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Military
Top Turret Gunner/Engineer Technical Sgt Earl J Boies was Killed In Action flying his fourth and final mission to the synthetic rubber plant located at Hulls Germany on June 22, 1943.
Enemy aircraft attacked the formation at approximately 09:15AM just prior to their reaching the IP of their bomb run. His B17F 42-29946 was damaged by 20 mm cannon fire causing the aircraft to spin, tumble and crash.
He was last seen by Lloyd Donelson, LT Waist gunner, who reported that Boies was sitting on the base of the top turret in good position for escape but he did not bail out. Apparently not injured Boise was dazed due to a loss of oxygen and the centrifugal force of the tumbling ship. As Donelson exited the aircraft Boies waved good bye.
Boies is buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery Belgium.
Group
The 379th Bomb Group (H) (heavy), based at Kimbolton, flew more sorties than any other Bomb Group in the Eighth Air Force and dropped a greater bomb tonnage than any other Group. The B-17 Flying Fortress Group was awarded two Distinguished Unit...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 15/3/43; Gore 16/3/43; Cheyenne 22/3/43; Walla Walla 2/4/43; Metropolitan 13/4/43; Assigned 525BS/379BG Kimbolton 4/5/43;
...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Long Beach 20/7/43; Cheyenne 22/7/43; Dyersburg 1/9/43; 4100 BU Patterson 3/8/44; 326 BU MacDill 29/10/44; 327 BU Drew 18/5/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Walnut Ridge 18/12/45.
29 May 1943
Three primary targets are selected for this mission. The U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France are selected as the target for a force of 169 B-17s despatched from: 91BG (23); 92BG (22), 303BG (30); 305BG (25) 306BG (24); 351BG (21) and 379BG (24). This is...
11 June 1943
The harbour facilities, port areas and U-Boat pens at Wilhelmshaven and Cuxhaven, Germany are the primary targets for this mission. This is the largest number of heavy bombers yet despatched on a single mission - 252. This is the first mission flown...
13 June 1943
German naval facilities and port areas at Bremen, Germany and Kiel, Germany are the primary targets for this mission. A formation of 151 B-17s despatched from: 91BG (21); 92BG (17); 303BG (27); 305BG (24); 306BG (28); 351BG (21); and 379BG (13) are to...
22 June 1943
The German rubber industry (Chemische Werke Hüls AG) at Marl (district Hüls-Nord), Germany, is the primary objective of this mission and is assigned to the Bomb Groups with the most expericence. Also the industrial area of Antwerp, Belgium is assigned...
Military site : airfield
Planned for RAF use, Kimbolton airfield was built by W and C French Ltd. in 1941. The airfield was increased in size to accommodate a full US heavy Bomb Group, and the first such unit to us it was the 91st Bomb Group, who arrived in September 1942....
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | California, USA | 1920 |
| Enlisted | Los Angeles, CA, USA | 15 December 1941 |
| Killed in Action (KIA) | Germany | 22 June 1943 |
| Buried | ||
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Plot B Row 11 Grave 16 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 22 July 2016 13:41:27 | Lucy May | Changes to biography, events and place associations |
| Sources | ||
NARA Enlistment record: https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&tf=F&q=earl... ABMC record: https://www.abmc.gov/node/543972#.V5ITa01TGM8 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 31 October 2015 11:45:56 | Hobie@64205 | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Sgt Boies |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 30 October 2015 11:09:02 | Hobie@64205 | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
Sgt Boies |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 30 October 2015 11:05:29 | Hobie@64205 | Changes to mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Sgt Boies |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 30 October 2015 11:04:25 | Hobie@64205 | Changes to service number, awards and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Sgt Boies |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:07:58 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1294 / MACR 1294; The 379th Bombardier Group Anthology, pg 265 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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