Date & Time:
Jan 13, 1943 at 1430 LT
Type of aircraft:
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Operator:
Registration:
41-24498
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
City
Schedule:
Thurleigh - Thurleigh
MSN:
3183
YOM:
1942
Country:
France
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
10
Crew fatalities:
6
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Thurleigh to attack a train factory located in Lille. In unknown circumstances, it collided with a second USAAF B-17 registered 41-24471 that was also carrying 10 crew members on the same operation. Following the collision, both airplanes dove into the ground and crashed in the city of Marcq-en-Baroel. Six crew members were killed and four others became PoW.
Crew:
1st Lt Jack A. Spaulding, pilot, †
Cpt Russell Gilbert Kahl, copilot,
T/Sgt Thomas H. Gilliland, mechanic, †
2nd Lt Wallace Braxton Kirkpatrick, navigator,
S/Sgt Edward A. Nork, radio operator,
2nd Lt Gordon R. Grant, bomb aimer, †
S/Sgt Dale A. Davis, air gunner, †
Sgt Louis R. Morgan, air gunner, †
T/Sgt Leon Williams, air gunner, †
Sgt Earl E. Santos, air gunner.
Crew:
1st Lt Jack A. Spaulding, pilot, †
Cpt Russell Gilbert Kahl, copilot,
T/Sgt Thomas H. Gilliland, mechanic, †
2nd Lt Wallace Braxton Kirkpatrick, navigator,
S/Sgt Edward A. Nork, radio operator,
2nd Lt Gordon R. Grant, bomb aimer, †
S/Sgt Dale A. Davis, air gunner, †
Sgt Louis R. Morgan, air gunner, †
T/Sgt Leon Williams, air gunner, †
Sgt Earl E. Santos, air gunner.
