Charles W Beck Cranmer
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
FACEBOOK POST
Object Number - UPL 28418
Shot down 3 January 1943 in B-17 #41-24470 'Sons of Fury' while serving as Pilot. Aircraft was ditched into the English Channel and then was strafed by German fighters. Killed in Action (KIA). Target was the U/B (submarine) base at St. Nazaire, France.
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: 306th Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: O-726189
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 369th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 20318675 at enlistment, then O-724014
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 369th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 20460324
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: 6296272
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Engineer / Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 369th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39680068
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Sons of Fury
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group
Missions
- Date: 3 January 1943
Places
![A bomber crew of the 306th Bomb Group wave to Picture Post Girls in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24471) nicknamed "Four of a Kind" at Thurleigh in December 1942. Image stamped on reverse: '"Picture Post" [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 11 Dec 1942.' [stamp], '238038.' [Censor no.] Handwritten in censor's blue pencil on reverse: 'American Flying Fortress crew are introduced to the girls they will meet at Picture Post Xmas Party.'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379028.jpg.webp?itok=6Gc6iR0j)
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
12 June 1917 | Beach Haven, Ocean County, New Jersey | |
|
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
English Channel | 3 January 1943 | Killed when aircraft was ditched into the English Channel and strafed by German fighters. His remains have never been recovered. |
|
Other Commemorated |
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Madingley Road, Coton, Cambridgeshire CB23 7PH, UK | Commemorated on the Wall of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery. | |
| Beach Haven, New Jersey |
Revisions
Added a "#" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
Lee Cunningham 16-Jan-2015. Added SN per MACR 16427; added decorations and Commemorated event per American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) record; made connections to Place, Aircraft and Mission within existing website data; Edited biography with crew position and loss details per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stna Bishop & John A Hey MBE.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Losses of the 8th and 9th Air Forces Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey p. 61
