B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17F-20-BO 41-24514 was assigned to the 368BS/306BG [BO- ] AT Westover 24-Aug-42; Thurleigh 23-Sep-42; Missing in Action, Rennes 8-Mar-43. Aircraft was on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Renne, France when it was attacked and shot down by German fighters. All of the crew bailed out except the pilot who was killed in the attack. The aircraft crashed at Colline, Servon-sur-Vilaine France. 1KIA 8POW 1EVD.
P 1LT Otto A. Buddenbaum (KIA); CP 1LT Warren P. Edris (POW)
N 1LT Wilton D. Biggs (POW); B 1LT Jospeh C. Wilkins (POW)
E/TTG TSGT Robert Guthrie (POW); RO TSGT Sylvester L. Horstmann (POW)
BTG SSGT Robert S. Liscavage (POW); LWG SGT Ernest T. Moriarty (EVD)
RWG SGT Donald R. Huddle (POW); TG SSGT Eulis E. Smith (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 | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F #41-24514, 306BG/368BS while serving as Navigator. The aircraft was attacked by an FW-190 after Spitfire escort left while on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards as Rennes, France. Aircraft was at the tail...
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F #41-24514, 306BG/368BS while serving as Pilot. Aircraft was shot down by FW-190 after Spitfire escort left while on a mission to attack the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. Aircraft was flying as the "Tail...
Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
1Lt Edris was transferred from the 92nd BG/325th BS on 31 Dec 1942. He was on 1st Lt. Robert P. 'Rip' Riordan crew.
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Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner; Flight Engineer | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
He was an original member of the group. He flew on Otto Buddenbaum crew. Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F #41-24514, 306BG/368BS while serving as Engineer/Top Turret Gunner. Aircraft was attacked by FW-190 after Spitfire escort left while on a mission...
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F #41-24514, 306BG/368BS while serving as Radio Operator. Aircraft was attacked by a FW 180 after Spitfire escort left while on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at RenneS, France. Aircraft was at the tail...
Military | Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F #41-24514, 306BG/369BS while serving as Right Waist Gunner. The aircraft was attacked by an FW-190 after Spitfire escort left while on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. The aircraft was...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F #41-24514, 306BG/358BS while serving as Ball Turret Gunner. Aircraft was attacked by an FW-190 after Spitfire escort left while on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. Aircraft was at the...
Military | Technical Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Enlisted 26 June 1941 and was in the 34th BG Westover Field, MA; went to Pendlton Field, OR from Westover with 34th on transfer. Applied for and sent to AM school Yakima, WA. Finished school and transferred to the 306th at Wendover.
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F #41-24514 while serving as Tail Gunner. The aircraft was attacked by an FW-190 after Spitfire escort left while on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. Aircraft was at the tail end of the...
Military | Flight Lieutenant | Bombardier | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F #41-24514, 306BG/368BS while serving as Bombardier. Aircraft was attacked by a FW-190 after Spitfire escort left while on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. Aircraft was at the tail end...
8 March 1943
The railroad marshalling yards at Rennes and Rouen, France are the primary targets for this mission. A formation comprised of 67 B-17s: 91BG (14); 303BG (19); 305BG (16) and 306BG (18) is despatched to bomb at Rennes. Conditions are good with no cloud...
Military site : airfield
Chelveston was adapted and expanded in preparation for the arrival of American forces. Rather than heavy bombers, the first aircraft to fly from its runways were C-47 Skytrains that were flown by the 60th Troop Carrier Group in July 1942. The first...
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) | Colline, 35530 Servon-sur-Vilaine, France | 8 March 1943 |
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Shot down by enemy aircraft and crashed at Colline,Servon-sur Vilaine, France |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 19 March 2020 20:35:16 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Corrected a typo in the A/C "Description". |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 19 March 2020 20:12:57 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Corrected a typo (word "out" was misspelled) in the "Summary biography". |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 29 July 2015 23:23:50 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 29-Jul-2015. Added A/C Block Number and TN to Description based on "The B-17 Flying Fortress Story", Roger A. Freeman. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 29 July 2015 23:03:07 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to description, events, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 29-Jul-2015. Made connections to Place and Mission within existing website data; Added Note and Map postion to FTR event per MACR 6088; Edited Description by converting dates to military-style signification, added target details and crash location based on "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces", Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; Added crew position, rank, full proper name and dispostions of all crew members and formatted crew display per MACR 6088. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:03 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 6088 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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