Ambrose G. Grant Crew

AMBROSE G. GRANT CREW - 359th BS
superimposed in front of B-17F #42-5482 Cat O'9 Tails BN-W
(crew assigned 359BS: 07 Sep 1943 - photo: Topeka, KS, Oct 1943)

(Back L-R) 2Lt Marion D. Blackburn (B-POW);
2Lt James F. Berger (N-POW); 2Lt Franklin C. Hall (CP-POW);
2Lt Ambrose G. Grant (P-POW)

(Front L-R) S/Sgt Francis D. Andersen (BT-POW);
S/Sgt Anthony T. Kujawa (WG-POW); T/Sgt Edward J. Sexton (R-POW);
S/Sgt Woodrow W. Greenlee (WG); S/Sgt Chester Petrosky (TG);
T/Sgt Robert F. Jaouen (E)

[photo from the 303rdBGA Archives]

AMBROSE G. GRANT CREW - 359th BS
(photo: 27 October 1943)

(Back L-R) 2Lt Ambrose G. Grant (P-POW);
2Lt Franklin C. Hall (CP-POW); 2Lt Marion D. Blackburn (B-POW);
2Lt James F. Berger (N-POW)

(Front L-R) T/Sgt Robert F. Jaouen (E);
S/Sgt Anthony T. Kujawa (WG-POW); S/Sgt Francis D. Andersen (BT-POW);
S/Sgt Chester Petrosky (TG-POW); T/Sgt Edward J. Sexton (R-POW)

Not in photo is S/Sgt Woodrow W. Greenlee (WG), who was injured
on 14 October 1943 on the mission to Schweinfurt.

[photo courtesy of Edward J. Sexton]

Eight Credited Combat Missions flown by 2Lt Ambrose G. Grant:
73 - 2 Oct 43 to Bremen, Ger, 75 - 8 Oct 43 to Bremen, Ger, 76 - 9 Oct to Anklam, Ger,
77 10 Oct 43 to Cosefield, Ger - 78 -10 Oct to Schweinfurt, Ger, - 79 - 20 Oct 43 to Duren, Ger,
80 - 3 Nov 43 to Wilhelmshaven, Ger, 81 - 5 Nov 43 to Gelsenkirchen, Ger

Three B-17s flown by 2Lt Ambrose G. Grant on his eight combat missions:

B-17F 42-5257 - Miss Behaven (359BS) BN-S - Missions 73, 75, 76, 77
B-17F 42-5482 - Cat-O' 9 Tails (359BS) BN-W - Mission 75
B-17F 41-24565 - Idaho Potato Peeler aka Rambling Wreck (359BS) BN-P - Missions 79, 80, 81

Crew Notes:
Regular 2Lt Grant Crewmen

2Lt Ambrose G. Grant (P)(POW), 2Lt Franklin C. Hall (CP)(POW), 2Lt James F. Berger (N) (POW), 2Lt Marion B. Blackburn (B)(POW), T/Sgt Edward J. Sexton (R)(POW), S/Sgt Chester Petrosky (BTG), S/Sgt Francis D. Andersen (TG)- Flew together on all of the eight 2Lt Grant missions. S/Sgt Andersen downed an enemy fighter on mission 81.
T/Sgt Robert F. Jaouen (WG) - Missions flown: With 2Lt Grant - Seven Missions 73, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80; Stood down on mission 81. 22 credited missions with other Pilots - With 1Lt Claude Campbell (83), With 1Lt Charles Hanselmann (11 credited - 93, 103 (Aborted),107 (Aborted), 108 (Aborted), 132, 133, 134, 138, 139, 142, 145, 146, 148, 149), With 1Lt Howard Dahleen ( 1 mission - 126), With 1Lt Robert H. Halpin (3 missions - 155, 158, 164), With 2Lt Robert L. Cunningham (6 credited missions - 167, 169, 170 [Non credited Spare returned], 172, 174, 175, 176). Completed combat tour on 8 June 1943 (Mission 176).
S/Sgt Anthony T. "Tony" Kujawa (E)(POW) - Seven Missions flown with 2Lt Grant (73, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81). Stood down on mission 79. Bagged a ME-109 on mission 78 and another on mission 81.
S/Sgt Woodrow W. "Woodie" Greenlee (RWG) - Missions Flown: With 2Lt Grant (5 missions - 73, 75, 76, 77, 78). Wounded on mission 78 - stray 20 mm shell exploded in his face and badly damaged his face and eye. Was hospitalized on return to Molesworth and removed from combat duty.

