Thomas Paxton Sherwood
MilitaryARowe95
Co-pilot, Mullane crew. 381st BG, 535th BS, 8th AF. Shot down 13 April 1944 in B-17 42-31357 "Our Desire". Mission to the ball bearing works at Schweinfurt, GE. MACR 3865. Prisoner of War at Stalag Luft I.
Midway, PA.
Graduate of the Randolph Field Flying Cadet Class of 42-B. Left for Europe on September 1st, 1942 as a member of the 305th Bomb Group, 422nd Bomb Squadron, as an Operations Officer working directly under Lt Col Curtis Lemay. One of only two American pilots who gave Beam Approach Training for blind landings in the early part of WWII. After the BAT program was disbanded, he opted to go to the 381st BG, 535th BS as the Chief Instrument Flight Instructor. Transferred to combat flying and completed 28 missions.
Sherwood was founder of the 381st Bomb Group Association, and played a key role in getting a memorial to the 381st Bomb Group placed at Ridgewell in the 1980s.
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 535th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 535th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 535th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36146904
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 535th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 34451857
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
Aircraft
Missions
Places
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Midway, Pennsylvania | 27 August 1914 | BornMidway, Pennsylvania |
Enlisted |
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | 11 July 1941 | EnlistedHarrisburg, Pennsylvania |
Prisoner of war Prisoner of War (POW) |
Stalag Luft I, Barth Germany | 13 April 1944 - 13 May 1945 | Prisoner of War (POW)Stalag Luft I |
Died |
30 September 2006 | ||
Buried |
Pleasantville Cemetery Alum Bank, Pennsylvania | 2 October 2006 | InterredPleasantville Cemetery Alum Bank, Pennsylvania |
Based |
305th BG 422nd BS Operations Officer | ||
Based |
13 April 1944 | 381st BG 535th BS Chief Instrument Flight Instructor |
Revisions
Brought together information from duplicate records including information drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / www.381st.org/UnitHistory/Data/Roster.aspx / 305th Bomb Group Roster
Further information provided by Thomas Paxton Sherwood's son John, and the digital archive created for his father at http://tpsarchives.com/
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- MACR 3865;
- Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
381st Bomb Group Memorial Association, March 1999; MACR 3865 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia