Thomas Charles Diamond
Military
Alexandria, Louisiana was the site of the Alexandria Army Air Base (later renamed England Air Force Base), which functioned for B-17 aircrew training.
Harold Motz's notes on the back of the photo identify the crew members:
Left to Right: First Row:
Pilot--Lt. R.J. "Bob" Westrope;
CoPilot--Lt. W.M. "Kelly" Callahan;
Nav.--Lt. ? (a joke; it's actually Harold "Scotty" Motz);
Bombardier--Lt. W.V. "Bill" Lawrence.
Second Row:
Engineer--Sgt. H.M. "Muscles" Woods;
Radio Operator--Sgt. E.E. Wells.
Gunners: Right Waist--Sgt. O. Flores;
Lower Ball--Cpl. O.H. Moreland;
Top Turret--Sgt. T. Diamond;
Tail--Cpl. J. A. Pfeiffer
Timothy Motz, from the estate of Harold Motz, 2016
Object Number - UPL 23903 - Stamped on the reverse, "OFFICIAL/ Air Force Photograph/ May 1944/ Army Air Base/ Alexandria, La." Alexandria, Louisiana was the site of the...
Thomas Diamond served as a top turret gunner in the Westrope crew with the 708th Bomb Squadron of the 447th Bomb Group, flying bombing missions out of Rattlesden, England.
The 8th Air Force reduced bomber crews from 10 to 9 at the end of July, 1944, eliminating one waist gunner. Shortly after that, Diamond’s name no longer appears among the Westrope crew members in the loading lists for bombing missions. Another Thomas Diamond is listed as belonging to the 487th Bomb Group and it is possible that Thomas Diamond was transferred from the 447th to the 487th, but it isn’t known whether the two Thomas Diamonds are actually one and the same person.
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: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade)
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Bombardier / Pilot / Comptroller
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 37536427
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Lower Ball Turret Gunner/Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-717475
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Due Back
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Blanco Diablo
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Swanee Pride
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Ground Pounder
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Shack Happy
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 15 August 1944
- Date: 11 August 1944
- Date: 7 August 1944
- Date: 25 July 1944
- Date: 20 July 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Memorial
- Known as: Rattlesden Control Tower
- Site type: Memorial
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
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|
Died |
Revisions
Timothy Motz from https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=13&cat=WR26&…
Timothy Motz, from 447th loading lists
Timothy Motz; from a mission list kept by Harold Motz, compared with Doyle Shields, "History of the 447th Bomb Group"
Timothy Motz
Likely birth and death dates and locations added by Timothy Motz:
http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Diamond&GSfn=Thomas&G…;
Address in Hanging Rock, Ohio listed in "Pictorial History of the 447th Bombardment Group" (1945)
Timothy Motz, from notes on a crew photo from Harold Motz, 2016
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Unit History Roster, Enlisted Men, as of 01 August 1945
