in 1994, one of my friends was given a little stub-book, partielly burned, found on the soil during the war, after the crash of a B17 a/c, in FECAMP vicinity (near ROUEN) in FRANCE.

On the first page of this note book, several names were listed :
ANDERSON
?????HURT
DAVIDSON
BUTLER
STRUZZI
BYRNE
CARUSO
KYES
McLA????
In front of every name are sizes of clothes (hat, shirt, pant)
After some researches, this crew was identified as the crew of B17F serial 42-29537 91BG/324BS s/d 28.03.1943 by german fighters, 1 mile north of Fecamp (France) .Target was Rouen-Sotteville marshalling yards.

All the crew members listed have been KIA this day, except ANDERSON and ????HURT (places taken by NOBBS -co-pilote- and BETCHEL -radio gunner? these two men KIA).BYRNE Francis E (gunner) and KYES Paul E. (gunner) are MIA and rembered on the Cambridge memorial).
McLA???? was McLANE Louis T.(gunner).

The other pages of the note-book show notes about wireless procedure (bearings - QAH - QTI - QTR - QSA - Q 3U ...).

As COHEN, the pilot, is not listed , this note-book could be his one's ( cloth sizes of other members)?

I would like find a picture of COHEN crew and a/c and know who was ????HURT.
do ANDERSON and ?????HURT survive to the war?

Thanks for your web site and all the others about the gallant young men who fought for freedom in a very cruel and merciless air war over Europe. Their Memory live for Ever.

Jean Pierre DURIEZ FRANCE

I am a retired Canadian Air Force pilot. My hobby is Stained Glass and my Three Dimensional Stained Glass Aircraft may be of interest to your guests. If anyone wishes to view my work, please visit me at http://mars.ark.com/~stellar/

It's nice to see the memories of WWII vets kept going by sites like this. I hope people don't forget what those guys did.

Hi there, I served as the wing historian for the 91st Space Wing, Minot AFB, ND for two and a half years. Today, the 91st Operations Group, which is a part of the 91st Space Wing, is a direct descendant of the 91st Bomb Group.

I was VERY proud to have worked as the historian for such an illustrous unit! I was medically-retired from the Air Force in 1997 but that never stopped by love for the 91st!

To the Ragged Irregulars I say "THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!!"

Very Respectfully,
Eric De Kraai, SrA, USAF (Ret)

I am currently trying to find out anything I possibly can about a ball turret gunner called FLOYD HUSVAR, who was lost on the 30th January 1944 mission, to or over OTTBERGEN. This was his first mission, and I am trying to find out anything about him for a close friend of his. We don't know what group he served with, but he is now resting (we think) in the Marketgarden Cemetary in Holland. If anyone has any information or ideas, I would be very grateful to hear from you.

Yours sincerely

Jenne Collins
jenne461@hotmail.com

UPDATE: My uncle(Chester Laskowski) was breifly assaigned to the 91stBG for about a two month tour. For the remainder of his stay, he was assaigned to the 92ndBG,325BS. His pilots name is Raymond "Tex" Youngerman who now lives in Texas. Also from what I hear from my uncle and Tex, the a/c that they did their 25 missions in is on display at Wright Patt museum.I,m not sure if "Carrot Top" is Still on the nose but s/n, code (H) belong to thier ship.

My grandfather, Sam Cipolla, a WWII veteran told me about this website and I was very interested in looking you up. He flew many missions upon the B-17 known as the 909. His position was ball turret gunner. I would just like to thank all the men who know him and who fought by his side. If you hadn't I wouldn't be here today. To all the men who served, thank you for risking your lives for our country and for my freedom. I know that there are so many poeple in this country who take very lightly what you had to go through. So I just wanted to express my appreciation.
Thank you.
-Stephanie, 18

Back in WWII, my uncle(Chester Laskowski) was a bombardier w/ the 91st flying in B-17G's. I have'nt looked at his 91st yearbook lately, but his pilot was known as "Tex". His a/c was called "Carrot Top" which was named after the belly gunner for obvious reasons. Now here comes a couple of questions that I hope you could help me with. Would you have or know of any photos of his a/c,especially the name of his ship? I know his ship is overall natural metal. Why I'm asking about the photos is that b/c his tail gunner had collected all the photos to make some sort of book just for his crew. Some 50 years later he still is whating for the book to be published or for the photos wich ever comes first. He does have shots of his crew but nothing to help me w/ my project to build & present his a/c to him. Can not reach the gunner. Last known somewhere in midwest. Could you help in anyway to preserve my uncles ship. I would like to hear from anybody w/ helpful info. Thanx for your time & thanx for bringing him home. MB P.S will keep in touch when I get more information his crew names plus s/n

I have a question about the bottom photo on page 188 of The Ragged Irregulars of Bassingbourn. I know outer wing changes were a common occurrence, but it looks like at least 5 of the aircraft have had BOTH outer wing sections replaced with parts from camouflaged aircraft. Is this indeed the case or do they look darker for some other reason?

Thanks for a great web page, I have really enjoyed it. My Dad was a pilot for the 351st bg, 509th bs. He recently has passed away, so web sites like yours have been extremely helpful to me in obtaining info about him. I have the Irregulars book, it is really good reading. I am glad that people like you keep the history alive for our children. May we never forget how important the sacrifices were that all of these men made.

Regard,

Rob Watkins