Nick Colaiuta

Military ROLL OF HONOUR

Assigned to 422BS, 305BG, 8AF USAAF. 23 x combat missions. Killed in the collision with B-17 43-38133 in poor weather over Thurleigh on return from Hannover mission. Killed in Action (KIA).

Awards: AM (2OLC), PH.

Connections

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Units served with

305th Bomb Group

Unit Hierarchy: Group
Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Type Category: Bombardment

People

Phil A Lichty

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 305th Bomb Group 422nd Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: 17097123 / O-816510
Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

Two 306th Bomb Group B-17 Flying Fortresses collided in mid-air in heavy fog over Thurleigh airbase after returning from a mission; both were destroyed with all hands lost. Handwritten caption on reverse: '55819.' Printed caption on reverse: '55819 AC - Returning from a daylight bombing assault on important synthetic oil plants and key communications centers just behind von Rundstedt's lines, two B-17 Flying Fortresses collide in mid-air and disintegrate. None of the crews of either plane escaped. The fat

43-38030

Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Nicknames: My Achin B
Unit: 305th Bomb Group 422nd Bomb Squadron

Places

A bomber crew of the 306th Bomb Group wave to Picture Post Girls in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24471) nicknamed "Four of a Kind" at Thurleigh in December 1942. Image stamped on reverse: '"Picture Post" [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 11 Dec 1942.' [stamp], '238038.' [Censor no.] Handwritten in censor's blue pencil on reverse: 'American Flying Fortress crew are introduced to the girls they will meet at Picture Post Xmas Party.'

Thurleigh

Site type: Airfield
Known as: Bedford

Events

Event	Location	Date	Description
Born	Oregon	11 November 1924	Son of Enrico and Regina [Scarzella] Colaiuta.
Enlisted	Greensburg, PA	17 August 1943
Died	Thurleigh, UK	22 October 1944	Killed in the collision with B-17 43-38133 in poor weather over Thurleigh on return from Hannover mission. KIA.
Buried		23 October 1944	Interred Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial Plot F Row 5 Grave 138
Based	Thurleigh	22 October 1944	Assigned to 422BS, 305BG, 8AF USAAF.
	Republic, PA

Revisions

Date29 Jan 2019 20:30:42

ContributorAl_Skiff

Changes

Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/29423408
https://www.fold3.com/image/638223796
https://www.fold3.com/record/87364731-nick-colaiuta
https://www.fold3.com/record/529899277-nick-colaiuta
https://www.fold3.com/image/310763311?rec=299393529
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56288654/nick-colaiuta

Date27 Sep 2014 18:20:33

ContributorAAM

Changes

Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / The Mighty Eighth Combat Chronology Supplement, 1942-45; p. 170.