Joseph R Adamiak
Military
media-413392.jpg
FRE 4712
A bomber crew of the 351st Bomb Group inside a B-17 Flying Fortress . Passed for publication 1 Jan 1944. Printed caption on reverse: 'Five "Fortress" Men Killed In Parachute Jump After "Biggest Ever" Day Raid On Germany. Associated Press Photo Shows:- Back at their home base in the 'plane which went to pick them up, the five survivors of the Flying Fortress "Little Twink" talk over their experience. They are (left to right): Sgt. Seymour Zeitler, gunner, of 145 Amherst St. Brooklyn, N.Y.; Lt. Joseph Adamiak, pilot, of 297 Elm Street, Holyoke, Mass.; Sgt. Cleo Davis, radio-gunner, of 463 Laurel Street, Chillicothe, Ohio; Lt. Wm. Kelder, Bombardier, of Cuddebackville, N.Y.; Cap[t.] L.B. Roper, Squadron Operations Officer, of Buller, Texas (who flew them home); and Lt. Wm. Crockett, Jr., co-pilot, of Buna, Texas. WOR 263574/5. 1-1-44-Y.' Censor no: 298323. On reverse: Associated Press and US Army General Section Press & Censorship Bureau [Stamps].
Roger Freeman Collection
IWM, Roger Freeman Collection
30 December 1943 on mission to IGF factory at Ludwigshaven. In B-17 #42-39780 'Little Twink'
On bomb run, A/C hit by flak and lost #3 engine. Hit by flak again over Frankfurt and unable to keep in formation, RAF escorted A/C to Hawkinge where A/C crash landed. Unfortunately only 7 crew members baled out but parachutes failed to open, 5 KIA, 5 RTD.
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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
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Little Twink
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 510th Bomb Squadron
Revisions
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources
Added a "-" to the A/C type in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources
Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. I, p. 449
/ Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia