Die 20 neuesten Einträge:
| Flugzeugtyp | Kennung | Absturzdatum | Absturzort | Herkunftsland | KIA | MIA | POW |
| Fw 190 A-3 | 2181 | 04. Februar 1943 | Vannes, Morbihan, France | Deutschland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: The Fw 190 A-3 WNr 2181 of 8./JG 2 suffered an engine problem on 4 February 1943 and the pilot had to abandon the aircraft via parachute near Vannes. He was unhurt and his name is not known.Source: http://www.warhorsedesign.com/ http://www.absa39-45.com/Pertes%20Bretagne/Morbihan/pertes_luftwaffe_morbihan.html http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannes http://www.maplandia.com/france/bretagne/morbihan/vannes/vannes/ |
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| Harvard II | 2704 | 04. Februar 1941 | Nottawasaga Bay, Ontario, Canada | Kanada/Canada | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: The Harvard II 2704 of No. 1 Service Flying Training School RCAF, Camp Borden, Ontario, crashed on a detached ice floe on 4 February 1941, 1.5 to 2 miles off-shore in Nottawasaga Bay, Ontario. Small parts of the aircraft apparently the wings, were spread over a large area, but the engine and main body of the aircraft appeared to have gone through the ice to the bottom of the lake.The above was observed from the air and it was impossible to reach the spot on the surface. Due to bad weather and a heavy southerly gale the ice flow completely disappeared on 8 February 1941, and salvage operations were suspended until the spring. In mid May 1941 salvage operations located the wreckage approx 3 miles north west from the Nottawasaga River in the Georgian Bay in approx 60 feet of water. By mid June a major portion of the wreck was brought to the surface. Divers searched the lake bottom but no bodies were found in the water or in the wreck. The search was subsequently abandoned. Crew (both killed): LAC Claude Murray Ross RAAF 400156 (Trainee Pilot) LAC Colin Tolhurst Arthur RAAF 407110 (Trainee Pilot) The Harvard had 106:40 airframe time when it was lost. Source: http://www.awm.gov.au/catalogue/research_centre/pdf/rc09125z017_1.pdf http://www.awm.gov.au/catalogue/research_centre/pdf/rc09125z018_1.pdf http://www.ody.ca/~bwalker/RCAF_2700_2749_detailed.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nottawasaga_Bay http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=44.666667,-80.333333&spn=0.1,0.1&t=m&q=44.666667,-80.333333 |
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| P 47 D | 44-20384 | 04. Februar 1945 | Dessenheim, Haut-Rhin, France | Frankreich/France | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: Following orders that arrived during the night at Tavaux airfield, the base of the French fighter group GC I/5 "Champagne", eleven P-47 of this unit took off at 0850 hrs with two 500 pounds bombs each, seven bearing HE bombs and four incendiary ones. They were led by the group commander, Commandant Edmond Marin la Meslée, a 20-victories ace.The initial objective was the German village of Hugelheim northeast of Chalampe bridge over the Rhine but was changed by the ground control station Remedy. The formation attacked near Neuf-Brisach one of the ferries used by the German over the Rhine. Despite the bad weather and a powerful Flak the attack was completed without loss. Ground control then ordered the unit to strafe the road traffic west of the Rhine, between Neuf-Brisach and Ensisheim. Commandant Marin la Meslee led a first strafing pass against a column of German trucks on the D13 road between Balgau and Dessenheim. During the attack numerous vehicles were hit and exploded, but during this attack one of the wingmen of Marin la Meslée, sergent-chef Pierre Uhry, was shot down by a direct Flak hit and was killed when his P-47D-28 44-19702 crashed near the Schaeferhof farm, near the village of Fessenheim (Haut-Rhin). The cloud cover did not enable Marin la Meslée to judge the efficiency of the first pass and he decided to do another pass on the convoy but this time the rear part of his P-47 was hit by 20 mm Flak shells and he was fatally wounded in the head by shrapnel. His P-47D-30 44-20384 crashed between Rustenhart and Dessenheim in a field, at only 2 km of Uhry’s crashsite. His fighter slided on the ground, lost a wing and its engine but did not catch fire. The lifeless body of the body was found still straped in his seat by the Germans. The GC I/5 learned on 10 February that the body of both pilots had been found and they were buried 2 days later at Rustenhart. On 29 June 1946 a memorial was erected on Marin la Meslee’s crashsite, and he was reburied there in 1950. Edmond Marin la Meslée was born on 5 February 1912 at Valenciennes, was awarded a pilot licence in 1931 and joined the 5ème Escadre de Chasse in 1937. He became the commander of GC I/5 on 1 June 1940 and scored 20 victories during the campaign of 1940. After the armistice he was based in French North Africa and joined the Allied side after Allied troops landed there. After flying parols with P-39 for the Coastal Command with P-39s, the unit flew over Italy and France, avec converting on P-47. At the time of his death, he had flown 232 war flights and 334 hours. Source: http://www.histavia21.net/LIEUX-HISTOIRE/TAVAUX/Tavaux-Marin%20la%20Meslee.htm http://p-47.database.pagesperso-orange.fr/Database/44-xxxxx.htm http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Marin_la_Mesl%C3%A9e http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dessenheim http://www.maplandia.com/france/alsace/haut-rhin/colmar/dessenheim/ |
