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Crew Chief Mike Giorgis (right) and Assistant Crew Chief Henry Hendricks (left) of the 94th Bomb Group stand with a B-17 Flying Fortress nicknamed "Million Dollar Baby". Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Million Dollar Baby. C/C Mike Giorgis (rt), Asst C/C Henry Hendricks
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Two B-17 Flying Fortresses (serial number 42-97268) nicknamed "Million Dollar Baby" and (serial number 41-07632) of the 94th Bomb Group fly in tight formation above the cloud layer, somewhere over Europe.
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Edgar Ray Prigmore Crew arrival document. 94th Bomb Group.
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Lady Ruth B-17 43-38785. Crew when the plane was captained by George Dunham (unsure which one he is.) Second from right on first row is 2nd Lt. Arthur H. Lewis, bombardier.
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Lady Ruth B-17 43-38785. Unknown crew members.
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Crew of the Lady Ruth when it was captained by George Dunham circa Febrary 1945. Third crewman from the left is 2nd Lt. Arthur H. Lewis, bombardier.
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Million Dollar Baby with bombardier Arthur H. Lewis.
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Art Lewis as a cadet. He washed out of pilot training and became a bombardier instead.
Arthur Lewis was born in Kalamazoo, MI. He served as bombardier in the 94th Bomb Group both in the 410th and 322nd Bomb Squadrons. On his second mission, over Wiesbaden, November 10, 1944, their planes was so badly damaged by flak that they had to leave the formation, fly alone back to Belgium where the crew bailed out. The pilot, Prigmore and co-pilot, Jack Malay, successfully belly landed the plane in a farmer's field.
All of the crew survived and returned for several more missions together. Lewis was wounded in the left eye and ended up in the hospital during December (the Battle of the Bulge) but then rejoined his crew in January 1945. His 34th and last mission was on April 21, 1945 a day before the war with Germany ended.
Service
Units served with
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Group
Activated 15 June 1942 at MacDill Field, Florida. Initial organization and training at Pendleton Field, Oregon on 29 June 1942. Primary flight training at Davis-Monthan Field in Arizona from 28 Aug. 42 to 31 Oct. 42; then at Biggs Field, El Paso, Texas...
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Squadron
Part of 94th Bomb Group.
Aircraft
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Accepted 12/2/44; Delivered Cheyenne 18/2/44; Dalhart AAF 1/3/44; Grenier Fd 2/4/44; Assigned 410BS/94BG [GL-Z] Rougham 22/4/44; Ret US Bradley 4/8/45; 4185 BU Independence 30/11/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA)...
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Lincoln 21/9/44; Dow 7/10/44; Assigned 385BG Gt Ashfield 18/10/44; Returned to the USA Bradley 25/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 28/6/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Kingman 8/11/45.
Associated Place
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Military site : airfield
The airfield was purpose-built for American bomb groups and as such had a 2,000 yard main runway that lain in concrete with a tarred and wood-chipped surface. The scale of bases such as this meant that very often the technical, administrative and...
Events
Event |
Location |
Date |
Born |
Kalamazoo, MI, USA |
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