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B-17 Flying Fortress
Aircraft # 42-30423 Shot down 4 February 1944 on mission to Frankfurt. Crew bailed out and Aircraft crashed in Koersel Belgium. The B-17 is a 326th Bomb Squadron plane shot down with a crew from the 407th Bomb Squadron, 2nd Lt Lawrence H Cook Crew.
Delivered Cheyenne 29/5/43; Gore 31/5/43; Rapid City 16/6/43; Dow Fd 5/7/43; Assigned 407BS/92BG [PY-P] Alconbury 7/8/43; 326BS [JW-P]. Missing in Action Frankfurt 4 February 1944 with Pilot Lawrence H. Cook (initially evaded; arrested later); Co-pilot: Robert B. Bangs (POW); Navigator: Donald H. Caylor (died as a Prisoner of War-POW); Bombardier: Emmett H. Bell (POW); Flight engineer/top turret gunner: John Booth (initially evaded; arrested later); Radio Operator: Jay Joyce (POW); Ball turret gunner: John R. Kyler (POW); Right Waist gunner: John J. Alexander Jr (POW); Left Waist gunner: Milo Blakely (evaded-EVD); Tail gunner: Thomas J. Mikulka (evaded-EVD). Flak. Crashed Koersel, 9 miles North of Hasselt, Limburg Province, Belgium. Missing Air Crew Report - MACR 2237.
See www.evasioncomete.be for details about Blakely, Booth, Cook and Mikulka.
Group
The 92nd Group sometime after arrivial in the UK converted to the role of in-theater combat crew indocrination and training. For this role, the Group traded its B-17F complement and obtained the B-17E, mostly from the 97th BG which was departing for...
Squadron
Military | Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
Shot down by fighters and flak on return from mission to Frankfurt on 4 February 1944 in B-17F #42-30423, Prisoner of War (POW).
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
Shot down by fighters and flak on return from mission to Frankfurt on 4 February 1944 in B-17F #42-30423. Prisoner of War (POW).
Military | Major | Bombardier | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
Shot down by fighters and flak on return from mission to Frankfurt on 4 February 1944 in B-17F #42-30423. Prisoner of War (POW).
...
Military | Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
Shot down by fighters and flak on return from mission to Frankfurt on 4 Feb 1944 in B-17F #42-30423. Evaded (EVD).
See the story of his evasion on his page at http://www.evasioncomete.be/fblakelme.html
Military | Staff Sergeant | Engineer/Top Turret Gunner | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
Shot down by fighters and Flak on return from mission to Frankfurt on 4 February 1944 in B-17F #42-30423. Prisoner of War (POW).
...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
Shot down by fighters and Flak on return from mission to Frankfurt on 4 February 1944 in B-17F #42-30423. Wounded, captured, died of wounds on 9 February 1944. Died Of Wounds (DOW).
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
Shot down by fighters and Flak on return from mission to Frankfurt on 4 February 1944 in B-17F #42-30423. Initially evaded, helped by Belgian citizens and members of the Comète evasion network. Arrested through denounciation on 28 March 1944. Prisoner...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Radio Operator/Gunner | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
Shot down by fighters and Flak on return from mission to Frankfurt on 4 February 1944 in B-17F #42-30423. Prisoner of War (POW).
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
Shot down by fighters and Flak on return from mission to Frankfurt on 4 February 1944 in B-17F #42-30423. Prisoner of War (POW).
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
Shot down by fighters and flak on return from mission to Frankfurt on 4 Feb 1944 in B-17F 42-30423. Evaded (EVD). See the story of his evasion at http://www.evasioncomete.be/fmikulktj.html
4 February 1944
The railroad marshalling yards at Frankfurt, Germany were focus of this mission, but other railroad marshalling yards in the area were attacked as well. Weather and navigational errors frustrate target acquisition.748 heavy bombers were despatched in a...
Military site : airfield
Alconbury had been constructed as a satellite airfield for RAF Upwood and Wyton and was used by RAF Squadrons: Nos. 15, 40 and 156. In preparation for the arrival of American heavy bombers, the base was developed in 1942 with the runways extended. When...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Koersel, Belgium | 4 February 1944 |
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Hit by Flak over Düsseldorf |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 07 May 2022 06:51:52 | ED-BB | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Updated link to the page at www.evasioncomete.be |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 15 September 2020 20:47:14 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added 2 spaces in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 22 May 2020 13:01:58 | ED-BB | Changes to markings |
| Sources | ||
Freeman B-17 FF Story |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 22 May 2020 12:58:55 | ED-BB | Changes to markings |
| Sources | ||
Corrected Aircraft marking : it's JD for the 326th BS, the Squadron the Fortress belonged to (flew with a 407th BS crew on 4 February 1944... |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 22 May 2020 12:50:23 | ED-BB | Changes to unit associations |
| Sources | ||
Corrected Squadron. #423 was a 326th BS Fortress, which was flown by a 407th BS crew on the 4 February 1944 mission... |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 22 May 2020 12:35:09 | ED-BB | Changes to markings, description, events and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
MACR 2237 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 05 February 2020 18:27:25 | RayWells | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
Changes to connections |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:29 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 2237 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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