Enver Charles Cury

Military
media-52672.jpeg UPL 52672 1st Lt Enver C Cury, 401BG.

USAAF Photo

Object Number - UPL 52672 - 1st Lt Enver C Cury, 401BG.

Enver Cury was Bombardier on board B-17 42-40002 'Breezing Home' of 401st Bomb Group / 615th Bomb Squadron on the 19-Jun-44 mission to the Bordeaux-Mérignac airfield. Hit by Flak, the Fortress had one motor on fire, two other ones out of action, leaking oil. Cury and the 9 other crew members bailed out and all managed to evade. Cury landed near Lesparre-Médoc in the Gironde Department (France) and was helped by French citizens and Underground members and was liberated in Périgueux on 1 September 1944. Enver Cury's Escape & Evasion Report is E&E #1845. See his page at http://www.evasioncomete.be/fcuryec.html with links there to his evading comrades' individual pages.

Enver "Ed" Curry (sic) is quoted in "Ghosts: Vintage Aircraft in WW II" (1987) : "The Bombardier operated the chin turret in the B-17. Sitting there one felt terribly exposed. The nearest thing to it is the dream where you are walking down the road with no clothes on. That was what it felt like being there when the battle began. You knew that the glass around you wasn't worth ten cents for protection. The smallest round or fragment would go clean through it. The man at the front had the best view of what was going on, but he had to pay for it."

After his discharge from active duty in 1945, Enver C. Cury served in the Army Reserve. He authored the book "Time out for War" (Rainbow Press, Florida - 1988)

He earned the caterpillar pin for the parachute saving his life upon bailing out and the silver winged boot as a successful evader while in enemy territory.

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

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

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 06966455
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 35424839
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: waist gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 15131018 / 0-690672
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 14041992
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 34395238
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner

Aircraft

A crashed B-17 Flying Fortress of the 401st Bomb Group. Image via R Bowers. First handwritten caption on reverse: 'Home on two engines.' Second handwritten caption on reverse: '"Breezing Home" IY-D, 42-40002. 401 BG.'
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Breezing Home
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States 23 March 1921 Son of Charles B. and Minnie G. Cury

Enlisted

Philadelphia, PA 4 March 1942 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Other

Evaded

Lesparre-Médoc, France 19 June 1944 - 1 September 1944 Helped by French citizens and Resistance members, he managed to evade capture and was back in England on 9 September 1944

Died

Boca Raton, Florida, United States 11 October 1996
Allentown, PA

Based

Deenethorpe 19 June 1944 Assigned to 615BS, 401BG, 8AF USAAF.

Revisions

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Sources

Updated www.evasioncomete.be website address

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Updated awards and bio section.

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Research for http://www.evasioncomete.org/fcuryec.html
Escape & Evasion Report E&E 1845

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Quotation from "Ghosts: Vintage Aircraft in WW II" (1987)

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Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 6001 / MACR 6001,

href="http://www.401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=959">http://www.401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=959> / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

Enver Charles Cury: Gallery (1 items)