Chester Cox
Military | Brigadier General | Group Commanding Officer | 388th Bomb Group
Retired from the USAF with the rank of Brigadier General
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Group
The 388th Bomb Group flew strategic bombing mission from Knettishall, Suffolk from June 1943 to the end of the war. During this time, though, detachments were sent to Fersfield, Norfolk to conduct Aphrodite missions. In these Aphrodite missions veteran B-24 bombers were filled with explosives and radio-controlled from another aircraft to crash-land on a specific target.
Military | Brigadier General | Group Commanding Officer | 388th Bomb Group
Retired from the USAF with the rank of Brigadier General
Military | Colonel | Commanding Officer | 388th Bomb Group
AM w/ 3 Oak Leaf Cluster/ DFC w/ 2 Oak Leaf Cluster/ PH w/ 1 Oak Leaf Cluster/ Silver Star
Wing
Wing
Group
Squadron
Browse 18th Weather Squadron photographs and other documents in the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library digital archive here: www.2ndair.org.uk/digitalarchive/Dashboard/Index/60
Squadron
Squadron
Squadron
Squadron
Headquarters
Company
Company
17 July 1943
The railroad industry at Hannover, Germany and the aircraft industry at Hamburg, Germany were the intended targets for this mission but weather caused the mission to be cancelled. The element sent to Hannover was a combined force of 207 B-17s from:...
24 July 1943
Three targets in Norway are the primary targets for this first mission flown by 8th AIr Force to Norway. They are the nitrate works at Heroya and the port areas at Trondheim and Bergen. The first element is a combined force of 180 B-17s from: 91BG (22)...
25 July 1943
This mission was composed of three elements. The primary targets were the diesel engine works at Hamburg, Germany; the shipyards at Kiel, Germany and the aircraft industries at Warnemude, Germany, but weather frustrated the effort. The first element...
26 July 1943
The German rubber industry at Hannover, Germany and the U-Boat shipyards at Hamburg, Germany are the primary focus of this mission. In addition, a German ship convoy and targets of opportunity at Wilhelmshaven and Wesermunde are bombed. The first...
28 July 1943
The German aircraft industry at Kassel (Fieseler works) and Oscherleben, Germany are the primary targets of this mission. 182 B-17s from: 91BG (20); 92BG (17); 303BG (20); 305BG (21); 306BG (24); 351BG (21); 379BG (19); 381BG (20); and 384BG (20) are...
29 July 1943
The primary targets for this mission are the port facilities at Kiel, Germany and the Heinkel aircraft factories at Warnemunde, Germany. A combined force of 168 B-17s from: 91BG (18); 92BG (14 these included 1 Y-B40 gunship); 305BG (19); 306BG (18);...
30 July 1943
The aircraft factories at Kassel, Germany are the primary targets for this mission. The mission is flown by two elements of B-17s which attack 15 minutes apart. The firts element is a combined force of 119 B-17s from: 91BG (20); 303BG (23); 351BG (21);...
12 August 1943
This mission is separated into two elements. The first element is a combined force of 183 B-17s from 1st Bomb Division: 91BG (22); 92BG (19); 303BG (20); 305BG (20); 306BG (20); 351BG (21); 379BG (21); 381BG (20); and 384BG (20) are dispatched to bomb...
15 August 1943
German airfields in Holland and France are the targets for this mission. All of the attacks were made late in the afternoon just prior to sunset. The mission is composed of two elements. The first element is a combined force of 180 B-17s from: 91BG (20...
16 August 1943
This mission consists of two elements of B-17s despatched to bomb the German airfields of Le Bourget (Paris), Poix and Abbeville, France. The first element is a combined force of 180 B-17s from: 91BG (21); 92BG (17); 303BG (20); 305BG (20); 306BG (20);...
Station | Location | Date |
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Based | Knettishall | 23 June 1943 – 5 August 1945 |
Detachments sent to Fersfield to conduct Aphrodite missions. | Fersfield | 12 July 1944 |
Military | Staff Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Shot down 8 May 1944 in B-17 #42-107061 'Peg Of My Heart', Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Military | Technical Sergeant | Engineer | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant | Photographer | 388th Bomb Group
Fred Abigt was aboard B-17 #44-8302 as a photographer when it crashed on 9 November 1944 near Hern, Germany. He was taken as a Prisoner of War (POW). He was a Corporal at the time of his capture but by the end of the war he held the higher rank of...
Military | Corporal | 100th Bomb Group
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
Shot down 9 April 1944 in B-17 #42-31137 'Classy Chassy'. Landed in Sweden. Interned.
