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Military
Sgt Nels O Davidson, 100BG.
B-17 42-31035 'Hang The Expense' with Frank Valesh crew and groundcrew. Rear L-R: T/Sgt John Mytko, 2Lt John R. Johnson, 2Lt Frank E. Valesh, 2Lt Maurice Zetlan, 2Lt John E. Booth, S/Sgt Paul J. Carbone, Sherman M. Nelson. Front L-R: Nels O. Davidson, Unkn, Unkn, S/Sgt Roy Urich, S/Sgt Herschel H. Broyles, J.C. Sambrailo, Cpl Ernest m. Jordon, M/Sgt Harold C. Wildrick.
Assigned to 351BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Transferred to HQ Sqn, 490BG, 8AF USAAF.
Awards: WWII Victory, EAME.
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...
Group
The 490th Bomb Group, like the 486th and 487th Bomb Groups transitioned from flying B-24 Liberators to B-17 Flying Fortresses, which were used in combat missions from late August 1944. Based at Eye, Suffolk, the Group were focused in the early months...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Dallas 7/9/43; Scott 5/10/43; Assigned 351BS/100BG [EP-E] Thorpe Abbotts 8/10/43; unofficial test flight 26//11/43 with Frank E. Valesh, Co-pilot: Russell J. Flack, Navigator: Andrew H. Campion and two American Red Cross nurses, Mary J. Cooke...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 6/10/43; Gr Island 17/10/43; Wilmington 245/10/43; Assigned 332BS/94BG Rougham 27/10/43 THE BARBER SHOP; Missing in Action Ludwigshafen 7/1/44 with Joe Barber, Navigator: John McGrath, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Francis...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 12/12/43; Kearney 31/12/43; RAF Nutts Corner (N.Ire) 16/1/44; Assigned 351BS/100BG [EP-E] Thorpe Abbotts 17/1/44; transferred 482BG Alconbury 20/5/45; 100+m, Returned to the USA 5/45; 121 BU Bradley 31/5/45; 4168 Base Unit, South...
B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17G #42-39867 'Hang the Expense II' aka 'Boeing Belle'.
...
Military site : airfield
Eye air base was not a Class A base but was constructed to a less demanding standard by the 827th and 859th Battalions of U.S. Army Engineers in 1943 and was finished in early 1944. Unusually, a group of its hardstandings were on the other side of the...
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...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Roseau, MN | 22 July 1909 |
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Son of Nikolai 'Nick' and Bertha Davidson. |
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| Enlisted | Tacoma, WA | 1 June 1942 |
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Tacoma, Washington |
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| Based | Thorpe Abbotts | 1943 – 1945 |
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Assigned to 351BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. |
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| Died | Thief River Falls, Pennington County, MN | 12 August 1992 |
| Buried | Greenwood Cemetery Thief River Falls, Pennington County, MN | 15 August 1992 |
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Greenwood Cemetery |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 13 March 2022 10:57:46 | Al_Skiff | Changes to nickname and events |
| Sources | ||
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42950799/nels-o_-davidson |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 12 March 2022 17:26:08 | jmoore43 | Changes to nickname |
| Sources | ||
Flagged as a "Possible DUPLICATE" in the Nickname field so an Admin can check out this person. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 30 May 2020 20:28:48 | Al_Skiff | Changes to middlename, highest rank, biography, awards, events, unit associations, place associations and aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/617868860 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:20:30 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
490th Bomb Group Unit Personnel / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia |
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