Production-block:
B-17F-65-BO: 42-29632 to 42-29731
Manufacturer:
Boeing
- Bomb Group:
- 379th Bomb Group
- 92nd Bomb Group
- 96th Bomb Group
- Bomb Squadron:
- 327th Bomb Squadron
- 525th Bomb Squadron
- RCL: FR-D
MACR: 956
History of
B-17 42-29653 / Bad News
Delivered Cheyenne 30/1/43; Salina 11/2/43; Morrison 28/2/43; {Secret mission 19/5/43}; Assigned 96BG Dow Fd 4/6/43; transferred 327BS/92BG [UX- ] Alconbury 19/7/43; 525BS/379BG [FR-D] Kimbolton 4/9/43; Missing in Action Schweinfurt 14/10/43 with Dick Jones, Co-pilot: Tom Lair, Navigator: Bob Anderson, Bombardier: Perry Fischer, Ball turret gunner: Bob Wills, Waist gunner: Alby Roberts (6 Prisoner of War), Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Clarry Jacobsen, Radio Operator: George Sandner, Waist gunner: Walt Hoffman,Tail gunner: Gerald Hansen (4 Killed in Action); enemy aircraft, crashed near Schrozberg, 31 miles S of Wurzburg, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 956. BAD NEWS.
Last updated: 10. July 2017
25. February 2024 access_time 23:20
My uncle, Tom Lair, was the co pilot on their ill fated last mission. He and 5 others bailed out. Tom survived two POW camps and was liberated by Patton’s 3 Army at the close of the war.
28. February 2024 access_time 1:00
Tom Lair was my grandpa (dad’s side), so we must be related! Sadly I never got to meet him, but that new Masters of the Air show has sent me down this rabbit hole of learning about his time in WW2. Really interesting stuff, he was actually shot down about a 90 minute drive from the German town where the Lair (then spelled Lehr or Lehrer) family originated from.