Stephen Fecho
MilitaryRobert D. Johnson Crew
466th BG - 785th BS
B-24H-30-FO #42-95466 "Madam Shoo Shoo" (this was the a/c they flew overseas. It was not assigned to the 466th BG)
Standing Left to Right: E.S. Stiteler (N), Thompson (B), Herman O. Graf (CP), Robert D. Johnson (P)
Kneeling Left to Right: J.W. Wooten (TG), Anthony D. Malorni (BTG), Stephen Fecho (FE), J.W. Lewis (NTG), R.D. Knight (WG), W. R. Tasker (R/O)
Completed a 31 mission tour 466th Bomb Group collection
466th BG Historian
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
People
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 2 August 1944
- Date: 28 July 1944
- Date: 20 July 1944
- Date: 19 July 1944
- Official Description:
- Date: 18 July 1944
Places
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Mahanoy, PA | 27 July 1921 | |
Enlisted |
New York, NY | 24 October 1942 | |
Other Transit to ETO via Southern Route |
Losey Army Air Field, Pastillito, PR | 10 April 1944 | Flew from West Palm Beach to Puerto Rico. 6 hours, 15 minutes 9000 ft. |
Other Transit to ETO via Southern Route |
Atkinson Field, British Guiana (now Guyana) | 11 April 1944 | Flew to Atkinson Field 7 hours 8000 feet |
Other Transit to ETO via Southern Route |
Belem, Brazil | 12 April 1944 | Flew to Belem, Brazil 7 hours (2 spent circling as field was closed in) 2000 to 10000 feet |
Other Transit to ETO via Southern Route |
Fortaleza, Brazil | 13 April 1944 | Flew to Fortaleza, Brazil 5 hours 2000-8000 feet |
Other Transit to ETO via Southern Route |
Dakar, French West Africa (now Senegal) | 17 April 1944 | Flew across the Atlantic Ocean to Dakar 12 hours, 20 minutes 5000 feet |
Other Transit to ETO via Southern Route |
Marrakesh, Morroco | 18 April 1944 | Flew to Marrakesh 6 hours 6000-12000 feet |
Other Transit to the ETO via the Southern Route |
RAF Valley, Wales | 21 April 1944 | Landed at RAF Valley from Marrakesh, Morroco. 11 hours flight time A/C that they picked up new in Topeka, KS, #42-95466, was taken from them. |
Other Transit by Train |
Stone, England | 22 April 1944 | Train from Anglesley to Stone, England |
Other Transit by Train |
Stranaer, Scotland | 27 April 1944 | Trained from Stone to Stranaer |
Other Combat Crew Training |
RAF Cluntoe, Northern Ireland | 28 April 1944 - 7 May 1944 | No.4 Combat Crew Replacement Center |
Other Transit by Ferry |
Larne, Northern Ireland | 28 April 1944 | Took a ferry to Larne, then a train to RAF Cluntoe |
Other Assigned to the 466th bG |
RAF Attlebridge | 16 May 1944 | |
Other 466th BG Combat Tour |
RAF Attlebridge | 27 May 1944 - 25 August 1944 | Completed a 31 mission tour |
Other 1st Combat Mission |
Nuenkirchen, Germany | 27 May 1944 | 1st mission. 52x100 lbs bombs. Target - Railroad yards. Altitude - 23,000 ft. Lost oil on #3 engine, feathered it and went back to England. Dropped the bombs on an airfield in France. Escorted back by P-47's. No fighters and little flak. 6 hours, 30 minutes |
Other 2nd Combat Mission |
Tutow Airfield, Germany | 29 May 1944 | 10x500 lbs bombs. Target - Airfield. Altitude: 20,000 feet Fighters attacked the group behind us. We shot at them but they were too far away. Flak was very thick and accurate. We received 8 holes in our plane. 8 hours, 30 minutes |
Other 6th Combat Mission |
Avranches, France | 6 June 1944 | 12x500 lbs bombs. Altitude: 15,000 feet. Weather: Heavy white clouds. We took off at 3 am in a light rain. It was dark and pretty rough flying with so many planes in the air. It seemed as if everything that could fly was up today. When we hit the Channel, the sun broke through and down below we could see boats of every kind, all over the Channel. We could see cannons fire from shore and ships firing. I never saw so many planes in the air as I saw today. No fighters, moderate flak. 6 hours |
Other 8th Combat Mission |
Beauvais, France | 11 June 1944 | 20x250 lbs bombs. Target: airfield at Beauvais. Altitude: 20,000 ft. Three bombs failed to release. We decided to safety them, but two of them fell out, taking the bomb bay doors with them. The other snagged on a cable and was hanging by it's nose, so we went over the North Sea and Tony cut it loose using a fingernail file and knife. 5 hours, 10 minutes |
Other 9th Combat Mission |
Guyancourt, France | 15 June 1944 | 12x500 lbs bombs Target: Airfield near Versailles Altitude: 23,000 feet I got a glimpse or Paris in the distance. Lots of flak. The crew in our barracks went down. I hope they got out okay (Historians note: This must have been the Bates Crew who had lost an engine over the target. They were able to land at a "muddy fighter strip south of Crepon" which was an RAF base about 3 miles from the front. The crew returned to England on a US Navy LST.) In the evening we received our Air Medal at the Aero-Club. They had a dance and the girls pinned them on. We kissed them while they took our pictures. |
