SSgt. Jack W. Pumphrey Missing in Action - October 14, 1943

This news item appeared in The Sutton News in October, 1943

Our research on the 75th anniversary of the report found further details about SSgt Pumphrey including the information that he did become a prisoner of war and survived to come home. 

The newspaper item follows:

"Frank and Olive Pumphrey learned that their grandson SSgt. Jack Pumphrey of La Grande, Oregon was missing in action in Europe. Jack Pumphrey had attended Sutton High School while living with his grandparents. (A bit of research: B-17 #42-30708 of the 92nd Bomb Group was shot down near Wurzburg, Germany on 14 October 1943. Three crew members were killed. Waist gunner Jack Pumphrey and six other crew members were captured and became prisoners of war. They were part of the 92nd Group nicknamed Fame's Favored Few flying YB-40 aircraft which were B-17s modified as heavily armed escorts for other bombers. Records also indicate that the aircraft and at least some of this crew arrived in Kearney Air Base on August 8, 1943 for training. Jack Pumphrey died 1 September 1966 and is buried in Portland, Oregon.

SSgt. Jack Pumphrey's B-17 was one of 91 assigned to the first wave of an attack on the ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt, Germany on October 14. Bad weather kept P-47 escorts out of the area forcing the bombers to go it alone. The day became known as "Black Thursday" as 45 of those 91 aircraft failed to return, 148 men were killed, 274 became POWs. An earlier Strike on the same targets on August 17 was almost as disastrous.  http://www.americanairmuseum.com/mission/1510"

The losses on this day caused commanders to re-assess tactics of sending B-17s deep into German territory on daylight bombing missions.