Military
Si Spiegel at the dedication of the 490th Bomb Group Memorial, 29 May 2016
Pilot, Si Seigel, Co-Pilot William J. Hole, Navigator Raymond A Patulski, Togglier Charles W. Sandusky, Radio Operator Gunner Maurice D. Carpenter, Engineer Gunner John J. Caffrey, BT Gunner Salvitor M. Novarra, Waist Gunner Frank Stockton (kneeling with German rifle), Tail Gunner Dale C. Tyler.
Si Spiegel served as a pilot with the 849th Bomb Squadron of the 490th Bomb Group, flying missions out of Eye, England.
On 3 February 1945, his aircraft B-17 43-38150 crash-landed behind Soviet lines at a small airfield at Reczyn, Poland, about 50 miles northwest of Warsaw. The crew returned to base on 17 March 1945. Si completed 29 missions. In 2002 he went back to locate the site at Reczyn and the locals invited him to return a year later when they would erect a monument on the spot. He took his entire family back in 2003 where there was a big celebration with hundreds of people including the American Air Attache.
On 29 May 2016, Si Spiegel was back in England for the dedication of the 490th Bomb Group Memorial at Eye.
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 Cheyenne 30/6/44; Kearney 11/7/44; Dow Fd 20/7/44; Assigned to 490 BG Eye 21/7/44.
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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...
Crash site
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | New York City, New York | 25 May 1924 |
| Crash-landed | Poland | 3 February 1945 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 15 April 2022 09:51:56 | Helen | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
490th BG Bombs Away Sept. 2005 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 05 June 2016 14:26:12 | usxpat | Changes to media associations |
| Sources | ||
Laurie Atkins personal collection |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:25:08 | 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 / Roll of Honor, MACR 12238 |
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