Re: Locating a US airman by service No??

[Danny152]

Hello all.

I am new at US details but trying to locate details on a US 8th Airforce Bombardier. All I have is No 81835W. Does this mean anything? Thanks for your time and help.


Thanks

Danny

[RSwank]

That number does not appear to be an officer's serial number (they started with O-, sometimes seen as 0-). Do you know anything else?

[Sean Welch]

War weary USAAF aircraft, withdrawn from front line work, were identified with a W after the serial number. Could this be an aircraft serial number?

[RSwank]

AAF serial numbers during the war were of the form 41-234.....,or 42-234... , etc. The prefix was 41-, 42-, 43-, 44-, 45-. On the tails of planes the leading "4" and the "-" were dropped, so plane serial numbers written in the "short" form started with the second digit, i.e. 1 through 5. Since this number starts with "8" it does not seem to have a valid "form".

In Bomb Group reports, planes were often identified by the last 3 or 4 digits. While those digits could be anything, it would be odd to see the last 5 digits used, (81835) though I suppose that is possible. 44-81835 was an AT-6.

[Alex Smart]

Hello Danny,
The Sir Name of the Bombardier would speed things up.
As there is loads of info available on 8AAF personell.
Alex

[edwest2]

Originally Posted by Danny152

Hello all.

I am new at US details but trying to locate details on a US 8th Airforce Bombardier. All I have is No 81835W. Does this mean anything? Thanks for your time and help.


Thanks

Danny

Hi Danny,


Where did this number come from? A letter? A document? A metal plate?




Best,
Ed