rcwillis
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Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
Trying to find some information about Theodore Frink of the 816th squadron and the plane "Mr. Bones". Basically trying to figure out any info on what missions he flew, the serial numbers of his planes, his crew-mates and what happened to his last plane "Mr. Bones" after the war. I don't know the serial number, but I've seen a picture of the nose art and it's a skeleton leaning on a bomb and says Mr. Bones off to the side. I tried to find a copy of the books regarding the 5th Bomb Wing's named planes and the Heroes of the 483rd, but I've had no luck. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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RSwank
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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A couple of clues. In the book "Jump, Damn It, Jump!" by Logan on page 82 is the formation listing for the mission on 22 March 1945 (2nd mission to the Ruhland). Frink is shown flying in the leading element in ship "488". I have no idea if "Mr Bones" was 488. There are a couple of missing "488"s in Joe Baugher's list of serial numbers. 44-6488 and 44-8488. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/usafserials.html
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rcwillis
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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RSwank
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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martyjhawk
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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According to Heroes of the 483rd, Mr. Bones was 44-6670. The book says he flew the plane back to the states after the war. I will see if I can post the page on him here. Do you know where you say the photo of the plane? I would love to see a copy.
Also, he was in the 816th BS, not the 318th.
Marty
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rcwillis
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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Sorry the 316th was a typo, 816th is correct. Here is the plane after it was converted to a troop transport. 
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rcwillis
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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Also can I assume the plane was just salvaged at some point? Thanks again for the help
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martyjhawk
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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According to Freeman's book, the plane went to Walnut Ridge where it was scrapped.
Sorry I cannot post the page from my home computer. I will take my CD to work tomorrow and see if I can get the one page extracted for you.
Marty
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rcwillis
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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Thanks again for all the info guys. It would be nice if you could get me that page, martyjhawk.
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Klaus
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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Hi veterans and fans of the 483rd, I'm writing because recently we found an engine of one of B-17 brought down during the Memmingen air raid on July 18, 1994 near Isny/Allgäu, see here http://www.schwaebische.de/region/allgaeu/isny/stadtnachrichten-isny_artikel,-Sammler-hebt-US-Bomber-Motor-_arid,5286000.html
(the article is unfortunately in German) . Now we a drying to reconstruct the history of the air raid on Memmingen air field, and in particular a group of citizens is keen to erect a memorial (or a memorial plate on our exiisting veterans memorial) for those American airmen who perished during the raid. Does anyone have crew list of the 14 B17 of the 483rd bomber group brought down during the Memmingen raid on July 18, 1944? (1) Does anyone know have a list of names of those who perish on the day, or later in a Stalag (camp of PWs). In fact we know that 5 airmen (likely from the B-17 aircraft which came down in Isny) were burried on our cemetary, and after the war the remains of 3 airman were recovered but the whereabouts of the the 2 airmen is still totally unclear. (2) Does anyone know how to reconnect serial numbers of engine to a specific aircraft? (3) Does anyone know to which crew a Mr Solomon (he spoke German, and came from Chicago) belonged to because we discovered contemporary witness who gave him a relief when he came down on a parachute in the Kreuzthal near Isny? Any help is much appreciated! best Klaus
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RSwank
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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S/Sgt Theodore L Solomon from Chicago, was the Ball Turret Gunner on plane # 42-102927, MACR 6980. The pilot was William P Vandendries.
Four of the ten member crew were killed.
The 14 MACRs which have crew lists and engine serial numbers are all on fold3.com. Each MACR can run up to 30 to 50 pages.
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Klaus
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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First thanks for the info. So I'm a newcomer and I need some exlanations. How to get access to the 14 MACRs and what is fold3.com? Sorry for such stupid question.
Klaus (much appreciated)
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RSwank
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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www.fold3.com is a website that, among many other things, has most of the MACRs from WWII. The site is not free, so you would need to join the site to gain access to the MACRs. If you are going to be looking at and/or downloading 14 MACRs, (page by page) it would be well worth it. (Individual MACRs can be bought from the site, but the price for a single MACR can be high. ) Now quite often fold3.com offers a "free" period of several days during the year, when you can access the MACRs for free. This can occur around Memorial Day in June, or Veterans Day ( around Nov 11). If you can wait, that is another way to gain access for a short period of time. If you are just interesting in finding the plane for the serial number of the engine you have, post the serial number and one of us will look it up. The list of the 14 planes ( with plane serial numbers and MACR numbers) are in the MACR database section of armyairforces.com website. Go to the DATA section (see tabs at the top of the page).
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RSwank
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Re:Looking for info on pilot Theodore Frink
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The serial numbers for the engines on Soloman's plane are: Engine Model Series Code: R-1820-97 Engines 1 to 4: SW-015106, SW-015397, SW-013897, SW-010841 Here are the 14 planes lost on that day from the 483rd. Order of the columns is serial nbr, date, MACR#, Group (all 483), Squadron and Plane Type (all B-17) 42-97584 7/18/1944 6981 483 816 B-17 42-97671 7/18/1944 6976 483 816 B-17 42-107008 7/18/1944 6953 483 816 B-17 42-107170 7/18/1944 6978 483 817 B-17 42-107172 7/18/1944 7153 483 816 B-17 42-107179 7/18/1944 6856 483 816 B-17 44-6174 7/18/1944 6975 483 816 B-17 44-6177 7/18/1944 7099 483 815 B-17 42-102382 7/18/1944 6977 483 817 B-17 42-102422 7/18/1944 7098 483 816 B-17 44-6267 7/18/1944 7097 483 817 B-17 42-102862 7/18/1944 6954 483 817 B-17 42-102923 7/18/1944 6979 483 817 B-17 42-102927 7/18/1944 6980 483 815 B-17
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