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 Lt. James V. Collett
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Lestweforget

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Lt. James V. Collett - 03/26/2008 02:09:53 AM
Hi Can someone tell me if the plane that Lt. James V. Collett was on when he was killed, had a nickname? He was the navigator for Lt. Leo Belskis' crew and while I have a photo of them in front of Chug A Lug IV, I know that wasn't the plane they were on when they were lost on Dec 11, 1944, over Mannheim. Thanks for your help.
John
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RE: Lt. James V. Collett - 03/26/2008 08:16:54 AM
John,
 
Project Bits and Pieces shows no name for 43-38780 VE J when it was lost on 11 Dec 1944 with the Belskis crew.
 
 Vic
Vic Walzel, brother of 1st Lt Leland H. Walzel, bombardier with the 93rd Bomb Group, 330th Squadron. KIA 6 March 1944 on his 25th mission.
www.lelandwalzel.150m.com
Lestweforget

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RE: Lt. James V. Collett - 03/26/2008 12:16:56 PM
Hi Vic,
 
  Thanks for the reply. Why did they have the Belskis crew pose in front of Chug A Lug IV, a 535th plane instead of posing in front of their own plane or a 532nd plane do you suppose? Would VE J have been the plane they flew on most of their other missions?
 
John
John
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RE: Lt. James V. Collett - 03/26/2008 12:40:57 PM
John,
 
Just my opinion, but I think most crew pictures were probably taken in front of any plane that happened to available when the photograper was working. It has pretty well been established that crews also flew whatever plane was available when they were scheduled to fly. It is a common mistaken belief that a crew had their "own" plane but they flew a number of planes during their tour in most cases. There have been some crews that were fortunate enough to fly the same plane many times but it was not the norm. My brother flew his 25 missions on 10 different planes.
You would have to have the loading lists for his missions to see what planes were flown. I'm sure many crews did have planes they preferred to fly but didn't always draw them for a mission.
 
Vic
Vic Walzel, brother of 1st Lt Leland H. Walzel, bombardier with the 93rd Bomb Group, 330th Squadron. KIA 6 March 1944 on his 25th mission.
www.lelandwalzel.150m.com
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RE: Lt. James V. Collett - 03/26/2008 06:41:01 PM
Hi Vic,
 
  Thanks for the reply. That's pretty much what I thought. The notion that one crew would fly a single plane for their entire tour, is pretty much a romantic Hollywood notion. Why do you suppose there were only 9 crewmen instead of 10? There was only one waist gunner on this crew.
John
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RE: Lt. James V. Collett - 03/26/2008 08:21:17 PM
John,

By that time, it was pretty much the practice to not have a bombardier except in lead crews. The remaining planes carried no bombardier but used one of the waist gunners as a togglier. These men would drop the bombs when the lead bombardier dropped his. This was supposed to co-ordinate the bombing for the formations but was predicated on the assumption that the lead bombardier was right on the money. How well this worked is up for speculation but it did release one man from the crew. How well one waist gunner could repel fighter attacks seems to be the key in my mind. Close formation flying was the whole thing for group integrity. Probably the P-51s flying support all the way made the difference and also the loss of German pilots later in the war made their fighters less of a threat. The flak never stopped though!!!
 
Just curious but what is your special interest in Lt Collett? Was he a relative or family friend?

Vic
Vic Walzel, brother of 1st Lt Leland H. Walzel, bombardier with the 93rd Bomb Group, 330th Squadron. KIA 6 March 1944 on his 25th mission.
www.lelandwalzel.150m.com
LuckyM

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RE: Lt. James V. Collett - 03/26/2008 09:13:18 PM
I don't have all the missions flown by Lt James V Collett but here is what I have.
 
10/2/44   42-31575  VE-P
10/5/44   42-38103  VE-B
10/6/44   42-38103  VE-B
10/7/44   42-107100 VE-D
10/14/44 42-31575   VE-P
10/15/44 42-107100  VE-D
10/26/44 43-37543    VE-I
10/28/44 42-31575    VE-P
10/30/44 42-37969    VE-L
11/6/44   42-106994  VE-K
11/9/44   43-37536    VE-C
12/11/44  43-38780    VE-J
 
All missions listed were flown with Leo Belskis as 1st pilot.
 
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RE: Lt. James V. Collett - 03/31/2008 09:29:58 PM
Hey thanks for all your help. If Lt. Collett had made it back from his 23rd mission, how many more missions woiuld he have had to fly to complete his tour? The way the Air Force changed the number of missions in a tour, has always confused me.
John
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RE: Lt. James V. Collett - 03/31/2008 09:48:50 PM
John,
 
I think by that time the requirement was up to 35 missions for the 8th AF. The requirements had changed to 30 around March or April and went to 35 but not sure when that went into effect. There have been several threads over the years and some differences of opinion.
 
Vic
Vic Walzel, brother of 1st Lt Leland H. Walzel, bombardier with the 93rd Bomb Group, 330th Squadron. KIA 6 March 1944 on his 25th mission.
www.lelandwalzel.150m.com
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Re:Lt. James V. Collett - 08/17/2008 12:52:09 PM
John,  My uncle was Leo Belskis. My mother has a picture of her brother and crew in front of Chug-a-lug. We always thought that it was his plane.  This is my first visit to this forum and I am very interested in any information about the crew.

Dennis
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Re:Lt. James V. Collett - 08/18/2008 11:05:44 AM
Dennis -
As you can see from above Post - The Belskis Crew
flew different B - 17s.
Some Info on them:
# 42 - 31575 VE P " Mizpah "
5/45 returned to U.S.
# 42 - 238103 VP B " Our Boarding House "
4/9/45 Crash Landed - Salvaged
# 42 - 10711 VE D " Century Note "
5/45 returned to U.S  
# 43 - 37543 VE I  " Liberty Belle "
Transferred to 452d BG
# 42 - 37969 VE J  " Old Iron Gut "
5/31/44 Salvaged
# 42 - 106994 VE K  " Little Guy "
Shot Down 11/26/44
# 43 - 37536 VE C  " French Dressing "
6/45 Returned to U.S.
# 42 - 97330 MS S " Chug - A - Lug IV "
Shot Down 11/6/44.
Mike
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Re:Lt. James V. Collett - 08/20/2008 09:11:22 PM
Hi Dennis,

  When I joined this forum, I was also under the impression that Jim's plane was Chug A Lug. Interesting how many planes your uncle and Jim actually flew in before they made the supreme sacrifice isn't? Did your mom tell you anything about your uncle?

John
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Re:Lt. James V. Collett - 08/20/2008 10:05:12 PM
Hi Dennis,

  When I joined this forum, I was also under the impression that Jim's plane was Chug A Lug. Interesting how many planes your uncle and Jim actually flew in before they made the supreme sacrifice isn't? Did your mom tell you anything about your uncle?

John
John
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Re:Lt. James V. Collett - 08/22/2008 01:46:43 AM
John,
That was our understanding as well, I've seen the picture of the crew standing in front of the plane. My mom talks about her brother alot, especially as she gets older. One of the reasons I joined this forum was to get as much information for her as well as myself.

What is you relationship to the crew?

Dennis
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RE: Lt. James V. Collett - 08/23/2008 12:47:35 PM
Hello ... can someone please forward me a crew photo of lt james v  collets plane as my grandmother was a close friend of his and saw him off
to training and has thought about him every day since .Please send to ripley1967@yahoo.com ...    thanks joe

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