451st BG/725thBS a/c "999" - March 21st, 45.
 

Hello,
Confirmation of a/c serial number please.

"999" is the only indication of the serial number in MACR 13217.
Event took place on 21st March,45.
I found in "Mike Hill's , "The 451st Bomb Group in WW II a Pictorial History" that there was 42-51999 that was with the 725th so expect it to have been the one.
But were there any other a/c "999" that served in the 451st Group that it may have been ?
Twice in December 44, 42-51999 was damaged on missions but was eventually returned to the USA..
Thanks
Alex

Re: 451st BG/725thBS a/c "999" - March 21st, 45.
 

44-50999 from the March 1945 history. There are pages which give the status of every aircraft by full serial number.

Enjoy!

Frank.

Re: 451st BG/725thBS a/c "999" - March 21st, 45.
 

Hello Frank,
Where can I access the history you refer too please ?
Reason being that the number you give (44-50999) is not in Hill's book as far as I can find.
Also from a web page I now see that 42-51999 was not assigned until after the event I mentioned.
Alex

Re: 451st BG/725thBS a/c "999" - March 21st, 45.
 

Maxwell's microfilm B0596, containing GP-451-HI (BOMB). IRIS 00093624. It's a series of forms titled "For the month of March 1945 Daily Status --- Takeoff and Early Returns"; one for each squadron. It lists each aircrafts status for each mission flown that month. I do not have the microfilm, I have a PDF copy of the rescanned versions they prepared a few years ago. If you purchase the microfilm version, be sure to ask for it on CD, rather than actual microfilm.

I haven't investigated these records very much, since the MAW team is still back in tactical 1943-44, and won't be getting to strategic 1943-45 for a year or two.

Enjoy!

Frank.

Re: 451st BG/725thBS a/c "999" - March 21st, 45.
 

Thank you Frank,
Think the price could be out of my reach.
Alex

Re: 451st BG/725thBS a/c "999" - March 21st, 45.
 

Price for a microfilm, whether as an actual microfilm, or as the newer PDF version (which is just a digital copy of the actual microfilm) is $30US. Within the US at least they do not charge postage. I do not know what they charge, if at all, to ship a CD to England. They put the CDs in paper sleeves, not a plastic CD case, so it weighs little more than a single CD. They ship the CDs in a small size Jiffy bag. I know when I send CDs out to the MAW team, using Post Office small package bags (Jiffy or cardboard) the postage is about $13-14US, and needs a customs form.

Enjoy!

Frank.

Re: 451st BG/725thBS a/c "999" - March 21st, 45.
 

Alex,
fortunately for you that roll contains some Escape statements, and therefore it found it's way into my collection :)
Will check it tomorrow for data you are searching for.

Re: 451st BG/725thBS a/c "999" - March 21st, 45.
 

Frank,
there is a problem for ordering of CDs from AFHRA, since they don't accept credit cards of PayPal, only check which is out of reach for most non-US researchers.
So I had to hire intermediate to make order for me, which costed some money.

Other thing, more important:
there is one plane from 460bg that made crash landing in January 1945, and no MACR was made. Do you know where I could find data on this plane serial?

Re: 451st BG/725thBS a/c "999" - March 21st, 45.
 

Vathra,
The MAW team is working on the tactical operations of 1943-44 at the present time. I have not therefore put much effort into finding the records of the 15th AF Bomb Groups that arrived in 1944. A quick check of the Group history I have for the 460th shows that the Jan 20, 1945 mission lost one aircraft missing, and that a second ran out of gas and crashed ten miles from base. No crew casualties, but no other information. No pilot, no serial, no squadron number. When I get to the strategic volumes for MAW I will copy the records available at NARA II and hope to find more details. I will probably not get to the 1945 records during 2018.

Enjoy!

Frank.

Re: 451st BG/725thBS a/c "999" - March 21st, 45.
 

Hello Vathra,
Have you checked this site ?

http://www.15thaf.org/55th_BW/460th_BG/

From the list I found four -

01/16-17/45 - 42-78506 - 762 BS - pilot: Malesheetz.
01/20/45 - 44-49719.
01/31/45 - 41-28805 - 762 BS.
01/31/45 - 44-49712.

Alex