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Source:
www.fold3.com
Production-block:
B-17G-15-BO: 42-31332 to 42-31431
Manufacturer:
Boeing
- Bomb Group:
- 452nd Bomb Group
- Bomb Squadron:
- 731st Bomb Squadron
- RCL: 7D-V
MACR: 2916 / KSU/ME/KU: 1099
History of
B-17 42-31373 / Flakstop
Delivered Cheyenne 26/10/43; Walla Walla 9/11/43; Assigned 731BS/452BG [7D-V] Deopham Green 3/1/44; Missing in Action Berlin 6/3/44 with Chas Wagner, Radio Operator: Francis Shaffer, Waist gunner: Joe Tracey, Waist gunner: Fred Richmond,Tail gunner: George James (5 Killed in Action); Ball turret gunner: Lloyd Freeman (Prisoner of War); Co-pilot: Alan Willis, Navigator: Clyde Martin, Bombardier: Henry Gladys, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Don PorterWounded in Action (4 evaded capture); enemy aircraft, crashed Staphorst-de-Leijen, Hol. Missing Air Crew Report 2916. FLAKSTOP.
Last updated: 25. March 2024
B-17 42-31373 / Flakstop Details
Photo taken on 6 March 1944 during bomb run on Berlin. B-17 #42-31373 Flakstop was shot down later on same day by fighters near the German-Dutch border.
B-17 42-31373 / Flakstop Crew
| Position | Rank | Name | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 2LT | Charles F. Wagner | KIA | - |
| CP | 2LT | Alan R. Willis | EVD | - |
| NAV | 2LT | Clyde J. Martin | EVD | - |
| BOMB | 2LT | Henry H. Gladys | EVD | - |
| ENG/TT | T/SGT | Donald Arthur Porter | EVD | - |
| RO | T/SGT | Francis Shaffer | KIA | - |
| BT | S/SGT | Lloyd J. Freeman | POW | - |
| WG | SGT | Joseph E. Tracy Jr. | KIA | - |
| WG | S/SGT | Frederick V. Richmond | KIA | - |
| TG | T/SGT | George Lou James | KIA | - |
25. December 2021 access_time 17:56
My great uncle Clyde Martin was the Navigator of 42-31373 / Flakstop. He escaped capture after bailing out of Flakstop with the help of the brave people of Belgium, Holland and France who risked their lives and their families lives by smuggling him through German occupied territories. He kept a small windmill in his backyard to remember the wonderful people that helped smuggle him back to allied lines. I know he went back to Europe several times to visit the people that helped him. Our family is forever grateful to those people.
17. July 2023 access_time 6:59
Tracy,
I am a nephew of Flakstop’s pilot, Charles Wagner. My mother later heard from a Dutch boy who with his father found Chuck’s body following the crash near Staphorst.
Jim
05. March 2024 access_time 19:11
There is a monument at the site were the plane crashed. Every year on 06 March there is a ceremony to remember the brave men who payed the highest price for our freedom. The monument is adopted by group 8 of the Prince Maurits school from the nearby village Staphorst.