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Pellant, James Walter (Pilot Officer)

Killed in Action 1945-March-21

Birth Date: 1923-May-14 (age 21)

Son of Maurice and Maud Pellant, of Gronlid, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Home: Granlid, Saskatchewan

Service
RCAF
Unit
214 Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Ultor In Umbris Avenging in the shadows
Rank
Pilot Officer
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Bomb Aimer
Service Numbers
J/95470
Prev: R/147701
214 Federated Malay States Sqn (Ultor In Umbris) Fortress III aircraft HB 785 BU-A lost over Germany on a JOSTLE (radar jamming) Bomber Support night operation to Bohlen, Germany. Pilot Officer HM Carter (RCAF), Flying Officer DN Donald (RCAF), Flying Officer RV Kingdon (RCAF), Pilot Officer JW Pellant (RCAF), Pilot Officer WA Routley (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 RG Wilson (RCAF), Sergeant WD Dale (RAFVR), FS DF Miller (RAFVR), Sergeant W Perkins (RAFVR) and Sergeant D Parker (RAFVR) were killed. WR Chorley identifies Flying Officer Donald as the special operator and from the USA, but TSGNO states he was from Ottawa. CWGC states he was married to a Corinne Donald of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave.com Finadagrave.com

Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Home
Google MapGranlid, Saskatchewan
Target
Google MapBohlen Germany
Burial
Google MapDurnbach War Cemetery
Plot 7 Row D Grave 3

Flying Fortress HB785

Boeing Flying Fortress B-17

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft were bombers by design, but the RCAF versions – three B-17E models and three B-17F models – flew without armament since they were purely used as transport aircraft in Canadian service. RE64-957

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, the Boeing entry (prototype Model 299/XB-17) outperformed both competitors and exceeded the Air Corps' performance specifications. Although Boeing lost the contract (to the Douglas B-18 Bolo) because the prototype crashed, the Air Corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation. From its introduction in 1938, the B-17 Flying Fortress evolved through numerous design advances, becoming the third-most produced bomber of all time, behind the four-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the multirole, twin-engined Junkers Ju 88.

The B-17 was primarily employed by the USAAF in the daylight strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial, military and civilian targets. The United States Eighth Air Force, based at many airfields in central, eastern and southern England, and the Fifteenth Air Force, based in Italy, complemented the RAF Bomber Command's night-time area bombing in the Combined Bomber Offensive to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for the invasion of France in 1944. The B-17 also participated to a lesser extent in the Pacific War, early in World War II, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields.

From its prewar inception, the USAAC (by June 1941, the USAAF) promoted the aircraft as a strategic weapon; it was a relatively fast, high-flying, long-range bomber with heavy defensive armament at the expense of bombload. It developed a reputation for toughness based upon stories and photos of badly damaged B-17s safely returning to base. The B-17 dropped more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft in World War II. Of approximately 1.5 million tons of bombs dropped on Nazi Germany and its occupied territories by U.S. aircraft, over 640,000 tons were dropped from B-17s. In addition to its role as a bomber, the B-17 was also employed as a transport, antisubmarine aircraft, drone controller, and search-and-rescue aircraft.

The RCAF acquired six used B"‘17E and F aircraft from the United States in 1943. Stripped of all armament and armour, the aircraft were employed by the RCAF's No. 168 Squadron on a trans-Atlantic mail service vital to the morale of overseas forces. The aircraft were progressively modified and improved for service in this transport role, and some aircraft were subsequently stripped of paint and appeared in a polished, bare metal finish. No. 168 Squadron delivered more than two million pounds of mail between December 1943 and March 1946.

As of October 2019, nine aircraft remain airworthy, though none of them were ever flown in combat. Dozens more are in storage or on static display. The oldest of these is a D-series flown in combat in the Pacific on the first day of World War II. Wikipedia and RCAF



YouTube B.17 Flying Fortress

Wkikpedia Wikipedia B 17 Bomber

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

last update: 2021-11-04 16:30:34

Flying Fortress III HB785

BURAF RoundelA
Was USAAF B-17G-50-BO s/n 42-102436. No.214 (Federated Malay States) Squadron [BU-A], No.100 Group, RAF Oulton, Norfolk. Used for radio counter measures. Failed to return from a "Jostle" bomber support mission to the Braunkohle Benzin AG synthetic oil refinery at Leipzig, Germany 21Mar45 (10KIA - RAF/RCAF). Shot down by German night hunter Fw. Helmut Burkhard of 1./NJG 5, the bomber crashed at Sulzbach, 5km ESE from Grossostheim, Germany. https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/usafserials.html

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