Military | Sergeant | Medic | 388th Bomb Group
Military | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Ball Turret Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) - shot down by flak and crashed near Paris on 6/27/44 in B-24 #41-29496
POW
Military | Corporal | Clerk | 388th Bomb Group
B-17 Flying Fortress
Production Block : B-17-G-50-BO
...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 3/3/44; Dorval (Montreal) 10/3/44; Assigned RAF [HB783]; transferred USAAF 26/3/44; Assigned 561BS/388BG [L] Knettishall 22/3/44; battle damaged Merseburg 28/9/44 with Elroy Gierach, Co-pilot: Percy Mead, Navigator: Harry Hobbs,...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 3/3/44; Dorval 10/3/44; Assigned RAF [HB784]; transferred USAAF 31/3/44; Assigned 562BS/388BG [B] Knettishall 1/7/44; Missing in Action Munich 31/7/44 with Jim Crider, Co-pilot: Fred Gordon, (no Nav), Bombardier: Bill Stewart, Flight...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 8/3/44; Gr Island 2/4/44; Dow Fd 28/4/44; Assigned 562BS/388BG Knettishall 12/5/44; Missing in Action Dessau 28/5/44 with Art Codding, Co-pilot: Roger Withers, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Bob Berg, Radio Operator: Clyde Waite,...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 8/3/44; Kearney 29/3/44; Dow Fd 6/4/44; Assigned 561BS/388BG Knettishall; with Irving Sainsbury, Co-pilot: John Mehner, Navigator: George Scanlon, Bombardier: Gerald Frost, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Harry Bradick, Radio...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 14/3/44; Gr Island 1/4/44; Grenier 6/4/44; Assigned 561BS/388BG Knettishall 8/4/44 STAR DUST; battle damaged Berlin 26/2/45 with ?; force landed Thionville A/fd, Fr; Salvaged 9/3/45. MY TRUE LOVE.
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 17/3/44; Gr Island 6/4/44; Dow Fd 28/4/44; Assigned 561BS/388BG Knettishall 30/4/44; On a local flight 9/7/44 with Doug McArthur, Co-pilot: Stamos Zades, Navigator: George Mille, Bombardier: Chas Meyer, Flight engineer/top turret...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 26/3/44; Hunter 16/4/44; Dow Fd 2/5/44; Assigned 562/388BG Knettishall 05/23/44 for combat. used on Aphrodite training project; Returned to the USA Bradley 3/7/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 18/7/45; Reconstruction Finance...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 21/4/44; Kearney 2/5/44; Grenier 21/5/44; Assigned 562BS/388BG Knettishall 23/5/44; Missing in Action Krzesinki 29/5/44 with Ray Callahan, Co-pilot: Gene Kivett, Navigator: Jim Russell, Bombardier: John Gerson, Flight engineer/top...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 22/4/44; Kearney 2/5/44; Grenier 13/5/44; Assigned 563BS/388BG [P] Knettishall 16/5/44; Missing in Action Magdeburg 28/9/44 with Bernard Lord, Co-pilot: Don Trachsel, Navigator: Irving Podolska, Bombardier: Walter Norwicki, Flight...
Distinguished Unit Citation - 17 August 1943
Distinguished Unit Citation - 26 June 1943
Distinguished Unit Citation - 12 May 1944
Distinguished Unit Citation - 21 June 1944
Date | Contributor | Update |
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06 March 2021 08:35:35 | GuyAllanFarrin@me.com | Changes to media associations |
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Beau Béte: The true story of a Royal Marine sniper assigned to Ian Fleming's WWII intelligence unit. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08R7XYHXW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_60BCBKV1N... |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
30 December 2017 02:29:49 | 466thHistorian | Changes to citations and commanding officers associations |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
30 December 2017 02:25:17 | 466thHistorian | Changes to commanding officers associations |
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388th BG History |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
31 March 2015 10:12:35 | rossingtonj | Changes to mission associations and stations |
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Associated Fersfield. |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
18 February 2015 19:36:38 | Mustang69 | Changes to type, insignia and mission associations |
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I am the curator of the 388th Collection |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
26 November 2014 14:54:55 | rlhengg | Changes to unit part of associations and mission associations |
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388th Bomb Group Historian |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
12 October 2014 21:09:53 | Rebecca Barton Lutz | Changes to aircraft types and mission associations |
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Daughter |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
27 September 2014 18:42:45 | AAM | AAM ingest |
Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / The Mighty Eighth. A History of the Units, Men and Machines of the US 8th Air Force.' by Roger A. Freeman (1989). 'Air Force Combat Units of World War II' compiled by the Department of the US Air Force, edited by Maurice Maurer (1983). / 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) |