B-17 Mission 257 near Budapest, Hungary April 3, 1944

[gary1954]

I pose a question regarding a bombing mission, Mission 257, to an aircraft factory near Budapest, Hungary on April 3, 1944, Flack Heavy and Intense at target area.
One of the B-17s lost on that mission was crewed by
2Lt. William W. Echert (?)
2Lt Virgil G. Harris - became POW in Stalag Luft 1, Bath, Germany
2Lt Herbert (NMI) Schubert
SSGT Vernon S. Anderson
TSgt George K. Bechtel
SSgt Lucien G. Bergez
Sgt James N. Apolzan
Sgt Perry W. Hitchcock
Sgt James C. Ready
Lt Cadmus (414th).

And the spelling of a few of the names is questionable with the exception of Harris which has been verified

The question I have is which B-17 of which bomb group and squadron? From what I have which is very limited information, the mission originated out of Italy. Virgil G. Harris was killed in a post war B-25 crash in Pine Mountain Georgia.
Now, can any of the knowledgeable wizards in here provide any additional information on the B-17, bomb group, and squadron?

[Todd Hackbarth]

Gary,

Using the Missing Air Crew Report database search engine on Craig Fuller's Aviation Archaeological Investigation & Research website (http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbMACR.htm), I typed 440403 into the By Date (YYMMDD) field and pressed the Go button. I received a list of 6 MACRs for that date, 4 of which were for B-17s. The fifth MACR listed the pilot as Harris, Virgil C, so I knew this was the entry you were interested in.

The complete entry is as follows:

MACR # 3962
Country Hungary
Date 440403
Aircraft Type B-17F (B-17F-105-BO)
AAF S/N 42-309436
Group 97th BG
Sqdn 414th BS
Pilot Harris, Virgil C.

I then looked up Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) # 3962 on the website http://www.fold3.com to which I have a subscription.

From the 31 page MACR, I learned the aircraft waout of Amendola, Italy.

I can scan this report into a single Adobe Acrobat pdf and email it to you if you would like.

Feel free to send me your email address via private message.

Todd

[gary1954]

Sent and thank you Todd.
WIX is the place for help in virtually all aspects of Aviation.

Thanks Todd for all your help. I also found some answers on Hungarian website (boy was that a nightmare)


42-30426 B-17F 97th Bomb Group 414th Bomb Squadron, shot down April 3, 1944 on mission #257 over Budapest Hungary (MARC #3962) Crew became POWs –
Pilot - 2Lt. Virgil Grant Harris (Stalag Luft 1) deceased at age 36
Copilot - 2Lt. David E. Cadmus (first mission with this crew; Stalag Luft 1
Navigator - 2nd Lt Herbert (NMI) Schubert (Dulag Luft as Mess Officer)
Bombardier - 2LT William H. Echert
Flight Engineer - T/SGT George K. Bechtel (escaped from a moving train in Yugoslavia but recaptured)
Radio - S/SGT Vernon S. Anderson
Starboard Waist Gunner - S/SGT Lucien George (“Frenchy”) Bergez (Stalag 17B) of Culver City, CA passed away at age 89.
Port Waist Gunner - Sgt. James C. Ready
Ball Turret Gunner SGT James N. Apolzan
Tail Gunner SGT Perry W. Hitchcock

[maunaloa]

Hi guys!

I need the MACR of 42-30436 sn B-17, which was crashed in hungary. Anyone can send me it? My mail adresse is
tarhelyp (a) gmail . com

Thanks folks!
S.