Donald H Brightbill
Military ROLL OF HONOURShot down 20 December 1942 in B-17F 41-24566 'Zombie' 303BG/360BS, while serving as Navigator on a mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. MACR 15593. Killed in Action (KIA). Participated in 4 Operations (1 was aborted). See Biography events.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
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
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Zombie
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 359th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 20 December 1942
- Official Description:
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Other Assigned to Aircraft |
Alamogordo, NM 88310, USA | 23 June 1942 | Assigned as Navigator of B-17F 41-24566 "Zombie", 303BG/359BS at Alamogordo Field, Alamogordo, New Mexico. |
Other Arrived in UK |
Molesworth, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28, UK | 25 October 1942 | Arrived as Navigator with B-17F 41-24566, Zombie, 303BG/359BS at Molesworth, UK |
Other Mission #1, 2LT Donald H. Brightbill, w/B-17F 41-24566, 303BG/359BS |
Saint-Nazaire, France | 18 November 1942 | Assigned as Navigator of B-17F 41-24566 "Zombie", 303BG/359BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France. RTB OK. |
Other Mission #2, 2LT Donald H. Brightbill, w/B-17F 41-24566, 303BG/359BS |
Lorient, France | 22 November 1942 | Served as Navigator on B-17F 41-24566 "Zombie", 303BG/359BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France. RTB OK. |
Other Mission #3, 2LT Donald H. Brightbill, w/B-17F 41-24566, 303BG/359BS - Aborted |
Rouen, France | 12 December 1942 | Served as Navigator on B-17F 41-24566 "Zombie", 303BG/359BS on a mission to bomb the railraod marshalling yards at Rouen, France, but mechaincal failures forced the pilot to abort the sortie. RTB OK. |
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
Dieppe, France | 20 December 1942 | Killed when the aircraft was attacked by German fighters and crashed into the English Channel near Dieppe, France. His remains were never recovered. The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) has no record that his name appears on any Wall of the Missing at any American Cemetery in Europe. |
Other Mission #4, 2LT Donald H. Brightbill, w/B-17F 41-24566, 303BG/359BS - KIA |
Romilly-sur-Seine, France | 20 December 1942 | Served as Navigator on B-17F 41-24566 "Zombie", 303BG/359BS on a mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. The aircraft sustained heavy damag from fighters and AA fire an crashed into the English Channel on return. All crew lost. KIA. |
Born |
Reading, Pennsylvania |
Revisions
Lee Cunningham 11-Dec-2015. Added Mission #4 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 20-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/007.pdf
Lee Cunningham 11-Dec-2015. Added Mission #3 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 12-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/006.pdf
Lee Cunningham 11-Dec-2015. Added Mission # 2 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 22-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/003.pdf
Lee Cunningham 11-Dec-2015. Added Mission # 1 eent per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 18-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/002.pdf
Lee Cunningham 11-Dec-2015. Added Arrived in UK event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Orville S. Witt crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-359-witt.html
Lee Cunningham 11-Dec-2015. Added Assigned to Aircraft event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Orville S. Witt crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-359-witt.html
Combined two entries into a single entry. This record now includes information from the following source: MACR 15708 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database.
Correction of some typographical errors.
Lee Cunningham 4-Dec-2014. Added KIA event and other details per MACR 15709; made connections to Place aircraft and Mission within existing website data.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 15708, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. 1 by Hey and Bishop p.55