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Contributed by: Ken Meek Curator of Collections
Woolaroc Museum
Bartlesville, OK

The photo is of the crew of B-17F  "Woolaroc" (serial number 42-30648) assigned to 327 Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group. The a/c was assigned on 30 August, 1943 and went MIA on 20 Dec, when flown by 2/Lt. Edward M. Cole. The crew in the photo arrived in England on 9 May '43 and flew their first mission in June '43.  This crew completed their tour, except for S/Sgt. Toomey, who was KIA on the 2nd Schweinfurt raid in October, 1943. He was awarded the D.S.C. posthumously.


Standing, left to right:
Sgt. Glen Phillippe, Lawrenceville, Ill. Ball-turret gunner.
Sgt. Thomas Buckingham, Audubon, N.J., Waist gunner
S/Sgt. Herman E. Conrad, McKeesport, Penn. Waist gunner
1/Lt. Ellison Miles, liberty, Tex, pilot.
1/Lt. John C. Qua, Northampton, Mass, co-pilot
2/Lt. Carl R. Crites, Bartlesville, Okla. Navigator.
S/Sgt Winston M. Toomey, Gettysburg, S.D., Bombardier
S/Sgt. Donald L. Murray, Columbus, Ohio, Tail gunner
T/Sgt. Lester L. Menken, Chicago, Ill. Engineer

Kneeling, left to right (ground crew):
Pvt. Gunner Williams, Tiger, Ga.
Sgt. Sheriff Robinson, Watervalley, Miss.
M/Sgt. Clarence Boyles, Leaksville, N.C.
Sgt. W.K. Stanford, Bradenton, Fla.
S/Sgt. A.J. Soles, Tabor City, N.C.

The bomber was named after the winning airplane in the 1927 Trans-Pacific Air Race (a.k.a. The Dole Air Derby), an air race from Oakland to Honolulu. The original Woolaroc was a Travel-Air 5000 built in Wichita, KS and owned by Frank Phillips, founder of the Phillips Petroleum Company ( Phillips 66).  Mr. Phillips preserved the airplane in a museum on his ranch near Bartlesville, Oklahoma where it still is exhibited. The name was chosen by 2/Lt. Crites, the navigator, since his father worked for Phillips. Frank Phillips had hoped to acquire the B-17 after the war for his museum, but its loss in combat ended that plan.