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| P 47 D | 44-19702 | 04. Februar 1945 | Fessenheim, Haut-Rhin, France | Frankreich/France | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: Following orders that arrived during the night at Tavaux airfield, the base of the French fighter group GC I/5 "Champagne", eleven P-47 of this unit took off at 0850 hrs with two 500 pounds bombs each, seven bearing HE bombs and four incendiary ones. They were led by the group commander, Commandant Edmond Marin la Meslée, a 20-victories ace.The initial objective was the German village of Hugelheim northeast of Chalampe bridge over the Rhine but was changed by the ground control station Remedy. The formation attacked near Neuf-Brisach one of the ferries used by the German over the Rhine. Despite the bad weather and a powerful Flak the attack was completed without loss. Ground control then ordered the unit to strafe the road traffic west of the Rhine, between Neuf-Brisach and Ensisheim. Commandant Marin la Meslee led a first strafing pass against a column of German trucks on the D13 road between Balgau and Dessenheim. During the attack numerous vehicles were hit and exploded, but during this attack one of the wingmen of Marin la Meslée, sergent-chef Pierre Uhry, was shot down by a direct Flak hit and was killed when his P-47D-28 44-19702 crashed near the Schaeferhof farm, near the village of Fessenheim (Haut-Rhin). The cloud cover did not enable Marin la Meslée to judge the efficiency of the first pass and he decided to do another pass on the convoy but this time the rear part of his P-47 was hit by 20 mm Flak shells and he was fatally wounded in the head by shrapnel. His P-47D-30 44-20384 crashed between Rustenhart and Dessenheim in a field, at only 2 km of Uhry’s crashsite. His fighter slided on the ground, lost a wing and its engine but did not catch fire. The lifeless body of the body was found still straped in his seat by the Germans. The GC I/5 learned on 10 February that the body of both pilots had been found and they were buried 2 days later at Rustenhart. On 29 June 1946 a memorial was erected on Marin la Meslee’s crashsite, and he was reburied there in 1950. Pierre Uhry was born on 17 October 1919 at Bischwiller, Bas-Rhin. He enlised in March 1939, was awarded his pilot licence on 3 July 1939, and later served as instructor at Etampes. Demobilized in 1941, he then joined the infantry in 1942 and fought in Tunisia in 1942 with the 7e RTA. In spring 1943 he joigned again the Armée de l’Air and after a new training period in Syria was sent to North Africa on 10 November 1943. He joined the GC I/5 on 25 September 1944. Source: http://www.histavia21.net/LIEUX-HISTOIRE/TAVAUX/Tavaux-Marin%20la%20Meslee.htm http://p-47.database.pagesperso-orange.fr/Database/44-xxxxx.htm http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fessenheim http://www.maplandia.com/france/alsace/haut-rhin/guebwiller/fessenheim/ |
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| IAR 80 C | 264 | 04. Februar 1944 | Ak-Mechet, Crimea, USSR | Rumanien/Romania | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: The IAR-80C no. 264, flown by adj av. Aurel Olaru from the 49th FighterSquadron/4th Fighter Group, was shot down on 4 February 1944 by mistake by the AA gunners of a German sub hunter and fell into the sea near Ak-Mechet. Ak-Mechet is the Tatar name of Chornomors’ke. AcCording to German records the pilot died in this incident.In the summer of 2003, members of the Ukrainian diving club "Ararat", discovered near the vilage of Chernomorskaya, the wreck of an IAR 80. It was found in 5 meters of water, some 50 m from sea shore. It is very probably Olaru’s fighter as it is the only IAR-80 that fell into the sea near Ak-Mechet/Chornomorske. The local elders remembered that the aircraft crashed there early in 1944 and that the pilot jumped out before the crash and was pulled out of the water by the local fishermen still alive. The plane was in very good condition. No human remains were found. Immediately after discovery,the local villagers started stealling parts, first coulored metals then armament etc. In september 2003 the plane was still in a reasonable condition, but then the engine was stolen and then the rest. It appears these guys were just looking for scrap metal and attempted to sell the two MGs to a yard and the police confiscated them. Source: http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=421 http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=4141 http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=421&st=15 (map) http://www.maplandia.com/ukraine/respublika-krym/chornomors-ke/ |
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| Ju W 34 | 3029 | 03. Februar 1943 | Bärwalde in der Neumark, Brandenburg, Germany | Deutschland | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: On 3 February 1943 the Ju W 34 WNr 3029 of Flzg.Führ.Sch. A/B 12 crashed at Bärwalde in der Neumark (now Mieszkowice, Poland) due to a pilot error while flying on instruments in a cloud celing at 250m. It was damaged beyond repair (at 80%) and the whole crew was killed.Crew (all killed): Fw Friedrich Meyer (pilot, instructor) Gefr. Hermann Liebmann (trainee) Gefr. Gerhard Ditmann (trainee) Source: http://www.klee-klaus.de/luftwaffe_ffs_koenigsberg_neumark.htm http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=28463 http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mieszkowice http://www.maplandia.com/poland/zachodnio-pomorskie/gryfino/mieszkowice/ |
