B-17 Hellcat Hattie

[6trn4brn]

Hello all...with as many smart fellas as there are here, I was hoping to help out a co-worker of mine. His uncle, Raymond Bernard Overstreet, flew 30 missions in the B-17 Hellcat Hattie. He was in the ETO. I found one picture of Lt Overstreet and one very fuzzy picture of his plane. It appears to have a black triangle on the tail with a white letter "H" centered in the triangle. Not sure of the serial, but it appears to be 338901 with a "Z" beneath. Any info or pix that ya'll can share would be greatly appreciated.

Lt Overstreet was from Bedford, Virginia and passed away in 2005.

[bipe215]

I think it's probably 43-38302, according to Feeman:

Del Cheyenne 18/7/44; Kearney 27/7/44; Grenier 15/8/44; assigned 367 BS/306 BG (GY-Z) Thurleigh 23/9/44; secret mission 3/11/44; ret 17/12/44; MIA Kassel 9/3/45 with ?; MACR 12961. Hellcat Hattie.

306th's website: http://www.306thbw.org/306thBmbGrp/306thBG.htm

Steve

[Second Air Force]

I did some research while drinking my morning coffee. Here's what I've found so far, matching with what Steve found:

There is a reference to Hellcat Hattie in a couple of genealogy websites but I didn't actually spend a lot of time looking for the exact text. According to the fragment I saw, she was in the 306th Bomb Group (the Triangle H being the correct Group marking), 367th Squadron code letter Z, with a reference to "302". On Baugher's list he shows two ships with the last three of 302. I think one is a typo. The second listed is 43-38302 from the 306th/367th and was lost on 9 March 1945.

Hope this helps get things rolling,
Scott

[John Dupre]

Didn't Bedford, VA suffer more casualties per capita on D Day than any other community in the US? Brave men.

[6trn4brn]

Yes indeedy...this is the stuff that I was telling my co-worker about WIX and all of the great people here who can help!

Second Air Force...that is a bit ironic about the geneology sites as that is where I found the one, very small, blurry picture of what is supposed to be Hellcat Hattie in a formation flight. If I could get the guy's permission to post the picture here would help some I think. I sent him an email and have not heard back yet. IIRC, the triangle is dark colored (black?) with a white "H".

Mr Dupre...yes, Lt Overstreet was from that Bedford, Va. More men lost on D-Day per capita than any other town in the US...hence the D-Day Memorial being built there. A great read on them is called "The Bedford Boys". Sgt Bob Slaughter from Roanoke, Va played a huge role in getting the memorial built. He was in D company, first wave on D-Day and a wonderful man to talk to. He has written a book as well and all the proceeds go to the memorial foundation.