B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17F-90-BO #42-30212 "Quarterback"
42-30212 G Quarterback of the 562nd Bomb Squadron, 388 BG Crashed into North Sea whilst taking part in Operation Aphrodite against V weapon sites. Plane was radio controlled at time of crash so no fatalities.
Delivered Cheyenne 29/4/43; Sioux City 14/5/43; Smoky Hill 11/6/43; Dow Fd 16/6/43; Assigned 562BS/388BG Knettishall 17/6/43; transferred Aphrodite project, Missing in Action V-sites, Watten 6/8/44 with Lt Joeseph P Andrecheck & T/Sgt Raymond Healy (2 Returned to Duty). Had control problems and dived into sea. QUARTERBACK.
Aphrodite 'Mother' ship B-17 43-37637 6-8-44.
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 6/5/44; Hunter 21/5/44; Grenier 6/6/44; Assigned 332BS/94BG [XM-U] Rougham (Azon controlling mothership) 7/6/44; battle damaged Nurnberg 21/2/45 with ?; force landed continent, Sal; transferred 34BG Mendlesham 9/6/45; Returned to the...
Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945.
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Group
The 388th Bomb Group flew strategic bombing mission from Knettishall, Suffolk from June 1943 to the end of the war. During this time, though, detachments were sent to Fersfield, Norfolk to conduct Aphrodite missions. In these Aphrodite missions veteran...
Squadron
Military | Captain | Co-Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Command pilot Aphrodite drone B-17 42-30212, mission to V1 missile site Watten, France. 6-8-44. Baled out successfully over UK.
Military | Staff Sergeant (Technician Third Grade) | Radio Operator | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Captain | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 388th Bomb Group
Shot down in a frontal attack by fighters on the return from a mission to Klein Machnow, Berlin on 6 Mar 1944, B-17G #42-31135 'Suzy Sagtitz' crashed near Schoonebekerveld, Holland. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Retired from the USAF with the rank of Colonel
Military | Flight Officer | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
RTD. On November 5, 1943 B-17#42-30863 'My Devotion' returning from mission to Gelsenkirchen, Germany, with 2 damaged engines, crew baled out over North Suffolk.
Military | Staff Sergeant (Technician Third Grade) | Tail Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
On the return from a mission to Klein Machnow, Berlin on 6 Mar 1944, B-17G #42-37886 'Blitzing' Betsy' was severely damaged by attacks from several FW190s causing it to collide with another 388th B-17, exploding in mid-air and crashing near Emmen,...
Military | Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade) | Flight Engineer - Top Turret Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
17 July 1943
The railroad industry at Hannover, Germany and the aircraft industry at Hamburg, Germany were the intended targets for this mission but weather caused the mission to be cancelled. The element sent to Hannover was a combined force of 207 B-17s from:...
24 July 1943
Three targets in Norway are the primary targets for this first mission flown by 8th AIr Force to Norway. They are the nitrate works at Heroya and the port areas at Trondheim and Bergen. The first element is a combined force of 180 B-17s from: 91BG (22)...
25 July 1943
This mission was composed of three elements. The primary targets were the diesel engine works at Hamburg, Germany; the shipyards at Kiel, Germany and the aircraft industries at Warnemude, Germany, but weather frustrated the effort. The first element...
15 August 1943
German airfields in Holland and France are the targets for this mission. All of the attacks were made late in the afternoon just prior to sunset. The mission is composed of two elements. The first element is a combined force of 180 B-17s from: 91BG (20...
16 August 1943
This mission consists of two elements of B-17s despatched to bomb the German airfields of Le Bourget (Paris), Poix and Abbeville, France. The first element is a combined force of 180 B-17s from: 91BG (21); 92BG (17); 303BG (20); 305BG (20); 306BG (20);...
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 ...
24 August 1943
The 8th Air Force is intent on dishing out some "pay back" to the Luftwaffe for the toll it took on bombers of the 17-Aug-43 mission to Schweinfurt/Regensburg. So, This mission has three attack elements and a diversion element. The attack elements are...
7 September 1943
Two German airfields, one at Brussels, Begium and the other at Bergen, Holland, and the V-Weapons sites around Watten, France are the primary targets for this mission.
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9 September 1943
This mission has been named OPERATION STARKEY. It is planned as a coordinated attack of multiple bomber elements upon multiple targets and incorporates fighter escort as a rehearsal of what may be required to support an invasion of the Continent. It is...
15 September 1943
This mission is composed of three elements. The first element is a formation of 93 B-17s from: (1BG (19); 305BG (18); 306BG (18); 351BG (19); and 381BG (19) despatched to bomb the German air deport at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. 87 aircraft are...
Military site : airfield
Originally named Winfarthing when the site was allocated to the Eighth Air Force in 1942, it was renamed Fersfield when built for the Eighth Air Force 1943-44. USAAF and US Navy projects 'Aphrodite' 'Batty' and 'Anvil' (attempts to develop and use...
Military site : airfield
Knettishall was built to Class A standard for an American Bomb Group that would be bringing up to forty heavy bombers with them in three or four Squadrons. The 388th Bomb Group, which stayed at Knettishall for their entire service in the ETO, flew B-17...
Military site : airfield
Built in 1939 as a medium bomber station with a grass airfield, Watton was occupied by the RAF until handed over to the Eighth Air Force in mid-1943. Improved initially with a single steel mat runway in 1943, plus 41 loop and 12 pan hardstandings, a...
Other location
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Delivered | Cheyenne, WY, USA | 29 April 1943 |
| Assigned | Knettishall, Diss IP22 2TH, UK | 17 June 1943 |
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388 BG |
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| First 388th BG Combat Mission | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 17 July 1943 |
| Final 388th BG Combat Mission | Paris, France | 4 June 1944 |
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Completed 41 missions (plus 14 aborts) before being transferred to the Aphrodite project. Was forced to abort her last 5 missions in a row and 8 of her final 10 missions. |
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| Crashed | English Channel near Watten, France | 6 August 1944 |
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Aphrodite drone A/C launched on V1 missile site Watten 6-8-44. Control crew Lt Joseph P Andrecheck & T/Sgt Raymond Healy baled out sucessfully. Had control problems and dived into sea. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 28 December 2017 03:28:37 | 466thHistorian | Changes to nicknames, markings, events, person associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
http://www.388bg.info/servlet/Controller?pageType=detail&id=42-30212&dat... |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 December 2015 13:56:38 | Al_Skiff | Changes to nicknames, description, events, aircraft associations, unit associations, person associations, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
AAM DB Entry. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 16 January 2015 04:29:21 | 466thHistorian | Changes to production block number, manufacturer, nicknames, unit associations, person associations, place associations and media associations |
| Sources | ||
Chris Brassfield |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:27 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log |
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