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General Posts #371

PostedMessage
Paul Bellamy


6/3/2008 5:30:49 PM
I could do with at least 2 volunteers to check my notes if possible.

I've put all the listed Assigned Aircraft onto an Excel spreadsheet as part of my attempts to identify the list of aircraft nicknames without a known history. This comes out as a visual guide as to what aircraft carries which squadron code and letter, when, and whether it was painted or not (for checking against unidentified photos)

Basically, I've ordered them by Squadron letter and then by date.
i.e. IW-X
42-31036 Nobody's Baby: Original 401BG aircraft from USA, MIA 4th Feb 1944.
42-31863 Miss B Haven: Replacement 6th Feb 1944, Scrapped 28th September 1944.
43-38565 Miss Gee Eyewanna Go Home: Replacement 5th October 1944, Returned to USA 2nd June 1945.

If anyone could help please let me know, I could do with other eyes looking at it as there are a number of inconsistencies in there that can probably be easily resolved.

All the best,
Paul

Paul Bellamy

donaldbyers


6/4/2008 9:14:22 AM
Would be happy to look at what you have Paul.

Sgt. Donald C. Byers, 613th Bomb Squadron, Togglier, 42-97344 Carrie B II, KIA 08/24/1944.
swinny


6/4/2008 9:47:01 AM
I hope I can help , just let me know

Andy

_________

My adoption graves http://www.remember-our-heroes.nl/us_401stBG.htm
Paul Bellamy


6/4/2008 11:14:08 AM
Thanks guys,

I'm just updating the file and converting it to .ecl format and will e-mail it out in a few minutes.

All the best,
Paul

Paul Bellamy

EDanaII


6/4/2008 11:52:43 AM
You can include me in that too, Paul. I'll take a look at it from a database perspective.



Paul Bellamy


6/4/2008 12:16:59 PM
File sent Ed, thanks.

I've had to send it as a .pdf, as it scrambles when I convert it to an Excel-standard spreadsheet.

Apologies All,
Paul

Paul Bellamy

Paul Bellamy


6/9/2008 8:22:51 AM
Oops, forgot to post this last week...... 🤦

I wasn't very clear on what help I needed I'm afraid.

Simply put, I may have entered the dates wrongly for a few aircraft, or put them in the wrong line etc.
If the checkers could compare them against the aircraft database here on the website, and let me know any major errors, that would be great.
If the dates are wrong, they'll be very wrong. Odd days here and there are probably my adjusted figures from other sources.

I'm going to try to get one of my older PCs (that have a decent Excel Spreadsheet app on them) up and running, as transferring it between formats isn't working too well. 😉

All the best,
Paul

Paul Bellamy

EDanaII


6/10/2008 11:05:35 AM
Paul,

Just a suggestion, but have you looked at Open Office? It's compatible with M$ Office and it's available for the excellent price of free.

Just something to think about. 🙂

Ed.



Paul Bellamy


6/10/2008 11:50:24 AM
Thanks Ed,

I was looking at that earlier, but I couldn't understand why they want to charge me a monthly fee for a "free" application so knocked it on the head.

All the best,
Paul

Paul Bellamy

Paul Bellamy


6/10/2008 1:45:24 PM
I ended up downloading Excel 2007 for a trial, and redid the file in there.
Hopefully it won't lose much in the conversion to Excel 97 onwards compatible format.

"Right Click>Save Target As" HERE

Note: In some tests the OD coloured entries show up yellow instead.

Let me know how you get on,
Paul

Paul Bellamy

EDanaII


6/10/2008 6:59:48 PM
Monthly fee? What link did you follow? 'Cause I don't know nuthin' about no monthly fee and I've been uses OO on XP, my "Hackintosh" and Linux without payin' nuthin...

Ed.



donaldbyers


6/11/2008 8:52:21 AM
Save as does not show up for me. So I selected all and copy. Brought Xcel up and pasted it into a spreedsheet.

Don

Sgt. Donald C. Byers, 613th Bomb Squadron, Togglier, 42-97344 Carrie B II, KIA 08/24/1944.
Paul Bellamy


6/11/2008 10:41:30 AM
Sorry, should have written Save Target As.

I've corrected the post.

All the best,
Paul

Paul Bellamy

EDanaII


6/12/2008 7:41:14 PM
Paul?

