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Military
Lead Crew On Bombing Mission To Glisy, France, Beside The Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" 'Winning Run'. England, 21 August 1943. 303Rd Bomb Group. Crew Standing L-R: Capt Alexander C "Connie" Strickland Jr, Lt Byron K Butt, Lt Paul W Scroggins, Major Edgar E Snyder Jr, Capt Louis M Schulstad. Kneeling L-R: T/Sgt Albert E Martel Jr, S/Sgt Edward E McGill, T/Sgt James C Baart, S/Sgt Raymond Ruhel Peck, S/Sgt Ralph R Strohsack.
![A bomber crew of the 303rd Bomb Group stand on the wing of their B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-29944) that has crash landed. The civilian in the middle is Frank Schershel, a civilian journalist. Passed as censored 10 Sep 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: '6/9/43. Crash - south coast. #3.' On reverse: US Army Press Censor ETO [Stamp].](https://www.americanairmuseum.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/freeman/media-407659.jpg?itok=Ze8958Mo)
A bomber crew of the 303rd Bomb Group stand on the wing of their B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-29944) that has crash landed. The civilian in the middle is Frank Schershel, a civilian journalist. Passed as censored 10 Sep 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: '6/9/43. Crash - south coast. #3.' On reverse: US Army Press Censor ETO [Stamp].
Lt. James and crew of the 427th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, beside Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" 'Winning Run'. England, 18 July 1943. Crew Standing L-R: 2Lt Paul W Scroggins, 2Lt Walter E Witt, 2Lt Howard C Ness, 2Lt Jacob C "Jake" James. Kneeling L-R: Sgt Ollem D Johnson, Sgt A.J. Hamilton, Sgt Angelo L. Longo, S/Sgt Jesse Earl Tripp, S/Sgt Leonard A. Kesky, S/Sgt Frank L Misiak.
1st Lt Paul W. Scoggins :- DFC award card. 303BG.
1st Lt Paul W. Scoggins :- Air medal award card. 303BG.
Assigned to 427BS, 303BG, 8AF USAAF. Flew on 'Winning Run' a B-17 that crash landed after all 4 engines gave out, while returning from raid on Stuttgart on 6-Sep-43. It ran out of fuel. Many of the other B-17's were low on fuel that day, 10 out of 19. This particular plane was written up by Life Magazine War Correspondent Schershel because he was on the plane during the mission.
Awards: DFC, AM (3OLC), WWII Victory, EAME (2 x Battle Stars).
Group
The 303rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated on 3-Feb-1942 at Pendleton Field, Oregon. They assembled at Gowen Field, Idaho on 11-February 1942 where it conducted flight training until 12-Jun-1942. The Group then moved to Alamogordo Field, New...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 17/3/43; Gore 28/3/43; Metropolitan 13/4/43; Presque Is 29/4/43; Assigned 427BS/303BG [GN-E] Molesworth 9/6/43; secret mission to North Africa 16/8/43 ret 23/8/43; battle damaged T/Ops 6/9/43 with Jake James, Co-pilot: Howard Ness,...
Military site : airfield
Molesworth was one of the early stations used by the Eighth Air Force in the UK, first occupied by the 15th Bomb Squadron’s Douglas Bostons in June 1942. Built in 1940 and extended and improved in 1942, Molesworth is most associated with the 303rd...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Tioga, TX | 18 September 1921 |
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Son of William J. and Chloe Arvilla [Phillips] Scoggins. |
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| Enlisted | College Station, TX | 23 January 1942 |
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College Station, Texas |
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| Based | Molesworth | 1943 – 1944 |
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Assigned to 427BS, 303BG, 8AF USAAF. |
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| Died | DeRidder, LA | 17 October 2004 |
| Buried | Woodlawn Cemetery DeRidder, Beauregard Parish, LA | 21 October 2004 |
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Woodlawn Cemetery |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 14 May 2022 08:37:25 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/136375424/paul-william-scoggins |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 13 May 2022 19:29:17 | Al_Skiff | Changes to middlename, service number, highest rank, biography, awards, events, unit associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/record/59452786/paul-w-scoggins-social-security-de... |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 12 May 2021 15:28:36 | 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 |
| 08 October 2020 21:44:03 | jmoore43 | Changes to aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
Added a connection to the A/C #42-29944 'Winning Run' listed in the "Summary biography". |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:21:20 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
303RD WEB SITE, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop & Hey p. 276 w/ picture of crew an ac in Kent field / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia |
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