B-17 Flying Fortress
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.
401st Bomb Group, Mission No. 20, 4 Feb 1944, Frankfurt, Germany. 31 aircraft off on operations by 0901 hours. All but one of the operational aircraft had landed by 1614 hours. In spite of intense flak, the Group ploughed through a heavy overcast in 45 degree below zero weather to successfully bomb the target. Lt. Frank J. Zitkovic's crew, flying "Nobody's Baby" (#42-31036), was hit by flak and went down. None of the crew survived.
401st Bomb Group, Mission No. 26, 22 Feb 1944, Oschersleben, Germany. 32 aircraft were airborne by 0935. 29 operational aircraft had returned by 1755 while four aircraft were reported down at other airfields in the UK and two were missing.Major (later Colonel) W. T. Seawell led the Group on a mission that involved a coordinated attack by the 15th Air Force from its bases in Italy. As a result of heavy flak and fighter attacks, aircraft piloted by Lt. Loy M. Shanks (# 42-31930) and Lt. Vernon A. Arneson (# 42-38002) were shot down. Lt. Arneson's tail gunner, S/Sgt. R. G. Schmitt, was unable to bail out with the other crew members because his parachute was riddled by machine gun fire but survived without injuries when the B-17 landed itself in a field.
Delivered Cheyenne 4/11/43; Kearney 1/12/43; Romulus 9/12/43; Grenier 10/12/43; Presque Is 14/12/43; Assigned 613BS/401BG [IN-J] Deenethorpe 6/1/44. Missing in Action Frankfurt 2 March 1944 with William G. Sheahan, Co-pilot: Elliott B. Ogden, Navigator: Robert O. Davis, Bombardier: Douglas M. Conway, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Richard W. Rickey, Radio Operator: Donald W. Silverstein, Waist gunner: Seymour Falk (7 Prisoner of War); Ball turret gunner: Hazard Justice, Waist gunner: Roger T. Leking,Tail gunner: John W. O’Mara (3 Killed in Action); enemy aircraft, exploded mid air, crashed Falaën-St-Gérard, near Mettet, 10 miles SW of Namur, Belgium. Missing Air Crew Report - MACR 2742. SAC HOUND.
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
Military | Sergeant (Technician Fourth Grade) | Left Waist Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Barker, a native of Yorktown, Ind., was a burly 6-foot-2 inch forward on the 1948 Kentucky team that finished the season with a 36-3 record, the national title and the nickname of the Fabulous Five. The other starters were Wallace (Wah Wah) Jones at...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 401st Bomb Group
Douglas Conway was Bombardier on B-17 “Sac Hound” 42-31467 when it was shot down by German Me109 fighters over Belgium on the 2 March 1944 mission to Frankfurt, Germany. MACR 2742. He managed to evade capture, helped by Belgian citizens and members of...
Military | Sergeant (Technician Fourth Grade) | Tail Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Assigned to 612BS, 401BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down during bombing mission over Brunswick, Germany 30-Jan-44 in B-17 42-37856 'Fancy Nancy III'. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 2876
Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 401st Bomb Group
Robert Davis was Navigator on B-17 “Sac Hound” 42-31467 when it was shot down by German Me109 fighters over Belgium on the 2 March 1944 mission to Frankfurt, Germany. MACR 2742. He managed to evade capture, helped by Belgian citizens and members of the...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Shot down by ME109s and crashed SW of Namur, Belgium on a mission to Frankfurt am Main, Germany on 2 March 1944 in B-17G #42-31467 'Sac Hound'. Prisoner of War (POW). Honorably discharged 3 November 1945.
Military | Flight Officer | Navigator | 401st Bomb Group
Shot down during bombing mission over Brunswick, Germany 30 Jan 1944 in B-17G #42-37856 'Fancy Nancy III. ' Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Shot down by ME109s and crashed SW of Namur, Belgium on a mission to Frankfurt am Main, Germany on 2 March 1944 in B-17G #42-31467 'Sac Hound'. Killed in Action (KIA).
Military | Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Shot down by ME109s and crashed SW of Namur, Belgium on a mission to Frankfurt am Main, Germany on 2 March 1944 in B-17G #42-31467 'Sac Hound'. Killed in Action (KIA). Roger Leking was a substitute Right Waist Gunner on that mission, the regular RWG on...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Shot down by ME109s and crashed SW of Namur, Belgium on a mission to Frankfurt am Main, Germany on 2 March 1944 in B-17G #42-31467 'Sac Hound'. Killed in Action (KIA). As well as NARA's WWII Enlistment records as the WWII Army Air Forces casualties...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 401st Bomb Group
Shot down by ME109s and crashed SW of Namur, Belgium on a mission to Frankfurt am Main, Germany on 2 March 1944 in B-17G #42-31467 'Sac Hound'. Prisoner of War (POW).
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...
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...
21 February 1944
Day 2 of BIG WEEK is another maximum effort by 8th Air Force to bomb 6 airfields in Germany as primary targets: Diepholz, Gütersloh, Lippstadt, Werl, Achmer and Handorf. In addition the industrial areas of Brunswick city are included as a primary...
22 February 1944
The German aircraft industry is again targeted in Day 3 of BIG WEEK. A combined total od 789 bombers (maximum effort) are dispatched from 1st 2nd and 3rd Air Divisions. Fighter opposition is heavy and bomber losses in 1st Air Division are massive - 39...
2 March 1944
The primary targets for this mission are: the railroad marshalling yards at Frankfurt, Germany; and the German air depot ar Chartres, France. The mission is composed of two entierly separate forces. 327 B-17s from 1st Air Division joined by 154 B-24s...
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...
Military site : airfield
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Belgium | 2 March 1944 |
|
shot down by enemy aircraft; crashed Falaën-St-Gérard, near Mettet, about 10 miles SW of Namur, Belgium. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 10 September 2021 13:29:42 | acbernstein1 | Changes to mission associations |
| Sources | ||
http://401bg.org/Main/History/Aircraft/Details.aspx?ID=31467 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 January 2019 16:24:02 | ED-BB | Changes to nicknames, markings, description, events and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
MACR 2742 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:38 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 2742 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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