Production-block:
B-17G-20-BO: 42-31432 to 42-31631
Manufacturer:
Boeing
- Bomb Group:
- 94th Bomb Group
- Bomb Squadron:
- 332nd Bomb Squadron
- RCL: XM-C
MACR: 3227
History of
B-17 42-31546 / The Old Sarge
Delivered Cheyenne 21/11/43; Kearney 1/12/43; Bangor 9/12/43; Assigned: 332BS/94BG [XM-C] Rougham 2/1/44; MIA Augsburg 16/3/44 Pilot: Alwin Kocher, Co-Pilot: Henry Wallace, Navigator: Metro Wozniak, Bombardier: Ed Moreau, Engineer / Top Turret Gunner: Bill Wood, Ball Turret Gunner: Joe Anderson, Waist Gunner: Gil Dobrinski, Tail Gunner: Elmer Alderman (8POW); Radio Operator: Martin Egan, Waist Gunner: Herb Chase{died in hospital of wounds} (2KIA); flak, crashed Hopfen Lake, two miles NW of Fussin/Allgau, Germany. MACR 3227. THE OLD SARGE.
Last updated: 6. November 2018
12. May 2021 access_time 9:38
I have copies of this Missing Crew Report which strongly suggests that “Old Sarge” was downed by fighter planes, NOT flak. My cousin, Marty Egan, was the radio operator on the plane. Other crew men said that Marty warned the crew of “incoming fighters”. Their statements, compiled after liberation from POW camps, suggest that he was severely wounded (“prone on the floor, bleeding from several, serious wounds”). He was the only crewmen who did not get out of the plane, which implies that he was already dead. German authorities recovered his body from the wreckage in Hopfensee (lake) and buried him in a nearby churchyard.
04. February 2022 access_time 9:20
Hi Jerry, we are currently working for a chronicle and I kindly ask you if you can send me any material have regarding the “old sarge”.. Specially if it was a air fight or brouht down by a flak. Beforehand thank you for your efforts, Martin
02. January 2023 access_time 3:48
my Dad, Henry Wallace, was the co-pilot on The Old Sarge when she went down. He passed in 2013 but always told me he did not know for sure but thought it was an ME- 109 that brought them down. He also said they were heading for cloud cover and Switzerland but did not make it.
13. January 2023 access_time 21:31
To: Bill Wallace:
Jerry Begen, here.
Thank you, Bill, for your email. I am sorry to hear about your father’s passing. He served his country well and deserved the long life he had. I have a request: If your Dad ever mentioned anything about the events of March 16th, 1944, including anything about my cousin, Marty and how he died, I would greatly appreciate your sending it along to me. If you are interested, you may want to research the Missing Air Crew Report concerning “Old Sarge” (MACR 3227). Google it. Thanks, again, for your email.
09. August 2023 access_time 23:10
Thank you to all these brave men who sacrificed so much.
My uncle, Gilbert Dobrinski, was the waist gunner on this mission. He passed away many years ago.
He told me the story of the shoot down and his imprisonment when I was a young boy and I never forgot it.
I appreciate the efforts of this site so the stories can be preserved.
I have been researching my uncle’s WW2 activity for many years.
David