Arthur Russell Pyne T/SGT

by Arthur Pyne
(Virginia Beach, VA)

Tail gunner with Frank Rimerman crew. Shot down over Rumania on a bombing mission over the Ploesti oil field. Bailed out and landed with Germans waiting with rifles aimed at him. Taken to a POW camp for the rest of the war. He passed away in 1990 and is buried in the National Cemetary in Bourne Massachusetts.
I am his son Arthur Pyne Jr.
He was a great hero to me.

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May 26, 2021
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Arthur Rusell Pyne is my great-grandfather!
by: Avery McElroy

I am doing research on WW2 for school and we have to see if anyone in our family fought in WW2.
My mom (Alyson McElroy maiden name: Pyne) is your cousin!

Nov 20, 2015
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Shot Down But Saved
by: The Woodruff Family

Your dad was on the Thomas Badger crew with our dad, John R. Woodruff, when their plane was shot down over Ploesti, Romania, August 10, 1944. Although your dad was part of the Frank Rimerman crew, he was flying with Tom Badger that day. Our dad explains in his diary how that happened:

"On this mission we were flying #44, an older B-24 with a tail turret installed in the nose. We were in the left wing of the second element C flight. Our diamond was destroyed. All 4 planes were shot down.

"On this mission, neither our navigator nor ball turret gunner flew with us. Our navigator had come down with pneumonia and was in the hospital. Our ball-turret gunner had dysentery and wasn't able to fly. We were assigned a ball-turret gunner from a crew that wasn’t scheduled to fly that day. His name was S/Sgt Arthur R. Pyne. He was from Mass.

"We were hit by flak as we came off the target, after dropping our bombs…Got order to bailout. Six of us had minor wounds, but we all got out safely. All were captured almost on landing, except our pilot & me…

"The two crew members, who didn't fly with us the day we went down, were killed later in the war. Our navigator's plane went down in the Adriatic returning from a mission 9/10/44. Our tail gunner was killed 8/15/44, when the plane blew-up on take-off."

The Frank Rimerman crew was on the plane that "blew-up on take-off" five days after the Thomas Badger crew was shot down. Everyone who flew with Tom that day was saved. They all became prisoners of war, but everyone survived.

Nov 20, 2015
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e:mail address
by: Clark Baldon

Arthur, I neglected to add my email address: cbaldon@comcast.net.
Thank you!

Nov 17, 2015
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Thank You For Your Service Mr Pyne
by: Anonymous

Please contact me. I have more info about Franklin Rimmerman's crew that your father was originally in. Thank You!
Regards,
Clark Baldon

Nov 16, 2015
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fathers served in the 376th bomb groups
by: jan Click Porter

Thank you for your post honoring your father. My father also flew over the Ploesti oil fields. I have the utmost respect for the service of the 376th personnel.

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