43-37820

Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Production block number: B-17G-70-BO
Manufacturer: Boeing
Markings & paint scheme: Square "W" on tail assigned to 832rd Bomb Squadron, 486th bomb Group, 8thAAF, England. * If you look at the photos of any group's aircraft (a/c) you'll note two sets of codes on the fuselage in addition to the tail number. Tail numbers are truncated versions of the aircraft serial number. So, for the a/c having a serial number 42-98008, the tail number is 298008. The squadron codes are letter-number combinations. For the four squadrons of the 486th, these are: 832nd - 3R 833rd - 4N 834th - 2S 835th - H8. Then, each plane in the squadron has an ID letter. There are two letters I and Q that are not used if I remember correctly. In the early months of the 486th's combat tour, the plane ID appeared on the tail under the tail number, but in he last months of the war when the colors were added, the plane ID letter was moved to the fuselage and painted in the squadron colors: 832nd - Yellow 833rd - Blue 834th - Red 835th - Green The squadrons had radio call signs: 832nd - Trappist 833rd - Pebbly 834th - Deepseat 835th - Nitedress The individual aircraft would then have a radio call sign based upon the squadron and their a/c ID. If an aircraft had the ID combination of 3R:T, then that aircraft would be called on the radio as "Trappist Tear", where Tear was the phonetic code for "T". The WWII phonetic alphabet was different than the current one in use. (This explanation of aircraft serial numbers and call signs is courtesy of the Historian/Webmaster of the official web page of the 486th Bombardment Group [ http://www.486th.org/ ] and he can be reached at: [email protected])

Delivered Cheyenne 26/5/44; Kearney 7/6/44; Grenier 17/6/44; Assigned 832BS/486BG [4N-A] Sudbury 28/6/44; 833BS [3R-T]; [75m Missing in Action Brandenburg 10/4/45 with Melvin Thaler, Carl Oestreich, Don Wheeler, Art Greenfield togg), Neal Fielder, Chas Grannis, Wallace Minard, Bob Farrell, Leon Lanier tg, George Philips obs (10 Prisoner of War); flak, crashed Ziesar, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 13910.

radio call sign: Trappist Tear

Connections

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Units served with

People

Donald Robert Wheeler

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 486th Bomb Group 832nd Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: 19066095 / O-664355
Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
Role/Job: Navigator

Robert J Whitney

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 486th Bomb Group 832nd Bomb Squadron 833rd Bomb Squadron 834th Bomb Squadron 835th Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: O-764539
Highest Rank: Captain
Role/Job: Flight Commander

Places

Missions

Events

Event	Location	Date	Description
Delivered	Cheyenne AAF, WY	26 May 1944	Delivered Cheyenne AAF 26-May-44.
Crashed Failed to Return (FTR)	Ziesar, Germany	10 April 1945	Failed to Return (FTR) Brandenburg in B-17 43-37820; shot down near Ziesar 10-Apr-45 10 x POW MACR 13910
Manufactured
Assigned			Assigned to 832BS, 486BG, 8AF USAAF.

Revisions

Date17 May 2022 12:22:55

ContributorAl_Skiff

Changes

Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/29435098

Date13 Nov 2021 17:57:46

Contributorhansvonmaltzahn

Changes

Sources

From a personal email sent by the historian/webmaster of the 496th Bomb. Group web page, dated 8th Nov. 2021, and sent to Hans V. von Maltzahn, discussing the B17G bomber, #43-37820, and how Trappist Tear is not a nickname, but a call sign based on the explanation above. hv

Date4 Nov 2021 18:54:58

Contributorhansvonmaltzahn

Changes

Sources

See Flight Captain Whitney's Crew & Mission sheet at the official 486th Bomb. Group web page at this address:
https://486th.org/BS832/Whitney.htm

Date15 Jun 2020 18:48:35

ContributorAl_Skiff

Changes

Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/29435098

Date17 Aug 2018 21:59:01

Contributorgfeindel

Changes

Sources

logbook David B Roper, 833rd bomb Squadron, mission to Brest , France, Sept 3rd 1944

Date17 Aug 2018 21:56:29

Contributorgfeindel

Changes

Sources

486th bomb group web site.

Date27 Sep 2014 18:41:24

ContributorAAM

Changes

Sources

Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 13910 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database