| General | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | Lockheed/Vega |
| Production-Block: | , B-17G-15-VE: 42-97436 to 42-97535 |
| Operational History | |
|---|---|
| Bomb Group: | , 447th Bomb Group |
| Bomb Squadron: | , 711th Bomb Squadron |
| MACR: | 4253 |
| Fate: |
, Lost by enemy aircraft (29 April 1944) |
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History of
B-17 42-97501 / Gum Chum!
Delivered Cheyenne 3/12/43; Kearney 17/12/43; Presque Is 4/1/44; Assigned 711BS/447BG Rattlesden 5/1/44; Missing in Action Berlin 29/4/44 with Elmer Johnson, Co-pilot: Bob Stevenson, Navigator: Adger Matthews, Bombardier: Les Walker, Radio Operator: Orville Springstead, Ball turret gunner: John Frisbie, Waist gunner: John Hoegen, Waist gunner: Doug Irvine,Tail gunner: Tom Sproat (9 Killed in Action); Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Joe Kotulak (Prisoner of War); enemy aircraft hit cockpit and KOd #3, aircraft exploded before crew could bale out, crashed Siestedt, six miles NE of Helmstedt, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 4253.
Information may include corrections and additions based on Jing’s research.
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This page was last updated on 15 September 2017
11. June 2021 access_time 1:12
I’m the daughter of Joseph P. Kotulak, lone survivor of the Gum Chum. Thank you for keeping the memory alive. I would love to know in what raids Gum Chum participated.
10. December 2021 access_time 6:07
My wife’s uncle, Adger Matthews, was the navigator on Gum Chum. Adger was the twin brother of my wife’s dad. After the war my wife’s dad talked to your dad when they brought Adger’s remains home. My wife’s dad has passed on, but Adger’s sister is still living and I’m trying to provide her with information about her brother’s time in the Air Corps. A friend of mine found a list of raids/cities/missions that Gum Chum may have flown, but it doesn’t match up exactly with the 447th Bombardment Group’s list of missions. Has anyone provided you with a list of missions? Thank you for any information you can provide.
02. March 2025 access_time 4:28
My uncle was Elmer D Johnson from Grand Rapids, MI. He went by his middle name which was Dale. My father, who died in 2011, told me a number of times about the B-17 exploding but I did not know that only one crew member survived. Thank you for posting this information. I was born 9 years after the war and was named after my uncle. Before he died my dad gave me uncle Dale’s pilots wings, purple heart and the flag from his coffin which I will eventually pass on to my son. The story about the Gum Chum will live on.