Military
Lt. William Burtt And Crew Of The 322nd Bomb Sq., 91st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, In Front Of A Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" "Man O War, Ii, Horsepower Ltd". England, 10 February 1944. - 1LT William S. Burtt & crew, 322nd Bomb Sq, 91st BG with B-17G 42-38083 "Man-O-War II - Horsepower LTD" (coded LG-V), 10 February 1944. The ship replaced their earlier "Man-O-War - Horsepower LTD" (serial 42-37987) in which they'd managed to complete one mission - barely. On the 29 January sortie to Frankfurt they were badly shot up by enemy fighters. Limping back across the Channel, a third engine failed just as they crossed the English coast; they promptly crash-landed. BACK ROW - LEFT TO RIGHT: Sgt. Harold H. Jones, Radio Operator (Mont Alto, Pennsylvania); S/Sgt. Vern P. Woodward, Top Turret Gunner (Greenwich, New York); Sgt. Weiss, Waist Gunner (Michigan); Sgt. Jack Webb, Waist Gunner (Illinois); Sgt. John J. (Moose) Wheeler, Tail Gunner (Buffalo, New York); Sgt. Rudolph (Rudy) Thigpen, Ball Turret Gunner (Shreveport, Louisiana); Unknown FRONT ROW - LEFT TO RIGHT: 2nd Lt. R.L. West, Navigator (Cincinnati, Ohio); 1st Lt. William S. Burtt, Pilot (Grand Rapids, Michigan); 1st Lt. Frank Alford, Co-Pilot (Texas)
42-31673 after a port undercarriage collapse when landing under the command of Lt Burtt
42-31673 after a port undercarriage collapse when landing under the command of Lt Burtt
Assigned to 322BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. Damaged by fighters on mission to Frankfurt on 29-Jan-44 in B-17 42-37987 'Man O War - Horsepower Ltd' managed to return to England on two engines and crashed near Sittingbourne, Kent when the third engine went out. Returned to Duty (RTD).
Finished tour as B-17 pilot with 35 completed missions. Joined Experimental Scouting Force at Duxford and killed following loss of wing over Leckhampstead, Bucks (Not Newbury) the day before the advanced scouting force came into being. Special Duties 1 Scout Force, 8AF USAAF. Killed while in training for fighter tour in P-51 44-13728 'Mary Jane'. Died Non Battle (DNB).
Awards: DFC (2OLC), PH.
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...
Squadron
Squadron
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Tulsa 2/2/44; Grenier 5/3/44; Assigned 322BS/91BG [LG-T] Bassingbourn 25/3/44; Missing in Action 54m Le Manoir RR bridge, Fr 13/8/44 with Tom Smith (Killed in Action); Co-pilot: Joe Vukovich, Navigator: Alex Calder, Ball turret gunner: Jesse...
B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17G 42-31634 'Texas Chubby - The J'Ville Jolter' was delivered Cheyenne 1-Dec-43; Portland 3-Dec-43; Boise 5-Dec-43; Kearney 16-Dec-43; Ft Wayne 25-Dec-43; Grenier 27-Dec-43; Presque Is 3-Jan-44; Assigned 322BS/91BG [LG-O] Bassingbourn 23-Jan-4....
B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17G 42-31673 'Lassie Come Home' was delivered Cheyenne 6-Dec-43; Kearney 17-Dec-43; Harrisburg 8-Jan-44; New Castle 9-Jan-43; Presque Is 11-Jan-44; Prestwick 16-Jan-44; Assigned 96BG Snetterton 16-Jan-44; transferred 322BS/91BG [LG-B] Bassingbourn 27...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 4/11/43; Kearney 15/11/43; Assigned 322BS/91BG [LG- ] Bassingbourn 21/12/43; on first mission Frankfurt, battle damaged 29/1/44 with Bill Burt, Co-pilot: Frank Alford, Navigator: Bob West, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Rudy...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 6/12/43; Kearney 24/12/43; Nutts Corner, Belfast, N.I. 14/1/44; Assigned 322BS/91BG [LG-V] Bassingbourn 1/2/44; 77m Missing in Action Merseburg 2/11/44 with Leroy Hare, Co-pilot: Bob Casey, Navigator: Theo Herrick, Bombardier: Roy...
P-51 Mustang
Assigned 357FS, 355FG, 8AF USAAF. Transferred to Scout Force[Experimental] SFX. Transferred to 2nd Scouting Force [2SF].
29 January 1944
The primary target for this mission was the railroad marshalling yards and industrial areas of Frankfurt, Germany. A combined force of 863 heavy bombers were despatched in three elements to make the attack. The combined bomber gunner claims on enemy...
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...
Military site : airfield
Honington was in use by Eighth Air Force units for a longer period than any other air base in England. The air base, built in the mid 1930s as part of the RAF's expansion programme had seen plenty of action as an RAF base before it was handed over to...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Montcalm County, MI, USA | 1924 |
| Lived in | Michigan | 1941 |
| Enlisted | Kalamazoo, MI, USA | 27 March 1943 |
|
Kalamazoo, Michigan |
||
| Combat damaged force landing | Sittingbourne, UK | 29 January 1944 |
|
Damaged by fighters on mission to Frankfurt, 2 engines out, crashlanded when 3rd quit. Sittingbourne, Kent. 29-Jan-44. 8 x RTD, 1 x WIA, 1 x KIA. |
||
| Promoted | Bassingbourn cum Kneesworth, Royston SG8, UK | 17 February 1944 |
|
Promoted to 1st Lieutenant. |
||
| Combat damaged | Thorney Island, Emsworth PO10, UK | 25 April 1944 |
|
Landed at Thorley Island on the way home from Metz airfield with #1 and #2 engines out in ship #353. 10 x RTD. |
||
| End Tour Duty (ETD) | May 1944 | |
|
End Tour Duty (ETD). |
||
| Special Duty | Honington, Bury Saint Edmunds IP31 1QZ, UK | September 1944 |
|
Special Duty 1st Scouting Force. |
||
| Died | Leckhampstead, Newbury RG20, UK | 16 September 1944 |
|
Killed while in training for fighter tour in P-51 44-13728. Died Non Battle (DNB). |
||
| Buried | 17 September 1944 | |
|
Interred |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 03 June 2021 09:20:22 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
Adjusted punctuation in the "Summary biography" to aid readability. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 02 June 2021 18:20:47 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Added punctuation in the "Summary biography" to aid readability. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 29 May 2021 20:26:27 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/record/529898337/william-s-burtt-american-battle-m... |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 29 May 2021 20:24:27 | Al_Skiff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/record/529898337/william-s-burtt-american-battle-m... |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 29 May 2021 19:10:08 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Corrected a typo in the "Summary biography" - “came” was misspelled. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 October 2018 13:49:14 | Tobin Jones | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
This from my own research into the crash site which is in my village, a letter from Dick Atkins and Letter from Capt Burge |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 15 August 2017 19:11:29 | Al_Skiff | Changes to service number, role, events and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
http://littlefriends.co.uk/search.php?searchString=Burtt&Submit=Search |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 15 August 2017 18:51:18 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography, awards, events, unit associations, place associations and aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
http://littlefriends.co.uk/search.php?searchString=Burtt&Submit=Search |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:28:42 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
ABMC & brother / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list |
||
