42-31565 Lassie Come Home

media-19442.jpeg UPL 19442 B-17G 42-31565 335th BS, 95th BG, 8AF USAAF. After sustaining flak damage and dropping out of formation the crew bailed out over the region of Avesnes, Cambria, Saint Quentin, France and the aircraft crashed at Saint Symphorien in Belgium. 4th March 44.

AAM DB Entry Correction.

Object Number - UPL 19442 - B-17G 42-31565 335th BS, 95th BG, 8AF USAAF. After sustaining flak damage and dropping out of formation the crew bailed out over the region of...

Delivered Denver 21/11/43; Gr Island 7/12/43; Selfridge 14/12/43; Presque Is 15/12/43; Assigned 335BS/95BG [OE-U] Horham 26/12/43; 13m, Missing in Action Berlin 4/3/44 with Pilot Rodney P. Roehm; Co-pilot: David F. Wolter; Bombardier: Donald R. Egan; Ball turret gunner: Eugene S. Purnell; Left Waist gunner: Floyd C. Noullet; Tail gunner: Emory T. Kesterson (6 Prisoner of War); Right Waist gunner: John P. Wesp (Killed in Action); Navigator: Johnathan Pearson; Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Charles A. Strackbine; Radio Operator: Thomas L. Yankus (3 evaded capture). Hit by Flak in the nose cone after dropping its bombs, one of 42-31565's engines ran out of fuel. It was seen to turn slowly to the left and go into a steep dive, under control. No fire, smoke nor chutes were seen as the formation headed for its base. Missing Air Crew Report MACR 2795. Crew photo at http://95thbg.org/j3migr/crews-p-r/view-image/c8fb258c4811b32bc9de33222…

42-31565 crashed "on its own" near St Symphorien, three miles SE of Mons, Belgium. The pilot ordered to bail out and put the plane on auto-pilot with the aim of having it crashing in the North Sea. Due probably to tranfers of oil from one wing to the other, the plane banked and slowly lost altitude, nearing the ground and landed in a field in Saint-Symphorien, near Mons, Belgium. The surviving crew members knew nothing about the plane's crash location until 2004 when Belgian researchers found the real story. Missing Air Crew Report 2795. Yankus and Pearson were helped by the Belgian COMET Line in their evasion and were hidden in the secret camp in the Freteval Forest, near Châteaudun, France until Liberation in August 1944. (see www.evasioncomete.be). Strackbine was hidden elsewhere in France until also liberated.

Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 95th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 335th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 16044786 and O-682089
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 335th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 38046850
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 335th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 33305496
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 335th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 32294218 and O-692337
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 335th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 39031820
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner

Places

Missions

Events

Event Location Date Description

Assigned

26 December 1943 95BG 335BS

Crashed

Failed to Return (FTR)

4 March 1944 Missing in Action Berlin 4/3/44. Hit by Flak in the nose cone after dropping its bombs, one of 42-31565's engines ran out of fuel. It was seen to turn slowly to the left and go into a steep dive, under control. No fire, smoke nor chutes were seen as the formation headed for its base. Missing Air Crew Report MACR 2795.

Delivered

21 November 1944

Revisions

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Contributoracbernstein1
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ContributorAl_Skiff
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AAM DB Entry.

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ContributorED-BB
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Updated website address for www.evasioncomete.be

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Contributor466thHistorian
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Contributortimnoullet
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Aircraft Name from Floyd C. Noullet

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ContributorAl_Skiff
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AAM DB Entry.

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ContributorED-BB
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added MACR number

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ContributorED-BB
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Link to crew photo

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ContributorED-BB
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Added station and mission number

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ContributorED-BB
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Added details

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ContributorED-BB
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MACR 2795
Research in collaboration with other Belgian researchers and witnesses.

Date
ContributorAAM
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Sources

Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 2795 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

42-31565: Gallery (1 items)