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| Hartbeeste | 834 | 02. Februar 1941 | Hobok, Ethiopia | South Africa | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: The 2nd and 5th Brigades of the 1st South African Division crossed the Abyssinian border north of Dukana late afternoon on the 31 January 1941, moving in parallel columns to assault the Italian positions in the Mega-Moyale complex. The Italians had well established and entrenched advance positions at Goai Crater, El Gumu and Hobok – which were to be taken before the main forces at Mega-Moyale could be attacked. 2nd Brigade was assigned to attack Gorai on the right, while 5th Brigade was to assault El Gumu. The attack commenced early morning on 1 February and by 1600 both objectives had been secured. The armoured cars however failed to cut off the remnant Italian forces, and they retreated back towards Mega and Moyale.The next day, 3rd Transvaal Scottish and the armoured cars attacked Fort Hobok, sited on a ridge 30 km west of El Gumu supported by artillery. The armoured cars again covered the flanks and tried to cut off any retreating forces. Before the attack the Italian positions were the target of an artillery barrage and of an air attack by Hartbeestes of 40 Sqn SAAF. During this latter attack Lt J D W Human silenced a machine gun post and also attacked an Italian armoured car. His Harbeeste (serial 834) was hit by ground fire, but he remained over the target losing height to allow his gunner, Air Sgt J Jackson, another shot at the vehicle. At this stage the engine seized, and Human had to crash-land in front of the advancing infantry. The aircraft was wrecked but both crew escaped and received respectively a DFC (Human) and a DFM (Jackson). By afternoon, the fort had been captured. The 2nd Brigade now held Gorai and the 5th Brigade, Hobok. It was again hoped that these raids would ignite the Shifta uprising, but as with the previous occasion, this never materialised. Source: http://www.avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=72460&start=45 "Dust clouds in the Middle East. The Air War for East Africa, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Madagascar, 1940-42", by Christopher Shores. ISBN 978-1-898697-37-4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Infantry_Division_(South_Africa) http://www.satelliteviews.net/cgi-bin/w.cgi?c=et&UF=-613435&UN=-866299&DG=WLLS |
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| Do 24 T-3 | 3231 | 01. Februar 1944 | Ligurian Sea | Deutschland | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: On 1 February 1944 the Do 24 T-3 WNr 3231 of 6 Seenotstaffel was shot down at 1542 hrs during an ASR sortie off La Spezia by two Spitfires. The loss location was reported as Pl.Qu 04 Ost/9589. Four crew were killed and two wounded.Crew: Uffz. Heinrich Ellenberg (pilot) KIA Uffz. Erich Schröder (observer) KIA Uffz. Werner Putlitz (radio) KIA Uffz. Erich Fuchs (flying engineer) KIA Uffz.Heinz Kühndal (flying engineer) WIA San.-Fw. Hermann Masch (air gunner) WIA It was shot down by the 1st Lt William J Roberts of 5th FS, 52nd FG, who claimed a Do 24 shot down at the mouth of the Gulf of Spezia at the first of his two victories. Source: http://www.historisches-marinearchiv.de/projekte/luftwaffenfahrzeuge/luftwaffen_fahrzeuge_seeflugzeuge/ausgabe.php?flugtyp=Dornier&where_value=767 http://www.dornier24.com/pages/production/3231.html "Spitfires and yellow tail Mustangs. The 52nd Fighter Group in World War Two", by Tom Ivie and Paul Ludwig. ISBN 1-902109-43-0 "Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 80: American Spitfire Aces of World War 2", by Andrew Thomas. ISBN 1-84603-202-8 http://www.mapquest.com/?q=44.041668,9.916667 |
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| B 24 J | 42-73014 | 03. Februar 1944 | Pacific Ocean | USA | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: During the night of 2-3 February 1944 the B-24J 42-73014 was lost on a ferry flight from Nurufetau in the Ellice Group to Tarawa with a crew of 26th BS, 11th BG. It was last sighted at 0204 hrs about 23 miles from Tarawa, bearing 160° from Mullinix Field, its planned destination.Crew & passengers (all lost): 2nd Lt Richard A Nicholson (pilot) 2nd Lt Leo C Rosselot, Jr (copilot) 2nd Lt Peter Holovak (navigator) T/Sgt Victor H Holmes (engineer) Sgt Paul H Reimers (assistant engineer) Cpl Harry J Hutchinson (radio operator) Sgt David E King (assistant radio operator) S/Sgt Albert T Smith (nose gunner) S/Sgt Donald R Hartmann (armor-gunner) 1st Lt Richard C Powell (passenger Sgt Gordon D McGaffey (passenger) Sgt Uno E Ylimainen (passenger) After an report by a Tarawa-based SBD, a PC boat was directed to the scene of the crash but found no trace of the crew. Source: http://forum.armyairforces.com/m172571-print.aspx http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwii_unit_detail.php http://www.fold3.com/browse.php#251|hVZf1Up9jQDhigsBd2tx6yW23 (MACR 2050) http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/google_map_Tarawa.htm |
