Thomas Batcha
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
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Military
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
Military | Captain | Command Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
Assigned to 335BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF. 23 x combat missions. Shot down 10-Oct-43 in B-17 42-30272 'Fritz Blitz', Prisoner of War (POW) - MACR 1118.
Awards: DFC, AM (3OLC), POW, PH, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Major | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
Assigned to 334BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF. ETD
Awards: AM, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
Military | Captain | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
Group
The 95th Bomb Group was the only Eighth Air Force Group to be awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations. The first, shared by all four Bomb Wing Groups, was for the bombing of an aircraft factory under intense enemy fire at Regensburg on 17 August...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 21/4/43; Tinker 27/4/43; Smoky Hill 5/5/43; Kearney 28/5/43; Dow Fd 7/6/43; Assigned 349BS/100BG [XR-G] Thorpe Abbotts 10/6/43 TORCHY 2 aka HOT SPIT; Missing in Action Berlin 6/3/44 with Coy Montgomery (Killed in Action); Co-pilot:...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 7/5/43; Gore 8/5/43; Smoky Hill 17/5/43; Dow Fd 30/5/43; Assigned 335BS/95BG [OE-U] Horham 15/6/43; Missing in Action (21m) Munster 10/10/43 with Eldon Broman, Co-pilot: John Chaffin, Navigator: Bill Fowler, Bombardier: Paul Guiteras...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 11/5/43; Gore 21/5/43; Geiger 22/5/43; Gt Falls 7/6/43; Smoky Hill 30/6/43; Dow Fd 10/7/43; Assigned 568BS/390BG [BI-O] Framlingham 11/7/43; detailed Kassel 28/7/43 with ? involved in taxi collision with 42-29974 (306BG), no...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 2/7/43; Gr Isle 22/7/43; Walla Walla 1/8/43; Scott 9/8/43; Presque Is 17/8/43; Assigned 412BS/95BG [QW-O] Horham 20/8/43; 30m, Missing in Action Brunswick 21/2/44 with John McGuigan, Bombardier: Tom Barron, Flight engineer/top turret...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 20/9/43; with Melvin Howard crash landed North Platte, Ne 30/9/43; Written off Kearney 14/12/44.
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 16/4/43; Dow Fd 2/6/43; Assigned 334BS/95BG [BG-T] Horham 17/7/43; transferred 335BS [OE-T]; 11m, Missing in Action Romilly 15/9/43 with Joe Noyes washed up Berck-Plage two weeks later, Co-pilot: Dave Prees, Navigator: Frank Roth,...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 2/10/43; Gr Island 22/10/43; Assigned 336BS/95BG [ET-Y] Horham 11/11/43; 66m, Missing in Action Bohlen oil depot 29/6/44 with Jim Cook, Co-pilot: Harry Bachus, Navigator: Jim Whittaker, Bombardier: Bob Hansell, Flight engineer/top...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Long Beach 2/9/43; Scott 29/9/43; Assigned 412BS/95BG [QW-V] Horham 8/10/43; with M.J. Worthing force landed Rattlesden AFB, Sfk, UK 10/2/44 (crew OK); [21m]Missing in Action Berlin 6/3/44 with Rich Read, Co-pilot: Clinton Kemper, Navigator:...
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:
...
10 July 1943
German airfields at Caen, Abbeville, and Le Bourget at Paris, France are the primary targets for this mission. 112 B-17s form a combined force from 91BG; 92BG; 305BG; 306BG; 351BG and 381BG to bomb the German airfield (Carpiquet) at Caen, France. Cloud...
14 July 1943
The German air depot at Villacoublay, France and the German airfields Amiens/Glisy and Le Bourget at Paris, France are the primary targets for this mission. These attacks are made by three separate elements: 116 B-17s are despatched from 92BG (15);...
17 July 1943
The railroad industry at Hannover, Germany and the aircraft industry at Hamburg, Germany were the intended targets for this mission but weather caused the mission to be cancelled. The element sent to Hannover was a combined force of 207 B-17s from:...
24 July 1943
Three targets in Norway are the primary targets for this first mission flown by 8th AIr Force to Norway. They are the nitrate works at Heroya and the port areas at Trondheim and Bergen. The first element is a combined force of 180 B-17s from: 91BG (22)...
25 July 1943
This mission was composed of three elements. The primary targets were the diesel engine works at Hamburg, Germany; the shipyards at Kiel, Germany and the aircraft industries at Warnemude, Germany, but weather frustrated the effort. The first element...
28 July 1943
The German aircraft industry at Kassel (Fieseler works) and Oscherleben, Germany are the primary targets of this mission. 182 B-17s from: 91BG (20); 92BG (17); 303BG (20); 305BG (21); 306BG (24); 351BG (21); 379BG (19); 381BG (20); and 384BG (20) are...
30 July 1943
The aircraft factories at Kassel, Germany are the primary targets for this mission. The mission is flown by two elements of B-17s which attack 15 minutes apart. The firts element is a combined force of 119 B-17s from: 91BG (20); 303BG (23); 351BG (21);...
24 August 1943
The 8th Air Force is intent on dishing out some "pay back" to the Luftwaffe for the toll it took on bombers of the 17-Aug-43 mission to Schweinfurt/Regensburg. So, This mission has three attack elements and a diversion element. The attack elements are...
31 August 1943
This mission is composed of two elements. The first element is composed of 170 B-17s from: 91BG (16); 92BG (19); 303BG (20); 305BG (18); 306BG (18); 351BG (21); 379BG (21); 381BG (19); and 384BG (18). The primary target for this element is German...
Military site : airfield
Horham airfield was planned and built for RAF use, but handed over to the Eighth Air Force and used initially by the 47th Bomb Group. When they joined the Twelfth Air Force in January 1943, it became home to the B-26 Marauders of the 323rd Bomb Group....
Event | Location | Date |
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Born | Martinsburg, WV | 19 December 1916 |
Lived in | Gerrardstown, WV | October 1940 |
95th BG Combat Tour | Horham Airfield, UK | 4 July 1943 – 5 February 1944 |
Completed a 25 combat mission tour |
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Died | Winchester, VA | 7 June 1986 |
Buried | Gerrardstown, WV | 10 June 1986 |
Gerrardstown Presbyterian Church Cemetery |
Date | Contributor | Update |
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22 August 2020 23:16:47 | 466thHistorian | Changes to service number and highest rank |
Sources | ||
Date | Contributor | Update |
22 August 2020 23:16:07 | 466thHistorian | Changes to middlename, events, person associations, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
Sources | ||
https://95thbg.mmsw.eu/person/3053 |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
20 April 2015 20:39:13 | simaguire | Changes to nickname |
Sources | ||
B17s over Berlin |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
27 September 2014 18:26:15 | AAM | AAM ingest |
Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / http://95thbg.org/95th_db_pages/left_formation_code/gethonoroll.php |