Never Before Seen In Public WW2 Photos

[donewntcrzy]

also it was just pointed out that there is a guy in the plane with a helmet on and it looks like he has a face mask on...

[Dean]

great photos man! i have a nice collection myself,check em out!

[donewntcrzy]

Thanks man

[johnhmcgary]

ok so if i understand this right the ruptured duck is the 9th air force ground crew personell ? did this ruptured duck go down in the japan mission?

It's certainly odd to have two bombers with the same nickname. The photo you have is on a B-17 and in the ETO. The one on Jimmy Doolittle's Tokyo raid was on a B-25 and went down in the water on the mission. I read that it was salvaged by the Japanese and put on display in Tokyo during the war. My thought was that the one in your photo was named in honor of the one in the Doolittle raid. I did a Google search because like Steve I knew that I'd seen that name before. Very interesting, thanks for sharing. John

[Woolgar]

Amazing photos! A nice depiction of USAF in wartime England

Great to see thanks

Nick

[Steve T]

I have done a search for George A Karpus to see if he enlisted for the WW2 conflict. I found 9 men with the surname Karpus, and only one with the first name George, BUT, his middle initial is not the same so I am afraid it isn't him.

Please Wait...

Are you sure you've got the spelling correct ?

It would appear that this man was not in the US armed forces from my search.

Cheers

Steve T

[donewntcrzy]

yeah spelling is correct.Even if we don't know who the guy is it would be nice to find out who any of these men are lol.

[crazy horse]

nice pic's I'm glad you rescued them love the old nose art. best of luck with your hunt.

[donewntcrzy]

In this photo where you can see George HOU posing proudly in front of the front of the B-26 with the pin-up.
By enlarging the photo, you can easily distinguish the pilot's name above symbols missions. This is John W COLSCH. Up front, a second name appears F. KOHLER.
I think the two names on the wheel door are the mechanics .

John W Colsch was pilot in the 573rd Squadron. He and his crew were killed Aug. 13, 1944 during a bombing mission at Cherisy , France ( near my home ). During the bombardment, the right wing of his aircraft, the B-26 # 42-95800, 4L-C code was crossed by a bomb dropped from another aircraft that was in the top box, and cut off the engine. The aircraft of Lt Colsch swung violently and collided with B-26 # 42-95834 code P2-B piloted by Lt. Ralph A. BOYD from 572nd Squadron . The two aircrafts crashed to the ground. The entire crew of Lt. Colsch was killed. In the other crew, only Ralph H. BOYD survived. He was taken prisoner and will join its base in September 1944.
Here is crew names of B-26 # 42695800
1 Lt John W . COLSCH Pilot
2 Lt William J. KELLY Co-Pilot
1 Lt John F. KOHLER Bombardier
Sgt Henry A . MILLER Eng Gunner
T/Sgt Warren D. RAYMOND Radio-Gunner
S/Sgt Verlin H. BRANDENBURG Armorer-Gunner
I don't know if the B-26 on the picture is 42-95800.
Because of its small size, Lt. COLSCH was nicknamed "Smiley ". He was originally from the state of Iowa. The mission on Cherisy was ahis 65th and last mission, and was in the days following return home.

[donewntcrzy]

Lester W Richcreek
Born 1907, in PA.
Enlsilted 1942 from Dauphne County, PA
Died in 1970.

David L Drey, Minnesota, enlisted 1940, born 1920
Died 1979 in Minot, North Dakota.