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Military
Photograph of Douglas Bowles, Clarence Fisher Crew - 367th Bombardment Group, (Combat Crews, The 306th Bombardment Group (H), 1942-1945, Russell A. Strong)
Clarence Fischer Crew - 367th Bombardment Group
Prisoner of War (POW). On 16-February-1943 in B-17F 42-5175 while serving as Bombardier the aircraft was damaged by flak and 2 engines were hit on the bomb run over St. Nazaire, France. Fighters then attacked and Lt Downing gave orders to bale out. Nine crew members bailed out safely and 2 were able to evade. Gunner Harvey Ross was the only casualty.
POW
Military | Master Sergeant | Radio Operator | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Completed 8 missions over enemy territory and Germany. Flew as togglier over Vegesack, Germany. Shot down 5 April 1943 in B-17 #4229660 over Antwerp, Belgium. Prisoner of War (POW). Hospitalized for treatment of a shrapnel wound of the lower spine....
Group
Constituted as 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942. Activated on 1 Mar 1942. Trained for combat with B-17's. Moved to England, Aug-Sep 1942, and assigned to Eighth AF Eighth Air Force in September 1942 Station 111 Thurleigh. During combat,...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17F 42-5175 was delivered at Denver 6-Oct-42; New Castle 4-Nov-42; Assigned 367BS/306BG [GY- ] Thurleigh 16-Nov-42; Missing in Action 16-Feb-43 while on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St Nazaire, France. Aircraft was severely damaged by flak...
16 February 1943
The port area and U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France are designated as the primary target of this mission of 71 B-17s and 18 B-24s. B-17s are from 91BG (18); 303BG (15); 305BG (18); 306BG (20) of these 59 are effective on the target and 6 are lost....
Military site : airfield
Built for RAF use in 1941-42, Thurleigh was initially used by RAF Bomber Command before being handed over to the Eighth Air Force. Its runways and hardstandings were improved, and the B-17s of the 306th Bomb Group began using the base. It was their...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | San Francisco, California | |
| Prisoner of War (POW) | Zagan, Poland | 16 February 1943 – 9 July 1945 |
|
Held at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia (now Poland) moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 9-Jul-45. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 21 February 2015 17:40:01 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to service number, highest rank, biography, events, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 21-Feb-2015. Added SN per MACR 15471; Added POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; Made connections to Place and Mission within existing website data; Added crew position and loss details to Biography per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:11:14 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 15471 / MACR 15471, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey, p. 78, NARA web site for POW records, First Over Germany pg. 68 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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