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| PV-1 | Buno 33304 | 03. Februar 1945 | Pacific Ocean | USA | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: On 3 February 1945 the PV-1 Buno 33304 of VPB-153 took off from the Naval Air Station Moffett Field, California, on a routine anti-submarine night illumination practice at sea off Point Hayes, California. Three parachute flares were dropped and ignited in a normal manner. The fourth flare remained with the plane after it had ignited. The plane, because of the brilliance of the flare, was not seen again. When the flare hit the water there was an explosion and insomuch as fragments of the plane were later recovered it is presumed that the plane crashed. Extensive searches by air and surface craft were made but only the body of the pilot was recovred and small pieces of the plane.Crew (all killed): Lt. John James Ballenger (pilot) Lt(jg) James A. Kaup Lt(jg) E. H. Brown III ARM3c J. W. Field ARM2c F. R. Wilson AOM2c W. P. Hawk On 5 October 1999, the daughter of Lt Kaup posted the following on the United States Navy Patrol Squadrons HomePage: "...Dear Friends...My brother found your group on the web, and contributed the letter on your homepage. Just like him, I am hungry for any anecdotes or other information about my father, Lt (JG) James Albert Kaup of Boston (Somerville) MA (VP-153). My father was killed, as the telegram quoted on 03FEB45 while he was serving with VP-153. I was 2 year and 8 months old at the time, old enough to remember him, but in an infantile way. It is very poignant that I still sit up in bed all these years later, if I hear footsteps on the front porch. There is always a chance it is Daddy coming home. Please accept a huge thank you for your webpage, and, moreover, personal thanks to anyone with whom my father served during WW II. By the way, I look just like him, so if anyway cares to see how Jim Kaup would have looked at 57, they can just take a look at me. Most sincerely...Susan Kaup Kelley suskaup@aol.com..." Source: http://jakaup.home.comcast.net/~jakaup/VPB-153/index.html http://www.vpnavy.org/vp153_mishap.html http://travelingluck.com/North+America/United+States/California/_5355873_Hayes+Point.html#local_ma |
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| P 39 N | 42-9696 | 02. Februar 1944 | LaCroix, Algeria | USA | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: On 2 February 1944 three pilots of 93rd FS, 81st FG, Lts Henry D Rexford, John E Swanson and Howard M Watson, took off from Setif, Algeria, around 6pm to return to their home field (then in Italy) after a trip in areas they had been previously been based to try to locate mail for their group and to see some friends. The weather started closing in on them around the Algerian-Tunisian border and all three crashed some kilometers apart in mountains in this areaa, about 3,000 feet up. It was thought they collided in the air due to bad weather. All three were killed.Rexford’s P-39N 42-9367 and Swanson’s P-39N 42-8842 crashed respectively 4 km southwest and 3 km northwest of Ain Draham, Tunisia, while Watson’s P-39N 42-9696 crashed a little more west, 2 km southwest of LaCroix, Algeria. Source: http://forum.armyairforces.com/P39-crash-in-Tunisia-m75642.aspx http://forum.armyairforces.com/P39-crash-info-m88442.aspx http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AARmonthly/Feb1944O.htm http://raf-112-squadron.org/81stfghonor_roll.html http://fr.getamap.net/cartes/algeria/annaba/_lacroix/ |
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| P 39 N | 42-8842 | 02. Februar 1944 | Ain Draham, Tunisia | USA | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: On 2 February 1944 three pilots of 93rd FS, 81st FG, Lts Henry D Rexford, John E Swanson and Howard M Watson, took off from Setif, Algeria, around 6pm to return to their home field (then in Italy) after a trip in areas they had been previously been based to try to locate mail for their group and to see some friends. The weather started closing in on them around the Algerian-Tunisian border and all three crashed some kilometers apart in mountains in this areaa, about 3,000 feet up. It was thought they collided in the air due to bad weather. All three were killed.Rexford’s P-39N 42-9367 and Swanson’s P-39N 42-8842 crashed respectively 4 km southwest and 3 km northwest of Ain Draham, Tunisia, while Watson’s P-39N 42-9696 crashed a little more west, 2 km southwest of LaCroix, Algeria. Source: http://forum.armyairforces.com/P39-crash-in-Tunisia-m75642.aspx http://forum.armyairforces.com/P39-crash-info-m88442.aspx http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AARmonthly/Feb1944O.htm http://raf-112-squadron.org/81stfghonor_roll.html http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%AFn_Draham http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=36.46,8.41&spn=0.1,0.1&q=36.46,8.41&hl=fr |
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| P 39 N | 42-9367 | 02. Februar 1944 | Ain Draham, Tunisia | USA | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: On 2 February 1944 three pilots of 93rd FS, 81st FG, Lts Henry D Rexford, John E Swanson and Howard M Watson, took off from Setif, Algeria, around 6pm to return to their home field (then in Italy) after a trip in areas they had been previously been based to try to locate mail for their group and to see some friends. The weather started closing in on them around the Algerian-Tunisian border and all three crashed some kilometers apart in mountains in this areaa, about 3,000 feet up. It was thought they collided in the air due to bad weather. All three were killed.Rexford’s P-39N 42-9367 and Swanson’s P-39N 42-8842 crashed respectively 4 km southwest and 3 km northwest of Ain Draham, Tunisia, while Watson’s P-39N 42-9696 crashed a little more west, 2 km southwest of LaCroix, Algeria. Source: http://forum.armyairforces.com/P39-crash-in-Tunisia-m75642.aspx http://forum.armyairforces.com/P39-crash-info-m88442.aspx http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AARmonthly/Feb1944O.htm http://raf-112-squadron.org/81stfghonor_roll.html http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%AFn_Draham http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=36.46,8.41&spn=0.1,0.1&q=36.46,8.41&hl=fr |
