Charles Peterson
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Top row, left to right: Alfred Rabo (Pilot), Fred Gilbert (Co-Pilot), Victor Prendinger (Navigator), Mike Berkowitz (Bombardier, with dig), William A Jones (Tail Gunner)
Bottom row, left to right; Edmund Gates (Flight Engineer), Charles Peterson (Ball Turret Gunner), "Johnson" (Waist Gunner), Thomas Kon (Radio Operator), Henry Kwaseske (Waist Gunner)
Photograph taken from Fold3, as well as crew positions in photo
Object Number - UPL 52150 - Lt. Alfred Rabo's crew, 422nd Bomb Squadron, 305th Bomb Group. Taken 23 November, 1942, in front of B-17 41-24615 "Target For Tonite". Top row,...
Shot down 4 February 1943 in B-17F 42-5060 while serving as Waist Gunner. Mission was to Hamm, May have been shot down about 6 miles east of Den Helder, Holland. Plane crashed into North Sea. Killed in Action (KIA). No MACR was issued for this loss.
Air Medal, Purple Heart
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 422nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16022486 / O-726112
- Highest Rank: Colonel
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 422nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18053866
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade)
- Role/Job: Flight Engineer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: Air Transport Command 305th Bomb Group 422nd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 482nd Bomb Group 422nd Bomb Squadron 812th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13038122
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator, Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 422nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 12046208 / O-87234
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Navigator
Aircraft
![Ground crew work of the 305th Bomb Group work on the engines of a B-17 Flying Fortress, nicknamed "Target for Tonite". Handwritten caption on reverse: '30/6/43. 305[BG].'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-407692.jpg.webp?itok=Vkvl3p1l)
Missions
- Date: 4 February 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
29 July 1919 | ||
|
Enlisted |
23 July 1941 | ||
|
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
4 February 1943 | Killed when aircraft crashed into the sea 6 miles east of Den Helder, Holland. Probably due to fighter attack. His remains, along with all of the crew's, have never been recovered. | |
|
Other Commemorated |
Commemorated on the Wall of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery |
Revisions
Added " / " in the "Role/job" field as a separator to aid readability.
Lee Cunningham 29-Jan-2015. Added Decorations, confirmed SN, and Commemorated event per American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) record; Name, crew position and KIA details correlated with "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; made connections to Place, Aircraft and Mission within existing website data; Edited Biography adding crew position per 'Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE. No MACR was issued for this loss.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol I by Bishop and Hey, p .73-74, WWII National Monument web site,