42-107123
Delivered Tulsa 2 March 1944; Kansas City 7 March 1944; Grenier 21 April 1944. Assigned 398BG Nuthampstead 25 April 1944 (no operations). Transferred 339BS/96BG [BX- ] Horham 28 April 1944. Missing in Action Brux, Czechoslovakia, 12 May 1944 with Pilot Harold H. Tucker, Co-pilot Robert A. Greenwoodchute failed, Navigator: Samuel R. Detwiler Jr, Bombardier: Walter Slemensky,Tail gunner: Jennings C. Greuter, Flight engineer/Top Turret gunner: Lloyd D. Stoller, Radio Operator: James A. Davis Jr, Ball turret gunner: Willis D. Boatwright, Waist gunner: Lavern B. Maisak, Waist gunner: Lawrence L. Witt. Shot down by enemy aircraft, crashed near Merzhausen, four miles SW of Usingen, Germany. 5 men are killed in action (KIA-) : Sam Detwiler Jr, Bob Greenwood, Jennings Greuter, Walt Slemensky and their pilot Harry Tucker. The 5 others are made Prisoners of War (POW). Missing Air Crew Report : MACR 5359.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 34071991
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32740208
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 11083341 and O-709308
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 12099172 and O-818664
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35545269
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Military site
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Station 138
Missions
- Date: 12 May 1944
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Other Failed to Return (FTR) |
Merzhausen, Germany | 12 May 1944 |
Revisions
Snetterton Falcons II: The 96th Bomb Group in World War II by Robert E Doherty & Geoffrey Ward, Second Edition with Errata & Supplemental Information, Taylor Publishing, 1996. pages 140, 147, 293
See also https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/106588 Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
Lawrence L. Witt was a Detroit native who served in the Army Air Force during World War II and was a prisoner of war (POW) for eleven months after getting shot down over Nazi Germany. His daughter Laura A. Edge later researched her father’s story and wrote a book about his and other airmen’s experiences as prisoners of war in WWII. Correspondence, various documents relating to military and prisoner of war experience, and audio-visual materials including oral histories of several WWII veterans.
The olive drab F series Our Baby is no a match as a key image. If crew is associated, the mage can be associated with yhe peope, not the aircraft.
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 5359 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database