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92nd Combat Bomb Wing (II)

Wing

  • Capt. Donald Eugene Purcell and his brother, Roy Purcell (Army)

    Capt. Donald Eugene Purcell and his brother, Roy Purcell (Army)

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  • Lt. Colonel Albert Hugh Grinsted, Jr.

    Lt. Colonel Albert Hugh Grinsted, Jr.

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  • Albert Grinsted - Bombadier, Duke Dinsmore - Engineer, Harold M. “Bud” Hegyessy - Navigator Chicago, IL circa June 1944 prior to deployment to Podington England. “Some of the crews were assigned aircraft and flew to Europe in those aircraft. Because of our high standing during the training period we were sent to New York by train and flown to Europe by commercial aircraft. They had to shunt our troop cars to a different station in Chicago and as a result we were free to visit family. We had lunch at the Edgewater Beach hotel hosted by my father and had a great group picture taken of the whole crew by my uncle, a professional photographer. “While we were in Chicago my engineer, Duke Dinsmore, bought a whole case of bourbon whiskey for a bartender on State Street. This was quite a surprise since in Kearney they had made him buy a quart of rum in order to get a pint of whiskey. Needless to say we were well fortified not only on our trip to New York but also during our early days in England.

    Albert Grinsted - Bombadier, Duke Dinsmore - Engineer, Harold M. “Bud” Hegyessy - Navigator Chicago, IL circa June 1944 prior to deployment to Podington England. “Some of the crews were assigned aircraft and flew to Europe in those aircraft. Because of our high standing during the training period we were sent to New York by train and flown to Europe by commercial aircraft. They had to shunt our troop cars to a different station in Chicago and as a result we were free to visit family. We had lunch at the Edgewater Beach hotel hosted by my father and had a great group picture taken of the whole crew by my uncle, a professional photographer. “While we were in Chicago my engineer, Duke Dinsmore, bought a whole case of bourbon whiskey for a bartender on State Street. This was quite a surprise since in Kearney they had made him buy a quart of rum in order to get a pint of whiskey. Needless to say we were well fortified not only on our trip to New York but also during our early days in England.

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  • Albert Hugh Grinsted - Bombadier, Standing third from left. B-17 crew Podington England circa July 1944

    Albert Hugh Grinsted - Bombadier, Standing third from left. B-17 crew Podington England circa July 1944

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  • 92nd Bomb Group, 325th Bomb Squadron B-17G-42-107168 NV-D

    92nd Bomb Group, 325th Bomb Squadron B-17G-42-107168 NV-D "Pappy Time" after her crash landing at Podington on 16th August, 1944 with the Lt Ted Letterman Crew. (All crew members OK). Named Pappy Time because the crew had the oldest average age in the squadron at 24 years old. Lt Ted Lotterman - Miami, FL; - Pilot Harold M (Bud) Hegyessy Jr Alliance, OH; - Navigator William J (Bill) Garrison-Ducor, CA; Albert H (Al) Grinstead Jr.-Lincoln, ME - Bombardier 'Dukie' Dinsmoor; - Engineer John P 'Thumber' TeWalt-Vincennes, IN; Austin M 'Pinky' Pinkham-S Bristol ME; Ralph W 'Kansas' Koby-Wichita, KS & Tony M Annonio-Morgantown The plane took over 37 flak holes, including five in the nose, 12 in the fuselage and tail, and numerous hits to the #1 and #2 engines, wings, landing flaps and hydraulic system. When Lotterman ' s group returned to Podington, the sky was so congested, with over 2,000 other bombers and fighters returning, that they were ordered to do combat type landings, 30 seconds apart on alternate sides of the runway, three aircraft at one time on the runway. His plane was badly damaged and difficult to control. Getting into the prop-wash of the plane landing immediately in front caused them to waste valuable runway distance before touching down. The hydraulic fluid was going and suddenly, no brakes! He tried to groundloop the plane, but it wouldn't do it. He found out later that a mechanic had put a steel sheer pin in the tail wheel instead of the proper aluminum one. With his plane nearly overrunning the aircraft ahead of them, the gunners and radio operator in the back knew that they were in trouble. The gunners and radio operator bailed out on the runway, protected from serious injury by their leather flight suits. The plane nearly hit a gun emplacement at the end of the runway before running off the runway and bouncing into the brush and a stand of large English Oak trees. The bombardier and navigator saw they were going to hit a large oak tree head-on so they dived back onto the catwalk under the pilots. The nose of the plane got totally smashed-in when they crashed into the tree. Everyone who was left on board got out fast and safe. Pappy Time did not burn, but this was the end for number 2107168-B17G.

