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B-17 Flying Fortress
Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" (A/C No. 1414) belly landed at an 8th Air Force Base in England, 28 January 1944. 401St Bomb Group. 42-31414 (401st BG 615th BS IY-J) assigned 14 jan 44, 1 mission, scrapped after this ground accident, undercarriage retracted by error.
401st Bomb Group, Mission No. 16, 21 Jan 1944, Pas De Calais. 23 operational aircraft were off by 1230. All planes returned safely by 1554 hours. This short mission was to the French rocket coast. It was a successful mission, with no enemy opposition.
Delivered Cheyenne 1/11/43; Kearney 16/11/43; Assigned 615BS/401BG [IY-J] Deenethorpe 14/1/44; on ferry trip from Little Staughton to Deenethorpe 27/1/44 with Mitch Woods, Co-pilot: Leon Van Sycle, Navigator: Rich Montfort, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Jack Agee, Radio Operator: Nunzib Paola, pass-Don Lamb; cp was at controls and came down on wrong runway, but pilot Woods put up landing gear switch instead of flaps, crash landed base, (7 Returned to Duty); Salvaged n/battle damaged 2 SAD Lilett Staughton 30/1/44.
Group
The 401st Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Deenethorpe, Northamptonshire, from November 1943 to June 1945. Starting their missions at that time meant the focus was very much on the coming invasion attempt of France planned for the following...
Squadron
Depot
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Assigned to 615BS, 401BG, 8AF USAAF. On 27-Jan-44, while taxiing after landing from a training flight, the landing gear switch of B-17 42-31414 was placed in the up position instead of the flap switch. RTD.
...
Military | Corporal | Passenger | 401st Bomb Group
On 27 Jan 1944, while taxiing after landing from a training flight, the landing gear switch of B-17G #42-31414 was placed in the up position instead of the flap switch. RTD.
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
On 27 Jan 1944, while taxiing after landing from a training flight, the landing gear switch of B-17G 42-31414 was placed in the up position instead of the flap switch. RTD.
...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 401st Bomb Group
On 27 Jan 1944, while taxiing after landing from a training flight, the landing gear switch of B-17G #42-31414 was placed in the up position instead of the flap switch. RTD.
Military | Sergeant | Radio Operator, Radio Operator Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
On 27 Jan 1944, while taxiing after landing from a training flight, the landing gear switch of B-17G #42-31414 was placed in the up position instead of the flap switch. RTD.
...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 401st Bomb Group
Assigned to 615BS, 401BG, 8AF USAAF. On 27-Jan-44, while taxiing after landing from a training flight, the landing gear switch of B-17G 42-31414 was placed in the up position instead of the flap switch. RTD.
...
Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 401st Bomb Group
Assigned to 615BS, 401BG, 8AF USAAF.
...
21 January 1944
This mission is directed at 36 V-Weapon sites (34 in the Pas-de-Calaise area and 2 in the Chrebourg area of France) 24 of these are bombed successfully. All three Bomb Divisions participate in the attacks and the bomber gunners claimed 5-1-2 of...
Military site : airfield
Deenethorpe was a base purpose-built for American heavy bombers, with the Class A regulation 2,000 and 1,400-yard runways. All the buildings on site,such as the accommodation and administrative blocks, were temporary. In December 1943, several local...
Other location
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Manufactured | Seattle, WA, USA | 1943 |
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Built at Boeing. |
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| Delivered | 722, 6207 Missile Dr, Cheyenne, WY 82005, USA | 1 November 1943 |
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Delivered Cheyenne AAF 1-Nov-43. |
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| Assigned | Deenethorpe Airfield, Deenethorpe NN17 3AN, UK | 14 January 1944 |
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Assigned 615BS, 401BG, 8AF USAAF. |
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| Crashed | Deenethorpe Airfield, Deenethorpe NN17 3AN, UK | 27 January 1944 |
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On ferry trip copilot was at controls and came down on wrong runway, but pilot Woods put up landing gear switch instead of flaps, belly landed base. |
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| Salvaged | Little Staughton, Bedford MK44 2BT, UK | 30 January 1944 |
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Salvaged to 2SAD Little Staughton 30-Jan-44. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 17 May 2022 12:59:25 | Al_Skiff | Changes to unit associations |
| Sources | ||
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbasn.asp?SN=42-31414&Submit4=Go |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 12 September 2021 13:52:44 | acbernstein1 | Changes to mission associations |
| Sources | ||
http://401bg.org/Main/History/Aircraft/Details.aspx?ID=31414 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 02 December 2017 19:24:27 | Al_Skiff | Changes to production block number, manufacturer, markings, description, events, unit associations, person associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbasn.asp?SN=42-31414&Submit4=Go |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:38 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log |
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