Source:
www.americanairmuseum.com
| General | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | Boeing |
| Production-Block: | , B-17G-35-BO: 42-31932 to 42-32116 |
| Operational History | |
|---|---|
| Bomb Group: | , 379th Bomb Group |
| Bomb Squadron: | , 526th Bomb Squadron |
| RCL | LF-F |
| MACR | 4876 |
| Fate: |
, Lost by enemy aircraft (13 May 1944) |
Werbung/Advertisement
History of
B-17 42-31972 / Game Cook
Delivered Cheyenne 11/1/44; Savannah 21/1/44; Assigned 526BS/379BG [LF-F] Kimbolton 22/2/44; Missing in Action Osnabruck 13/5/44 with John Wildes, Co-pilot: Sam McDaniel, Navigator: Jim Schaefer, Bombardier: Virgil Gerth, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Warren Claypool, Radio Operator: Gordon Tucker, Ball turret gunner: Chas Baldwin, Waist gunner: John Corey,Tail gunner: Joe Carl (9 Prisoner of War); enemy aircraft, crash landed Beldringe Afd, on Funen Is, Den; Missing Air Crew Report 4876. GAME COCK.
Werbung/Advertisement
This page was last updated on 21 March 2019
07. November 2019 access_time 20:48
My dad Warren Claypool went down on the Gamecock and was interred in Stalag Luft 4. He was forced marched across Germany until liberated at Bitterfeld Germany
10. November 2019 access_time 11:49
Thank you for sharing the information.
Bitterfeld is near to the town where I am living.
19. March 2023 access_time 5:00
This is my grand father’s aircraft. He was the pilot, his name is John E. Wilds Jr., and he was a lieutenant at the time. It was their 25th and final mission. He spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft 3. He stayed in the Air Corp/Air Force and even worked at the Pentagon in his later years. He is interred at Arlington Cemetery and was buried with full military honors.
17. March 2024 access_time 7:48
The manufacturer’s data plate of this aircraft is on display in the museum at Vught Camp in NL where the aircraft was broken up. Interesting to see a bit of history.
12. January 2025 access_time 19:11
B-17 42-31972 is my father’s aircraft. The correct name for his B-17 is “Gamecock”, and he was the Pilot, Lt. John E. Wilds Jr. The information above shows him with the 379th Bomb which is correct however I have a picture of my father with his crew and in this picture he is holding a sign showing that this crew is with the 527th Bomb Squadron. In the picture the bomber jacket that my father is wearing along with another member, shows them wearing the 527th Bomber Squadron patch of the skull and cross bombs confirming this plane and crew were with the 527th not the 526th squadron. On May 13th, 1944 he and his crew took off from Kimbolton, England on a bombing mission over Germany. It never returned. It was the 30th and last mission. My son Brian King commented above it was his 25th mission, but at the time he was shot down they had to fly 30 missions not the 25 missions required previously. Having crash landed in Denmark not more than 20 feet from a building occupied by the German Luftwaffe he was held prisoner at Stalag Luft lll, in Sagan Poland. My father had to walk 60 miles in a blizzard from Stalag Luft lll, then was loaded on boxcars and finally ended up in another camp just outside Munich. Later to be liberated by General George Patton who drove a tank through the front gate of the camp. He returned to the States and eventually out of the service. He was later called up to serve in Korea and decided to stay in. He retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel at 65 years of age. For additional information refer to the comment above from my son Brian King.