Earl Clifford Tunnell
MilitaryShot down 6 March 1943 in B-17F #42-5378, 306BG/367BS while serving as Pilot. The aircraft had developed an oil leak in no. 3 engine over the Channel, but oil pressure stayed steady so the pilots continued their mission toward the submarine pens at Lorient, France. According to Strong, fighters attacked as this plane was was dropping back due to the earlier oil leak and the fact this Group was in the low Squadron. When engine 4 quit, bailout was ordered. Prisoner of War (POW), most probably interned at Stalag Luft 3 in Sagan/Zagan, Poland and force-marched from there at the end of January 1945. Liberated at Stalag 7A in Moosburg, Germany, by US troops on 29 April 1945. His NARA WWII POW record only mentions 7A (the last camp he was registered in)...
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 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-726184
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19075295 at enlistment, then O-664296
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36219920 at enlistment, then O-726143
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13050532
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13025901
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 6 March 1943
Places
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag 7a, Moosburg
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Kingsdown, Ford County, Kansas, USA | 9 September 1918 | |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Moosburg, Germany | 6 March 1943 | Held at Stalag 7A, Moosburg, Bavaria, Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 4 July 1945. |
Died |
31 December 1953 | ||
Nampa, Canyon County, Idaho, USA | Student at NW Nazareth College | ||
Buried |
Dodge City, Ford County, Kansas, USA | Maple Grove cemetery, Kansas |
Revisions
Added an association to Stalag 7A per WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).
Updated Born, Died and Buried events per Find-a-grave Memorial ID 144483958.
SOURCE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144483958/earl-c.-tunnell
WWII Draft card
NARA WWII POW records
Pages 40 and 41 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/142694377 (NARA)
Page 31 of AV 51/43 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/18238537 (NARA)
SSDI (Social Security Death Index)
Lee Cunningham 30-Jul-2015. Correcting typos in Summary Biography.
Lee Cunningham 30-Jul-2015. 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 Summary biography with A/C model, Unit association and crew position per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces", Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop & Hey p. 89, First Over Germany by Russell Strong pp. 73-4, NARA web site