m a r k e r i c k s o n p a i n t i n g s Lt. Ernest Anders Erickson Air Corps 1942 - 1945
Click to view Lt. Ernest Anders Erickson's complete thirty five mission list and twelve B-17 Flying Fortresses flown between March 27th thru August 26th, 1944 out of Horham Airfield, England.
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Below is the 95th Bomb Group's Operations Officer's Narrative of the mission on August 26th, 1944 that would be my father Lt. Ernest Anders Erickson's thirty fifth and final mission. Flying the B-17 'Stand By” / “Goin’ My Way' (42-107204) on a mission over Brest, France would be his last mission. He was quite grateful and pleased.
August 26th, 1944 Mission #35 details: The 95th Bomb Group was the only Eighth Air Force Group to be awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations. The first, shared by all four Bomb Wing Groups, was for the bombing of an aircraft factory under intense enemy fire at Regensburg on August 17th, 1943. The second was awarded for a raid on the marshalling yards at Munster on October 10th, 1943 and the third for bombing a suburb of Berlin, on March 4th 1944, the first time the German capital had been bombed by the Air Corps. After VE Day, the 95th Bomb Group transported liberated prisoners and displaced persons from Austria to France and England. The 95th Bomb Group flew a total of 321 combat missions between May 13th, 1943 through April 20th, 1945. The 95th dropped 19,769 tons of bombs and 456.5 tons of food and completed 8,625 sorties. The group lost 156 B-17s in combat, 36 in other operations and 1,362 planes were battle damaged. 61 were forced to land on the continent. The 95th claimed 425 enemy aircraft destroyed, 117 probable, 231 damaged. The group lost 569 men in action and 3 were missing in action (assumed KIA). 825 men became prisoners of war, 61 internees, 61 evaders, 192 wounded in action and 63 were killed in noncombat accidents. My father was proud to serve with the 95th Bomb Group and told me countless tales from his days flying B-17s out of England. |
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