Richard Waldo Rickey
Military
Rickey family
Object Number - UPL 41053 - Richard Rickey at Gunnery School (photo via the Rickey family)
Richard Rickey was Engineer/Top Turret Gunner on B-17 “Sac Hound” 42-31467 when it was shot down by German Me109 fighters over Belgium on the 2 March 1944 mission to Frankfurt, Germany. MACR 2742. He managed to evade capture, helped by Belgian citizens and members of Resistance organization Comète. Hidden in many places in Belgium, he was liberated by American troops on 8 September 1944 in a secret camp in the Belgian Ardennes and was flown back to England on 11 September 1944. Escape & Evasion Report E&E # 1995. See the whole story of his evasion at http://www.evasioncomete.be/frickeyrw.html .
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 613th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17072159 at enlistment, then O-685775
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13075926 at enlistment, then O-808000
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17037059
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15340143
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35348050
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Sac Hound
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 2 March 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Benefield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Sidney, Ohio, USA | 10 October 1920 | |
|
Enlisted |
14 August 1940 | as a Private in the Air Corps, at Fort Thomas, Newport, Kentucky, United States | |
|
Other Bailed out |
2 March 1944 | of B-17 42-31467 “Sac Hound” over Belgium | |
|
Other Landed in parachute |
2 March 1944 | near Ermeton-sur-Biert, Belgium | |
|
Other Evaded capture |
2 March 1944 - 8 September 1944 | being sheltered in various places in Belgium | |
|
Died |
10 April 2010 | Sidney, Shelby County, Ohio, United States | |
| Shelby County, Ohio, United States | |||
|
Buried |
Richard Rickey rests at the Cedar Point Cemetery in Pasco, Shelby County, Ohio, United States |
Revisions
MACR 2742
NARA WWII Enlistment records
Escape & Evasion Report E&E 1995
Veterans’ BIRLS files
Research for his page at www.evasioncomete.org
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 2742 / MACR 2742, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces, http://www.401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=1215 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