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US Air Force Combat Units of World War II Description

Re-entered combat with new groups in May 1944 and continued operations until the groups were taken away in Feb 1945. Moved to the US in Jul. Disbanded on 28 Aug 1945.

Commanding officers

  • Harold Huglin

    Military | General | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
    Ops Officer of the 3rd BW in Feb, 1943 ...

  • Hunter Harris

    Military | General | Bomber Commander, 447th Bomber Group | 447th Bomb Group
    From Wikipedia: ...

Structure

Part of
  • 3rd Air Division

    3rd Air Division

    Division
    In December 1944, the 3rd Bomb Division was redesginated the 3rd Air Division.

  • 3rd Bomb Division

    3rd Bomb Division

    Division
    The 3rd Bomb Division was Constituted in August 1943. In December 1944, the Division was redesginated the 3rd Air Division.

Encompassing
Show more
Previously was
Not yet known
Became
Not yet known

Stations

Station Location Date
Based Sudbury 2 March 1944 – November 1944
Based Bury St Edmunds 18 November 1944 – February 1945
Based Elveden Hall 12 February 1945 – 13 July 1945

Connections

People

  • Albert Grinsted

    Military | First Lieutenant | Bombadier | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
    ALBERT HUGH GRINS'I'ED Jr. ...

  • Jack Shuck

    Military | Colonel | Commander, 95th Bomb Group, 452nd Bomb Group, Base Commander | 452nd Bomb Group
    Deputy C/S for Operations, 3rd Air Division, Deputy C/S for Operations, 92nd Combat Bomb Wing. Commander 95th Bomb Group 15 October 1944 - April 1945. Commander 452nd Bomb Group, 6 June 1945 - July 1945.

Aircraft

  • 42-107168 Pappy Time

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Tulsa 12/3/44; Kearney 27/3/44; Grenier 5/4/44; Assigned 325BS/92BG [NV-D] Podington 14/4/44; battle damaged Cauvincourt 16/8/44 with Ted Letterman, crew all OK back at base; Salvaged 18/8/44.

Citations

None

Air Force
8th
Type
Combat
Type category
Bombardment
Nicknames
Not yet known
Motto
Not yet known
Insignia
Not yet known
Aircraft used
  • B-17 Flying Fortress
  • B-24 Liberator

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
03 September 2019 10:50:28 Emily Changes to us air force combat units of world war ii description, description, commanding officers associations and stations
Sources

Air Force Combat Units of World War II
Date Contributor Update
08 August 2019 06:15:07 Paul Bellamy Changes to unit part of associations
Sources

1AD and 3AD records
Date Contributor Update
02 October 2014 00:48:43 Paul Bellamy Changes to type, aircraft types and unit encompassing associations
Sources

3rd Air Division records (AFHRA, Maxwell AFB)
Date Contributor Update
02 October 2014 00:47:09 Paul Bellamy Changes to name, description, unit part of associations and stations
Sources

3rd Air Division records (AFHRA, Maxwell AFB)
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:42:44 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Units in the UK from ETOUSA Station List, as transcribed by Lt. Col. Philip Grinton (US Army, Retired) and extracted by IWM; air division data from L.D. Underwood, based on the 8th Air Force Strength Report of 6th August 1944, as published in 'The 8th Air Force Yearbook' by Lt. Col. John H Woolnough (1980)

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