Production-block:
B-17F-50-DL: 42-3339 to 42-3393
Manufacturer:
Douglas
- Bomb Group:
- 96th Bomb Group
- Bomb Squadron:
- 337th Bomb Squadron
- RCL: AW-G
MACR: 833
History of
B-17 42-3348 / Dottie J III
Delivered Denver 23/5/43; Dow Fd 26/6/43; Assigned 337BS/96BG [AW-G] Snetterton 12/7/43; Missing in Action Schweinfurt 14/10/43 with Raymond Bye, Navigator: Merle Woodside, Radio Operator: Ken Nice, Waist gunner: Mike Olynik (4 evaded capture); Co-pilot: John Malik, Bombardier: Bill Kieran, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Gerard Caporaso, Ball turret gunner: Fred Holt, Waist gunner: Chas Gattman,Tail gunner: Alton Baer (6 Prisoner of War); on return was shot down by enemy aircraft, crash landed Thiaucourt-Regnieville, 17 miles SW of Metz, Fr. Missing Air Crew Report 833. DOTTIE J III.
Last updated: 14. November 2020
B-17 42-3348 / Dottie J III Crew
| Position | Rank | Name | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 2LT | Raymond F. Bye | EVD | - |
| CP | 2LT | John J. Malik | POW | - |
| NAV | 2LT | Merle E. Woodside | EVD | - |
| BOMB | 2LT | William C. Kieran | POW | - |
| ENG/TT | T/SGT | Gerard J. Caporaso | POW | - |
| RO | T/SGT | Kenneth H. Nice | EVD | - |
| BT | S/SGT | Frededric Holt | POW | - |
| WG | S/SGT | Charles C. Gattman | POW | - |
| WG | S/SGT | Mike Olynik | EVD | - |
| TG | S/SGT | Alton Baer, Jr. | POW | - |
14. November 2020 access_time 11:56
Hello, I’m the president of the USPM (Union pour la Sauvegarde du Patrimoine Militaire) and we commemorate each year the crash of this B17 and his crew. The town is Thiaucourt-Regnieville and not Thiacourt.
An article on my blog:
https://weasel-m29c-1944.skyrock.com/3190159541-Commemoration-du-crash-de-B17-1-2.html
Regards
14. November 2020 access_time 12:08
Hello Stephane,
thank you!
I have updated the town’s name.
Cheers
Jing
24. January 2025 access_time 23:49
My grandfather was S/Sgt Charles Gattman Jr, left waist gunner. This aircraft was hit by flak over Schweinfurt and had an engine shot out when it was attacked head-on by a FW-190. My grandfather was hit in the head by flak and the whole waist was torn up. A Bf-109 pulled up alongside and my grandfather shot him… he recalled the pilot looking at him as tracers bounced off the fuselage of the fighter. The B-17 was on fire, my grandfather was delirious, and I believe the Luftwaffe pilot thought they were surrendering. My grandfather didn’t talk about it.
What we do know is that, as Ray said, “She couldn’t give us anymore” when he pulled up to avoid some power lines with three engines out and the wing on fire. My grandfather said that he didn’t leave through the exit, they just stumbled out the massive hole in the waist.
After the crash, the FW-190 executed a precise roll over the downed bomber rather than strafing, and disappeared. My grandfather had flak through his head, and being Catholic, the crew dropped him off at a nearby Catholic Church with his bailout kit.
The next morning, the Gestapo showed up smoking the cigarettes from his bailout kit, blowing them into his face and saying that Gattman is German and that he was going to be executed in the morning as a traitor to the fatherland. Several days later, German infantry showed up, loaded him into a truck and he ended up at Stalag 17B with tailgunntr Alton Baer, who had been impale through the foot by a piece of the airplane, and could barely walk. When I tagged along for their reunion in around 1982, Mr. Baer was still wearing running shoes by order of his doctors.
Pilot Raymond Bye remained friends with my grandfather until his death in the early 1990s. One of his letters starts ‘Dear Gatt… Please stop calling me Sir…’ Ray remains a hero to the Gattman family.
That’s the quick story of the last flight of Dottie J III.
Charles Gattman IV
Troutdale, OR
N8880L