B-17 Flying Fortress
A bomber crew of the 303rd Bomb Group, including Second Lieutenant Don Winston Lusk Jr and their B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24526) nickanmed "Leapin Liz". Charles Hoffman is standing 2nd right
B-17F 41-24526 "Leapin Liz". Assigned 358BS/303BG [VK-J] Bangor 19-Sep-42; Molesworth 16-Oct-42; Missing in Action St Nazaire 3-Jan-43, shot down by enemy aircraft, crashed off St Brevin, Bay of Biscay, France. 10KIA Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 7560. Aircraft flew 4 Operations - 1 Abort.
23-Nov-43 Mission #1 U-Boat Pens, St. Nazaire, France (see Biography)
12-Dec-42 Mission #2 Railroad marshalling yards, Rouen, France - Aborted (see Biorgraphy)
20-Dec-42 Mission #3 Air Depot, Romilly-sur-Seine, France (see Biography)
3-Jan-43 Mission #4 LAST OPERATION, Torpedo storage areas, St. Nazaire, France (see Biography)
Group
The 303rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated on 3-Feb-1942 at Pendleton Field, Oregon. They assembled at Gowen Field, Idaho on 11-February 1942 where it conducted flight training until 12-Jun-1942. The Group then moved to Alamogordo Field, New...
Squadron
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 303rd Bomb Group
Shot down 3 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24526 'Leaping Liz' while serving as Co-Pilot. Target was U/B yards (submarines) at St. Nazaire, France. Fighters attacked and plane crashed into Bay of Biscay. Killed in Action (KIA) Participated in 4 Operations -...
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 303rd Bomb Group
Shot down 3 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24526 'Leaping Liz' while serving as Ball Turret Gunner. Target was U/B yards (submarines) at St. Nazaire, France. Fighters attacked and plane crashed into Bay of Biscay. Killed in Action (KIA). Participated in 6...
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 303rd Bomb Group
Shot down 3 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24526 'Leaping Liz' while serving as Pilot. Aircraft crashed into Bay of Biscay. Killed in Action (KIA). Participated in 4 Operations - 1 Abort (see Biography)
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 303rd Bomb Group
On 23-Jan-43 in B-17F 41-24580 "Hellcat Agnes" while serving as Ball Turret Gunner the aircraft was shot down by fighters and came down between Brest, France and the coast. He parachuted to safety and was captured as a Prisoner of War (POW)....
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 303rd Bomb Group
Shot down 3 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24526 "Leaping Liz" while serving as Right Waist Gunner. Plane crashed into Bay of Biscay. Killed in Action (KIA). Participated in 7 Operations - 2 Aborts. (See Biography events)
...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 303rd Bomb Group
Shot down 3 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24526 'Leaping Liz' while serving as Navigator. Target was U/B yards (submarines) at St. Nazaire, France. Fighters attacked and plane crashed into Bay of Biscay. Killed in Action (KIA). Participated in 5 Operations ...
Military | Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner | 303rd Bomb Group
Shot down 3 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24526 'Leaping Liz' while serving as Left Waist Gunner. Target was U/B yards (submarines) at St. Nazaire, France. Fighters attacked and plane crashed into Bay of Biscay. Killed in Action (KIA). Participated in 4...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 303rd Bomb Group
Shot down 3 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24526 'Leaping Liz' while serving as Bombardier. Target was U/B yards (submarines) at St. Nazaire, France. Fighters attacked and plane crashed into Bay of Biscay. Killed in Action (KIA). Participated in 5 Operations...
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 303rd Bomb Group
Shot down 3 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24526 'Leaping Liz' while serving as Engineer/Top Turret Gunner. Target was U/B yards (submarines) at St. Nazaire, France. Fighters attacked and plane crashed into Bay of Biscay. Killed in Action (KIA). Participated...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 303rd Bomb Group
Shot down 3 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24526 "Leapin Liz" while serving as Tail Gunner. Target was U/B yards (submarines) at St. Nazaire, France. Killed in Action (KIA). Participated in 7 Operations - 2 Aborts (See Biography events)
...
3 January 1943
The U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France are once again the target for this mission. This is proving to be a particularly difficult target to destroy due to its massive, reinforced concrete design. It consists of 14 individual pens connected together in...
Military site : airfield
Molesworth was one of the early stations used by the Eighth Air Force in the UK, first occupied by the 15th Bomb Squadron’s Douglas Bostons in June 1942. Built in 1940 and extended and improved in 1942, Molesworth is most associated with the 303rd...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Mission #1 B-1F 41-24526, 303BG/303BS | Saint-Nazaire, France | 23 November 1942 |
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CREW P 1LT James B. Clark (RTD); CP 2LT Paul Bouton, Jr. (RTD) |
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| Mission #2 B-17F 41-24526, 303BG/358BS Aborted | Rouen, France | 12 December 1942 |
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CREW P 1LT James B. Clark (RTD); CP 2LT Paul Bouton, Jr. (RTD) |
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| Mission #3 B-17F 41-24526, 303BG/358BS | Romilly-sur-Seine, France | 20 December 1942 |
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CREW P 1LT James B. Clark (RTD); CP 2LT Paul Bouton, Jr. (RTD) |
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| Failed to Return (FTR) | Saint-Nazaire, France | 3 January 1943 |
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Shot down by enemy fighters, crashed into the sea off St. Nazaire, France. |
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| Mission #4 B-17F 41-24526, 303BG/358BS FTR | 3 January 1943 | |
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CREW P 1LT James B. Clark (KIA); CP 2LT Paul Bouton, Jr. (KIA) |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 23 April 2019 22:42:48 | BrianRukes | Changes to nicknames and description |
| Sources | ||
Brian Rukes, great nephew of S/Sgt. Merlyn Dale Rukes, tail gunner on the B-17 "Leapin Liz" |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 09 August 2015 23:48:19 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to description and events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunnningham 9-Aug-2015. Added Mission #4 to Decsription and Mission #4 event crew data per 303BG webiste Mission Report of 3-Jan-43, Gray Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/009.pdf |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 09 August 2015 23:39:36 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to description and events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 9-Aug-2015 Added Mission #3 to Description and Mission # 3 event crew data per 303BG website Mission Report of 20-Dec-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/007.pdf |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 09 August 2015 23:25:50 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to description and events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 9-Aug-43. Added Mission #3 to Description and added Mission #3 event crew data per 303BG website Mission REports of 12-Dec-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/006.pdf |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 09 August 2015 23:14:59 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to description and events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 9-Aug-2015. Added Mission #1 to Decription and Miaaion #1 crew data to Biography event per 303BG website Mission Report of 23-Nov-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/004.pdf. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 09 January 2015 19:01:10 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 9-Jan-2015. Corrected typo in description. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 09 January 2015 18:58:40 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to nicknames, markings, description, events, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 9-Jan-2015. Added nickname , markings and FTR event description and map location per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; Made connections to Place and Mission within existing website data; Edited description adding TN, converted date nomenclature to military style signification; Added Crew Position, Rank, Full proper name and disposition per MACR 7560. |
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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 7650 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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