Hi guys, and gals, maybe you can help me with a little research. My uncle’s father flew with the 366th bomb sqdrn, 305th bomb grp., out of Chevelston. On mission 323 April 27th 1944 raid on Nancy, France , becuase of the flu he was not assigned to his original crew, but replacement waist gunner on a crew with pilot Lt. Copley?
I do believe this was possilbly a green crew becuase he could not remember if the airplane had any nose art. This was his 20th mission and was blown free from the airplane, and only the tail gunner, navigator and the copilot made it out . Do any of you have crew lists or could shed some light on the particluar mission.
If this helps his box was late getting off the ground and said they formed up on a B-17 unit with a black diamond on it’s tail? Any info will be appreciated just reply to the thread or pm me . Thank You… Dog House Ldr. 🙂
By: LaurentB - 4th May 2005 at 07:10
Hello,
It seems your uncle’s father was flying in B-17G 42-39829, flown by Capt Copley, and shot down by flak. 1 evader, 1 KIA, and 9 POWs (11 crew members?). Missing Air Crew Report #4276. This info come from Roger Freeman’s big book “The B-17 Flying Fortress Story”
In fact, I started my search on this very useful website, as it provides a searchable MACR database:
http://www.armyairforces.com/dbmacr.asp
and they even tell you hpw to obtain the full report from the National Archives (they also have a very helpful forum, by the way)
The 366th lost another plane that day, 42-97097, and 6 crew were killed while the other 4 were made POW. MACR #4277. Name of the pilot was Knight (no rank given).
HTH,
Laurent
By: Smith - 4th May 2005 at 03:19
No problem DHL. You’ll find if you work your way back up that link that you can access the entire WWII USAAF chronology. Dry but fascinating and a great resource.
I am surprised that no-one’s commented re. Roger Freeman’s Might Eighth War Diaries for you yet – I’m pretty sure there are persons here with it on their shelves.
By: Dog House Ldr. - 4th May 2005 at 02:34
Thanks gnome for the reply, will have a go with the link, cheers 😎
By: Smith - 2nd May 2005 at 01:15
Dog House Ldr – it’s more than possible that Roger Freeman’s Mighty Eigth War Diaries will provide you with good information – someone here will have a copy at hand.
There’s also an online chronology of USAAF operations here …
http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Apr.44.html
For that date, mission 323 it provides this generic information – good background for your specific request
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)
Mission 323: 486 bombers and 543 fighters are dispatched to bomb airfields, marshalling yards and targets of opportunity in France and Belgium; 4 bombers and 4 fighters are lost.
1. 168 B-17s are dispatched to bomb Nancy/Essay Airfield (103 bomb) and Toul/Croix de Metz landing ground (60 bomb), France; 2 B-17s are lost and 33 damaged; 20 airmen are MIA.
2. Of 120 B-17s, 98 bomb Le Culot Airfield and 20 bomb Ostend/Middelkerke Airfield, Belgium; 2 B-17s are lost and 29 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 20 MIA.
3. Of 198 B-24s, 118 bomb Blainville sur L’eau marshalling yard and 72 bomb Chalons sur Marne marshalling yard, France; 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 22 damaged; casualties are 24 KIA, 6 WIA and 1 MIA.
Escort is provided by 106 P-38s, 283 P-47s and 154 P-51s; the fighters claim 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 4-0-5 on the ground; 4 P-47s are lost and 2 P-47s and 1 P-51 are damaged; 3 airmen are MIA.
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May 2, 2005 at 12:57 am