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Victor Ciganek

Military

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Sgt Victor Ciganek was assigned to the 91st Bomb Group 322nd Squadron based at Bassingbourn. Victor served as radio operator on the B-17 #42-3119 "Destiny's Tot" on the Hamburg mission of 26 July 1943. Upon returning the B-17 ditched into the North Sea due to a malfunction of the fuel tank. The crew were picked up by Air-Sea rescue.

On 17 August 1943 mission to Schweinfurt Sgt Ciganek was shot down in B-17 #42-2990 "Dame Satan." Due to his injuries, Victor was immediately captured and taken to the local hospital in Jemappes, Belgium. He was then transferred to Stalag IXC in Obermassfeld where he spent Christmas of 1943. In 1944 he was transferred to Stalag Luft VI Heydakrug, then was moved to Stalag Luft IV Gross Tychow via train and cargo ship SS Masuren. On 6 Feb 1945 Sgt Ciganek began the March to freedom and was met by the Timberwolf outfit on 25 April 1945.

Service

People

  • Jarvis Allen

    Military | Technical Sergeant | Engineer/Top Turret Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
    Shot down 26 July 1943 in B-17 #42-3119. Plane ditched in North Sea. Returned to base. ...

  • Carlyle Darling

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
    Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-2990 'Dame Satan'. Initially evaded. Prisoner of War (POW). ...

  • Albert DiMinno

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
    Shot down 26 July 1943 in B-17 #42-3119. Plane ditched in North Sea. Returned to base. Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-2990 'Dame Satan', Evaded (EVD). See the full story of his evasion at https://www.evasioncomete.be/fdiminnat.html

  • Jack Hargis

    Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
    Shot down 26 July 1943 in B-17 #42-3119. Plane ditched in North Sea. Returned to base. ...

  • Leland Judy

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
    Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-2990 'Dame Satan', Evaded (EVD). See the full story of his evasion at https://www.evasioncomete.be/fjudylg.html

  • Richard Martin

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
    Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #41-24453 'Mizpah/ The Bearded Beauty/ The Bearded Lady'. Killed in Action (KIA).

  • Capen Simons

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier, Navigator | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
    Shot down 26 July 1943 in B-17 #42-3119. Plane ditched in North Sea. Returned to base. Shot down 9 October 1943 in B-17 #42-5178 'The Old Stand', Prisoner of War (POW).

  • Carl Smith

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
    Shot down 26 July 1943 in B-17 #42-3119. Plane ditched in North Sea. Returned to base. Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-2990 'Dame Satan', Evaded (EVD). See the full story of his evasion at https://www.evasioncomete.be/fsmithcn.html

  • Rudolph Thigpen

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
    Shot down 26 July 1943 in B-17 #42-3119. Plane ditched in North Sea. RTD. Damaged by fighters on mission to Frankfurt on 29 Jan 1944 in B-17G #42-37987 'Man O War - Horsepower Ltd' managed to return to England on two engines and crashed near...

  • Gerald Tucker

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
    Sgt Gerald Tucker (whose first name is often misspelled Gerold) was Right Waist Gunner on B-17 #42-3119 when it was shot down on the Hamburg mission of 26 July 1943. The plane ditched in the North Sea and all ten crew were saved and returned to base. ...

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Units served with

  • 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars

    91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars

    Group
    The 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated at Harding Field, Louisiana on 15-April-1942 and went to MacDill Field, Florida for the first phase of training from 16-May-1942 to 25-June-1942. The Group was then assigned to 2nd Air Force at Walla...

  • 322nd Bomb Squadron

    322nd Bomb Squadron

    Squadron

Aircraft

  • 42-2990 Dame Satan

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Assigned 322BS/91BG [LG-R] West Palm Beach 14/12/42; Bassingbourn 10/1/43; Missing in Action 11+m Schweinfurt 17/8/43 with Pilot Jack A. Hargis; Ball turret gunner: Starr A. Tucker (2 Killed in Action); Navigator: Carlyle H. Darling; Bombardier: Edward...

  • 42-3119 Destiny's Tot

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Cheyenne 18/2/43; Presque 28/4/43; Assigned 322BS/91BG [LG-M] Bassingbourn 4/6/43; Missing in Action on the aircraft's 5th mission - Hamburg 26/7/43 with some members of Lt Jack A. Hargis' new crew. Hargis' crew was split up to fly their...

