B-17 Flying Fortress
The nose art of a B-17 Flying Fortress nicknamed "Second Chance" of the 562nd Bomb Squadron, 388th Bomb Group. Printed caption on reverse: 'A-61554 AC - The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress "Second Chance" at an airbase in England, 19 September 1943. 562nd Bomb Sqdn., 388th Bomb Gp. U.S. Air Force Photo.' B-17F-95-BO #42-30317 "Second Chance" Code: K
Grave marker of three of the crew of "Second Chance" - Bertram Crawford, Winston Hall, William McCown. Photo provided by Jeff Morris.
Delivered Cheyenne 13/5/43; Smoky Hill 30/5/43; Dow Fd 15/6/43; Assigned 562BS/388BG Knettishall 17/6/43; Missing in Action Bremen 26/11/43 with Bill McCown, Co-pilot: Bill Stantial, Navigator: Winston Hall, Bombardier: Vince McHugh, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Bert Crawford, Radio Operator: Floyd Smith, Ball turret gunner: Don Miller, Waist gunner: Ed Nelson, Waist gunner: George Krolik, Tail gunner: Harry Kincaid (10 Killed in Action); coll with 42-37838 (401BG) losing entire tail section, crashed Vehne Moor, Bissel, near Ahlhorn, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 3075. SECOND CHANCE.
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 | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Brigadier General | Group Commanding Officer | 388th Bomb Group
Retired from the USAF with the rank of Brigadier General
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Collided with another aircraft on 26 November 1943 in B-17 #42-30317 'Second Chance', Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 388th Bomb Group
Collided with another aircraft on 26 November 1943 in B-17 #42-30317 'Second Chance', Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Assigned to 560BS, 388BG, 8AF USAAF. 16-Sep-43 mission to La Pallice. FR, in B-17 42-5904 'Gremlin Gus'. On return, crashed in Devonshire after scraping a hill top.
Awards: AM, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Collided with another aircraft on 26 November 1943 in B-17 #42-30317 'Second Chance', Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot/Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Shot down by flak enroute to the Marshalling Yards at Frankfurt and again on the return on 4 Feb 1944 in B-17F 42-3500. Most of crew baled out, pilot was wounded so LtCol Alford, the H2X operator, made a forced landing near Winterswijk, Holland....
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Collided with another aircraft on 26 November 1943 in B-17 42-30317 'Second Chance. ' Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Collided with another aircraft on 26 November 1943 in B-17 #42-30317 'Second Chance', Killed in Action (KIA).
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...
Other location
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Delivered | Cheyenne, WY, USA | 13 May 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 |
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Orignally assigned to the Ivan Willson Crew who flew her on 14 of her 23 combat missions |
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| Failed to Return (FTR) | 26197 Großenkneten, Germany | 26 November 1943 |
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Collision with 401BG B-17 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 02 May 2021 18:00:19 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added a space before the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 November 2019 19:12:09 | johntreacy | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
MACR - pilot surname was McCown not McGowan. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 November 2019 05:17:52 | johntreacy | Changes to description and events |
| Sources | ||
From the MACR - McCown, not McGowan |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 November 2019 00:54:04 | johntreacy | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
MACR 3075 from archives.gov |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 13 December 2017 21:12:41 | 466thHistorian | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
http://www.388bg.info/servlet/Controller?pageType=detail&id=42-30317&dat... |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 13 December 2017 21:12:07 | 466thHistorian | Changes to production block number, markings and events |
| Sources | ||
http://www.388bg.info/servlet/Controller?pageType=detail&id=42-30317&dat... |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:28 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 3075 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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