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| John J. Flanigan Crew with Royal Flush (left to right) |
Standing: Earl Richardson, John (Jack
"Skippy) Flanigan, Douglas Dunsdon,
and Rudolph Grum |
Kneeling: Salvatore J. Luistro, Frederick
"Farmer" Brown, Guy M. Tuccero,
Jack J. Strang,
Adam "Rudy" Rutkowski, Guerino "Bill" Melchiorre |
100th BG Photo Archives
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John J. Flanigan Crew (Flight and Ground) |
| William Groenendaal is middle row, far left. |
| 100th BG Photo Archives |
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The John J. Flanigan Crew
In this photo, Carl Platkin flew as a spare gunner.
He is standing 2nd from Right.
Photo courtesy of David Platkin, son of Carl Platkin
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| 2nd Lt. John J. Flanigan |
P |
CPT |
?/2/44 |
Taps 1976 |
| 2nd Lt. Douglas E.
Dunsdon |
CP |
CPT |
-- |
-- |
| 2nd Lt. Earl L.
Richardson |
BOM |
POW |
6/3/44 |
(with David Miner) |
| 2nd Lt. Rudolph Grum |
NAV |
POW |
10/10/43 |
(with John F. Stephens) |
|
T/Sgt. Guy M. Tuccero |
TTE |
CPT |
-- |
-- |
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S/Sgt. Adam E. Rutkowski |
ROG |
CPT |
-- |
-- |
|
S/Sgt. Guerino Melchiorre |
BTG |
CPT |
-- |
-- |
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S/Sgt. Frederick D. Brown |
WG |
CPT |
-- |
-- |
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Pvt. Salvatore J. Luistro |
WG |
CPT |
-- |
-- |
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S/Sgt. Jack J. Strang |
TG |
CPT |
-- |
-- |
Crew joined the 100th BG (418th Sqdn.) 3/9/43. Crew flew in "Royal Flush"
for 19 missions.
Info from the report of Paddleboat's Proxy as told
by Capt. Elton
(Thanks to Jeff DeLong for this information):
I took off at 1833, September 6, 1943 to slow time a new engine (no.
3). The others aboard were 910 Pilot and Co-Pilot of a replacement crew.
(2) Our squadron line chief (engineering). At 1925 I attempted to contact
the tower for landing instruction and found my radio out. I then attempted
to get visual (green light) by flying over the field gear down. The right
gear would not extend either electrically or manually. As darkness was
approaching I knew that I had to set it down shortly, regardless of the
full gas load (approximately 1600 Gallons.) I fired a red-red flare on those
dry run approaches and dropped a note to the man on the tower. When I sure
that all on the ground was ready, ambulances, fire-truck, and men in
asbestos suits, I landed the ship on the grass paralleling our E-W runway.
Nothing unusual happened.
John B. Kidd added the following:
A report from the squadron engineering officer stated that the upper limit
switch failed to operate causing the motor to burn out, and the clutch to
freeze. This prevented the gear from being lowered by the hand crank. No
responsibility can be placed upon the crew due to the mechanical nature of
the failure. I witnessed the landing, which was excellent.
The report listed J. J. Flanigan (CP), G. A. VanGemert (E), and D. E.
Dunsdon (CP) as the other crew members with Capt. Elton. It also stated
that the aircraft was recovered by the 98th Service Squadron. The accident
happened Sept. 6, 43 and the report was stamped as received by
Headquarters Flight Control Command in Winston-Salem, NC on Oct. 2, 43.
The report totaled 9 pages. |
-end-
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