Other 11th Combat Mission |
Gorenflos, France | 19 June 1944 | 20x250 lbs bombs Target: Robot plane installatons near Abbeville, France Altitude: 21,000 feet The crew in our hut was classified MIA. We found out we were promoted as of the 15th of June. I made Technical Sergeant as of 10 p.m. The crew from our hut came walking in. They had landed on an Allied held airfield. They were dressed in Navy fatigues that they got from a crew on an LST boat. No one was hurt. We were sure glad to see them! 5 hours, 10 minutes |
Other 15th Combat Mission |
Lens, France | 25 June 1944 | 40x100 lbs bombs Target: Robot plane installations Altitude:25,000 feet Clouds were thick and high over England. Nobody seemed to be able to get into formation. Most did not get into formation until over France. Planes from 5 different groups mixed in with us. Flak was thick but inaccurate. 4 Hours, 50 minutes |
Other 16th Combat Mission |
Saarbrucken, Germany | 28 June 1944 | 20x250 lbs bombs Target: marshalling yards Altitude: 23,000 Lots of flak, pretty accurate. Fighters attacked the group behind us. Our #2, #3 and #4 were running rough and throwing oil. After we left the target we had to feather #3 engine as the governor went out of control and it was throwing a lot of oil. We couldn't keep up with the formation and headed home by ourselves. We were happy to see P-38's escorting us. We were "in" six countries today: England, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Germany. |
Other 17th Combat Mission |
Aschersleben, Germany | 29 June 1944 | 52x100 lbs bombs Target: Airplane Factory Altitude: 25,000 ft High clouds, but clear over target. We couldn't find our formation so we hooked up with another group that was made up of aircraft from different groups. Everybody did a good job. Today I saw our bombs hit the roof of the factory. When we got back we found out that 19 ships didn't go on the misson as they said they were recalled. |
Other Practice Misson |
RAF Attlebridge | 4 July 1944 | It rained all morning (it has been raining since our last mission on June 29). The sun came out in the afternoon so they sent us on a practice mission. Time: 3 hours, 40 minutes We decided to name our plane "Penthouse For Ten" with a picture of an outhouse on top of clouds. |
Other Three Day Pass |
Hyde Park, London, England | 24 July 1944 | "Still in London, but we are leaving tonight. Me and Tony Malorni went to Hyde Park. We were there about 10 minutes when we heard the drone of a buzz bomb. We looked up and saw it diving. We quickly jumped behind a big tree. The bomb hit over 100 yards away and the blast was terrific. It killed 3 and injured 3 other people. For blocks around, windows were broken. That was a little too close for me! |
Other Test Hop |
RAF Attlebridge | 27 July 1944 | "Test Hopped our plane. Just the pilot and four of us gunners. I acted as co-pilot" 1 hour, 30 minutes |
Other 27th Combat Mission |
Rostock, Germany | 4 August 1944 | 52x100 lbs. bombs Target: Aircraft factory Altitude: 21,000 feet Flak was moderate but very accurate. Fighters off to the side, but they didn't attack us. 7 hours, 30 minutes |
Other Three Day Pass |
Norwich, England | 9 August 1944 - 11 August 1944 | Got a three day pass and went to Norwich. Our group went to Saarbrucken and were hit by a lot of flak. We lost two planes and several other wounded. One of the planes that went down was our plane (#42-95268 "Penthouse For Ten" with the Harry McGregor Crew). Too bad. She was a good ship. |
Other 100th Mission Party |
RAF Attlebridge | 18 August 1944 | Today we had our 100th mission party. Glenn Miller and Band played |
Other 31st Combat Mission |
Lubeck, Germany | 25 August 1944 | 10 Incendiary bomb clusters Altitude: 25,000 ft Flak, barrage type, over target and Denmark Peninsula. When we landed we found out we were FINISHED! |
Other Headed Home |
Glasgow, Scotland | 18 September 1944 | We boarded the Rotterdam at Glasgow, Scotland and were homeward bound. Arriving at pier on 43rd street in Manhattan. |
Died |
Reading, PA | 14 May 2007 | |
Buried |
Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Annville, PA | 18 May 2007 | Indiantown Gap National Cemetery Annville, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, USA |
Brooklyn, NY | 119 Bedford Avenue |
Revisions
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2238/images/44027_05_0…
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19635790/stephen-fecho
466th BG Archives - Stephen Fecho Diary
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / age 264 in the book SECOND AIR DIVISION by Turner Publishing Co, 1998 edition