270 B-17G #42-31343 “Myna Myra”

Service History:

After basic training, George L. Korty was attached to the 96th Bomber Group, 338th Bomber Squadron, Heavy. His Service Number was O-703933

In late 1942, the 96th was assigned the B-17 Flying Fortress and placed under II Bomber Command in the Pacific Northwest. They moved to North Africa in April

1943 and were assigned bombing missions to Algeria and Tunisia as part of the

12th Air Force.

They were transferred to the 15th Air Force during December 1943 and supported the Allied drive toward Rome. After October 1943, they engaged in primarily long-range bombing of oil refineries, aircraft factories, steel plants, and other objectives in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia.

The Missing Air Crew Report was #4855. It stated that the plane was attacked at

1230 hours, by enemy fighters at 21,000 feet and the B-17 caught fire. The mission was to attack the oil refineries in Zwickau, Czechoslovakia. Just prior to the plane exploding in mid-air, four crewmembers bailed out. The plane crashed in Wehrhelm, eight miles south of Friedburg, Northwest of Frankfurt, Germany.

The crewmembers of B-17G #42-31343 “Myna Myra” were:

Tail Gun SSGT Corley, Forrest Clifford 39125909 California^

Top T Gun TSGT Duff, Carl T. 34722378 Tennessee

Waist Gun SSGT Elliott, Kenneth E. 36596926 Michigan^

Bombardier 2LT Foote, Kenneth Warren O-757710 Arizona

Radio Op TSGT Herrin, Dyton W. 19202957 California

Ball T Gun SSGT Howard, Paul Bradley 34446697 Georgia^

Waist Gun SSGT Klecha, Alexander J. 32460338 New Jersey^

Navigator 2LT Korty, George L. Jr. O-702933 Oklahoma

Pilot 1LT Lewis, Robert W. O-810906 Iowa

Co-Pilot 2LT Soderlund, Gustav J. O-818965 Rhode Island

^ Denotes Prisoner of War

The picture of the 31343 crew was owned by the nephew of Gustav J. Soderlund.

Commendations:

Purple Heart

Stories Behind the Stars: Thank you, of the US Army Air Corps, for your sacrifice and service to our country.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars Project

(see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII Fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen’ s name and read his/her story.

If you noticed anything missing in this profile, you can contact the author, Click on the author’s name located at the bottom of the story page next to the words “added by”.

The author is Dr. Jack W. Chisum, and the email is jchisum@q.com.

Resources:

42-31343 | American Air Museum

42-31343 | American Air Museum

96th Bomb Squadron - Wikipedia

96th Bombardment Group - WWII - World War II - Army Air Forces

George L Korty