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Military
Shot down 26 February 1943 in B-24D 41-23804 'Sad Sack', 44BG/66BS while serving as Waiat Gunner on a mission to bomb the port facilities as Wilhelmshaven, Germany. The aircraft was attacked by fighters near the Initial Point (IP) which caused the loss of 2 engines, started a fire in the bomb bay area and damaging the control cables. Pilot, 1LT Phillamey , gave the bale out order over the city of Oldenburg and he SGT Beaman and 6 others of the crew baled out and were captured as Prisoners of War. 3 airmen were killed in the fighter attack.
POW
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs
Killed in Action on 26 February 1943 in B-24D 41-23804 'Sad Sack', 44BG/66BS while serving as Tail Gunner on a mission to bomb the port facilities as Wilhelmshaven, Germany. The aircraft was attacked by fighters near the Initial Point (IP) which caused...
Group
The 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated 15-January-1942 at McDill Field, Florida and equipped with B-24Cs. The Group moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana and acted as a training unit for the 90th 93rd and 98th Bomb Groups and flew anti...
Squadron
B-24 Liberator
B-24D-5-CO 41-23804 "Sad Sack" was assigned to the 44BG/66BS at Shipdham, UK. The aircraft was despatched on 26-Feb-43 to bomb the docks at Bremen. However, cloud cover obscured the target and the formation diverted to Wilhelmshaven as a target of...
26 February 1943
After 10 days of weather related delays of the bomber offensive, a mission is organised with the port facilities of Emden, Germany as the primary target. However, Emden is obscured by cloud cover and all formations divert to attack the port facilities...
Military site : airfield
Shipdham was built in 1941-1942, the first US heavy bomber airfield in the English county of Norfolk. It was a standard design, with T2-type hangars and a domestic site dispersed to the south east. Improvements were carried out to increase the number...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Casey, Iowa | |
| Prisoner of War (POW) | Krems an der Donau, Austria | 26 February 1943 – 24 May 1945 |
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Held at Stalab 17B, Braunau-Gneikendorf (near Krems), Austrial Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 24-May-45. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 22 June 2015 18:59:27 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to service number, biography, awards, events, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 22-Jun-2015. Added decorations and made connections to Place, Aircraft and Mission within existing website data; Added POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; Added Model letter, aircraft Unit association crew position and loss details per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE and MACR 16053. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:13:20 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, MACR 16053, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey p. 81, The 44th BG Roll of Honor and Casualties by Lundy pp. p. 54-56 |
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