Hi,

I'm searching for a photo or crewphoto from:

S/Sgt Woodrow W. Harper.
710th Bomber Squadron/447th Bomber Group
MIA: March 11th,1944

Is there someone on this forum who can help me,or can tell me how to obtain a photo of S/Sgt Woodrow W. Harper.

Any information will be appreciated very much.

Please contact me at:  jmdewilde2@gmail.com

JM ,
S/Sgt. Woodrow Harper
Hometown listed as Robstown , Texas
TT/E - Lt. Herbert Overdorf Crew
You could check www.whitepages.com
for any Relatives.
Mike

Thank you mike for this information.
But a niece of S/Sgt Harper has contacted me if I could help her with information about her uncle.
During our conversation I understood that she didn't had a photo of S/Sgt Harper.
So for this reason am I asking the help from members on this forum.
 
Jan de Wilde.
(the Netherlands).

Jan,
 
Go to www.447bg.com.  Look under the tab for combat crews.  Select page 8.  Scroll down to the Overdorf crew for picture that includes Sgt Harper.
 
Hal

Dear Hal,
 
Thank you so much for this one.
Great,the niece of S/Sgt Harper will be very thankfull with this photo.
I only,have 1 question:
 
Is S/Sgt Harper the 4th men on this picture (in the back),or the 4th men in the front row ?
 
Looking forward to hear from you again.

Jan,
 
Just realized that I left out a step.  After you select the tab for 'Combat Crews' then on the next page select 'Combat Crew Gallery', then select Page 8.  Sorry.
 
Hal

Jan,
 
Since the photo doesn't specify which row I would guess that the four men in the front are the officers and the men in the back are the enlisted men.  On that basis I would say that Harper is the first man in the second row.  Usually these things go from left to right although in this case they don't even tell us that.  So I would guess that Harper is either the third person from the left, regardless of row, or the first person from the right.
 
Hal

Thank you so much for this infomartion,I will resize the photo (make it a little bigger) and send it to the niece of S/Sgt Harper.
Once again,many,many thanks for your help.
 
Another question:
Do you perhaps known if the 447th BG has more photo's from this crew or from their B-17,or individual photo's ?
 
Looking forward to your reply.

Hello Jan. My grandfather, Lt. Leo Teplitz, was the co-pilot on the Overdorf crew.
The combat crew photo on the 447BG website is the only one I know to exist. Very likely taken upon return from a bomb run over Diepholz, Germany on Feb. 21, 1944, after which several of the crew members were interviewed by an A.P. reporter.
Sgt. Harper is listed in the photo as fifth from the right, according to a book titled "One Lucky Bastard" by retired Col. Stub Warfle. I've talked to Col. Warfle several times myself, and am sure he welcome a call by Sgt Harper's neice.
Col. Warfle was very good friends with Lt. Pantages of the Overdorf crew. Lt. Pantages is the one who appears hatless, fourth from the right in the crew photo.
Sgt. Harper is memorialized at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others who perished with the Overdorf crew. The American Battle Monuments Commission will supply a photograph, upon request, of the loved one's name as it actually appears in granite on the Tablet of the Missing/Buried at Sea section in Margraten. Their website is: www.ambc.gov
Try copying and pasting this one, too: http://www.wwiimemorial.com/registry/mia/search/pframe.asp?HonoreeID=672523&popcount=3&tcount=3
Please feel free to contact me via the website, or by direct e-mail. By all means let Sgt. Harper's niece know this, as well. I have more details I can share. Missing air crew reports are still obtainable, along with with some enlistment information. Many of the actual service records were destroyed in a fire some years ago, unfortunatley.
 
All the best,
John
jhd2759@aol.com

Jan,

Further to the information I sent you via PM, the 1996 History of the 447th Bomb Group lists the following missions flown by the Overdorf crew.  As we know that Sgt Harper was already assigned to this crew when they traveled from Harvard to Rattlesden in November 1943 and was still part of that crew when they were shot down we can probably be fairly sure Harper flew on these missions.

Jan 4, 1944     42-31210    Piccadilly Ann       Kiel
Jan 5, 1944     42-31148    Morning Star        Bordeaux
Jan 24, 1944    42-31210   Piccadilly Ann       Frankfurt
Jan 29, 1944    42-37980   Dat's Goot           Frankfurt
Feb 2, 1944     42-37980   Dat's Goot           Brunswick
Feb 13, 1944    42-37980   Dat's Goot           Pas de Calais
Feb 20, 1944    42-37980   Dat's Goot           Rostock
Feb 21, 1944    42-37980   Dat's Goot           Diepholz
Feb 25, 1944    42-31144   Rowdy Rebel        Regensburg
Mar 6, 1944    **-**910  (name and serial number unknown)    Berlin
Mar 8, 1944      42-31210   Piccadilly Ann       Berlin
Mar 9, 1944      42-31206   Journey's End       Berlin
Mar 11, 1944    42-97484   (no known name)  Munster
 
Attached is the first page of MACR 3188 covering the loss of this crew.

Regards,
Hal 


[image]local://12384/FAE5D9E29A4248AF80E3C8D52FB1D8C4.jpg[/image]

Attached Image(s)

Hi Hall,
 
Thanks for the information you gave,I have received today the MACR 3188 from the Overdorfcrew.
It contains 7 pages,do you known if this is correct ?
 
I have already copied these 7 pages and will send it together with all the information you gave to the niece of S/Sgt Harper,I think she will be surprised about all that information.
 
Once again,many,many thanks for your help.
I'm very thankfull to you,please if there's anything I can do for you,feel free to let me known.
 
Kind regards,
Jan de Wilde
(the Netherlands).

Hi John,
 
I have just send you a PM.
 
Looking forward to hear from you.