41-24620 Snap! Crackle! Pop!

media-15947.jpeg UPL 15947 B-17F 41-24620 Snap! Crackle! Pop! 360BS PU-O
Actual Nose Art panel from crashed B-17 at St. Nazaire, France - 03 January 1943

Object Number - UPL 15947 - B-17F 41-24620 Snap! Crackle! Pop! 360BS PU-O Actual Nose Art panel from crashed B-17 at St. Nazaire, France - 03 January 1943

B-17F 41-24620 'Snap, Crackle, Pop' assigned 360BS/303BG [PU-D] Bangor 14-Sep-42; Molesworth 16-Oct-42; was one of the first group of 40 B-17s deployed to England by the USAAF 8th Air Force. Plane was named by its original pilot, then-Lt. Jacob Wayne Fredericks, who was an engineer at the Kellogg's Cereal Co. before enlisting. As fate would have it, Lt. Fredericks and his crew took possession of the plane at Kellogg Field in Battle Creek, Michigan (the city where Kellogg's was based), and he was able to get Kellogg's in-house artist to paint the famous "Snap! Crackle! Pop!" trio from Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal brand on the nose. Because crews had to share equipment in the early stages of the war, the crew of Lt. Arthur Adams was assigned to fly to the plane on a bombing mission over St Nazaire, France (home of a major German submarine facility) on 3-Jan-43, where it was shot down by enemy aircraft, crashing in the Escoublac Forest, West of St Nazaire, France. 7KIA 3POW MACR 15464. Navigator: Glen Herrington lost leg, was captured and later repatriated. 

In one of the most extraordinary (and well documented) stories in history of surviving a free fall, the ball turret gunner, S/SGT Alan E. Magee, was blown from the plane without a parachute, fell 22,000 ft onto the roof of the St-Nazaire train -- and SURVIVED (with the help of a German military doctor). Magee survived the war as a POW, and lived long enough to attend the dedication of a memorial to the crew of the plane at St. Nazaire in the 1990s. 

 

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

Official emblem of the 303rd Bomb Group approved 7 November 1942.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-435845
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-791048
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Major
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 37101208
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: waist gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 37011803
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner

Places

Missions

Events

Event Location Date Description

Other

Arrival in UK

16 October 1942 Arrived at Molesworth, UK, with 303BG/360BS.

Other

Failed to Return (FTR)

3 January 1943 Shot down by enemy aircraft. Crashed in Forest of Escoublac, west of St. Nazaire, France.  

Revisions

Date
Contributoracbernstein1
Changes
Date
Contributorwfredericks
Changes
Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 24-Jan-2016. Added Mission #5 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 3-Jan-43: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/009.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 24-Jan-2016. Added Mission #4 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 30-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/008.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 24-Jan-2016. Added Mission #3 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 12-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/006.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 24-Jan-2016. Added Mission #2 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 18-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/002.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 24-Jan-2016. Added Mission #1 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission REport of 17-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/001.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 24-Jan-2016. Adde Arrival in Uk event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian;, http://www.303rdbg.com/

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 24-Jan-2016. Added Mission participations to Biography Description; made connections to all mission participations per 303G website, 303BG Mission Reports, Gary Moncur, Historian, http://www.303rdbg.com/

Date
ContributorJasonR
Changes
Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 14-Jan-2015. Markings per "The Mighty Eighth Warpaint & Heraldry" Roger A. Freeman; Made connections to Place and Mission within website data: Added crash information to FTR event per MACR 15464; Edited description, converted dates to military-style signification per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; Added crew position, rank, full proper name and disposition to crew and formatted crew display per MACR 15464.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 15464 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

41-24620: Gallery (2 items)