FRE 8097

IMAGE
Damaged B-17 Flying Fortresses including (serial number 44-6146) of the 401st Bomb Group, and of the 486th Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'IN-R, 401BG.' A veteran has handwritten on reverse: 'Winter of 1944. This plane's bombardier was my best friend in high school. We joined the aviation cadets together in fall of 1942. Plane is from the 486th Bomb Group. It was struck in the rear by another plane in formation and tail gunner fell to his death over Germany. The Germans buried him and sent ph
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Damaged B-17 Flying Fortresses including (serial number 44-6146) of the 401st Bomb Group, and of the 486th Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'IN-R, 401BG.' A veteran has handwritten on reverse: 'Winter of 1944. This plane's bombardier was my best friend in high school. We joined the aviation cadets together in fall of 1942. Plane is from the 486th Bomb Group. It was struck in the rear by another plane in formation and tail gunner fell to his death over Germany. The Germans buried him and sent photo to his parents of tomb-stone which gave his home address as Indianapolis, Illinois instead of Indiana. This plane landed at the crash-landing base in Southern England. Bombardier was 1st Lt. Delmar Claussen of Sioux Falls, So. Dakota. He claims to be a German ace as he bailed out once and crashed 4 times.'

Connections

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Units

A pathfinder B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 44-8258) of the 401st Bomb Group. Image by Robert Astrella. Written on slide casing: '48258 14 A, Mount Farm.'

401st Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment
A diagrammatic layout of AAF Station 174 - the USAAF codename for Sudbury airfield - while the 486th Bomb Group were stationed at the airbase as of the 22 June 1944.

486th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

Damaged B-17 Flying Fortresses including (serial number 44-6146) of the 401st Bomb Group, and of the 486th Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'IN-R, 401BG.' A veteran has handwritten on reverse: 'Winter of 1944. This plane's bombardier was my best friend in high school. We joined the aviation cadets together in fall of 1942. Plane is from the 486th Bomb Group. It was struck in the rear by another plane in formation and tail gunner fell to his death over Germany. The Germans buried him and sent ph

42-98007

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Sleepy Time Gal
  • Unit: 486th Bomb Group 833rd Bomb Squadron
Damaged B-17 Flying Fortresses including (serial number 44-6146) of the 401st Bomb Group, and of the 486th Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'IN-R, 401BG.' A veteran has handwritten on reverse: 'Winter of 1944. This plane's bombardier was my best friend in high school. We joined the aviation cadets together in fall of 1942. Plane is from the 486th Bomb Group. It was struck in the rear by another plane in formation and tail gunner fell to his death over Germany. The Germans buried him and sent ph

44-6146

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Little Cheezer
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron 615th Bomb Squadron

Revisions

Date: 5 Nov 2022 07:39:47
Contributorjmoore43
Sources

Corrected a typo in the "Caption".

Date: 5 Nov 2022 07:39:47
Contributorgeneral ira snapsorter
Sources

Removed association tp person - not depicted in the image.

Date: 2 Feb 2015 10:00:08
ContributorAAM
Sources

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection