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42-31924

B-17 Flying Fortress

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Delivered Denver 5/1/44; Kearney 15/1/44; Presque Is 29/1/44; Assigned 334BS/95BG [BG-Q] Horham 2/2/44; over Berlin 18/4/44 with A.V. Bowden,Tail gunner: Elbert E. Hargraves (Killed in Action). Flew 41 missions. Missing in Action Leipzig 29/5/44 with Pilot Norman A. Ulrich, Co-pilot: George D. Reiff, Navigator: Ralph W. Smithberger, Bombardier: Don T. Payne, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Leon E. Anderson, Radio Operator: Norman H. Phillips, Ball turret gunner: Rubin Schulman, Waist gunner: Eugene H. Buhler, Waist gunner: Lawrence E. English,Tail gunner: Norman J. Hines; enemy aircraft, crash landed Brunau, near Packebusch, 30km SE of Salzwedel, Germany and all 10 men on board were immediately arrested - Missing Air Crew Report 5343. OL' DOG. Writer Robert Forsyth has written a chapter about the plane and its crew in his book “Fw 190 Sturmböcke Vs B-17 Flying Fortress: Europe 1944-45” (Osprey Publishing - November 2009).

Service

Units

  • 95th Bomb Group

    95th Bomb Group

    Group
    The 95th Bomb Group was the only Eighth Air Force Group to be awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations. The first, shared by all four Bomb Wing Groups, was for the bombing of an aircraft factory under intense enemy fire at Regensburg on 17 August...

  • 334th Bomb Squadron

    334th Bomb Squadron

    Squadron

People

  • Leon Anderson

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 95th Bomb Group
    Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #4231924 'Ol' Dog. ' Prisoner of War (POW). POW

  • Eugene Buhler

    Military | Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 95th Bomb Group
    Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #4231924 'Ol' Dog. ' Prisoner of War (POW). POW

  • Lawrence English

    Military | Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner | 95th Bomb Group
    Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #4231924 'Ol' Dog. ' Prisoner of War (POW). POW

  • Elbert Hargraves

    Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 95th Bomb Group
    Killed in Action (KIA)

  • Norman Hines

    Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 95th Bomb Group
    Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #4231924 'Ol' Dog. ' Prisoner of War (POW). POW

  • Harold Lansberry

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 95th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 334BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF. William McPherson crew. 24 x combat missions. ETD Awards: DFC, AM, PH, WWII Victory, EAME.

  • Don Payne

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 95th Bomb Group
    Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #42-31924 'Ol' Dog. ' Prisoner of War (POW).

  • Norman Phillips

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Radio Operator | 95th Bomb Group
    Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #4231924 'Ol' Dog. ' Prisoner of War (POW). POW

  • George Reiff

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
    Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #42-31924 'Ol' Dog. ' Prisoner of War (POW).

  • Rubin Schulman

    Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 95th Bomb Group
    Shot down 29 May 1944 in B-17 #4231924 'Ol' Dog. ' Prisoner of War (POW). POW

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Missions

  • 379

    29 May 1944
    Mission #2. The target was an aircraft assembly plant. Flak was exceedingly heavy. We were in the air 7-1/2 hours.

Places

  • Horham

    Military site : airfield
    Horham airfield was planned and built for RAF use, but handed over to the Eighth Air Force and used initially by the 47th Bomb Group. When they joined the Twelfth Air Force in January 1943, it became home to the B-26 Marauders of the 323rd Bomb Group....

  • Presque Isle Army Airfield

    Military site : airfield

Events

Event Location Date
Combat damage Crew casualty Berlin, Germany 18 April 1944

Over Berlin 18/4/44 with pilot Lt Anthony V. Bowden, Tail gunner: Elbert E Hargraves (Killed in Action).
Crashed Salzwedel, Germany 29 May 1944

Missing in Action Leipzig 29/5/44. Cause - enemy aircraft, crash landed Brunau, near Packebusch, 30km SE of Salzwedel, Germany and all 10 men on board were immediately arrested - Missing Air Crew Report MACR 5343.
Nicknames
'Ol' Dog'
Production block number
B-17G-30-BO
Manufacturer
Boeing
Markings and paint scheme/livery

Coded BG-Q.

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
26 May 2016 23:04:08 gwgrove Changes to description, events and person associations
Sources

F/O Anthony V. Bowden served as a co-pilot and a pilot with the 95th BG; there was no W.W. Bowden in the 95th BG, per NARA records. gwg
Date Contributor Update
30 November 2015 11:46:17 Al_Skiff Changes to production block number, nicknames, markings, events, unit associations and person associations
Sources

AAM DB Entry.
Date Contributor Update
17 July 2015 14:37:55 ED-BB Changes to nicknames and description
Sources

Change to nickname
Added book reference
Date Contributor Update
17 July 2015 11:40:03 ED-BB Changes to nicknames, description, events, place associations and mission associations
Sources

Roger Freeman's B-17 Flying Fortress Story
MACR 5343
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:40:41 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 5343 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

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