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| Liberator V | BZ938 | 01. Februar 1945 | Letpanbin, Burma | England | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Sonstiges: Other: At 1626 hrs on 31 January 1945 the Liberator V BZ938 ‘Wottawitch’ of Special Signals Flight, attached to 159 Sqn RAF, took off from Digri air base, some 100 kms west of Calcutta, India, and set course for Burma. BZ938 was one of the two aircraft of this flight, that were modified for radar detection. They had their gun turrets removed and in their place was a glasshouse for the navigator. The bomb bays had been altered to take long range fuel tanks and special equipment for radar station detection. Built to coastal command specifications, for enhanced endurance and surveillance capability, their fuel load consisted of 2980 gallons, giving them a normal endurance of 21 hours.Special ‘C’ flight consisted of two Mark V Liberators, originally BZ 938W ‘Wottawitch’and BZ 939Y ‘Yippee’. Ron Ellis (Sydney) – wireless air gunner in 938W from Sept to Dec 1944 states that sometimes both aircraft would ‘mission’ together, though slightly ahead and astern to draw Japanese radar responses. They would then record the location. BZ 939Y ‘Yippee’ disappeared without trace over the Bay of Bengal on 10th Nov 1944. Jim Bradley is reported describing the mission and I quote ‘the trick was to fly over enemy bases and pick up their radar signals and by electronic computing devices plot the signals and thus map out the positions of their radar stations. When these had been pinpointed, bombers followed with demolition work. Enemy flak and night fighters made each mission a rough one. The greatest fear was running out of gas’. Jim recounts ‘Our missions were long, some twelve, fourteen and even eighteen hours. Our gas loads were tremendous. Our gross weight would sometimes reach 64,000 pounds. Often we would fly for several hours after take off without climbing beyond 500 feet, due to the heavy load’. ‘Wottawitch’ took off on 31 January 1945 for her 43nd mission, covering the areas of Yogange Isle, Rangoon River, Bassein, Ywangyaung, Meiktila, Ywathet, Moulmein, Tavoy, and Diamond Isle (see map). The crew were drawn from a range of nationalities: Sqn Ldr James Bradley (pilot, UK), Flt Sgt Leslie Bellingan (2nd pilot, South Africa), Flg Off Graham Jeffrey (navigator, UK), Flt Sgt Stanley Woodbridge (wireless operator & air gunner, UK), Flt Sgt Robert Snelling (flight engineer, UK), Flt Sgt John Woodage (wireless operator & air gunner, UK), Wt Off Arthur Williams (wireless operator & air gunner, Australia), Flt Sgt Leslie Adams (air gunner, UK), Flg Off William Lowery (wireless operator, UK). At approximately 3:10 am on the 1st February 1945 whilst returning home to base ‘Wottawitch’came under fire from a Japanese night fighter. The following if from Sqd Leader Bradley’s log book entry made after his release from Rangoon jail and his return to flying duties. The account of the crash is best left to the two survivors who later recalled the event. Jeffrey’s account written for Ivor Smith in 1992: ‘.....everything had gone to plan and we were just leaving the coast to survey some islands a few miles off shore before setting course for home when it happened. There was a fierce vibration on the port side of the aircraft, Bradley came on the intercom to say that we had lost an engine and asked for a course for home which I gave to him. I took a look at the repeat altimeter beside my desk and saw that we were losing height rapidly. Bradley came on the intercom again almost immediately to ask where we were heading and when I told him out to sea, he asked me to direct him to turn the plane towards the coast, which I did. It was clear that the plane was going to crash and that we would have to bale out. Bradley told the crew the situation and told us to prepare to bale out. The question was would we make the coast in time to bale out over land and I could see that it was going to be a very close thing. We were so low and not yet at the coast, that Bradley had to give the order to bale out at the individuals discretion before we reached it. To bale out I had to leave my desk, put on my parachute and open the door to the nose wheel which was my emergency exit. I could see the altimeter and as land appeared below me I left with the altimeter at 1000’. I landed on the shore about 10’ from the water. The five on the flight deck left very soon after me at about 700’ and landed in paddy fields. Although this is the end of BZ 838 there are still some questions to answer....’ Extracts from recollections of Jim Bradley told to and edited by Wesley Steelberg 1957: ‘We were well satisfied with our nights work. I was heading the plane home, when suddenly without warning, there was an eerie whining of a runaway engine. Number one engine revved up to full power and caused our B 24 to veer sharply to the left. I tried to feather it with the emergency control. Nothing happened. While this was taking place , Bellingan called over the intercom that number three engine was on fire. We were losing altitude at about 300-400 feet a minute. The navigator informed me we were 40 miles south west of Rangoon. I couldn’t hold a 1500 foot altitude and gave the order to jump. My navigator went out through the nose and the rest except for the radio man, went through the bomb bays. I glanced at my altimeter and it read 700 feet. When I knew that my crew members had cleared away I pulled the controls back sharply to bring it into a stall so that it might crash nearby. We had to make sure that it was destroyed and that no information would fall into enemy hands.. I dived through the open bomb bay. I landed near my radio operator . Almost instantly the plane hit. I was unhurt.’ The events that followed the crash have been compiled from various sources. In some cases there is conflicting information, no doubt as a result varying recollections plus hearsay accounts. Accept this account as a guide to what happened to the crew. This account deals with the facts as I understand them. I have not endeavored to provide the human and emotive side of those events. That would be presumptuous of me and no doubt lead to inaccuracies. It is left to the reader, should they choose to access the various documents. The account of events by the survivors and reporters will provide a far better ‘feel’ for what transpired. This is only a short version of events. Five crew were found near the crash and were taken to the nearby village of Letpanbin where they were provided with food. Bradley offered to pay the Burmese to obtain a boat. Some hours later the Burmese returned with the Japanese. Another crew member was found at the village of Kani. The six crew were then taken to the village of Thamteintaw. Then taken to Pyapon. The journey was by foot and sampan and took three days to reach the destination of Myaungmya. The prisoners were handed over to the Japanese 55th Engineering Division. Bradley and Jeffrey were then separated from the others. It is understood they were taken to Bassein for further interrogation. After further travel and interrogation ended up in Henzada which was a military headquarters for the Japanese. They were taken by truck to Rangoon jail. Bellingan, Woodbridge, Woodage and Snelling were taken to a forest (presume Kyaukkon Reserved Forest) on the outskirts of Myaungmya and beheaded by the Japanese. The four separated officers were tortured by the Japanese in an endeavour to obtain information. It is understood Snelling, Bellingan and Woodage dug their own graves before they were beheaded. Woodbridge was then told he would endure the same fate unless he divulged information about their mission. His final interrogation took place at the execution site. He refused to provide any information and was beheaded. Woodbridge was awarded the George Cross. This was for supreme courage under torture. It is reported that as early as July 1945, an Indian contactor called Khan had gone to the spot near Myaungmya where the four prisoners had been killed, unearthed the remains and erected a memorial over new graves. Later the remains were recovered by the Army Graves Organisation and transferred to the military cemetery at Rangoon. Three of the crew were never heard of or seen again and are presumed to have drowned at sea in the Bay of Mataban . They being W/O Arthur Roland Williams (W/Op/Air Gunner), F/Sgt. Les Adams (Tail Gunner) and F/O William Lowery (W/Op). Whilst in Rangoon gaol Bradley and Jeffrey were tortured and interrogated. They suffered the usual deprivations encountered by Japanese prisoners. Lack of food and in many cases food that was almost inedible. They suffered periods of solitary confinement. Jeffrey recalls they were probably better off health wise in the cellblock. Air crew were housed in the compound. On the 26th April at 4pm Bradley and Jeffrey were among the sixteen who joined the air crew for the march out. They marched at night and hid in the woods during the day. Stragglers were dispatched by the Japanese as the column moved on. The march ended after the fourth night having passed through Pegu. In the morning near the village of Waw the Japanese left the prisoners. Their aim was to escape east from the advancing British 14th army. There are several reported dates as to when they marched out of Rangoon. April 25th. Reference 6 April 26th Reference 5 April 27th Reference 7 Maybe the 400 plus prisoners marched out over a few days The 400 so prisoners were now on their own. It was then due to poor intelligence that 3 Indian Air Force Hurricane fighter bombers flew over strafing the prisoners. Brigadier Clive Hobson was killed. It was then contact was made with soldiers of the West Yorkshire regiment of the British 14th Army and they were officially liberated on the 29th April 1945. WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL James Woodbridge (Stanley Woodbridge’s father) attended the War Crimes Tribunal in Rangoon. On Jan 15th 1947 the case against Lt.Col. Murayama Seichi, Lts. Kanno Yasutaka and Okami Hiroshi, Cpls. Joko Hisachi, Katayama Shiro and Tsukamoto Fukuichi was opened. The prosecution was headed by Maj.D.D.Airey. The defence was in the hands of a Japanese lawyer, Ito Toshio with Capt. J.S.C. Gurney–Champion of the Royal Hampshire Regiment assisting. Bellingan, Woodage and Snelling were killed about 8am on the 7th February 1945. Woodbridge was killed approximately 1pm. An interpreter at the trial was also present when the Japanese were interrogating the prisoners in Myaungmya. The defendants were tortured by beatings with bamboo canes, fists and swords in there sheaths. Bellingan, Woodage and Snelling