George N Dillard

Military

Assigned to B-17F 41-24602 [PU-A] "Yardbird", 303BG/360BS on 10-Oct-42 at Battle Creek, Michigan as a Ball Turret Gunner and arrived with that aircraft at Molesworth, UK on 16-Oct-42. He was attached to "Yardbird" for 2 operations (1 of which was aborted) and then early in Decemebr 1942 re was reassigned as the Ball Turret Gunner of B-17F 41-24585 "Wulfe Hund". Participated in 3 Operations (1 was aborted) See Biography events.



Shot down 12 December 1942 in B-17 41-24585 'Wulfe Hund' while serving as Ball Turret Gunner. Prisoner of War (POW). He tried to evade capture but was captured on Christmas Day at the railroad station at Dijon, France.



POW

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

Aircraft

A B-17F Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24585) formerly of the 303rd Bomb Group, in Luftwaffe markings after being captured by the Germans. Handwritten caption on reverse: '303BG lost 12/12/42.'
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Wulfe Hound
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Yardbird II
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Other

Assigned to Aircraft

Battle Creek, MI, USA 10 October 1942 Assigned as a Ball Turret Gunner on B-17F 41-24602 "Yardbird", 303BG/360BS at Kellogg Field, Battle Creek, Michigan.

Other

Transfer to Another Aircraft

Molesworth, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28, UK 12 October 1942 Transferred from B-17F 41-24602 "Yardbird", 303BG/360BS to B-17F 41-24585 "Wulfe Hund", 303BG/360BS as a Ball Turret Gunner. Date approximate.

Other

Arrived at Station

Molesworth, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28, UK 16 October 1942 Arrived on B-17F 42-24602 "Yardbird", 303BG/360BS at Molesworth, UK.

Other

Mission #1, SGT George N. Dillard w/ B-17F 41-24602, 303BG/360BS

Saint-Nazaire, France 17 November 1942 Served as Ball Turret Gunner on B-27F 41-24602 "Yardbird" on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #2, SGT George N. Dillard w/ B-17F 41-24602, 303BG/360BS - Aborted

Saint-Nazaire, France 18 November 1942 Assigned as Ball Turret Gunner on B-17F 41-24602 "Yardbird" on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France, but mechanical difficulties force the pilot to abort the mission.

Other

Evasion Attempt

Dijon, France 12 December 1942 - 25 December 1942 SGT Dillard managed to evade capture for 13 days, but was finally apprehended by the Gestapo at the railroad station at Dijon, France.

Other

Mission #3, SGT George N. Dillard w/ B-17F 41-24585, 303BG/360BS

Rouen, France 12 December 1942 Served as Ball Turret Gunner on B-17F 41-24585 "Wulfe Hund", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Rouen, France. The pilot crashlanded the battle damaged aircraft on a filed in France. SGT Dillard managed to evade capture for 13 days but was eventually captured as a Prisoner of War.

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Krems an der Donau, Austria 25 December 1942 - 12 June 1945 Held at Stalag 17B, Braunau-Gneikendorf, near Krems, Austria. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 12-Jun-45.

Revisions

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 8-Dec-2015. Corrected POW capture date per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, John W. Farrar crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-360-farrar.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 7-Dec-2015. Added Mission #3 event per 303BG webiste, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 12-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/006.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 7-Dec-2015. Added Transfer to another Aircrat event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, John W' Farrar crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-360-farrar.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 7-Dec-2015. Added Transfer to another Aircrat event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, John W' Farrar crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-360-farrar.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 7-Dec-2015. Added Mission #2 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 18-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/002.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 7-Dec-2015. Added Mission #1 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 17-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/001.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 7-Dec-2015. Added Arrived at Station event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur. Historian, John W. Farrar crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-360-farrar.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 7-Dec-2015. Added Assigned to Aircraft event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur. Historian, John W. Farrar crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-360-farrar.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 7-Dec-2015. Added B-17F 41-24602 association to Summary Description and made connection to Place, Aircraft and Missions pere 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, http://www.303rdbg.com/

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 10-Nov-2014. "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

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. 1 by Bishop and Hey p. 53