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Military
Missing in Action (MIA) in B17F 41-24469 while serving as Pilot. Participated in mission on 3 January 1943 to submarine yards at St. Nazaire, France was successful but this was one of 3 planes of the 306th forced to land at RAF Station St. Eval, Cornwall. Planes were weatherbound for 3 days there. Took off on the January 7, but weather closed in and Pilot Brandon was forced to return to St. Eval. One landing attempt was unsuccessful and plane pulled up to make a second attempt but was never seen or heard from again. According to 306th BG Squadron Diaries 1942-45 p. 8 , the January 3 mission was Brandon's first. 10KIA MACR 16102.
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
Assigned 367BS/306BG Westover 16-Aug-42; Thurleigh 2-Oct-42; on return from St Nazaire 3-Jan-43 landed RAF St Eval, Cornwall. Next day on t/o for Thurleigh, Bed. in poor weather crashed into the Celtic Sea near RAF St. Eval 7-Jan-43. 10KIS No MACR...
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Texas | |
| Killed on Mission (KOM) | Saint Eval, Wadebridge, Cornwall PL27, UK | 7 January 1943 |
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Missing in Action (MIA) 7-Jan-43 in B-17F 41-24469 while serving as Pilot. Participated in the 3-Jan-43 mission to St. Nazaire but forced to land at RAF St. Eval on return because of weather. On 7-Jan-43 an attempt was made to fly the aircraft back to Turleigh, but weather closed in and pilot returned to St. Eval, made one abortive attempt to land and then flew off, never to be seen again. Crashed into the Celtic Sea. |
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| Commemorated | Saint-James, France | 1945 |
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Commemorated on the Wall of the Missing, Brittany American Cemetery |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 18 January 2015 20:45:36 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 18-Jan-2015 Added aircraft TN and crew position to Description per MACR 16102. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 18 January 2015 20:35:01 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to service number, biography, awards, events, place associations and aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 18-Jan-2015. Added SN per MACR 16102; added KOM event per "Losses of the 8th & 9th AIr Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; added decoration and Commemorated event per American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) record. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:23:41 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 16102, Combat Chronology Supplement p. 205, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs by Bishop and Hey Vol. 1 p. 62 WWII Memorial web site. 306th BG Squadron Diaries 1942-45 p. 8 Combat Chronology lists middle initial 'E', other sources have it as 'L' |
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