Skip to main content
Edit entry 

Donald E Awalt

Military

Shot down by flak and crashed at Gruenewald on 6/21/44 in B-17 42-31496. Prisoner of War (POW)

Service

People

  • Jack Atherton

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 401st Bomb Group
    Shot down by flak and crashed at Gruenewald on 6/21/44 in B-17 #42-31496 Prisoner of War (POW)

Units served with

  • 401st Bomb Group

    401st Bomb Group

    Group
    The 401st Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Deenethorpe, Northamptonshire, from November 1943 to June 1945. Starting their missions at that time meant the focus was very much on the coming invasion attempt of France planned for the following...

  • 612th Bomb Squadron

    612th Bomb Squadron

    Squadron

Aircraft

  • 42-102393 Diana Queen Of The Chase

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Cheyenne 27/2/44; Hunter 22/3/44; Grenier 2/4/44; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-R] Deenethorpe 16/4/44; 111m, Returned to the USA Bradley 8/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 12/6/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal...

  • 42-31087 'Heaven Can Wait', 'Boche Buster'

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Cheyenne 17/9/43; Gt Falls 28/9/43; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-K] Deenethorpe 26/10/43; Missing in Action Politz 7/10/44 with Tom Hill, Wilbur Schmedel, Theo Block, Junius Chadwick, Jim Mullins, Vic Shewbert, Ed Hellenbeck, Buddy Keith, Omer...

  • 42-31496 Salvo Sadie

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Cheyenne 12/11/43; Kearney 27/11/43; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-Q] Deenethorpe 1/2/44; Missing in Action Berlin 21/6/44 with Jack Atherton, Co-pilot: Don Awalt, Navigator: Dick Fitzmaurice, Bombardier: John Whelan, Flight engineer/top turret...

  • 42-39993 'Hells Angels Out Of Chute 13', 'Grossly Inadequate'

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Long Beach 26/10/43; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-C] Deenethorpe 1/1/44; 118m landing accident at base with Jim Nolan 7/5/45; sal 2 SAD Watton, Nfk 8/5/45. HELL’S ANGELS OUT OF CHUTE 13 aka GROSSLY INADEQUATE. ...

  • 42-97811 Slick Chick

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Denver 4/3/44; Hunter 7/4/44; Grenier 30/4/44; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-N] Deenethorpe 21/5/44; Missing in Action Toulouse 25/6/44 with pilot John Myretrus, Co-pilot: Charles Davis, Tail gunner: Tom Elward, Bombardier: Thyrl Greer, Flight...

Missions

  • 380

    30 May 1944
    Mission #3. Same target as before. A piece of flak broke the pilots windshield. No-one hurt.

  • 384

    2 June 1944
    Operations on this day were specified for D minus 3 by the Overall Air Plan as modified by Headquarters A.E.A.F. All objectives were located in the Pas de Calais (Fortitude) area, the attacks having as their purpose deception of the enemy as to the...

  • 388

    3 June 1944

  • 391

    4 June 1944

  • 395

    6 June 1944
    D-Day. Start of Operation Overlord.

  • 403

    10 June 1944

  • 405

    11 June 1944
    Flew a sortie flight to the French Coast at 24,000 feet. 8th Combat Flight. No flak.

  • 407

    12 June 1944
    Willie Hussong got his arm caught in the door of the lower ball turret. Palmer and Rollinger pried him out with a gun barrel. Bombed an airfield. Hussong hospitalized.

  • 412

    14 June 1944
    Mission #10. Bombed an airfield south of Brussels. Bob Martin flew in place of Hussong.

  • 423

    19 June 1944
    Bombed an airfield. Nine hour mission. Shortly after retiring we were called again but mission was called off at briefing room.

Show more

Associated Place

  • Deenethorpe

    Military site : airfield
    Deenethorpe was a base purpose-built for American heavy bombers, with the Class A regulation 2,000 and 1,400-yard runways. All the buildings on site,such as the accommodation and administrative blocks, were temporary. In December 1943, several local...

Events

Event Location Date
Born Wilsonville, Nebraska
Prisoner of War 21 June 1944
Nationality
American
Nickname
Not yet known
Service numbers
Not yet known
Highest rank
Second Lieutenant
Role/job
Co-Pilot
Awards
Not yet known

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
22 November 2021 02:19:53 acbernstein1 Changes to person associations, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations
Sources

http://401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=1400
Date Contributor Update
21 September 2016 10:50:30 general ira snapsorter Changes to biography, events and aircraft associations
Sources

Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- MACR 6000 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:07:27 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 6000, http://www.401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=1400

Share