508th "Bad Penny"

Your Dad and my Grandfather were in the 508th.  (Capt., Robert (Bob) Stuart Parnell) He and half his crew flew about 50 missions in Germany, was stationed in Polebrook and was shot down by flak at least once that I know of.  (If I remember correctly, My Grandfather's group had about 350 men. And, from what I understand, they flew many different planes at first, and with seniority, the crew had a regular few to choose from, (most specifically, "Happy Warrior" and "Queenie" ) with Sam Wyrouk as Ball Turret Gunner.  I believe Sam is still alive today, I spoke with him on a few occasions (a few years back) and he had many interesting stories.  I believe he has a posting on this site, just type in his name and his email query should pop up.  Also, as I am told, the squads added new members when/if they were grounded and their crew was shot down.  I will look to see if I can find your Dad's name or plane.  Trish. PS   Enclosed, please find one of the Squadron Pics.

Wrong pic....Sorry....I will resubmit.

Here is the correct pic.

Jerry,

Don't know if you have this image but I'm attaching a copy of
your Dads squadron insignia. This design for the 508thBS was, to
the best of my knowledge, never officially approved by the Army.
I have come across several variations, mostly dealing with the
background configuration, but this seems to be the most common.

Good luck with your search,
Bob

When I was in the army in the late seventies I was stationed in Germany.  A friend and I were planning a trip to London.  My mother wrote down some information from my father to try and look-up some things
while I was there.  I never made it to London going to Amsterdam instead.  We found the notes that my father had given her back then.  Thats all I have to go on for BG and BS.

Brent,
 My father always told me "Bad Penny", he never said "The Bad Penny" or any other variation.  I know that doesn't prove anything thats just what he said. He said he flew 19 missions in 1943 and crash landed in a
farmers field on the return of their 19th.  As I remember although I'm not sure, The plane broke in half on
impact and only he and the waist gunners survived.  He crawled to a haystack and wokeup in a hospital
with a plate in his head and a purple heart.  He lost his flight status and spent the rest of the war repairing
B17s. 
  All of this is of course hearsay, from stories he told my mother, siblings and me.  Along with the story why
bad pennies are lucky for our family.  I ask him once why bad penny.  He told me,  "Because bad pennies
always come back.  Nineteen times it left, and nineteen times it came back. The last time it was barely
hanging to the sky but it made it back to England".  I'll never forget that story.
  As for my info, I found a note that says 351st BG, 508th BS, 8th Air Force.  The note also says Bury-ST Edmunds, Honington Air Base.  Honington was a P51 base and the 1st Strategic Air Depot.  I dont know
if they crashed trying to get to Honington or if thats where he was stationed when he worked on repairing
B17s.
  I been getting dead ends for years, any assistance is greatly appreciated.
 
Jerry Chaffin
Dallas,Texas

JW,

I believe there's a good chance your Dad was assigned to the 94th BG, 333rd BS since that squadron had a couple of  B-17s named Bad Penny, tail no. 42-29718 and a Bad Penny II (The), tail no. 42-29713, assigned too it according to Wallace Forman's B-17 Nose Art Name Directory.   
 
The 94th BG was based at Bury St Edmunds and arrived there Jun 43 to the end of the war.  There were a couple of other BG's stationed there as well but they were light & medium bombers, not B-17's.  
 
Honington as you said, was a fighter base so if your Dad was a B-17 tail gunner and was a crewmember of Bad Penny, then it is likely the 94th Bomb Group, 333 Bomb Squadron was your Dad's outfit and logically, he would not be a member of a unit at Honington.    Your Dad's Jun 43 arrival would coincide with the 94th BG movement to Bury St Edmunds.        
 
If someone out there reads this message that has a personnel roster for the 94th BG, 333 BS, perhaps they can confirm if your Dad was assigned to this group for you?   I tried the 94th BG website for a roster but that search led nowhere.   I don't have a 94th BG history book either.  Others may.    
 
Can anyone reading this msg who has access to a 94th BG or 333rd BS personnel roster confirm if Vernon "Jerry" Chaffin from Texas was a member of this group?

FYI, it's possible Bad Penny (II), tail no. 42-29713, may have crash landed near Bury St Edmund and was repaired but later lost in combat (MIA) over Frankfurt due to enemy aircraft, 10 POW, MACR # 960, according to Roger Freeman's B-17 Flying Fortress Story (Design - Production - History). 

Likewise, its also possible Bad Penny, tail no. 42-29718, may have been your Dad's bird and crashed as you say and possibly repaired.  According to Roger Freeman's book, this plane did make it back to the states and ended up at RFC Walnut Ridge for scrap metal.  Not enough info available to sort out which plane might have been your Dad's.     
 
Perhaps someone else would have enough info on both planes to clear this up as well?  
 
Anyway, 42-29718's name of Bad Penny for this plane is not clear.  Wallace Forman's Nose Art book lists this airframe as Bad Penny but Freeman gave it another name I don't have handy at the moment.  Another mystery to be solved.           

JW, my father was a B-17 pilot with the 351st BG and like most WWII veterans, seldom spoke of the war.   Both his navigator and right waist gunner whom he was good friends with, lost their lives and he nearly lost his own life so he didn't want to relive any of those moments again with us.   Much of what I know about my father and his missions at Polebrook AAF, England, I learned from his bombadier who still lives in San Diego, CA and his left waist gunner who was in Topeka, KS but is now deceased.   So I sympathize with you & your quest for more information about your Dad's service past.  
 
Hope this information helps you & others track down your father's unit and crew.   Perhaps there's some crew photos of your Dad and fellow crewmembers out there and maybe, some or all the crewmen are still alive you could make contact with?  You never know. 
 
I will continue searching and get back to you if I discover more. 
 
All the best.   

Brent Morris
North Las Vegas, NV
brent.morris@nellis.af.mil

Brent,
     I don't mean to bother you, but I was wondering if you ever found the info on the Vernon Chaffins from Texas you spoke about?  I didn't relize it was that common a name.  When I was a kid the Chaffins I knew of were related to me.  Four Vernon Chaffin's is surprising, I hope the AAF one you say is listed was my father.
Could you please let me know when you have a chance.
 
Thanks,
Jerry Chaffin

Thanks for the information Terry.  My father is the first one on the list, Vernon S. Chaffin.  Most of the info however deals with his enlistment which I already knew.  I'm still trying to find where he went from there, but it does confirm somethings for me.
Thanks for posting the information.
 
Jerry Chaffin

Thanks for the suggestion, but I already tried that.  His medical records are lost.  I had hoped they would at least give me a date and location of when and where he was hurt.  He suffered a major head injury and spent sometime in the hospital.  But when I requested the material they could not find them.  The records where available in the early 90's because my fathers doctor had requested them, however it seems they were returned but never recieved or misfiled.  Thanks for the interest and suggestion, appreciate any help I can get.
 
Thank You,
Jerry Chaffin