B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 12/11/43; Kearney 27/11/43; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-Q] Deenethorpe 1/2/44; Missing in Action Berlin 21/6/44 with Jack Atherton, Co-pilot: Don Awalt, Navigator: Dick Fitzmaurice, Bombardier: John Whelan, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Bob Sonnhalter, Radio Operator: Jim Burg, Ball turret gunner: Dan Grunstad, Waist gunner: Jeral Smith, Waist gunner: Ron Cox,Tail gunner: Bill Gray (10 Prisoner of War); flak, bellied in Gruenewald, six miles NE of Nauen, Ger; Missing Air Crew Report 6000. SALVO SADIE.
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 | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 401st Bomb Group
Shot down 28 May 1944 in B-17 42-31034 'Bonnie Donnie. ' Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 401st Bomb Group
Shot down by flak and crashed at Gruenewald on 6/21/44 in B-17 #42-31496 Prisoner of War (POW)
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 401st Bomb Group
Shot down by flak and crashed at Gruenewald on 6/21/44 in B-17 42-31496. Prisoner of War (POW)
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 401st Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 401st Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Shot down 28 May 1944 in B-17 #42-31034 'Bonnie Donnie'. Killed in Action (KIA).
PH
Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 401st Bomb Group
Shot down 28 May 1944 in B-17 #42-31034 'Bonnie Donnie'. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Retired from the USAF with the rank of Lt. Colonel
6 February 1944
German airfields and V-Weapon sites in France are the primary targets of this mission. A combined force total of 642 heavy bombers are depatched from 8th Air Force 1st, 2nd and 3rd Bomb Divisions. The primary targets of 1st Bomb Division were the...
11 February 1944
This mission is composed of two separate elements. 3rd Bomb Division stands down having sustained massive losses of 29 aircraft on the previous day.
...
20 February 1944
This mission is the opening salvo of the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive known officially as "Operation Argument" but remembered in 8th Air Force History as "BIG WEEK". The immediate strategic objective of this six-day operation is the degradation of...
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 despathed from 1st 2nd and 3rd Air Divisions. Fighter opposition is heavy and bomber losses in 1st Air Division are massive - 39...
24 February 1944
BIG WEEK resumes with full intensity against the German aircraft industry. Bomber tactics are changed slightly in that each Air Division will be directed at more widely dispersed primary targets whoch it is thought will frustrate concentration...
25 February 1944
On this final operation of BIG WEEK, Day 6, a combined force of 754 heavy bombers from 1st, 2nd and 3rd Air Divisions are despatched to bomb the German aircraft industries at Regensburg, Augsburg, Stuttgart and Furth, Germany. Mission Summary follows:
...
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...
4 March 1944
The industrial areas in the suburbs of Berlin, Germany are the primary targets for this mission. All three Air Divisions despatch formations. However, the despatch from 2nd Air Division aborted the mission because of severe weather in the assembly area...
6 March 1944
The industrial areas of Berlin and Genshagen, Germany are the primary targets for this mission. A combined force of 730 heavy bombers are despatched from 1st, 2nd and 3rd Air Divisions. The despatch from 3rd Air Division bombs Targets of Opportunity in...
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...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Germany | 21 June 1944 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 14 September 2021 21:21:52 | acbernstein1 | Changes to nicknames, markings and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
http://401bg.org/Main/History/Aircraft/Details.aspx?ID=31496 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 14 June 2016 16:12:16 | ram957 | Changes to media associations |
| Sources | ||
Fold3 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 14 June 2016 16:10:52 | ram957 | Changes to nicknames |
| Sources | ||
Fold3 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:38 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 6000 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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