449th, 717th Squadron, 1944, Looking For Info

Hi I am looking for any information on my cousins unit. I would love to know what his plane was called and who was in his unit. I would like to find out the mission he was on the day he was killed. I would love to see some pictures of his unit. Thank you for reading my post! This is what I know: 1st LT Robert Walter Eaton 717th Squadron Killed on October 13, 1944 In North Africa Area [signature]

Lt. Robert W. Eaton was flying as co-pilot on Capt. John B. Wright's crew. The 10/13/44 mission was to the North Marshalling Yards Workshop at Vienna Austria. The aircraft was "Miss N' Moan", s/n 41-28845. A flak burst entered the cockpit killing Eaton and seriously wounding Wright. The instrument panel was badly damaged and the number 2 and 3 engines were knocked out. Wright flew the ship back, semi-conscious at times, to a forced landing at a friendly field in Foggia. (The 449th was based at Grottaglie, Italy) Wright was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for this mission. [signature]

Thanks so much! My grandmother always told me Bob was able to help fly the plane and died shortly after landing. I always wondered what the real story was. Can you tell me where you found this information? [signature]

hI :-) Additional information....Wally Forman's Book B-24 NOse Art NAme Directory lists two "Miss N' Moan a/c 42-78624 and a second a/c with no serial number both listed as the 449 BG 717 BS, and both show a photo. You can email Wally Forman at [url "mailto:Avibuff@aol.com"]Avibuff@aol.com[/url] ..... be sure to to tell him your cousin was KIA on this a/c. Whether the second photo is the same a/c I do not know. Jim ;-) [signature]

The information comes from the various 449th Bomb Group Associations, the primary source being "Maximum Effort", pp 202-203. The text (source listed as Grottaglie Air Base Newsletter, 24 February 1945) is as follows: " Captain John B. Wright, leading the just brought "Miss’N' Moan" onto the bomb run when suddenly a barrage of flak blanketed his plane, ripping out vital instruments, smashing the nose of the ship, knocking out the number-2 and -3 engines. During the barrage his copilot, Lt. Robert W. Eaton, was fatally injured, and Capt. Wright suffered gaping holes his left arm and side, but kept his flight intact dropping the bombs on the target. He then called S/Sgt. Brady, his tail gunner, to assist him in place of his copilot. [font "Arial"] During the return flight he was in agony but still refused morphine and at times flew the ship in a semi-conscious condition. Not knowing his copilot was beyond help, he notified his crew that he was going to try to land at a friendly field. Though his ship was riddled and two of his engines were out, he disregarded his wounds and heroically set the plane down with no further injuries to his crew. He collapsed when "Miss' N' Moan" rolled to a stop. For this epical flight, Capt. Wright was honored with the Distinguished Service Cross, our nation’s second ranking award. Capt. Wright remains the only living member of our group to receive this distinguished honor." "Maximum Effort" can be found at: [url "http://www.norfield-publishing.com/max/maxsynop.html"]http://www.norfield-publishing.com/max/maxsynop.html[/url] The only available photo of Miss'N'Moan can be found on page 106 of Maximum Effort, and online at: [url "http://www.norfield-publishing.com/Noseart/List.html"]http://www.norfield-publishing.com/Noseart/List.html[/url] The crew in the photo was the lead crew of the 9 July Ploesti mission on which the 449th received it's second Presidential Unit Citation. "Miss'n'Moan" was the first radar equipped ship in the 449th and was frequently used as the lead ship. Evidently Lt. Eaton was a replacement copilot on the 10/13 mission. The attached photo shows Wright's crew during state-side training and the copilot is listed as James Freeh (backrow, 2nd from right). Wright is backrow, left; Brady who was mentioned in the article is front row right. I also have Wally Foreman's book. However, the s/n his lists for Miss'N'Moan was actually Miss Behavin'. 41-28845 is correct per 449th Association records. [font "Arial"] [signature]

Thanks for your input! I appreciate it very much. [signature]

Thanks for the extra effort to fill me in! I really appreciate it! [signature]