lt. Robert M. Freeman
B-17F 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' was assigned 367BS/306BG Westover 17-Aug-42; Thurleigh 13-Oct-42; Missing in Action 20-Dec-42 on mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. Shot down by enemy aircraft and crashed near Paris. 3KIA 7POW. No MACR issued.
P 1Lt Lewis R. McKesson (POW); CP 2Lt Quentin W. Burgett (POW)
N 1Lt Sidney Berk (KIA); B 1Lt Robert M. Freeman (KIA)
E/TTG Sgt Lucien Bedard (POW); RO Sgt Fletcher M. DeWolf (POW)
BTG Sgt Richard E. Cox (POW); WG Sgt Ludvik V. Dejnozka (POW)
WG Sgt Stanley J. Milik (KIA) TG TSgt Delmar L. Swyers (POW)
Group
Constituted as 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942. Activated on 1 Mar 1942. Trained for combat with B-17's. Moved to England, Aug-Sep 1942, and assigned to Eighth AF Eighth Air Force in September 1942 Station 111 Thurleigh. During combat,...
Squadron
Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 20 December 1942 in B-17 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' while serving as Waist Gunner. Listed as Prisoner of War (POW).
He stayed in USAF for a total 22 years. He died 1st March 1998 in Fall River MA.
Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 20 December 1942 in B-17F 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' while serving as Navigator. Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 20 December 1942 in B-17F 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' while serving as Pilot.
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 20 December 1942 in B-17F 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' while serving as Tail Gunner. Listed as Prisoner of War (POW)
Military | Technical Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 20 December 1942 in B-17F 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' while serving as Waist Gunner. Listed as Prisoner of War (POW).
...
Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 20 December 1942 in B-17 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' while serving as Waisr Gunner. Listed as Prisoner of War (POW).
Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 20 December 1942 in B-17F 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' while serving as Bombardier. Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 20 December 1942 in B-17F 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' while serving as Pilot. Prisoner of War (POW) at Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia Bavaria (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser) 49-11.
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 20 December 1942 in B-17F 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' while serving as Ball Turret Gunner. Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
On 13 January 1943 in B-17F 41-244898 while serving as Co-Pilot the aircraft sustained a mid-air collision with B-17F 41-24471 "Four of a Kind" just north of the target at Lille, France. He was killed in the collision. Killed in Action (KIA).
20 December 1942
The German Air Depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France is the Primary (P) target for a combined force of 80 B-17s despatched by 91BG (17), 303BG (21); 305BG (23) and 306BG (19). 60 B-17 are effective on the target, but 7 are MIA and 1 is DBR.
...
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return FTR-MIA | Paris, France | 20 December 1942 |
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The exact details of the loss were not documented with a Missing Air Crew Report (MACR), but based on other aircraft losses on this mission, it is assumed that the loss was due to fighter attacks. The aircraft crashed near Paris, France. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 05 December 2014 18:06:07 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 5-Dec-2014. Corrected rank of Swyers per NARA WWII POW database. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 05 December 2014 17:36:28 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to production block number, manufacturer, nicknames, description, events, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 5-Dec-2014. Edited description with target information and converted dates to military-style designation, added rank, full proper names and formatted crew information based on "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE. SN and proper names from National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW records and American Battle Monument Commission (ABMC) record. |
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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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