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Military
TSgt Ludvik Dejnozka, circa 1942, England. Center of photo wearing gloves. Engineer and Top Turret Gunner, B-17F 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' .
Image of the B-17 #41-24489 / Terry and the Pirates. Assigned 367BS/306BG Westover 17-Aug-42; Thurleigh 13-Oct-42; Missing in Action 20-Dec-42 on mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. Shot down by enemy aircraft and crashed near Paris. 3KIA 7POW. No MACR issued.
Shot down 20 December 1942 in B-17F 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' while serving as Waist Gunner. Listed as Prisoner of War (POW).
According to The Saratogian (24 JAN 1945, page 1) article "Dejnozka, Freed from Nazis In Exchange), my father was a Technical Sergeant when repatriated and was taken to Walter Reed hospital before returning home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. However, after repatriation he remained in the Air Force (after its separation from the Army Air Corps) until 1958/59. Ludvik was held at different Nazi POW camps. According to the Stalag XVIIB website (2011), his last POW camp was Stalag XVIIB since the Nazis were moving prisoners, combining officers with noncommissioned officers as the Allies advanced. My father personally told he was a POW at Stalag XVIIB as well. While a POW, he translated for the physician POWs to improve communication, since he spoke Czech, German, English and some Russian.
Group
Constituted as 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942. Activated on 1 Mar 1942. Trained for combat with B-17's. Moved to England, Aug-Sep 1942, and assigned to Eighth AF Eighth Air Force in September 1942 Station 111 Thurleigh. During combat,...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17F 41-24489 'Terry and the Pirates' was assigned 367BS/306BG Westover 17-Aug-42; Thurleigh 13-Oct-42; Missing in Action 20-Dec-42 on mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. Shot down by enemy aircraft and crashed near...
20 December 1942
The German Air Depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France is the Primary (P) target for a combined force of 80 B-17s despatched by 91BG (17), 303BG (21); 305BG (23) and 306BG (19). 60 B-17 are effective on the target, but 7 are MIA and 1 is DBR.
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Military site : airfield
Built for RAF use in 1941-42, Thurleigh was initially used by RAF Bomber Command before being handed over to the Eighth Air Force. Its runways and hardstandings were improved, and the B-17s of the 306th Bomb Group began using the base. It was their...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Prisoner of War (POW) | Zagan, Poland | 20 December 1942 – 30 January 1946 |
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Held at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia (now Poland) later moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 30-Jan-46. Later RMC date may indicate that he was in hospital. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 19 August 2019 17:36:42 | Malcolm Dejnozka | Changes to role and biography |
| Sources | ||
Correction to earlier entry. Source: Dejnozka, Freed from Nazis In Exchange, Arrives in U.S.; The Saratogian, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., 24 JAN 1945; Page 1 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 23 March 2018 18:36:31 | Malcolm Dejnozka | Changes to middlename, highest rank and biography |
| Sources | ||
My father did not have a middle name or middle initial "V". Neither did his brothers or father. Thank you for this website dedicated to our greatest generation. May they never be forgotten. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 05 December 2014 18:03:41 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to middlename, service number, biography, awards, events, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 5-Dec-2014. Added crew position to description per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; added POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database;made connections to Place, Aircraft and Mission within existing website data. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:19:24 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. 1 by Hey and Bishop p.55 |
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