B17/Fortress 2-4-1944

[Henk Welting]

Hi all,
Looking for the serial number (and if possible unit as well) of a (USAAF ?) B17 lost 2-4-1944 (probably weather recce between Torquay and Cherbourg).
Thanks in advance for your help,
Henk.

[Stephane Muret]

Lost B17 for february 04 1944 over France

42-31440 306 BG Calais
42-31355 385 BG Arbonne ?

At least 2 Fortresses lost over Belgium.

Anything interesting for you ?

S. Muret

[paulmcmillan]

I think Henk , means 2nd April 1944?? Not 4th of Feb??

MACR Date Aircraft AAF S/N Group Sqdn Pilot Fate
Number Type
3583 440402 B-17 42-30429 97 340
3586 440402 B-17 42-30343 97 342
3707 440402 B-17 42-31639 301 419 Shot down by fighters on mission to Styer, Austria. 3 KIA; 7 POW
3639 440402 B-17 42-3244 97
3887 440402 B-17 42-32013 99 347
3888 440402 B-17 42-32056 99 416
4197 440402 B-17 42-3144 301 Shot down by fighters on mission to Steyr, Austria. 10 KIA
4909 440402 B-17 42-32062 99 416
From http://aviationarchaeology.com/src/M.../44AprMACR.htm and http://www.b17database.de/

[Henk Welting]

Thanks friends for your answer. I finally found the name of an RAF-airman who may have been aboard this B 17 (as a Met. Observer of 517 Sqn) and the date was not 2-4-1944, but

2 or 3 February 1944

Probably also 7 USAAF-crew missing. The problem is that death certificates USAAF-losses and no eyewitnesses of the accident available were dated one year and one day after the missing date.
The B17 (pres. a type F from Bovingdon) took off from Brawdy/Pembs.

Regards,
Henk.

[Henk Welting]

It may have been serial 42-30131 of # 1 Group and info pres. available on MACR 2250. Don't have access to MACRs.
Regards,
Henk.

[Stephane Muret]

Hi Henk,

Your datas seems to be very strange. Yes, Bovingdon was a 8th AF airfield and home of 92nd BG but beginning of 1943, the Group flew to Alconbury.
After this date, the airfield became B17 operationnal Training Base and 8th AF QG.

B17 # 42-30131 was part of 384 BG on june 9 1943 (547 BS -Q) To Air Force Service Command (AFSC) on july 17 1943, Then to Bovingdon.

I'm looking for more infos in my files.

What's name of RAF airman ?

sTEPHANE mURET

[Henk Welting]

Hello Stephane,
RAF-airman pres. was Sgt J.E.B. PYE - 3005390 - Runnymede Panel 236 (CWGC date of death 3-2-1944).
Regards,
Henk.

[Henk Welting]

Puzzle solved. B17F serial was 42-30131. (2-2-1944)
Sgt PYE (RAF) on the Runnymede (with date 3-2-1944) and following USAAF-crew on Walls of the Missing, Cambridge:
2/Lt R.H. GRAFTON - O-800872 - from New York
2/Lt R.E. WILLIAMS - O-680354 - from Montana
2/Lt C.M. DURGIN - O-685561 - from Washington
T/Sgt L. FELLER - T/12014594 - from New York
S/Sgt A.M. NICOLETTI - 12026195 - from New York
S/Sgt T.O. LAWR - 37426765 - from Iowa
Sgt C. GREEN - 1819003 - from Oklahoma.
Regards,
Henk.

[Stephane Muret]

Hi Henk,
That's interesting but wich group are the crew come from ? I take a brief look on Mighthy Eighth Combat chronology and found no trace of any losses with these names. All crewmen lost are KIA, not MIA ..
Any idea ?

Stephane

[Alex Smart]

Hi, Have looked on ABMC site,

US crew seem to come from the
1st Squadron , Combat Crew Replacement center.

Sgt. Pye, noted on CWGC page as with 517 Sqdn.
Was 18 a young age to have been a Sgt ? or at that time in the war more the norm ?
Re: 42-30131 she went to the 2SAD , (Little Staughton & Abbots Ripton).

Alex