Skip to main content
Edit entry 

42-3226

B-17 Flying Fortress

Delivered Cheyenne 1/4/43; Dow 23/5/43; Assigned 533BS/381BG [VP-S] Ridgewell 25/5/43 with Lt Col Leland Fiegel, Capt Art Briggs, Lt Clayton Greenwood eng/off, Maj Garfield Schnabel medic, Lt Carey Ballew (statn/off, M/Sgt Jim Hatton Ass/eng, M/Sgt Albt Purchase rad/op, T/Sgt Leon Szopinski Ops/clk, S/Sgt Harry Cenker pers/clk, Lt Spencer Muller ATC nav; battle damaged 1m Antwerp 22/6/43 with Inman Jobe, Co-pilot: Jim Hudson, Navigator: Jim Bradley, Bombardier: Larry Potenza, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Kinley Lindsay, Radio Operator: Henry Klick, Ball turret gunner: Bob Osborne, Waist gunner: Woody Englett, Waist gunner: Tony Fox,Tail gunner: Art Sieber (10 Returned to Duty); crash landed Nth Foreland, Kent, UK. on return from first mission of BG; Salvaged 1/7/43. LITTLE CHUCK.

Service

Units

  • 381st Bomb Group

    381st Bomb Group

    Group
    The 381st Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Ridgewell, Essex between June 1943 and April 1945. The Group was awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations, the first for bombing shipyards at Bremen, whilst under heavy attack, on 8 October 1943 and...

People

  • Eldon Broman

    Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 335BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF. 23 x combat missions. Shot down 10-Oct-43 in B-17 42-30272 'Fritz Blitz', Prisoner of War (POW) - MACR 1118. Awards: DFC, AM (3OLC), POW, PH, WWII Victory, EAME.

  • John Chaffin

    Military | Flight Officer | Co-Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 335BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 10-Oct-43 in B-17 42-30272 'Fritz Blitz'. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 1118 Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

  • William Fowler

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 95th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 335BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Munster in B-17 42-30272 'Fritz Blitz' 10-Oct-43; shot down, baled out Haakbergen, Holland, Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 1118 Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

  • Paul Guiteras

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 95th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 335BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Munster in B-17 42-30272 'Fritz Blitz' 10-Oct-43; shot down, baled out Haakbergen, Holland Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 1118 Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

  • Thomas Kelly

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 95th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 335BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Munster in B-17 42-30272 'Fritz Blitz' 10-Oct-43; shot down, baled out Haakbergen, Holland, Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 1118 Awards: DFC, AM (3OLC), POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

Places

  • Ridgewell

    Military site : airfield
    Built during 1941-42 as an RAF bomber station, Ridgewell operated as a satellite to RAF Stradishall until May 1943. It had three concrete runways, initially 36 pan hardstandings, and two dispersed T2 hangars. Taken over by the Eighth Air Force in June...

Events

Not yet known

Nicknames
Little Chuck
Production block number
F-DL
Manufacturer
Douglas
Markings and paint scheme/livery

Olive drab over gray.

Early 381st BG carried indivdual radio call letter high on the fin assembly.
The Group's Squadrons briefly used a different set of code letters.

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
17 January 2020 02:17:16 phil marchese Changes to production block number, manufacturer and markings
Sources

381 BG by Squadron Shop.
Date Contributor Update
17 January 2020 01:20:03 jmoore43 Changes to nicknames
Sources

Added the nickname mentioned in the A/C “Description”.
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:40:42 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log

Share