Production-block:
B-17G-5-BO: 42-31132 to 42-31231
Manufacturer:
Boeing
- Bomb Group:
- 388th Bomb Group
- Bomb Squadron:
- 562nd Bomb Squadron
MACR: 3084
History of
B-17 42-31194 / Duchess of Dixie
Delivered Denver 30/9/43; Gr Island 19/10/43; Memphis 26/10/43; Assigned 562BS/388BG Knettishall 1/11/43; Missing in Action Berlin 6/3/44 with Clarry Grindley, Navigator: Bob Fanning, Bombardier: Don Mecum, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Jim Parker, Radio Operator: George Hockenberry,Tail gunner: Jim Johnson (6 Prisoner of War); Co-pilot: Eino Allander{wia, chute failed}, Ball turret gunner: Don Liebman(wia, arm amputated but died of heart attack 2/4/44}, Waist gunner: Selmer Thompson, Waist gunner: Bayne Tucker (4 Killed in Action); enemy aircraft, crashed Schoeningsdorf, six miles W of Meppen, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 3084. DUCHESS OF DIXIE.
Last updated: 17. January 2018
B-17 42-31194 / Duchess of Dixie Crew
| Position | Rank | Name | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | --- | Clarence Asbury Gridley Jr. | POW | - |
| CP | 2LT | Eino Viljo Alander | KIA | - |
| NAV | --- | Robert W. Fanning | POW | - |
| BOMB | 2LT | Donald F. Mecum | POW | - |
| ENG/TT | T/SGT | James Harry Parker | POW | - |
| RO | T/SGT | George Horace Hockenberry | POW | - |
| BT | S/SGT | Donald Eugene Liebman | WIA | Diead on 4. April 1944 |
| WG | S/SGT | Bayne F. Tucker | KIA | - |
| WG | S/SGT | Selmer Thompson | KIA | - |
| TG | S/SGT | James William Johnson | POW | - |
17. January 2018 access_time 22:26
My great uncle Bill Johnson was on board.
17. January 2018 access_time 22:46
Thank you!
I have added the crew list in a table.
29. March 2020 access_time 15:58
Hello,i came from Germany and live in the near of a crash place. i will found the plane und i Need moore Information. Can you give me more Information from your grandpa.
Kind regards
Michael Koers
23. July 2020 access_time 15:40
Hallo Michael, i,am a member of the studygroup airwar Drenthe from Zwartemeer and we know the crashsite of this B17 g between Schoningsdorf and Twist. It layed from 6-3-44 till 2007 in the Ruhlermoor . In that year it disappeared without trace. For much more info you can contact us .
Kind Regards
Harrie Peters.
24. July 2020 access_time 14:12
Hello Harrie,
I have informed Michael abour your comment.
Maybe the wreckage sunk deeper in the Ruhlermoor?
I believe disappearing without a trace is very stange.
02. October 2022 access_time 23:50
Dear D.T. Johnson,
Just as Harrie Peters, who commented here a couple of years back, I am part of Foundation Airwar Research Drenthe (www.slodrenthe.nl). We are doing extinsive research into the story of March 6th, 1944, this includes the crash of the Duchess of Dixie. If you wouldnt mind, I’d like to get in touch with you, regarding the story of your great uncle.
I hope you will receive this message in good order.
Kind regard,
Yannic Wethly
13. December 2023 access_time 2:09
Contact me at your leisure. 1-865-307-3625
14. December 2023 access_time 13:30
Thank you for your message! Would you be able to email me at yannic@slo-drenthe.nl?
04. March 2020 access_time 23:56
My father Lt. Earl C Garey was the original navigator on the Duchess of Dixie. He was sick with the flu and couldn’t fly the mission. That was when he figured he was going to make it home. I remember Mecum and Gridley coming by to see him in Muskogee Ok. in 1957.