Missions

  • VIII Bomber Command 77

    26 July 1943
    The German rubber industry at Hannover, Germany and the U-Boat shipyards at Hamburg, Germany are the primary focus of this mission. In addition, a German ship convoy and targets of opportunity at Wilhelmshaven and Wesermunde are bombed. The first...

  • VIII Bomber Command 84

    17 August 1943
    The mission flown on 17-Aug-43, the 1st anniversary of the 1st mission flown by the 8th Air Force, is probably the most written about mission of the war. This is the famous Schweinfurt/Regensburg mission on which 60 B-17s are lost. It has been dubbed ...

Associated Place

  • Bassingbourn

    Military site : airfield
    Now home to a museum all about the aifield and its USAAF residents (http://www.towermuseumbassingbourn.co.uk/) , Bassingbourn opened in 1938 as part of the RAF's pre-war expansion programme. The RAF continued to use it until late in 1942 when its long...

  • Moulsford Manor

    Military site : non-airfield
    Run by the American Red Cross, Moulsford Manor was one of 16 country houses or 'flak homes' which housed airmen for Rest and Recuperation away from the stress of flying missions. Each serviceman was entitled to at least one rest period during their 25...

  • Stalag Luft IV

    Other location

  • Stalag Luft VI

    Other location

Events

Event Location Date
Born Jersey City, NJ 19 April 1915
Enlisted Newark, New Jersey, United States 15 July 1942
Prisoner of War (POW) Germany 17 August 1943 – 24 May 1945

MACR : "Was thrown out by Sgt Tucker while unconscious from a Flak wound." Landed In Belgium and was hosipitalized at a Jemappes, Belgium hospital. Later transferred to Stalag Luft 4 in Gross Tychow (Tychow), Poland.
Died Anchorage, Alaska, United States 25 August 2001
Buried Hollywood Cemetery, Harrington, Delaware, United States
Nationality
American
Nickname
Vic
Service numbers
32392925
Highest rank
Technical Sergeant
Role/job
Radio Operator
Awards
  • Air Medal
  • Purple Heart

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
01 August 2021 20:25:04 jmoore43 Changes to biography
Sources

Removed punctuation in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity.
Date Contributor Update
25 May 2020 04:22:30 V York Changes to media associations
Sources

my father's diary
Date Contributor Update
25 May 2020 03:52:05 V York Changes to biography
Sources

Ragged Irregular ( Apr 1985) and my father's diary
Date Contributor Update
18 May 2020 20:37:16 V York Changes to biography
Sources

My father's diary and Ragged Irregular ( Apr 1985) article by navigator Turcotte.
Date Contributor Update
18 May 2020 19:09:23 V York Changes to biography
Sources

My father's very detailed diary...pls do not alter
Date Contributor Update
18 May 2020 18:59:05 V York Changes to biography
Sources

My father's very detailed diary. The Veterans Admin. does not have all this information. Please do not alter.
Date Contributor Update
15 May 2020 19:01:34 V York Changes to place associations
Sources

My Father's diary
Date Contributor Update
15 May 2020 18:55:12 V York Changes to place associations
Sources

My father's diary
Date Contributor Update
15 May 2020 18:55:09 V York Changes to place associations
Sources

My father's diary
Date Contributor Update
16 August 2015 21:26:33 V York Changes to person associations
Sources

My father's crew.
Date Contributor Update
09 August 2015 23:03:17 V York Changes to mission associations
Sources

My father's records
Date Contributor Update
09 August 2015 00:09:10 V York Changes to person associations
Sources

My fathers docs
Date Contributor Update
05 August 2015 10:02:41 V York Changes to place associations
Sources

Airman's diary
Date Contributor Update
02 August 2015 19:12:12 V York Changes to place associations
Sources

official VA docs
Date Contributor Update
02 August 2015 16:21:11 ED-BB Changes to biography, events and media associations
Sources

MACR 277
NARA WWII Enlistment records
NARA WWII POW records
Date Contributor Update
02 August 2015 08:13:12 V York Changes to place associations
Sources

official docs
Date Contributor Update
02 August 2015 08:07:43 V York Changes to events
Sources

official docs
Date Contributor Update
02 August 2015 08:03:16 V York Changes to place associations and mission associations
Sources

official docs
Date Contributor Update
02 August 2015 07:56:34 V York Changes to place associations
Sources

airman's diary and official docs
Date Contributor Update
01 August 2015 22:56:24 V York Changes to awards
Sources

official docs
Date Contributor Update
01 August 2015 10:33:49 V York Changes to nickname, service number and awards
Sources

V Lampi
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:26:26 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 277 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / Roll of Honor; MACR 277

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