teter
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Capt. James P. Stratton
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07/08/2008 09:58:47 AM
Hello. This is my first post here. I am looking for any personal recollections of Capt. James P. Stratton of Hutchinson, Kan. He was the mission command pilot on B-17G #42-97693, which went down on June 11, 1944, with the loss of all but one crew member. I believe his home squadron was the 339th, although the plane he was lost in was assigned to the 413th. According to a newspaper clipping in my possession, he was group operations officer. I have the information on the crew members and the mission, sent to me by Geoff Ward, a co-author of "The Snetterton Falcons." However, I would enjoy receiving any information pr reminiscences about him from letters, conversations, etc. He went by his middle name, Phil. He was a graduate of the University of Kansas. His father, L.B. Stratton, was my mother's stepfather.
Here is Mr. Ward's report to me:
"42-97693, Pathfinder aircraft, coded MZ-(?aircraft call letter unknown). 413th Squadron, 96th Bomb Group. Stationed at Snetterrton Heath, Norfolk, England.
The aircraft was missing in action on the 11th June 1944 on a mission to bomb the German airfield at Beaumont Le Roger, France. It was hit by flak over the German occupied Channel Island of Guernsey, on the return from the mission and was last seen stalling out in a cloud bank, 20 miles off the French Coast. A German report states that it crashed in the sea at 0908 hours, 5 km west of Lagenberg, West Guernsey. All crew aboard were missing in action with the exception of tail gunner, S/Sgt Adonal G. Hudson, who was picked up by the German Navy and taken prisoner.
Crew.
Pilot: 1/Lt. Harold L. Wilcox.
Co Pilot: 2/Lt. Donald L. Smith.
Command Pilot: Capt James P. Stratton.
Navigator: 1/Lt. Glenn G. Read
Mickey Operator: 1/Lt. Glenn A. Fister.
Bombardier: 1/Lt. Robert S. Gershon.
Engineer: T/Sgt. Leland D. Glover.
Radio Operator: T/Sgt. Thomas L. Smith.
Waist Gunner: S/Sgt. Paul L. Davis.
Waist Gunner: S/Sgt. Richmond C. Reed.
Tail Gunner:. S/Sgt. Adonal G. Hudson.
Passenger: S/Sgt. Charles D. Rogers.
All missing crew members are listed on the Wall of the Missing in the American Military Cemetery (AMC) Brittany, France, with the exception of S/Sgt Paul Davis who is listed on the Wall of the Missing in the AMC Cambridge, England.
As the aircraft was a radar equipped pathfinder (PFF) it would have been the lead aircraft for the formation, carrying an experienced lead crew with the addition of the (Mickey) radar operator and the Command Pilot Capt. James Stratton. It is unknown why the passenger S/Sgt Rogers was on this mission. Maybe he was a photographer, but that has not been verified."
<message edited by teter on 07/08/2008 11:28:11 AM >
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shooshoobaby
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RE: Capt. James P. Stratton
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07/08/2008 11:07:41 AM
Lon -
From Crew List in Bits and Pieces
S/Sgt. Charles Rogers is Listed as OB - Observer
Mike
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teter
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RE: Capt. James P. Stratton
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07/08/2008 11:27:22 AM
Thanks, I'll pass that on to Mr. Ward.
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