B-17F Data Card Deciphering

[Stoney]

I'm looking for help with the entries after this aircraft left Dow AAF. I've searched numerous online sites but am unable to figure out the meaning of "Ugly A". I know it was lost near Huls, Germany on 22/6/1943. Can anyone assist?

 

[Snautzer01]

Staging area airfield in the US i think. Abbreviation for Alconbury.

B-17 master log:

Delivered Cheyenne 27/4/43; Smoky Hill 6/5/43; Tinker 15/5/43; Lincoln 21/5/43; Dow Fd 24/5/43; Assigned 92BG 3/6/43, transferred 335BS/95BG [OE-T] Alconbury 13/6/43; Horham 16/6/43; 1m, Missing in Action Huls 22/6/43 with Capt Joel Bunch, Co-pilot: Ernie Veilo, Bombardier: John Pearson, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Leroy Lambert, Radio Operator: Leroy Morris, Waist gunner: Chas Johnston, Waist gunner: Jim Henley,Tail gunner: Dwight Seale (8 Prisoner of War); Navigator: Harry King, Ball turret gunner: Bob Castle (2 Killed in Action); enemy aircraft severely damaged cockpit, crashed Hunxe, six miles E of Wesel, Germany. Missing Air Crew Report 4903.

42-30211 | American Air Museum

www.americanairmuseum.com

 

[Sabrejet]

UGLY was the early code for 8th AF; SOXO replaced it later. I'm not sure that station identification is possibly beyond that, so "UGLY A" is more likely "8th AF" plus an action code.

 

[Stoney]

Thanks for the help!!

 

[Snautzer01]

UGLY is code word for England
SOXO = 8 AAF
GLUE = 9 AAF
DUKO = 12 AAF
OHAM = 15 AAF

Destination code SOXO replaced UGLY.


If you want to read these cards properly you should get Robert Mann's
Aircraft Record Cards of the United States Air Force.

1. HyperWar: Logistical Support of the Armies, Vol. I [Chapter 3]
2. USAAF - IARC codes SOXO, GLUE etc. - Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
3. USAAF aircraft record cards WW2: translation! - Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum

 

[Sabrejet]

Just a money-saving tip: you've got all the info you'll get from that record card. Robert Mann's book is now pricey and does give good background but won't add to what you already know! (I have a copy).

I've been reading record cards for years and the WW2 "overseas" entries are a pain. Stateside movements are covered in full but once an aircraft went overseas it was often/usually/always reported by its Theater of Operations/Air Force (by use of the code system) and nothing else; only would its loss/salvage or return to US soil be then appended.

So you'll usually find a "DEPUS" date, then "-code term-" and then "RETUS" date if it survived. These Individual Aircraft Record Cards can be frustrating! Post-war, even if aircraft went overseas into combat (Korea for example), their movements were fully recorded, so WW2 remains a bit of a black hole.

 

[Stoney]

Thanks for that additional information. What I was hoping to find, and it's probably lost to history, is the work done at the various stops in the US before going overseas. But, the "Ugly A" code was baffling and despite searching numerous different ways, was unable to come up with anything. My guess was that it was some sort of depot in the UK, but most references refer to Burtonwood (BAD). I had previously posted looking for information on the addition of the cheek gun positions which replace the flush gun positions for the bombardier and navigator. Whether these were installed at the Boeing factory or at a field modification center. From reading Simons and Friedman's book, it appears the cheek gun mod was incorporated in the block 50 aircraft onward which leads me to think that 42-30211 had them leaving Boeing. I've found a photo of 30212 (later converted to an Aphrodite aircraft) which has the cheek guns but the photo is dated later in 1943...and I am specifically looking for the May/June 1943 period.

 

[Stoney]

UGLY is code word for England
SOXO = 8 AAF
GLUE = 9 AAF
DUKO = 12 AAF
OHAM = 15 AAF

Destination code SOXO replaced UGLY.


If you want to read these cards properly you should get Robert Mann's
Aircraft Record Cards of the United States Air Force.

1. HyperWar: Logistical Support of the Armies, Vol. I [Chapter 3]
2. USAAF - IARC codes SOXO, GLUE etc. - Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
3. USAAF aircraft record cards WW2: translation! - Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum

Thanks Snautzer! this bit of information (the UGLY-SOXO connection) helps immensely!