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Military
Paul H. McConnell
Navigator, Ballinger Crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #42-29928. Mission #7 to the Gnome-Rhone engine factory in Le Mans, France. MACR 161. Evaded. Escape & Evasion Report E&E 380. See the page about his evasion at http://www.evasioncomete.org/fmcconnph.html
Military | Captain | Pilot | 381st Bomb Group
Pilot, Ballinger Crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 4 July 1943 on B-17 #42-29928. Mission #7 to the Gnome-Rhone engine factory in Le Mans, France. MACR 161. Evaded capture, EE 248. Evaded for months with S/Sgt Owens until Lt Ballinger dropped...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
RWG, Ballinger Crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #42-29928. Mission #7 to the Gnome-Rhone engine factory in Le Mans, France. MACR 161. Killed in Action (KIA). Originally buried by German troops. Reinterred in Cincinnati,...
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Co-Pilot; Pilot | 381st Bomb Group
Co-pilot, Ballinger Crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 4 July 1943 over Normandy while on bombing mission to Gnome-Rhone engine factory in LeMans, France in B-17 #42-29928.
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Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner; Flight Engineer | 381st Bomb Group
ETTG, Ballinger Crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #42-29928. Mission #7 to the Gnome-Rhone engine factory at Le Mans, France. MACR 161. Landed near Lt Ballinger who observed Sgt Gronstal was wounded with a broken nose and...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
TG, Ballinger Crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #42-29928. Mission #7 to the Gnome-Rhone engine factory in Le Mans, France. MACR 161. Evaded. EE 328. Wounded in the head, hand, arm and both legs. Walked over the Pyrenees...
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 381st Bomb Group
Radio operator, Ballinger Crew. Original member of the Alexander crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #42-29928. Mission #7 to the Gnome-Rhone engine factory in Le Mans, France. MACR 161. Wounded by 20mm shell in the right...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
'Bud' Owens was on B-17F 42-29928 when it was shot down near la Coulonche, Normandy on 4th July 1943. Mission #7 to the Gnome-Rhone engine factory in Le Mans, France. MACR 161.
...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 381st Bomb Group
BTG, Ballinger Crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #42-29928. Mission #7 to the Gnome-Rhone engine factory in Le Mans, France. MACR 161. Killed in Action (KIA). Possibly killed by flak burst under the aircraft. Buried in the...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 381st Bomb Group
Bombardier, Shenk crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Crash landed on 22 June 1943 on the 381st first operational mission on B-17 #42-29984 "Linda Mary". Wounded.
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Group
The 381st Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Ridgewell, Essex between June 1943 and April 1945. The Group was awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations, the first for bombing shipyards at Bremen, whilst under heavy attack, on 8 October 1943 and...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 12/3/43; Walla Walla 25/3/43; Metropolitan 13/4/43; Presque Is 29/4/43; Assigned 533BS/381BG [VP-W] Ridgewell 23/6/43; Missing in Action 2m Le Mans 4/7/43 with Olof Ballinger, Navigator: Paul McConnell, Tail gunner: Bill Howell,...
4 July 1943
The aircraft factories at Le Mans and Nantes, France and the lock gates and harbour facilities at La Pallice, France are the primary targets for this mission. The mission is comprised of three elements:
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Military site : airfield
Built during 1941-42 as an RAF bomber station, Ridgewell operated as a satellite to RAF Stradishall until May 1943. It had three concrete runways, initially 36 pan hardstandings, and two dispersed T2 hangars. Taken over by the Eighth Air Force in June...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Fort Wayne, Indiana | 22 April 1920 |
| Based | 4 July 1943 | |
| Evaded | 4 July 1943 – 5 February 1944 | |
|
EE report 380 |
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| Died | Lake Forest, CA, USA | 9 October 2000 |
| Buried | ||
|
Ascension Cemetery |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 04 October 2018 14:01:59 | ED-BB | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Link to his page at www.evasioncomete.org |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 July 2018 19:55:55 | ARowe95 | Changes to biography, events, unit associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
ARowe95 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 03 November 2017 18:22:55 | ARowe95 | Changes to mission associations |
| Sources | ||
ARowe95 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 18 October 2017 04:57:42 | ARowe95 | Changes to middlename, service number, biography, events and person associations |
| Sources | ||
ARowe95 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:21:13 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
381st Bomb Group Memorial Association, March 1999, MACR 161 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia |
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