Grover C Nordman Jr
Military
From a group photo of crew members taken in Rapid City, S.D. by my late father-in-law, Alton R. Karoli, when he was Navigator on B-17 My Baby.
Object Number - UPL 43068 - Sgt. Grover C. Nordman, Jr.
Evaded (EVD) crashed near Toul in B-17 My Baby 42-107033 on 9/5/44.
Nordman was Radio Operator on Robert Kelley's crew of the 91st Bomber Group when they were shot down over France 5th September 1944. He baled out and landed close to a blockhouse on the Maginot Line. He hid his parachute and managed to crawl to a nearby farmhouse as German soldiers were searching the village. The family hid him in a pile of manure from where they dug him next day, cleaning him up and fitting him out in civilian clothes. The following day he joined a band of Maquis and - after several 'fierce fights' - entered the American lines around Rheims where C-47's were bringing supplies to Patton's Third Army and Nordman managed to hitch a ride back to England on a returning transport.
After the war he bought a jewellery store in Marion IA. Grover Nordman died 12th December 1999 being survived by his wife Lilian.
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
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: My Baby
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 322nd Bomb Squadron
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Other Evaded |
5 September 1944 | ||
|
Born |
Des Moines, Iowa |
Revisions
Biography completed by historian Helen Millgate. Information sourced from newsletters of the 91st Bomb Group related to the service of Grover Nordman.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 8595
