Greer Julius Franklin Jr / 34356868

 Adopted by Marlie Schouteten since February 2009.

381st Bomb Group Heavy - 535th Bomb Squadron
(MS)

Walls of the Missing Margraten

Westview Cemetery, Jasper County, Georgia

Born: 6 April 1910, Jasper County, Georgia, U.S.A 
Address: 1539 18th Street NW, Washington DC 20036
Died: 5 November 1943, Hollands Diep near Klundert, The Netherlands  (33)

Julius F. Greer Sr. (father) 15 february 1882 - 8 June 1946  (64)
Bessie M. (White) Greer (mother) 26 August 1884 - 29 February 1920  (35)
Henrietta Greer (sister) 13 June 1915 - August 1987  (72)
Frances O. (McElheny) Greer (wife) 5 February 1912 - February 1983 (71)

Right Waist Gunner
Serialnumber: 42-30852
Type: B17F
Nickname: Blowin Bessie
Destination: Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Mission: Synthetic Oil Factory
MACR: 1399

Picture taken July 22, 1943 Army Air Base Kearney, Nebraska

Back (L-R):Alexander M. Girvan - E/TTG, Julius F. Greer Jr. - RWG, Roy W. East - RO, Armand R. Richard - BTG,
Robert G. True - LWG, Richard E. Woodyatt - TG.
Front (L-R): Donald K. Hopp - P, Walter C. Carr - CP, Marshall E. Tyler - N, William J. Johnston - B


Girvan - True - Carr - Johnston - Greer
 

Pilot 1st Lt. Donald K. Hopp POW
25 June 1920 - July 1981 (61)
Co-Pilot 2nd Lt. Walter C. Carr MIA Walls of the Missing Margraten
22 August 1921 - 5 November 1943 (22)
Navigator 2nd Lt. Marshall E. Tyler POW
29 May 1919 - 20 February 2011 (91)
Bomber 2nd Lt. William J. Johnston KIA Plot I, Row 9, Grave 16 Margraten
3 April 1920 - 5 November 1943 (23)
Radio Operator T/Sgt Roy W. East MIA  Walls of the Missing Margraten
3 November 1921 - 5 November 1943 (22)
Engineer T/Sgt Alexander M. Girvan POW
3 January 1912 - 26 February 2006 (94)
Ball Turret Gunner S/Sgt Armand R. Richard MIA Walls of the Missing Margraten
1924 - 5 November 1943 (20)
Left Waist Gunner S/Sgt Robert G. True MIA Walls of the Missing Margraten
13 February 1921 - 5 November 1943 (22)
Right Waist Gunner S/Sgt Julius F. Greer Jr. MIA Walls of the Missing Margraten
6 April 1910 - 5 November 1943 (33)
Tail Gunner S/Sgt Richard E. Woodyatt Mia Walls of the Missing Margraten
26 April 1916 - 5 November 1943 (27)
 

Aircrafts which they have flown:
Polly Ann Flown from U.S.A. to England in Ridgewell 21 August 1943
The Hellion B-17F 42-3177 - MS-O-Douglas - M 23 - 27 August 1943 Target Watten, France
The Hellion B-17F 42-3177 - MS-O-Douglas - M 24 - 31 August 1943 Target Amiens, France
Chap's Flying Circus B-17F 42-30029 - MS-P-Boeing - 2 September 1943 Recalled Mission, France
The Hellion B-17F 42-3177 - MS-O-Douglas - M 25 - 3 September 1943 Target Romilly, France
The Hellion B-17F 42-3177 - MS-O-Douglas - M 26 - 6 September 1943 Target Stuttgart, Germany
The Hellion B-17F 42-3177 - MS-O-Douglas - M 27 - 7 September 1943 Target Brussels, Belgium
The Hellion B-17F 42-3177 - MS-O-Douglas - M 28 - 9 September 1943 Target Lille/Nord, France
The Hellion B-17F 42-3177 - MS-O-Douglas - M 29 - 15 September 1943 Target Romilly, France
The Hellion B-17F 42-3177 - MS-O-Douglas - M 31 - 23 September 1943 Target Nantes, France
Ron-Chee B-17F 42-3123 - MS-Z-Douglas - M 34 - 2 October 1943 Target Emden, Germany
Ron-Chee B-17F 42-3123 - MS-Z-Douglas - M 36 - 8 October 1943 Target Bremen, Germany
Bacta-th Sac B-17F 42-3540 - MS-N-Douglas - M 39 - 14 Oct. 1943 Target Schweinfurt, Germany
Blowin Bessie B-17F 42-30852 - MS-V- Boeing - M 41 - 3 Nov. 1943 Target Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Blowin Bessie B-17F 42-30852 - MS-V-Boeing - M 42 - 5 Nov. 1943 Target Gelsenkirchen, Germany

 

November 1943
21 B17 from the 381st Bomb Group, 535th Bomb Squadron leave at 9.20 AM for a mission in Gelsenkirchen,Germany. The place was already attack by the first Group. There where only a fewhostile attacking German Fighter Planes, but very heavy anti aircraft gun firing. Eyewitnesses say they saw 10 parachutes jump from Lt Hopp's Plane on the east side of the Dutch coast.

Second story
"Lt Hopp's Plane left formation after beiing hit on the first and second engine by anti aircraft fire. Later on he was hit near the cockpit from German Fighter plane's. Some of the crew jumped out before the plane hit the water off the Hollands Diep near the village named Kundert. Lt Johnston landed with his chute in the water and drowned, his body was found later that day near the place Moerdijk. He was buried on the Roman Catholic cemetery in Oosterhout. 6 Crew members went down with the plane into the water and where never found."

 
Parts of Blowin Bessie 42-30852 recovered early in 1970.

6 June 2015

S/Sgt Julius F. Greer Jr. and six people from B-17F 42-30852  are remembered at the monument
Luchtoorlog Hoeksche Waard 1940-1945
Anthonie van Leeuwenhoekstraat - Oud Beijerland