Sortie2BDB-24Missing in Action

42-110033.Over Watton.

Mission 284 · 29 March 1944

Serial
42-110033
B-24J
Fuselage Code
AG
Squadron
330th
Ted's Traveling Circus

The crew.

§ No manifest catalogued

No crew manifest has been catalogued for this sortie yet. The men aboard are not unknown so much as unrecovered — a loading list or an interrogation form would name them.

The flight.

§ Ship’s Record
The Day
Took off fromHardwick (Sta. 104)
The Record
ResultMissing in Action
Record confidenceValidated against a source
Formation
Flew with330th Squadron
Fuel & Equipment
H2X scope photoNo

The target.

§ As Briefed
Watton
As the log wrote itWatton

Notes.

§ From the Record
B-24H serial 42-110033 (MACR documents cite 41-110033; corrected to 42-110033 per 3rd Indorsement, HQ 93rd Bomb Group, 30 October 1944), assigned to the 330th Bombardment Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group, departed Hardwick on 29 March 1944 for a bombing mission to Watton. During formation assembly over Malesworth Station at approximately 1015 hours, the aircraft collided with A/C 41-28590 (pilot Lt. Robert L. McPetrich). The nose of one B-24 struck the fuselage of the other aft of the right wing near the waist window. The aircraft hit in the waist lost its entire tail section and dived spinning. The aircraft with the dented nose entered a spin to the right, briefly pulled out, then entered the lower cloud deck at a 45-degree angle. No parachutes were observed by the eyewitness. Only one crew member, S/Sgt. Kenneth L. Gurney (radio operator), was able to bail out and survived. All other nine crew members were killed in action. Eyewitness statement provided by 2nd Lt. George F. Hase, 330th Bombardment Squadron, dated 16 April 1944. Complete details were submitted on an Aircraft Accident Report (AAF Form 14) on 16 April 1944.

Read the records.

1 document

Original documents behind what this page says about this sortie — reports, records, and histories the archive holds and is free to reproduce. Check the sources for yourself.

Related document

Missing Air Crew Report 15201

Military Record · United States Army Air Forces · 1944 · Missing Air Crew Reports

Sources.

§ Provenance
United States Army Air Forces · National Archives and Records Administration · 1944
Official record
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