Frank A Saunders

Military

He was with the 306th BG stateside from April 1942 until July 1942. Transferred to the 303rd on 06 July 1942. Assigned as Pilot with crew of B-17F 41-24608 [BN-S] "Yahoodi", 303BG/359BS 10-Jul-42 at Alamogordo Field, New Mexico. Arrived in the UK at Molesworth, UK on 12-Oct-42 with "Yahoodi" as the first aircraft of the 303BG to arrived in England



Shot down 3 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24608 'Yehudi' while serving as Pilot. Plane crashed into Bay of Biscay. POW at Oflag 64 or 21B Shubin, Poland (moved to Usedom, Germany), Altburgund 53-17. He was shot down on his 5th mission. Paricipated in 6 Operations (3 were aborted) See Biography events.



POW, Purple Heart

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

Official emblem of the 303rd Bomb Group approved 7 November 1942.

303rd Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment
Official insignia of the 306th Bomb Group, approved 6 January 1943, and updated 2 October 1951.

306th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

B-17 Flying Fortresses, including (VK-H, serial number 41-24606) nicknamed "Werewolf", of the 303rd Bomb Group. On reverse: US Army Examiner [Stamp].

41-24606

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Werewolf
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 401st Bomb Group 91st Bomb Group 358th Bomb Squadron

41-24608

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Yehudi
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 359th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Dubuque, Iowa 24 February 1920

Other

Transferred to 303BG

Alamogordo, NM 88310, USA 6 July 1942 Transferred from the 303BG to the 303BG at Alamogordo Field, Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Other

Assigned to Aircraft

Alamogordo, NM 88310, USA 10 July 1942 Assigned as Pilot of B-17F 41-24608 "Yehoodi", 303BG/359BS at Alamogordo Field, Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Other

Arrived in UK

Molesworth, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28, UK 12 October 1942 Arrived at Molesworth, UK as Pilot of B-17F 41-24608 "Yahoodi", 303BG/359BS. The first B-17 of the 303BG to arrive in England.

Other

Mission #1, 1LT Frank A. Saunders, w/B-17F 41-24608, 303BG/359BS - Aborted

Lorient, France 22 November 1942 Served as Pilot of B-17F 41-24608 "Yahoodi", 303BG/359BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France, but mechanical failures forced him to abort the sortie. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #2, 1LT Frank A. Saunders, w/B-17F 41-24608, 303BG/359BS

Saint-Nazaire, France 23 November 1942 Served as Pilot of B-17F 41-24606 "Werewolf", 303BG/359BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #3, 1LT Frank A. Saunders, w/B-17F 41-24608, 303BG/359BS - Aborted

Rouen, France 12 December 1942 Served as Pilot of B-17F 41-24608 "Yahoodi", 303BG/359BS on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Rouen, France, but mechanical failures forced him to abort the sortie. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #4, 1LT Frank A. Saunders, w/B-17F 41-24608, 303BG/359BS - Aborted

Romilly-sur-Seine, France 20 December 1942 Served as Pilot of B-17F 41-24608 "Yahoodi", 303BG/359BS on a mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France, but mechanical failures forced him to abort the sortie. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #5, 1LT Frank A. Saunders, w/B-17F 41-24608, 303BG/359BS

Lorient, France 30 December 1942 Served as Pilot of B-17F 41-24608 "Yahoodi", 303BG/359BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France. RTB OK.

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Usedom, Germany 3 January 1943 - 8 June 1945 Held at Oflag 64 or 21B Shubin, Poland (moved to Usedom, Germany) Altburgund 53-17. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 8-Jun-45.

Other

Mission #6, 1LT Frank A. Saunders, w/B-17F 41-24608, 303BG/359BS POW

Saint-Nazaire, France 3 January 1943 Served as Pilot of B-17F 41-24608 "Yahoodi", 303BG/359BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France. Shot down by German fighters. He managed to bale out and was captured as a Prisoner of War (POW).

Other

Original Assigment

6 July 1942 Assigned with 306BG in the United States.

Revisions

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Dec-2015. Added Mission #2 event (renumbered) per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 23-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/004.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Dec-2015. Added 41-24606 to aircraft connections and made connection to 23-11-42 mission per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian; corrected mission numbering on events 2 - 6.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Dec-2015. Added Mission #5 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 30-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/009.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Dec-2015. Added Mission #4 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 30-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/008.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Dec-2015. Added Mission #3 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 20-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/007.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Dec-2015. Added Mission #2 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 12-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/006.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Dec-2015. Added Mission #1 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 22-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/003.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Dec-2015. Added Assigned to Aircraft event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Frank A. Saunders crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-359-saunders.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Dec-2015. Added Assigned to Aircraft event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Frank A. Saunders crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-359-saunders.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Dec-2015. Added Transfer to 303BG event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian; http://www.303rdbg.com/

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Dec-2015. Added Original Assigment event from Biography information.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 15-Dec-2015. Added 303BG assignedment and airrival in UK if Summary Biography; made connections to all mission participations per 303BG website Mission Reports, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 13-Jan-2014. Added POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 13-Jan-2015. Added decoration connections from website data ingest; Added POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; Added crew position to description and made edit to include POW camp. SN per MACR 15720.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

306th BG Association Directory, 1 September 1999 Edition; First Over Germany pg. 11; Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey pp. 60-61,  WWII Memorial web site, MACR 15720 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / http://www.303rdbg.com/c-359-saunders2.jpg#