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B-17 Flying Fortress
A 8th Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-5793) nicknamed "Stinky", the first B-17 Flying Fortress to carry HS2 Radar pathfinder equipment.
A B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-5793) of the 92nd Bomb Group flies above the clouds. Printed caption on reverse of print: '61131 A.C. - Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortresses" of the 92nd Bomb Group. England, 25 August 1943. "U.S. Air Force Photo."'
Delivered Long Beach 30/1/43; Salina 11/2/43; Assigned 332BS/94BG [XM-M] Bassingbourn 4/3/43; 325BS/92BG [NV-Y/M] Alconbury 20/4/43, the first B-17 sent to RAF Defford for installation of HSC equipment;
Transferred 813BS/482BG [PC-M] Alconbury 5/8/43; detailed return from Thorpe Abbotts back to base 10/11/43 with Art Reynolds, Co-pilot: John Russell, Navigator: Sheldon McCormick, Bombardier: Albert Rolnick, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Amos Behl, Radio Operator: Bob Holmes, Ex Radio Operator: John May, Ball turret gunner: Leslie Boling, Waist gunner: Laurie Evans, Waist gunner: Bill Landers, Tail gunner: Andy Allison, plus two passenger mechanics: Herman Kolousek, Bob Levi (13 Killed in Service); three civilians died, Walter Clarke of Stradbroke & Charles Burridge of Langton Green, Eye, while Ernest Barker, of Wetheringsett died in hospital; injured was Bill Dixon, of Finningham, whose horse was also killed; this aircraft was 8AF’s first H2S radar pathfinder, crashed on take off at Brome, Sfk, UK; Salvaged. STINKY.
Group
The 482nd Bomb Group was a Pathfinder Group, which using radar-equipped aircraft to support bombing missions until March 1944. Aircraft from this Group went ahead of other Bombers and sent information back about the best routes to take and the extent...
Squadron
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
KIS in B-17F #42-5793 crashed at Brome, Suffolk, en route to leading the 100th Bomb Group. He was the PFF plane, sent to lead the group. This group was a 'secret' group that flew on special OSS missions.
DFC, AM w/ 3 Oak Leaf Cluster
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
KIS in B-17F #42-5793 crashed at Brome, Suffolk, en route to leading the 100th Bomb Group. He was the PFF plane, sent to lead the group.
...
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
KIS in B-17F #42-5793 crashed at Brome, Suffolk, en route to leading the 100th Bomb Group. He was the PFF plane, sent to lead the group.
Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
KIS in B-17F #42-5793 crashed at Brome, Suffolk, en route to leading the 100th Bomb Group. He was the PFF plane, sent to lead the group.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 100th Bomb Group
KIS in B-17F #42-5793 crashed at Brome, Suffolk, en route to leading the 100th Bomb Group. He was the PFF plane, sent to lead the group.
Military | Corporal | Radar Mechanic | 100th Bomb Group
KIS in B-17F #42-5793 crashed at Brome, Suffolk, en route to leading the 100th Bomb Group. He was the PFF plane, sent to lead the group.
Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
KIS in B-17F #42-5793 crashed at Brome, Suffolk, en route to leading the 100th Bomb Group. He was the PFF plane, sent to lead the group.
Military | Master Sergeant | Radar Mechanic | 482nd Bomb Group
KIS in crash of #42-5793 Finger M-Mike at Brome, Suffolk England. Was a PFF aircraft. Sergeant Levi was especially trained to operate the new equipment, the H2S radar.
#1 engine caught fire on take-off and burned the cables. 17 lives were lost.
Military | Sergeant | Radio Operator | 100th Bomb Group
KIS in B-17F #42-5793 crashed at Brome, Suffolk, en route to leading the 100th Bomb Group. He was the PFF plane, sent to lead the group.
Military | Lieutenant | Navigator | 100th Bomb Group
KIS in B-17F #42-5793 crashed at Brome, Suffolk, en route to leading the 100th Bomb Group. He was the PFF plane, sent to lead the group.
Military site : airfield
Alconbury had been constructed as a satellite airfield for RAF Upwood and Wyton and was used by RAF Squadrons: Nos. 15, 40 and 156. In preparation for the arrival of American heavy bombers, the base was developed in 1942 with the runways extended. When...
Military site : airfield
Now home to a museum all about the aifield and its USAAF residents (http://www.towermuseumbassingbourn.co.uk/) , Bassingbourn opened in 1938 as part of the RAF's pre-war expansion programme. The RAF continued to use it until late in 1942 when its long...
Military site : airfield
Home of the 'Bloody Hundredth’, a Bomb Group with a reputation for high casualty rates, Thorpe Abbotts was under USAAF control from June 1943 to the end of the war. Some of the airfield survives today, and the control tower houses the 100th Bomb Group...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Crashed | Brome, Eye, Suffolk IP23, UK | 10 November 1943 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 17 July 2021 18:20:33 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added a space before the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 08 December 2015 14:21:02 | Lucy May | Changes to description, events, person associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
Associated the person records from information in description field. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:56 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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