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337th Bomb Sqadron Crew Chief Diary


siege1863
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Picked up a great pocket diary that belonged to a yet identified ground crew chief. He was with the 337th Bomb Squadron, 96th Bomb Group at Snetterton. The diary begins in early December 1943 with entries detailing the missions the squadron conducted, aircraft losses, type of repairs he was making to the unit's planes, and German raids on the airfield. In late March 1944, he indicates promotion to staff sergeant. With that promotion, he was assigned his own aircraft. Note that the sergeant numbers the missions of his plane.

 

30/31 March 1944

"...Got my first plane this afternoon--Boy was I proud--Brand new--Spent all day getting plane ready--Was so sure of it I flew in it without a parachute--Boy I like this"

 

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The entry for the 7th Mission (22 April) is humorous.

 

"Hit Hamm, Germany today--Plane came back without a scratch--Then the left waist gunner shot up the wing on the ground--Now we have to change the wing..."

 

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The entry for the 10th Mission (29 April) is typical.

 

"Plane went to Berlin today--Got all shot to hell--Brakes out, oxygen out--Every plane we sent got all shot up but none lost..."

 

post-211-1328712695.jpg

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The entry for 22 July is noteworthy and sets the scene for what follows.

 

"No mission today--Pulled a 500 hr insp. [inspection]--Boy this sure has been a good ship--Damn few of them can get 500 hrs old"

 

post-211-1328713063.jpg

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The entry for 4 August tells it all. This was the 49th mission for the aircraft.

 

"Plane went down today over Hanover, Germany--Lt. Wynne & Velie were pilot & co-pilot--I did want to get in 50 missions"

 

post-211-1328713293.jpg

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Here are the cemetery records for Wynne and Velie. Seven of the crew were killed and three managed to parachute down to be taken as POWs.

 

post-211-1328713487.jpg

 

post-211-1328713511.jpg

 

 

This comes from an adopt-a-grave website and gives details of the B-17's demise. Aircraft 42-97195 was named "Miss Minneapolis."

 

post-211-1328713540.jpg

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Outstanding! Snetterton is close to my heart as I used to go to the motorsports races there almost every weekend. WOW! Plus, I was a crew chief, so I KNOW what he was going through. If you ever need a home for it, keep me on the list.

 

-Ski

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I thought I would add a few more entries following the loss of the plane and crew, which obviously affected the crew chief.

 

"Nothing to do today--I finally am getting a rest, only at quite a price"

"It's funny not having a plane"

"Nothing much else to do but work on somebody else's plane."

 

post-211-1328759019.jpg

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  • 3 years later...

Do you have more information available about the Miss Minneapolis? I recently got involved in the adoptation of the grave of the co-pilot Jack W. Velie. Five crewmembers of the Miss Minneapolis are buried at the American Cemetery and Memorial located at Margraten, Netherlands. I'm searching for any information about Jack W. Velie like the number of missions he flew on, which missions he flew on, what exactly happened at the 4th of August 1944, etc. Wynne and Velie both got the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and according to that they must have flown a total of 10-14 missions. Does this diary give more information about the previous 10-14 missions? Do you have more pictures of the aircraft and/or the crew? Any kind of information about the airplane and crew is usefull.

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Sold the diary to a forum member quite some time ago. Gave him all the research material I had put together.

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  • 11 months later...

Siege1863, I'm still involved in the adoption of the grave of Jack W Velie and still searching for information. I've found some information in the mean time but a lot is still missing since I haven't been able to find relatives. Especially the last photo you posted from the crew is very interesting to me. I'm still looking for a picture of Jack W Velie for the tribute at the Netherlands American Cemetery called "Faces of Margraten". If I can find pictures from the other four crewmembers who are burried at the same cemetery, this would be a great help for the tribute "Faces of Margraten". Are you still in contact with 'the daughter of one of the "Miss Minneapolis" crew'? I'm curious if she has more pictures or if she can tell who the four crewmembers are. Is she perhaps in contact with one of the relatives of Jack W Velie? Many thanks in advance!!

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  • 4 years later...

Lem90, did you get any more information on the crew members or ID the crew in the photo posted by siege1863? My grandfather was one of the three surviving crew members when this aircraft was destroyed 4th of Aug ,1944. I wouldn't mind having the opportunity to talk with the daughter who provided the photo myself and possibly share information. I know this is an older thread but if you are looking for relatives, you may find clues in MACR 7741 which listed his wife Ruth Velie in Suffern, NY.

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