Donald Awalt
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 401st Bomb Group
Shot down by flak and crashed at Gruenewald on 6/21/44 in B-17 42-31496. Prisoner of War (POW)
Jack Atherton
Military
Shot down by flak and crashed at Gruenewald on 6/21/44 in B-17 #42-31496 Prisoner of War (POW)
Service
People
Units served with
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401st Bomb Group
Group
The 401st Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Deenethorpe, Northamptonshire, from November 1943 to June 1945. Starting their missions at that time meant the focus was very much on the coming invasion attempt of France planned for the following... -
612th Bomb Squadron
Squadron
Aircraft
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42-102393 Diana Queen Of The Chase
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 27/2/44; Hunter 22/3/44; Grenier 2/4/44; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-R] Deenethorpe 16/4/44; 111m, Returned to the USA Bradley 8/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 12/6/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal... -
42-31496 Salvo Sadie
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 12/11/43; Kearney 27/11/43; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-Q] Deenethorpe 1/2/44; Missing in Action Berlin 21/6/44 with Jack Atherton, Co-pilot: Don Awalt, Navigator: Dick Fitzmaurice, Bombardier: John Whelan, Flight engineer/top turret... -
42-39993 'Hells Angels Out Of Chute 13', 'Grossly Inadequate'
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Long Beach 26/10/43; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-C] Deenethorpe 1/1/44; 118m landing accident at base with Jim Nolan 7/5/45; sal 2 SAD Watton, Nfk 8/5/45. HELL’S ANGELS OUT OF CHUTE 13 aka GROSSLY INADEQUATE. ... -
42-97811 Slick Chick
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 4/3/44; Hunter 7/4/44; Grenier 30/4/44; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-N] Deenethorpe 21/5/44; Missing in Action Toulouse 25/6/44 with pilot John Myretrus, Co-pilot: Charles Davis, Tail gunner: Tom Elward, Bombardier: Thyrl Greer, Flight...
Missions
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380
30 May 1944
Mission #3. Same target as before. A piece of flak broke the pilots windshield. No-one hurt. -
384
2 June 1944
Operations on this day were specified for D minus 3 by the Overall Air Plan as modified by Headquarters A.E.A.F. All objectives were located in the Pas de Calais (Fortitude) area, the attacks having as their purpose deception of the enemy as to the... -
388
3 June 1944
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391
4 June 1944
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395
6 June 1944
D-Day. Start of Operation Overlord. -
403
10 June 1944
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405
11 June 1944
Flew a sortie flight to the French Coast at 24,000 feet. 8th Combat Flight. No flak. -
407
12 June 1944
Willie Hussong got his arm caught in the door of the lower ball turret. Palmer and Rollinger pried him out with a gun barrel. Bombed an airfield. Hussong hospitalized. -
412
14 June 1944
Mission #10. Bombed an airfield south of Brussels. Bob Martin flew in place of Hussong. -
423
19 June 1944
Bombed an airfield. Nine hour mission. Shortly after retiring we were called again but mission was called off at briefing room.
Associated Place
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Deenethorpe
Military site : airfield
Deenethorpe was a base purpose-built for American heavy bombers, with the Class A regulation 2,000 and 1,400-yard runways. All the buildings on site,such as the accommodation and administrative blocks, were temporary. In December 1943, several local...
Events
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA | |
| Prisoner of War (POW) | Germany | 21 June 1944 |
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Stalag 7A Moosburg Bavaria 48-12 (Work Camps 3324-46 Krumbachstrasse 48011, Work Camp 3368 Munich 48-11) |
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Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 21 November 2021 23:11:58 | acbernstein1 | Changes to place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 20 January 2020 00:06:22 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Added a "#" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" for clarity. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 18 January 2020 04:50:21 | jmoore43 | Changes to service number and events |
| Sources | ||
Added S/N and POW camp information from WW2 POW records at the National Archives. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 23 June 2017 16:03:13 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from: |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:13:43 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
MACR 6000 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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