had been forced to dig their own graves. Woodbridge refused to divulge any information and after further extreme torture was duly beheaded. The Japanese argued they were not there at the time of the execution and endeavored to produce alibis. James Woodbridge to his credit scanned the documents and obtained witnesses to verify the Japanese on trial were in fact there, at that time. It is recorded that Bellingan, Woodage and Snelling had to kneel next to the graves they dug and were then beheaded. The bodies were then bayoneted. Woodbridge suffered the same fate later in the day after further torture. On March 21st 1947 a sentence of death was passed on Lt. Col. Mirayama, Lts. Kanno and Okami, and Cpl. Katayama. Mirayama’s sentence was later reduced to 10 years imprisonment. The others were hanged on June 27th 1947. The two other Japanese soldiers involved in the execution received terms of imprisonment. In search of the crash site As stated in the introduction this trip was planned over a number of years. My brother Ivor who is now 84 years old has since retirement spent untold hours researching the history of‘Wottawitch’and especially the association of our uncle with 159 Squadron. Ivor scoured documents and wrote to every conceivable source to try and discover what actually happened to our uncle. Of course as is the case with Lowery and Adams there was never any final conclusion as to their fate. However in the course of his enquiries Ivor made contact with Jeffrey with whom he corresponded. He has made contact with relatives of those that were killed along with others who had an intimate knowledge of 159 Squadron. This of course led to the involvement of Matt Poole. Matts mothers first husband was killed in 1944 in the crash of a Liberator. Matts research into that crash led to his involvement in investigating many aspects of the war in the China, Burma and India theatre. His knowledge, ability to find information and attention to detail is second to none. This then led to Khine Tun. Khine has always had an interest in WW2 history in her home country and especially the role of the respective air forces. Khines father was a C47 pilot in the Burmese Air Force. Khine took an interest in Wottawitch and visited the crash site area with a colleague in 2005. Khine is the director of CBI Expeditions and routinely takes veterans and other interested parties on guided tours within Burma. I had always maintained an interest in Ivors research and approx 4 years ago we agreed that visiting the crash site would be a further step in understanding the circumstances of the crash of‘Wottawitch’Due to Ivors age and not wishing to leave his wife he felt it not possible to make the journey. It was then I planned to achieve that goal. So the journey began. Khine Tun Glen and I left for Pyapon as planned and on schedule on the morning of January 25th. The road within Yangon city limits was not too bad but it became bumpier and narrower as our vehicle carefully maneuvered its way down south passing buses and big overloaded trucks. Acres and acres of paddy fields were seen on both sides of the narrow road with several fish and shrimp raising farms in between. Glen did not say much on our way out of town. It could be that he was wondering what Pyapon would be like and perhaps thinking if the crash site of Wottawitch (BZ938) could be actually reached. After a short break en route we had reached our guesthouse in Pyapon four hours later. As we checked in, I make a quick call to the family who had assisted me in reaching the alleged crash site of Wottawitch back in 2005. I had already contacted them several times since I had received a note from Glen months and months ago, indicating that he would actually be traveling to Myanmar (Burma) and if I could accompany him back to the crash site. Over the phone, I had requested the family to send two motorbikes to the guesthouse so that we could take off right after lunch. We had a quick lunch nearby and waited for the bikes back at the guesthouse. In a few minutes, we were on the back of the bikes – on our way to the village of “Letpanbin” where we had hoped to identify the crash site of “Wottawitch”. As it was about 2 pm in the afternoon, it was quite hot as Glen and I steadily made our way towards Letpanbin. As we were riding out, I became somewhat concerned for Glen riding at the back of the motor cycle as we were going on another bumpy, dusty road – and it was hot and humid. During our correspondence by email, Glen had assured me that he had done some ‘traveling’ and that it would not be an issue or problem riding a motor cycle. Regardless, I could not help but be concerned mainly due to the weather. Every now and then, I would turn around to check on Glen and the motor cycle that he was riding on. An hour passed and we came to a small village called “Kanzeik”. It was located along side a small river and here, we came upon the most unexpected incident. The motor cycle people and I were back and forth discussing that perhaps we would have to continue towards Letpanbin by boat along the river when a young man approached us. He asked where we were heading; obviously he had noticed Glen who was listening to my translation. So I gave him a brief, non-detailed explanation of wanting to reach “Letpanbin” hoping to identify a WWII crash site. The young man’s name was Nyi Nyi Lwin and he was accompanying his mother to visit a relative. They were traveling on their own motor-cycle and had stopped for a brief moment at Kanzeik. What