Where did you source your data? Just curious. In an effort to help out, I decided to write a query against the Access DB to get the first and last mission dates for each plane and the data I'm getting back isn't jiving with what you've done. I'm guessing you've gone of a different set of dates or my query is just flat wrong.

Let me know...

Ed.



donaldbyers


6/13/2008 7:20:41 AM
"EDanaII":
Paul?

Where did you source your data? Just curious. In an effort to help out, I decided to write a query against the Access DB to get the first and last mission dates for each plane and the data I'm getting back isn't jiving with what you've done. I'm guessing you've gone of a different set of dates or my query is just flat wrong.

Let me know...

Ed.


Ed.
Those references are at the bottom of the spreedsheet. I have not had a chance to start yet.

Don


Sgt. Donald C. Byers, 613th Bomb Squadron, Togglier, 42-97344 Carrie B II, KIA 08/24/1944.
EDanaII


6/13/2008 8:46:40 AM
Yes, Donald, but what pages did he source them from. The ASP pages? Or elsewhere? If he sourced them from the ASP pages then the dates I'm using for my query are wrong. If he sourced them elsewhere then the database may be wrong. I just want to double check them.

Ed.



Paul Bellamy


6/13/2008 9:24:24 AM
"EDanaII":
Paul?

Where did you source your data? Just curious. In an effort to help out, I decided to write a query against the Access DB to get the first and last mission dates for each plane and the data I'm getting back isn't jiving with what you've done. I'm guessing you've gone of a different set of dates or my query is just flat wrong.

Let me know...

Ed.


Primary data came from the Assignment, Arrival and Loss dates on the website asp pages, with amendments from the Squadron Diaries and Fortresses of the Big Triangle First, which only covers up to the end of March 1944.
Note the sheet shows when aircraft should have been actually at Deenethorpe from Assignment dates, or arrival dates if earlier.
Similary, if a particular aircraft was still recorded as flying missions with the 401st after being listed as being transferred to another unit it will carry on being shown as on site, 42-97947 for example. I've asked the UK 305BG contact to see if he can find the date of assignment to the 305BG to tie this up.

Further data came from the Ops Board photo taken in January 1945, courtesy of the hi-res copy free from Footnote.

All the best,
Paul

Paul Bellamy

EDanaII


6/13/2008 10:09:23 AM
Primary data came from the Assignment, Arrival and Loss dates on the website asp pages, with amendments from the Squadron Diaries and Fortresses of the Big Triangle First, which only covers up to the end of March 1944.


OK, I suspected as much. I pulled the dates from the Mission data by getting the highest and lowest mission dates. I'll adjust the query to include that info.

Similary, if a particular aircraft was still recorded as flying missions with the 401st after being listed as being transferred to another unit it will carry on being shown as on site, 42-97947 for example. I've asked the UK 305BG contact to see if he can find the date of assignment to the 305BG to tie this up.


I can't account for any data but the 401st's, of course, but I'm hoping that the data from this query will help.

Ed.



EDanaII


6/13/2008 11:03:48 AM
OK, based on Paul's input, I've adjusted my query. The query lists Aircraft much in the same way Paul's Excel file does. In addition to his info, I've added the dates of the first and last mission dates of each aircraft as recorded in the database's mission information. Hopefully, this will assist in verifying Paul's work.

Excel data extracted from 401st database.

Ed.



Paul Bellamy


6/13/2008 2:53:52 PM
Good stuff there Ed,

It's flagged up two of the errors I noticed the other day:

42-38033 SC-M:
Delivered by Manufacturer: 19 Nov 1943 at Cheyenne.
Date Assigned to 401st BG: 6 Jan 1943.
Date Lost: 20 Mar 1944.

Assigned date should probably be 6th Jan 1944, she can't have been assigned before she was built.

44-6104 IN-N:
Date Assigned to 401st BG: 1 Jun 2004
Date Lost: 21 Nov 1944

Assigned date should be 1st June 1944 I presume. 😛

Paul Bellamy

EDanaII


6/14/2008 8:32:52 AM
Didn't you hear? George is still flying missions. 😉

I'll fix the second in my version of the DB. The first I'll flag as being erroneous, but since I don't know the nature of the error -- were the dates switched or was one or the other mistyped? -- I'll leave it as is.