Merle S Mullendore

Military

On 23 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24580 'Hellcat Agnes' while serving as Engineer/Top Turret Gunner the aircraft was downed by fighters near Brest. He parachuted to safety and was captured as a Prisoner of War (POW). Participated in 6 Operations - 2 Aborted (See Biography events).

Connections

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

Units served with

303rd Bomb Group

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

358th Bomb Squadron

Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

41-24580

Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Nicknames: Hellcat Agnes : No Monkey Business
Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 358th Bomb Squadron

Missions

VIII Bomber Command 30

Date: 23 January 1943

VIII Bomber Command 26

Date: 20 December 1942
Official Description:

VIII Bomber Command 25

Date: 12 December 1942
Official Description:

A flight of B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 305th Bomb Group, in formation returning from Lille. Printed caption on reverse: 'Vapor trails made by Boeing B-17's returning from Lille, France. US Air Force Photo.' Handwritten caption on reverse: 'KY-A, 25085?. KY-B, 124591 "Rigor Mortis". KY-C, 25078. JJ-Q, 25060. JJ-R, 123614 "Snafu". XK-U "Wham Bam". XK-P "Flapper".

VIII Bomber Command 24

Date: 6 December 1942
Official Description:

VIII Bomber Command 22

Date: 22 November 1942
Official Description:

Places

Molesworth

Site type: Airfield

Events

Event	Location	Date	Description
Other Mission #1 TSGT Merle S. Mullendore w/B-17F 41-24580, 303BG/358BS	Saint-Nazaire, France	18 November 1942	Served as Engineer/Top Turret Gunner on B-17F 41-24580 "Hell Cat", 303BG/358BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France. (RTB OK)
Other Mission #2 TSGT Merle S. Mullendore w/B-17F 41-24580, 303BG/358BS	Lorient, France	22 November 1942	Served as Engineer/Top Turret Gunner on B-17F 41-24580 "Hell Cat", 303BG/358BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France. (RTB OK)
Other Mission #3 TSGT Merle S. Mullendore w/B-17F 41-24580, 303BG/358BS - Aborted	Lille, France	6 December 1942	Served as Engineer/Top Turret Gunner on B-17F 41-24580 "Hell Cat", 303BG/358BS on a mission to bomb the carraige and wagon works at Lille, France, but mechanical failures forced the Pilot to abort the mission (RTB OK).
Other Mission #4 TSGT Merle S. Mullendore w/B-17F 41-24580, 303BG/358BS	Rouen, France	12 December 1942	Served as Engineer/Top Turret Gunner on B-17F 41-24580 "Hell Cat", 303BG/358BS on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Rouen, France (RTB OK)
Other Mission #5 TSGT Merle S. Mullendore w/B-17F 41-24580, 303BG/358BS - Aborted	Romilly-sur-Seine, France	20 December 1942	Served as Engineer/Top Turret Gunner on B-17F 41-24580 "Hell Cat", 303BG/358BS on a mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France, but mechanical failures forced the Pilot to abor the mission. (RTB OK)
Other Mission #6 TSGT Merle S. Mullendore w/B-17F 41-24580, 303BG/358BS POW	Lorient, France	23 January 1943	Served as Engineer/Top Turret Gunner on B-17F 41-24580 "Hell Cat", 303BG/358BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France. Aircraft shot down by fighters. He baled out and was captured as a Prisoner of War (POW)

Revisions

Date15 Aug 2015 16:47:46

ContributorLee8thbuff

Changes

Sources

Lee Cunningham 16-Aug-2015. Added Mission #6 event per 303BG website Mission Report of 23-Jan-43, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/011.pdf

Date15 Aug 2015 16:43:30

ContributorLee8thbuff

Changes

Sources

Lee Cunningham 16-Aug-2015. Added Mission #5 event per 303BG website Mission Report of 20-Dec-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/007.pdf

Date15 Aug 2015 16:39:15

ContributorLee8thbuff

Changes

Sources

Lee Cunningham 16-Aug-2015 Added Mission #4 event per 303BG website Mission Report of 12-Dec-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/006.pdf

Date15 Aug 2015 16:36:10

ContributorLee8thbuff

Changes

Sources

Lee Cunningham 16-Aug-2015. Added Mission #3 event per 303BG website Mission Reoprt of 6-Dec-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/005.pdf

Date15 Aug 2015 16:32:13

ContributorLee8thbuff

Changes

Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Aug-2015. Added Mission #2 event per 303BG website Mission Report of 22-Nov-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/003.pdf

Date15 Aug 2015 16:29:21

ContributorLee8thbuff

Changes

Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Aug-2015. Added Mission #1 event per 303BG website Mission Report of 18-Nov-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/002.pdf

Date15 Aug 2015 16:22:10

ContributorLee8thbuff

Changes

Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Aug-2015. Made connections to Missions per 303BG website Mission Reports, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missions.html

Date13 Aug 2015 18:02:41

ContributorLee8thbuff

Changes

Sources

Lee Cunninngham 13-Aug-2015. Added Operation participation to Summary Biography per 303BG website Mission Reports, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missions.html

Date22 Jan 2015 18:16:02

ContributorLee8thbuff

Changes

Sources

Lee Cunningham 22-Jan-2015. Added decoration, SN and POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; Corrected Role/Job per 303rd Bomb Group website: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-358-oconnor.html; Made connections to Place, AIrcraft and Mission within existing website data; Edited descritpion per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A Hey MBE.

Date27 Sep 2014 18:20:05

ContributorAAM

Changes

Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Unit history, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs by Bishop and Hey Vol. 1 p. 65-66