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John W Adams III

Military

Crashed N of Itzehoe, GR on a mission to Berlin on 3 Mar 1944 in B-17G #42-39817 'Murderer's Row'. Killed in Action (KIA).

Service

People

  • Donald Becker

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner
    Crashed N of Itzehoe, GR on a mission to Berlin on 3 Mar 1944 in B-17G #42-39817 'Murderer's Row'. Killed in Action (KIA).

  • Ernest Clark

    Military | Technical Sergeant | Bombardier | 100th Bomb Group
    Crashed N of Itzehoe, GR on a mission to Berlin on 3 Mar 1944 in B-17G 42-39817 'Murderer's Row'. Killed in Action (KIA).

  • Ben Guthrie

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner
    Crashed N of Itzehoe, GR on a mission to Berlin on 3 Mar 1944 in B-17G #42-39817 'Murderer's Row'. Prisoner of War (POW). POW

  • William Humphrey

    Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner
    William Humphrey was Top Turret Gunner on board B-17 #42-30259 'Damifino II' on a 24 September 1943 practice flight to test PFF equipment and technique. Intercepted by enemy fighters and shot down. Ditched North Sea. 5 men died. William was among the 5...

  • Ellas Johnson

    Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator Gunner
    Crashed N of Itzehoe, GR on a mission to Berlin on 3 Mar 1944 in B-17G #42-39817 'Murderer's Row'. Killed in Action (KIA).

  • Thomas Mullenix

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner, Waist Gunner
    Crashed N of Itzehoe, GR on a mission to Berlin on 3 Mar 1944 in B-17G #42-39817 'Murderer's Row'. Prisoner of War (POW). POW

  • Edward Sullivan

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator
    Crashed N of Itzehoe, GR on a mission to Berlin on 3 Mar 1944 in B-17G #42-39817 'Murderer's Row'. Prisoner of War (POW). POW

  • Robert Vollmer

    Military | Lieutenant | Pilot
    Crashed N of Itzehoe, GR on a mission to Berlin on 3 Mar 1944 in B-17G #42-39817 'Murderer's Row'. Prisoner of War (POW). POW

  • George Wood

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner
    Crashed N of Itzehoe, GR on a mission to Berlin on 3 Mar 1944 in B-17G #42-39817 'Murderer's Row'. Killed in Action (KIA).

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Units served with

  • 100th Bomb Group

    100th Bomb Group

    Group
    "The Bloody Hundredth", so-called because of a reputation for losing a high number aircraft and crews, flew B-17s from Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk. Their losses were not the highest of any Eighth Air Force Group but on several occasions the Group lost many...

  • 349th Bomb Squadron

    349th Bomb Squadron

    Squadron

Aircraft

  • 42-39817 “Murderer's Row”

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Long Beach 9/9/43; Assigned 394BS/100BG [XR-A] Thorpe Abbotts 27/9/43. Missing in Action Wilhelmshafen 3 March 1944 with Pilot Robert D. Vollmer, Navigator: Edward G. Sullivan, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: William S. Humphrey ...

Missions

  • 8th Air Force 246

    3 March 1944
    A combined force of 748 heavy bombers are despatched to bomb the primary targets of Berlin, Erkner and Oranienburg, Germany, but weather and dense contrails forced most of the formations to turn back or seek Targets of Opportunity (TOs). 1st Combat...

Associated Place

  • Thorpe Abbotts

    Military site : airfield
    Home of the 'Bloody Hundredth’, a Bomb Group with a reputation for high casualty rates, Thorpe Abbotts was under USAAF control from June 1943 to the end of the war. Some of the airfield survives today, and the control tower houses the 100th Bomb Group...

Events

Event Location Date
Born Leavenworth, Kansas, USA
Killed in Action (KIA) Germany 3 March 1944
Nationality
American
Nickname
Not yet known
Service numbers
O-801587
Highest rank
Second Lieutenant
Role/job
Co-Pilot
Awards
Not yet known

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
31 March 2020 04:18:18 jmoore43 Changes to biography
Sources

Added a "#" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
Date Contributor Update
01 May 2019 12:54:28 general ira snapsorter Changes to biography and events
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia ;
MACR 3029;
Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces
Date Contributor Update
25 April 2019 13:35:00 ED-BB Changes to service number, person associations, place associations and mission associations
Sources

MACR 3029
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:16:52 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

MACR 3029 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

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