prodgical son

[mike cunningham]

my dad flew in the 384th bomb group from june to September 1943 I have located a number of aircraft that he flew in from his flight records however family lore has it that his original plane was named The prodical son I have searched for a number of years and cannot locate such a plane does anyone have any info? I have the official history of the 384th bomb group several of dads planes are pictured and mentioned in the text but no prodigal son any suggesdtions?

 

[fubar57]

This is from the B-17 Nose Art Name Directory, the first number is the Group, the second is the Squadron. The yes/no is whether there is a known photo....

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....however, the book was published in 1996 and new info always surfaces.

 

[mike cunningham]

This is from the B-17 Nose Art Name Directory, the first number is the Group, the second is the Squadron. The yes/no is whether there is a known photo....

View attachment 534977
​

....however, the book was published in 1996 and new info always surfaces.

you have no idea what this means to my brother and I it solves one mystery but raises another there is no doubt he flew in tdhe 384th his original crew was killed st nantes bombing the subs there(or tying to) so assuming dad tdold the name of his plane how could he get from the 94th to the 384th or from the 384th into this plane reginstered to the 94th? this gives me a new search for this plane it has been an obsession for us for many years thank you so much

 

[GrauGeist]

Often, the Bombers were transferred for various reasons and on top of that, were often renamed when they were assigned new crews.

The "Prodigal Son" of the 94th was a B-17F-95-BO (42-30248) and carried the names of: "The Southern Queen", "The Buzzard", "Lassie Come Home" and of course "The Prodigal Son".

It is listed as being downed by enemy AA fire on 11 January 1944 and was named "Lassie Come Home" at the time of it's loss.
The crewmen at the time of the loss, were:
Pilot - Bob Randall (POW)
Copilot - Lloyd Hall (POW)
Navigator - Tom Nash (POW)
Bombardier - Jim Wilkinson (POW)
Flight Engineer - Bob Hughes (POW)
Radio Operator - Bob James (POW)
Ball Turret - Albert Schwegel (POW)
Waist Gunner - Harry Luttrell (POW)
Waist Gunner - Walter Gray (POW)
Tail Gunner - Bernie Brown (KIA)
Photographer - Dave Barker (KIA)

 

[ODonovan]

There is no "St. Nantes" in France. There is, however, Saint-Nazaire, where there were sub pens. That is just west of the city of Nantes.

The 8th Air Force flew one bombing mission against Saint-Nazaire in June of 1943. There were several before but none after that. However, the 384th BG was not included on that mission. On that day, the 384th attacked the airfield at Beaumont-le-Roger, France. They did not lose an aircraft on that mission. 19 aircraft were assigned to the mission. One was scrubbed (removed from the mission before takeoff) and four aborted the mission after takeoff. Of the 14 aircraft over target, all returned.

It would help greatly to have your father's name and the names of any of his original crew you have.



-Irish

 

[ODonovan]

I did find this page for a crew shot down over Nantes, on a mission to bomb the submarine repair facility there.

Higdon Crew
That page shows the name of their aircraft as "Doris Mae." "Doris Mae" was 42-3218, assigned to the group on 29 May. If that was his first aircraft, it was given to the Armstrong crew when it arrived at the base.

Ken Cunningham is second from the right in the front row.

Kenneth Cunningham

He was assigned to the 546th Bomb Squadron (H) on 4 July 1943.

The Higdon crew was in the B-17F 42-3459 "Jolly Roger" when they went down, but that plane wasn't operational until 9 August 43, so it wasn't their original plane.

The Higdon crew flew their first missions in the following aircraft.

24 July 43: 42-30033 "Little America" - A/C assigned to group on 24 May.
24 July 43: 42-29927 "Wabbit Twacks" - A/C assigned to group on 6 July.
28 July 43: 42-29728 "El Rauncho" - A/C assigned to group on 12 July.
12 August 43: 42-29927 "Wabbit Twacks"
15 August 43: Unassigned spare aircraft - Replaced aircraft 42-29703 (No Name Recorded) - A/C assigned to group on 10 July.

It appears "Wabbit Twacks" was the most often assigned of the early aircraft. That was likely his first operational assigned aircraft, as it looks to have been assigned to the group only two days after he was assigned. The difference in dates would likely be from the aircraft and aircrew paperwork having to go through two different channels.

Here are a couple images from his sortie records.

Purple Heart and Air Medal

Wound Report

I hope this is your father and his aircraft. If not, I'll keep digging.


-Irish

 

[mike cunningham]

yes that is my father he is second from tdhe right on bottom row thank you

I have all the names of the men in the picture and I will send them to you tomarrow