Date & Time:
Jan 23, 1943
Type of aircraft:
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Operator:
Registration:
41-24603
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Molesworth - Molesworth
MSN:
3288
YOM:
1942
Country:
France
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
10
Crew fatalities:
1
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Molesworth at 1030LT on an operation to Lorient. Over Finistère, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Kergolay, east of Motreff. A crew was killed, five became PoW and four evaded.
Crew:
1st Lt Ellis Jewell Sanderson Jr., pilot,
2nd Lt Horace Dale Bowman Jr., copilot,
T/Sgt Sidney Devers, mechanic,
2nd Lt John W. Spence, navigator,
T/Sgt Miles B. Jones, radio operator,
2nd Lt Grady Baxter Ward, bomb aimer,
S/Sgt Frank W. Greene, air gunner,
S/Sgt Carlos Jesus Silva, air gunner,
S/Sgt Harry F. Swanson, air gunner,
S/Sgt Joseph L. Markiewicz, air gunner. †
Crew:
1st Lt Ellis Jewell Sanderson Jr., pilot,
2nd Lt Horace Dale Bowman Jr., copilot,
T/Sgt Sidney Devers, mechanic,
2nd Lt John W. Spence, navigator,
T/Sgt Miles B. Jones, radio operator,
2nd Lt Grady Baxter Ward, bomb aimer,
S/Sgt Frank W. Greene, air gunner,
S/Sgt Carlos Jesus Silva, air gunner,
S/Sgt Harry F. Swanson, air gunner,
S/Sgt Joseph L. Markiewicz, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
