Military
10-Jul-1942 Assigned as Navigator of B-17F #41-24619 [GN-S] "S-for-Sugar", 303BG/427BS at Alamogordo Field, Alamogordo, New Mexico. It appears from available records that he and his crew were re-assigned to B-17F #42-2966 at Dow Field, Bangor, Maine on or about 5-Oct-42. He, his crew and B-17F #42-2966 arrived at Molesworth, UK on 28-Oct-42.
B-17F #41-24619 arrived at Molesworth, UK piloted by MAJ Charles C. Sheridan, CO 427BS on 25-Oct-42.
On 23-Jan-1943 in B-17F #41-24584 "Susfu" while serving as Navigator the aircraft was shot down by enemy fighters and crashed at Abbey Pleyben near Edern, France. He managed to parachute safely from the stricken aircraft and was captured as a Prisoner of War.
Participated in 7 Operations (4 were Aborted) See Biography events.
Group
The 303rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated on 3-Feb-1942 at Pendleton Field, Oregon. They assembled at Gowen Field, Idaho on 11-February 1942 where it conducted flight training until 12-Jun-1942. The Group then moved to Alamogordo Field, New...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17F 41-24569 "Memphis Tot: [GN:V] was assigned 427BS/303BG [GN-W] Bangor 5-Oct-42; Molesworth 22-Oct-42.
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B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17F #41-24584 "Susfu" was assigned 427BS/303BG [GN-Q] Bangor 5-Oct-42; Molesworth 22-Oct-42; Missing in Action 23-Jan-43 while on a mission to bomb the port area and U-Boat pens at Lorient, France. Attacked by German FW-190 fighters and crashed at...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Assigned 427BS/303BG [GN-P] Bangor 5/10/42; Molesworth 25/10/42; Missing in Action 45m Oschersleben 11/1/44 with George McClellan, Co-pilot: Bill Fisher, ex B-26 pilot on his 1st mission, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Dave Tempesta, Radio Operator...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Assigned 427BS/303BG [GN-U] Bangor 16/9/42; Molesworth 28/10/42; 1 CCRC Bovingdon 4/7/43 as trainer. Salvaged in the UK after the war, date not recorded.
17 November 1942
The U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France are the Primary (P) target for a combined force of 49 B-17s despatched from 91BG (20), 303BG (16) and 306BG (13). Another element of 14 B-24s despatched from 93BG also joins the bombing force on St. Nazaire. The...
18 November 1942
The U-Boat pens at Lorient and La Pallice, France are the Primary (P) targets for this mission. However, those at St. Nazaire, France are attacked by 21 B-17s of 303BG when they are mistaken for those of Lorient. The force attacking Lorient is composed...
22 November 1942
The U-Boat pens at Lorient, France are the Primary (P) target of this mission. A combined force of 68 B-17s despatched from 91BG (18), 303BG (18) 305BG (23) and 306BG (9) against the target but a 10/10 could cover prevents all but 11 from 303BG from...
23 November 1942
The U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France are the Primary (P) for this mission. A combined force of 50 B-17s despatched from 91BG (10), 303BG (12), 305BG (20) and 306BG (8) to attack this target. 91BG is not able to put any of their group on the target,...
12 December 1942
This mission is composed of two elements. First element: The German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France is the Primary (P) target for a force of 78 B-17s despatched from 91BG (19), 303BG (20), 305BG (21) and 306BG (18). However, the target is...
20 December 1942
The German Air Depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France is the Primary (P) target for a combined force of 80 B-17s despatched by 91BG (17), 303BG (21); 305BG (23) and 306BG (19). 60 B-17 are effective on the target, but 7 are MIA and 1 is DBR.
...
23 January 1943
The port area and U-Boat pens at Lorient, France are the primary target for this mission. 305th Bombardment Group is selected as the lead group, but condensation on the bombsight of the lead aircraft in the Group prevents the 305BG from bombing Lorient...
