Hello, I am looking for info on my uncle Staff Sergeant Robert C Boese who was kia june 8, 1944.  He was with the 562nd Bomb Group, 388th Bomb Group, 3rd Bomb Division in 1944.  Prior to that the 30th Bomb Squardron, 19th Bomb Group, 46th Wing, 1st Bomb Command in 1943.

I attached a picture of him with his plane and flight crew.  I do not know the date of the picture.  He is the in the back row, 3rd from left.

If anyone has any info on him it would be appreciated.  The 562nd was on a mission to Tours on June 8.  I can only assume that was the mission he was killed on.  My understanding is his aircraft was shot down over the channel returning from France. 

It's a shot in the dark but certainly worth it.

Attempt to post smaller picture

[image]local://upfiles/12934/5882D90D970B4A09BF11C78FDAF4FF90.jpg[/image]

Attached Image(s)

The site for the 388th Bomb Group has information regarding your uncle, his crew and their missions.  Follow this link. 

http://www.388bg.org/servlet/Controller?pageType=detail&dataType=Crew&id=388-C436 

What they don't have is information regarding how and where they went down.  There is no MACR number available through several sources I checked and the 388th site indicated the crash site was in England.  Scroll down for a list of the missions his crew flew and work your way around the site using the links on the left side of the page.  There is a fair amount of info there but you need to work your way around the site to get it all.  You can click on anything that is underlined and more information will pop up.  Good luck.

Hal

HB:
B - 17 # 42 - 97132 H  562d Sq.
Crashed 6/8/44
Salvaged 6/9/44
10 KIA
Lt. Stuart was on Sick Leave
The Pilot was Lt. Clyde H. Bryant
Mission Report from Book 388th BG At War by Edward Huntzinger  Page 121 and Errata List
There is an ACCIDENT REPORT on file.
Listed on www.accident-report.com  - Fee required , get it quickly
You can also order it from Archives - see Research this Site.
Mike

Have continued to nose around the 388th site.  First off I misspoke when I said scroll down the page of the link I supplied for a list of your uncle's missions.  Actually I think that page shows the missions for the pilot.  Click on your uncle's name and you will get a list of his missions.  As you cruise around the site you will unfortunately find several points in conflict.  Example.  Select Missions on the left side of the page, then select Mission Index.  At the top of the page select sort by date.  Then find 8 June 44.  It will open up the mission to Tours and list the a/c and crews that flew that mission and you will find your uncles crew listed with an a/c named G I Jane.  You will also see that G I Jane and Little Chum are both listed as 'A-Lost'.  However if you click on GI Jane you will see that she continued to fly until she was shot down on Sept 28th.  (Little Chum was eventually shot down on Sept 12th)  If you select the link on the left of the page for Crashes and go through the same exercise you will see that the only a/c listed as crashed that day is Quarterback.  And you will note it shows essentially the same crew that the Mission Index shows for GI Jane, except a different pilot and EXCLUDING your uncle!  All things considered I would guess that the Mission report is wrong and that your uncle was on Quarterback.  All in all I think this site is well constructed with all the cross links it offers, it's just 'little' things like this that give you grief.  Again, good luck on your quest!
 
Hal

Mike,
 
For what it's worth the 388th site lists 42-97132 as crashed on the 7th of June with pilot named Head and apparently no casualties.
 
Hal

Thanks for your reponses.  You are all good people.

I found the 388bg.org also & the aircraft listed is G.I Jane.  As you mentioned there are discrepencies however if it was salvaged as shoshobaby mentions that makes sense.  It couldn't have been too heavily damaged however as it flew again on June 10th.  I know ground crews were good but that'd would be incredible.

The problem with "quarterback" is that an aircraft named "quarterback" from the 562nd crashed in Sept, 44 on an Aphrodite mission.  That's well documented beyond the 388bg.org sight. 

As for the Jun 7, apparently from what I can determine Stuart was co-pilot on Jun 7 mission and M.E. Head was pilot.  My uncle was not aboard that flight

When I do a MACR search on Jun 8, 1944 the only B17 listed is 42-31114.  That aircraft was not assigned to the 388th as far as I can determine.  

I will follow both accidents-reports.com and get a copy of 388th BG At War by Edward Huntzinger which will be a good read none the less. 

Thanks to all.

Will post what I find out.

Henk,
 
Another thought as you continue your research.  The word 'salvage' always gives me pause because we think it means to repair or make whole again.  However I believe in this usage it means to 'strip of all usable parts'.  When shooshoobaby said 'salvaged' he also said 10KIA.  If an aircraft accident was severe enough to kill the entire crew it is highly unlikely that 'all the kings horses and all the kings men' could ever put it back together again.  There are some serious disconnects in the records regarding aircraft and crews here.  Hopefully you will find the key to sort it all out.
 
Hal

When an A/C was declared " Salvage " - it was either Destroyed / written Off
or stripped of any useable parts , Engines etc.
An A/C declared Salvaged never flew again - EXCEPT several A/C declared Salvage
were rebuilt from using other Salvaged A/C.
Mike
 

My Uncle Raymond Aaron Shores served with the 388th Bomb Group, 561st Squadron in WWII.
He was injured and received a purple heart.
Any info about the Unit he served with and how and where he was wounded would be appreciated. He died in 1958 before I was born so and had no children...so, I have no family history of this.

Sandy-
www.388thbg.org
Dick Henggler - 388th BG Historian
rlhengg@comcast.net
Mike