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Source:
photos.384thbombgroup.com
Production-block:
B-17F-25-VE: 42-5805 to 42-5854
Manufacturer:
Lockheed/Vega
- Bomb Group:
- 384th Bomb Group
- Bomb Squadron:
- 547th Bomb Squadron
- RCL: SO-T
History of
B-17 42-5852 / The Natural
Delivered Long Beach 22/3/43; Sioux City 15/4/43; Kearney 4/5/43; Dow Fd 20/5/43; Assigned 547BS/384BG [SO-T] Grafton Underwood 24/5/43; battle damaged Schweinfurt 14/10/43 with Edmund Goulder, Co-pilot: Ernie Boyce (546bs), Navigator: Julius Schwartz (546bs), Bombardier: Mike Vodilko, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Ed Thomassen, Radio Operator: Bill Sears, Ball turret gunner: Claude Leslie, Waist gunner: Stan Wilson, Waist gunner: Paul Saunders,Tail gunner: Francis Seager, (10 Returned to Duty); crew bailed over RAF Oakley, aircraft crashed Chetwode, Oxon, demolishing two cottages, and injuring a civilian, Mr Tew; Salvaged MRU 15/10/43. THE NATURAL.
Last updated: 19. March 2020
22. June 2024 access_time 15:49
The crew listed here was not the original crew. They ferried The Natural over to Grafton Underwood, and flew the first 15 missions in her. The original crew of The Natural was assigned to the Hells Bells aircraft for their 16th mission on September 16, 1943, and was shot down over Nantes, France. My uncle, Howard Joe Turlington, was the flight engineer and top turret gunner. He parachuted from The Natural, and evaded capture for about 7 mos. with the Maquis, and trekked over the Pyrenees to Spain and back to freedom. The only other evadee from the crash was Johnny Butler, the pilot. All other crewmen were either killed or captured. There is a plaque in the memorial garden of the 8th Air Force Museum in Savannah, GA with names of the original crewmen of The Natural.
22. June 2024 access_time 15:56
To clarify my above comment, the original crew ferried The Natural to Grafton Underwood, and flew her first 15 missions. The crew listed on your website must have been assigned to The Natural after The Natural’s original crew was shot down in their replacement aircraft (Hell’s Bells) for their 16th mission on 9/16/1943.
18. October 2024 access_time 0:07
My dad, Charles Dellinger, was part of the crew on both of these planes. But his name is not mentioned. Help me understand. I have pictures of him from the planes, by the planes and with a number of the crew. Please explain why his name is not mentioned.
18. October 2024 access_time 0:12
My dad, Charles Dellinger was a member of the crew on The Natural, Ruthless and one other plane. I have pictures of him with the crew and the planes. Please explain why he is not mentioned. He did make it home from France at the end of the war. His plane did go down.