B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17F 41-24588 'Carter and his Little Pills' 364BS, 305BG, 8AF.
Captain Joe W. Carter from Lawton, OK; Lt. Dave Cox Jr. from Greensboro, NC; Lt. Robert A Gray from Oklahoma City, OK; Lt. Moorer from Demopolis, AL; St Sgt Courtney from IL; St Sgt Daley from Ohio; St Sgt Kirk from AR; St Sgt Livengard from PA; St Sgt. Berle Shirley from Cisco, TX B-17 serial # 42-24588 - "Carter's Little Pills" Crew are listed in alphabetical order, not as they are lined up in photo.
Page 1 of the missing air crew report for plan 41-24588, mislabelled in the report as 42-24588, but with the correct crew.
Continuation of the missing air crew report for plan 41-24588, "Carter and his Little Pills"
B-3 jacket worn by SSGT Winfred B. Shirley
SSGT Winfred B. Shirley
1LT Robert Azel Gray, 364th Bomb Squadron, 305th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. Photo taken June 1942 as 2LT upon graduation and commissioning.
B-17F-27-BO 41-24588 [WF-A] "Carter and His Little Pills" was assigned to the 364BS/305BG at Presque Isle, Maine 19-Oct-42; Grafton Underwood 25-Oct-42; Missing in Action 8-Mar-43. Aircraft was on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. The aircraft sustained battle damage from anti-aircraft fire and enemy fighter attacks. Ditched in Channel ten miles off Selsey Bill, UK on return. 10KIA Missing Air Crew Report 15718.
P CPT Joseph W. Carter (KIA); CP 1LT Robert R. Gray (KIA)
N 1LT Thomas W. Stein (KIA); B 1LT WIlliam G. Moorer (KIA)
E/TTG TSGT Sam A. Cook (KIA); RO TSGT Clyde T Courtney (KIA)
BTG SSGT Joseph C. Maxwell (KIA); LWG SSGT Winfred B. Shirley (KIA)
RWG SSGT Burns R. Dayley (KIA); TG SSGT Graves B. Riser (KIA)
Group
The 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy), nicknamed "Can Do" was activated 1-March-1942 at Salt Lake City Air Base, Utah which was their primary training base until 11-Jun-1942 when they relocated to Geiger Field, Washington until 29-Jun-1942, then on to...
Squadron
Military | Captain | Pilot | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F 41-24588 [WF:A] 'Carter and His Little Pills', 305BG/364BS while serving as Pilot. Aircraft ditched into the English Channel on return from bombing the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. The entire crew...
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F 41-24588 [WF:A] 'Carter and His Little Pills', 305BG/364BS while serving as Radio Operator. Aircraft ditched into the English Channel on return from bombing the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. The entire...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F 41-24588 [WF:A] 'Carter and His Little Pills', 305BG/364BS while serving as Right Waist Gunner. Aircraft ditched into the English Channel on return from bombing the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. The...
Military | Flight Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Lynn Gray
...
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F 41-24588 [WF:A] 'Carter and His Little Pills', 305BG/364BS while serving as Engineer/Top Turret Gunner. Aircraft ditched into the English Channel on return from bombing the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France....
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F 41-24588 [WF:A] 'Carter and His Little Pills', 305BG/364BS while serving as Ball Turret Gunner. Aircraft ditched into the English Channel on return from bombing the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. The...
Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F #41-24588 [WF:A] 'Carter and His Little Pills', 305BG/364BS while serving as Bombardier. Aircraft ditched into the English Channel on return from bombing the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. The entire crew...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F 41-24588 [WF:A] 'Carter and His Little Pills', 305BG/364BS while serving as Tail Gunner. Aircraft ditched into the English Channel on return from bombing the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. The entire crew...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F 41-24588 [WF:A] 'Carter and His Little Pills', 305BG/364BS while serving as Left Waist Gunner. Aircraft ditched into the English Channel on return from bombing the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. The entire...
Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Shot down 8 March 1943 in B-17F 41-24588 [WF:A] 'Carter and His Little Pills', 305BG/364BS while serving as Navigator. Aircraft ditched into the English Channel on return from bombing the railroad marshalling yards at Rennes, France. The entire crew...
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
Grafton Underwood was built in 1941 by George Wimpey and Co. Ltd. It was the first airfield in England to receive an Eighth Air Force flying unit, when in May 1942 personnel of the 15th Bomb Squadron took up residence. As a satellite airfield for...
Military site : airfield
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) Over Water (OW) | English Channel | 8 March 1943 |
|
Sustained battle damage for anti-aircraft fire and fightrer attacks. Ditched into the English Channel on return. Crew lost. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 29 July 2015 23:24:15 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to nicknames, markings, 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 15718; 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 15718. |
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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 15718 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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