Additional Crewmen (Photographers)

S/Sgt Elwood R. Pelkey (Mission 77) and T/Sgt Morton Luman (Mission 79)

Substitute Crewmen Utilized

Sgt Joseph J. Hauer (LWG)(KIA) - Sub for S/Sgt Woodrow W. Greenlee (3 missions 79, 80, 81). No missions with other Pilots. Killed on mission 81 when his parachute failed to open.
S/Sgt John F. Newman (WG) - Sub for T/Sgt Anthony J. Kujawa (mission #79). Flew on 21 missions with seven other Pilots. Completed combat tour on 4 Mar 43 (Mission 117).
T/Sgt Harold A. Kraft (WG)(POW) - Sub for T/Sgt Robert F. Jaouen (Mission 81). Member of the 1Lt Claude W. Campbell crew (22 credited Missions).

Several of the Enlisted Crewmen combat mission positions vary from the crew positions shown with the crew photo names viz: T/Sgt Jaouen, S/Sgt Kujawa, S/Sgt Petrosky and S/Sgt Andersen.

Mission Notes: Mission 78 - 14 Oct 1943 to Schweinfurt, Germany in B-17F 42-5482 Cat O'9 Tails:
The B-17 rudder controls had been shot away, the radio compass, compass and other flight instruments were inoperative. A hit on the port side put one engine out, but the engine was not feathered until out of German fighter range. The B-17 was carefully flown on dead reckoning across the channel and brought down through the overcast to look for a landing field. None could be found. Lt Grant decided that the crew would have to bail out the B-17 was flown up to 7,500 feet. The crew then bailed out. The wounded S/Sgt "Woodie" Greenlee was found by a farmer and was taken for help on a tractor. The other crewmen found houses for shelter and rest within a four mile radius of the crash site. The "Cat" flew on in a descending northerly direction which took her back to the Molesworth area before flying in a large circle. At about 6:40 PM the "Cat" had used up all of the remaining fuel and went into a final shallow dive and hit trees in the back garden of the John T. Gell house at 170 Hight Street in Risley, Bedfordshire, England, about 10 miles south of Molesworth. John Gell retained a propeller from the wrecked B-17 which is displayed at the crash point. He also produced some six inch wingspan model B-17s from the melted down portion of a wing spar. See the crash photo here. For crash story see: Hell's Angels Newsletter, October 1992, page 5, "B-17, "Cat O'9 Tails Still Flies On" by John T. Gell, Bedfordshire, England

Mission 81 - 05 Nov 1943 to Gelsenkirchen, Germany in B-17F 41-24565 Idaho Potato Peeler:
The B-17 fell out of formation while on the Group bomb run after being hit by flak and damaging an engine. The B-17 followed about 400 yards below and behind the formation after leaving the target area. It was last seen under attack by Luftwaffe about 40 miles from the enemy coast knocking out another engine. The B-17 crashed in a small village called Eouw in the Netherlands near a bigger city called Roosendaal. T/Sgt Sexton, Radio Operator, suffered a foot injury while preparing to exit the B-17 thorough the waist door. An explosion under the B-17 drove shrapnel into his foot. Replacement gunner Joseph J. Hauer was killed when his parachute failed to open. Other crewmen made successful bail outs and were quickly rounded up in a very short time by German soldiers who were waiting on the ground. The Enlisted crewmen were taken to Stalag 17-B where T/Sgt Sexton's swollen and infected foot was treated by a Polish POW Doctor the morning after arrival at Stalag 17B - about three weeks after his bail out. For mission 81 story see: Hell's Angels Newsletter, February 2001, page 5 "Memoirs of a former Kriegie" by Radio Operator T/Sgt Edward J. Sexton.

[Researched by Harry D. Gobrecht, 303rdBGA Historian Emeritus]