Military site : airfield
Molesworth was one of the early stations used by the Eighth Air Force in the UK, first occupied by the 15th Bomb Squadron’s Douglas Bostons in June 1942. Built in 1940 and extended and improved in 1942, Molesworth is most associated with the 303rd...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Assigned to Aircraft | Alamogordo, NM 88310, USA | 10 July 1942 |
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Assigned as Pilot with crew of B-17F 41-24619 "S-for-Sugar", 303BG/427BS at Alamogordo Field, Alamogordo, New Mexico. |
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| Change in Aircraft Assignment | Bangor, ME, USA | 5 October 1942 |
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Re-assigned, with crew, to B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BS at Dow Field, Bangor, Maine. |
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| Arrived in UK | Molesworth, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28, UK | 28 October 1942 |
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Arrived at Molesworth, UK as Navigator of B-17F 42966, 303BG/427BS. |
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| Mission #1, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BS - Aborted | Saint-Nazaire, France | 17 November 1942 |
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Served as Navigator of B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France, but mechanical failures forced the pilot to abort the sortie. RTB OK. |
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| Mission #2, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BS - Aborted | Saint-Nazaire, France | 18 November 1942 |
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Served as Navigator of B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France, but mechanical failures forced the pilot to abort the sortie. RTB OK. |
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| Mission #3, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 41-24569, 303BG/427BS - Aborted | Lorient, France | 22 November 1942 |
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Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24569 "Memphis Tot", 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France, but mechanical failures forced the pilot to abort the sortie. RTB OK. |
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| Mission #4, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 41-24517, 303BG/427BS | Saint-Nazaire, France | 23 November 1942 |
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Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24517 "Kali", 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St, Nazaire, France. RTB OK. |
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| Mission #6, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 41-24587, 303BG/427BS | Rouen, France | 20 December 1942 |
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Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24587 "Bad Check", 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Rouen, France. RTB OK. |
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| Mission #5, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BS | Romilly-sur-Seine, France | 20 December 1942 |
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Served as Navigator of B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France, but mechanical failures forced the pilot to abort the sortie. RTB OK. |
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| Prisoner of War (POW) | Zagan, Poland | 23 January 1943 – 7 June 1945 |
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Held at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia (now Poland) moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 7-Jun-45. |
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| Mission #7, 2LT Charles R. Grice, w/B-17F 41-24584, 303BG/427BS - POW | Lorient, France | 23 January 1943 |
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Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24584 "Susfu", 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France. The aircraft was shot down by enemy aircraft, but he managed to bale out of the stricken aircraft and was captured as a Prisoner of War (POW). |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 17 March 2020 19:59:37 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Added several "#" to all the A/C serial numbers in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 December 2015 19:56:38 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Mission #7 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 23-Jan-43: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/011.pdf |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 December 2015 19:52:09 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Mission #6 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 20-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/007.pdf |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 December 2015 19:49:14 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Mission #5 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 12-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/006.pdf |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 December 2015 19:45:29 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Mission #4 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 23-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/004.pdf |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 December 2015 19:39:43 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Mission #3 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 22-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/003.pdf |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 December 2015 19:33:28 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Made connections to all aircraft and mission participations per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, HIstorian: http://www.303rdbg.com/ |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 December 2015 19:28:17 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 19-Dec-2015. Added Mission #2 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 18-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/002.pdf |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 December 2015 19:26:55 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Mission #1 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 17-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/001.pdf |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 December 2015 19:22:22 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Arrived in UK event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Harry A. Robey crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-427-robey.html |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 December 2015 19:17:01 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Change in Aircraft event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Harry A. Robey crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-427-robey.html |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 December 2015 19:14:31 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added Assigned to Aircraft event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Harry A. Robey crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-427-robey.html |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 December 2015 19:10:25 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Added biography information from 10-Jul-42 through 25-Oct-42 to Summary Biography per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Harry A. Robey crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-427-robey.html; made connections to Aircraft and Missions per 303BG website Mission Reports: http://www.303rdbg.com/ |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 22 January 2015 20:15:07 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to biography, awards, events, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 22-Jan-2014. Added SN per MACR 15571; Added decoration and POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; made connections to Place, Aircraft and Mission within existing website data; Edited Biography per "Losses of the 8th & 9th AIr Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 January 2015 21:44:57 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to service number, highest rank, events, unit associations and aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Jan-2015. Corrected Squadron association, deleted erroneous aircraft association. Airman was NOT a POW. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:05:55 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
MACR 15571 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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