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"A crew of the 379th Bomb Group poses beside a Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" "Peter Wabbit" at an 8th Air Force base in England, 24 July 1943."
Assigned to 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 10 x combat missions. Flew Kassel raid 28-Jul-43, lost control cables on B-17 42-29974 by flak damage.
Crash landed in B-17 42-5822 at Norfolk RAF base returning crew with 4 crew members wounded.
Failed to Return (FTR) Schweinfurt raid in B-17 42-29830 'Peter Wabbit' 17-Aug-43. Shot down by enemy aircraft, crashed Dorrebach, 6 miles W of Bingen, Germany Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 1350.
Awards: AM (3OLC), PH.
Service
People
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Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 18 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Schweinfurt raid 17-Aug-43. Shot down by enemy aircraft, crashed Dorrebach, 6 miles W of Bingen, Germany Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 1350
Award: Purple Heart
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Units served with
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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...
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Aircraft
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 23/2/43; Sioux City 20/3/43; Kearney 8/4/43; Dow Fd 15/4/43; Assigned 525BS/379BG [FR-A] Kimbolton; then 524BS [WA-T]; Missing in Action Schweinfurt 17/8/43 with Erwalt Wagner, Co-pilot: Bill Barnard, Navigator: Joe Hilderbrand,...
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 4/3/43; Sioux City 20/3/43; Kearney 8/4/43; Dow Fd 15/4/43; Assigned 524BS/379BG [WA-N] Kimbolton 22/4/43; returned Osnabruck 22/12/43 with Ken Davis, Co-pilot: Chas Fowler, Navigator: Paul Clark, Bombardier: Stan Dolgin, Flight...
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 20/3/43; Romulus 10/4/43; Assigned 367BS/306BG [GY-L] Thurleigh 19/4/43; battle damaged Kassel 28/7/43, with Larry Kooima, Co-pilot: Frank Crawford, Navigator: Don Berkey inj in crash, Bombardier: Chas Cressey, Flight engineer/top...
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Long Beach 27/2/43; Cheyenne 4/3/43; Gore Fd 18/3/43; Kearney 8/4/43; Dow Fd 16/4/43; Assigned 525BS/379BG [FR-G] Kimbolton 21/4/43; battle damaged Kassel 28/7/43 with Kermit Wooldridge, Co-pilot: Don Herrin, Navigator: Bill Cook, Bombardier:...
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Long Beach 6/3/43; Sioux City 20/3/43; Kearney 9/4/43; Dow Fd 15/4/43; Assigned 524BS/379BG [WA-T] Kimbolton 20/5/43 AL JO-SON; transferred 2 Base Air Depot, Lt Staughton 4/4/44; Returned to the USA Homestead 26/7/44; Tinker 1/9/44;...
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B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 5/1/45; Hunter 12/1/45; Grenier 7/2/45; Assigned 526BS/379BG H2X Kimbolton 21/2/45; mid air coll with 44-8198 over Braintree, Ex, UK 10/5/45 with Elliott Porter; Salvaged 11/5/45.
Missions
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17 August 1943
The mission flown on 17-Aug-43, the 1st anniversary of the 1st mission flown by the 8th Air Force, is probably the most written about mission of the war. This is the famous Schweinfurt/Regensburg mission on which 60 B-17s are lost. It has been dubbed ...
Associated Place
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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....
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Events
Event |
Location |
Date |
Born |
Seymour, Texas, USA |
18 July 1913 |
Dr George Wesley and Georgia Lee [Johnson] Andruss
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Enlisted |
Sheppard Field, Witchita Falls, TX |
23 January 1942 |
Sheppard Field,
Witchita Falls, Texas
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Based |
Kimbolton |
1943 – 17 August 1943 |
Assigned to 525BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF.
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Died |
Dorrebach, Germany |
17 August 1943 |
Failed to Return (FTR) Schweinfurt raid in B-17 42-29830 'Peter Wabbit' 17-Aug-43. Shot down by enemy aircraft, crashed Dorrebach, 6 miles W of Bingen, Germany KIA MACR 1350
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Buried |
Dorrebach, Germany |
18 August 1943 |
Interred
Dorrebach cemetery
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Buried |
Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial |
1946 |
Re-Interred
Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial
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Buried |
Masonic Cemetery
Seymour, Baylor County, TX |
1948 |
Memorialised
Masonic Cemetery
Seymour, Baylor County, Texas
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