42-37982 Trembling Gremlin
The aircraft was one of 13 B-17s to land at Boxted after their mission on 28 June 1944.
P-47 Thunderbolts parked in the 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group's dispersal area are visible in the background Irving Brayer collection
Photographs taken by First Lieutenant Irving Brayer, Photographic and Communications Officer of the 56th Fighter Group c. 1944, and researched and shared with the support of Peter Randall (webmaster of Little Friends) and Nathan Howland (author of 'The 8th Army Air Force in Color', Schiffer Publishing 2016)
Object Number - UPL 44881 - A ground crewman pumps oil into B-17G Flying Fortress (SU-K, serial number 42-37982) nicknamed "Trembling Gremlin" of the 384th Bomb Group at Boxted...
Delivered Denver 3/11/43; Gr Island 12/11/43; Assigned 544BS/384BG [SU-K] Grafton Underwood 21/1/44; Missing in Action Hamm 19 September 1944 with Joe R. Carnes; co-pilot William G. Wyatt, Navigator: Alfred D. Benjamin; togglier Bob Chanter; Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Charles W. Ford; Radio Operator: Frank J. Shick; Waist gunner: Raymond A. Panici; Tail gunner: Gene Lucynski (8 evaded capture); Ball turret gunner: James B. King (Prisoner of War); severe flak damage, crashed near Binche, West of Charleroi, Belgium. No MACR. THE TREMBLIN’ GREMLIN.
According to an April 2006 posting by Navigator Benjamin, 4 wounded crew members were taken to Hospital Saint-Joseph in Gilly (Charleroi), Belgium as there was no US Army hospital facility yet near the crash site. Ball Turret Gunner King was the most seriously injured. After about 4 days, Benjamin and Waist Gunner Raymond Panici, wounded but able to walk, traveled to Charleroi to find an US Army officer who could get them transported to an American facility. 2 days later, all four wounded were driven to a field hospital and then evacuated by train to the General Hospital in Paris. Benjamin doesn't mention Chanter nor Lucynski in his posting.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 3555092
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 11120393 at enlistment, then O-718219
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-768814
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-761877
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 34605462
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Engineer/Top Turret Gunner
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Stapleton Airfield : Stapleton International Airport
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Grafton Undermud
Missions
Revisions
April 2006 posting by Navigator Alfred D. Benjamin on the Mighty 8th Air Force Message Board
