Information about this photograph:

  1. Aircraft No: 42-107053
  2. Tail Letter: M
  3. Fuselage ID: N7-M
  4. Group/Squadron: 398th, 603rd
  5. Official Name of Aircraft: Esquire
  6. Date of Photograph: Summer or Fall 1944
  7. Photo Location: on Mission
  8. Crew at time of Photograph: Unknown
  9. Final Disposition of A/C: 2 Nov 1944 crashed in Germany on mission to Merseburg, Russell F. Reed Crew, 9 POWs, 0 KIAs, MACR 10158
  10. Interpretive Comments:
    1. The top photo is under glass and hangs on the wall of the Woodman Inn. Russ Reed signed the Woodman photo on 14 June 2004, almost 60 years after he bailed out of her. Dave Jordan took a photo of the Woodman photo as his dad, Ed Jordan also flew 7053-M on occasion.
    2. The 2nd photo was provided to Dave Jordan in December 2008, Malcolm ‘Ozzie’ Osborn of the Friends of the Nuthampstead Airfield Association.
    3. If one looks closely, the head of the pilot and the co-pilot are visible. Thus in May 2009, Dave began an analysis to try to determine the date of the photo and who the pilot and crew might be. The initial 7053-M Photo Analysis results are available in pdf format and as a download.
    4. The results indicate that the aircraft was in the formation position shown 2o different times and by 14 different 398th Pilots. These include: Cullinan, Engel, Fahrenthold, D.L. Foster, Griffin, Jordan, Lehner, Magnan, Payne, Scott, Sitler, Spitzer, Spangler, and Tarr.

Source Information:

  1. Photo Source: Photo of a photo taken at the Woodman Inn in Nuthampstead.
  2. Photo Reference: 42-107053-N7-M_1944
  3. Photographer: Unknown
  4. Information compiled by the 398th Web team with special thanks to Dave Jordan and the Woodman Inn.
  5. If you would like to add information about this photograph, please contact our Aircraft Photo Coordinator. Please include the title.