Parker Ward Finney
Militaryfrom Parker Finney's records
Assigned to 614BS, 401BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down by fighters and crashed at Brockhoefe on 24-Aug-44 in B-17 Down N' Go. Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 8202
Awards: AM, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Connections
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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
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 614th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Bombardier / Waist Gunner / Nose Gunner / Togglier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 614th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-713111
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 490th Bomb Group 492nd Bomb Group 801st Bomb Group 857th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-703963
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 614th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 614th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Down N Go
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 614th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 24 August 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Benefield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag 7a, Moosburg
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Youngstown, OH, USA | 23 January 1921 | Son of Theodore W Finney. |
Other Flight Training Spring 1944 |
1 May 1944 | Flight training with most of the same crew that went on the last flight. In those days they tried to keep the crew together all of the way through training and when they went overseas. Other names in the 1944 picture are Snyder, Miller, Duling, Campbell, Smith, Hill, Brown, Price and Scott. | |
Other Baled out POW |
24 August 1944 | Shot down by fighters and crashed at Brockhoefe on 24-Aug-44 in B-17 Down N' Go. Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 8202 | |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Zagan, Poland | 24 August 1944 | Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft |
Died |
Phoenix, AZ, USA | 31 July 1981 | Retired and was on a road trip across country. Died of a heart attack. |
Buried |
Slippery Rock, PA | 10 August 1981 | Cremated. Ashes scattered at his cottage in Slippery Rock, PA. |
Killed in Action (KIA) |
Pittsburgh, PA, USA | 31 July 1981 | Grew up in Swissvale, PA. Went to Penn State. Joined in 43. Returned to Pittsburgh, PA after the war and lived in Edgewood, PA. Died July 31, 1981 in Phoenix AZ |
Revisions
From Parker Finney's POW diary. Stalag III, Sagan Germany August 30 1944 to Jan 27 1945.
Stamlager VIIA Moosberg Germany February 3 1945 to May 9 1945.
According to my dad: "...crew list shows a Lt. J.D. Brown in my crew. John was originally my navigator, but because he was a good navigator, he was taken from me and assigned to a lead crew. He was not flying with me the day I was shot down and he did finish his missions."
Sgt W. J. Duling was the tail gunner on my father's (Parker Finney) last mission. From my dad's records: "My tail gunner, Sgt. Duling, did advise me later on the ground that he had destroyed at least one of the Fock-Wulfes that blew up as it was approaching his tail. This was later confirmed for me by a fellow member of the 614th Bomb Squadron who was shot down months later and advised me that he had watched me go down and had seen the destruction of the one aircraft. So far as I know, no official note of this was made in Army records."
From my father's (Parker Finney) file. In his records his listed as F/O which I believe is flight officer. Middle initial I believe is G.
Found in a letter from my father. The Air Medal was sent to his wife in March of 1945. At that time he was in prison camp since he was shot down on Aug 24, 1944.
From son. According to my dad he was promoted to First Lieutenant the day prior to his last flight but did not know it.
From son of Parker Finney, pilot of last flight for Flight Officer Dale Scott. Scott was a bombardier but was at the navigator's table because of a shortage of men in that trade.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 8202 / MACR 8202, http://www.401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=208 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database