actually had surprised me and consequently I had translated to Glen was the fact that Nyi Nyi Lwin’s revelation to physically know the crash-site we were looking for. He immediately explained how. Nyi Nyi Lwin said his grandfather who is 90 years of age who lives with them had witnessed a ‘big fire ball’ descending from the sky years ago and that he could elaborate more about it and had asked us if we would like to meet his grandfather, U Thar Kyaw. I could not imagine how Glen had felt at that moment after I had explained to him what Nyi Nyi Lwin had told me but I remembered thinking that it was too good to be true. We obviously accepted his invitation and were graciously led by Nyi Nyi Lwin and his mother zig zagging more paddy fields. Finally, we were in front of their house. Nyi Nyi Lwin quickly went inside while his mother ushered both Glen and I to step inside. A few minutes later, U Thar Kyaw appeared, thin but healthy for a 90 year old man. We had spent about 30 minutes there listening to him. We did not offer any information at first. I personally wanted to be sure if U Thar Kyaw had indeed witnessed the plane crash or if he had heard about it from other sources. Since the event took place about 65 years ago, I did not to lead myself into believing the old guy and wanted to make sure that he had actually ‘seen’ something. Neither Glen or I had indulged in revealing any information pertaining to the crash of Wottawitch but what the old man told us was astounding. The details he offered was as if someone else had recently told him: such as how he saw a ‘big fire ball’, how the earth felt as if a big earthquake had taken place and how fire kept burning for hours and hours. U Thar Kyaw continued to tell us that he had heard later on that the fireball was an airplane and that members of the crew had parachuted out and made it all alive to the ground. He also revealed how the Burmese headman of the village at that time, went to the Japanese to inform about the crew members and consequently they were captured. At that point, I assured Glen that I had not met U That Kyaw in 2005 and was very surprised that he knew a lot about the Wottawitch incident. He said he was a ’bachelor’ back then, working with his sisters in the field and had never left the village. Then he asked us, “Would you like to see where the plane had crashed?” few minutes later we were led by the grandson with our motor bikes crossing some more paddy fields several minutes away from the house. We stopped by a small shack and walked several meters followed by five farmers as I had told them about our ‘mission’ They were fascinated by the fact that Glen had flown all the way from Australia to Burma, travelled by road and on the back of a motor-cycle riding to see an empty rice field where there was once a plane that had crashed. Besides, they have not seen a ‘white’ person walking all over the paddy fields holding a GPS – trying to identify the crash-site. I was not quite sure at first if we were heading in the right direction and had relied on Glen’s GPS where he had recorded the exact coordinates of the “Wottawitch” crash-site. As Glen kept walking, we all kept following him. The locals curiosity level continued to rise as Glen walked back and forth and around, looking at his GPS, checking his bearings for a good half and hour. He then stopped, looked back at us (Glen was walking quite fast) and said he was actually in the radius of the crash-site. I translated that into Burmese for the locals who watched Glen in awe. We then took several pictures of the place, as well as the GPS coordinate as indicated, It took a few moments for the reality to sink in. I translated Glen’s short sermon and had a minute of silence in which every one participated. It was a surreal experience. I watched Glen and the eyes of the locals who were looking at Glen while I answered the many questions they had and commenting how brave Glen was to travel all the way to Burma. Most locals believe without any exception that many places outside of Burma are without a doubt, far better than where they live. We rode along paddy field levees Actually we bounced along! My Notes: After spending time with U Thar Kyaw and his family the farmer took us by motor bike to the crash area. He then took us to what he believed was the crash site. Remember this is 65 years after the event and the current farmer was not born at that time. His position did not match the coordinates from the original investigation of the 5th January 1946 carried out by Derek Waite. Waites coorinates were 16 deg 03 min N 95 deg 41 min E Waites coordinates corresponded very closely with the coordinates given to me by Matt Poole. These coordinates were of the centre point of a burn zone taken as wartime imagery. Remember nothing grew in the area for years as the soil would have been saturated with aviation fuel. We then followed the GPS coordinates given to me by Matt and went to another spot a short distance away. This spot to the best of our knowledge is the spot where‘Wottawitch’crashed. There is nothing to see at the crash site. Over the years the hole left by the crash has disappeared. Remember this a flood plain and is cultivated and flooded annually. We then held a small memorial for those that perished. Derek Waites visit to crash site on 5th Jan 1946 established the crash location as being 16 deg 03 min N 95 deg 41 min E A decent approximation of the lat/long of the burn zone centre point is 16 deg 03 min 00 sec N 95 deg 40 min 39 sec E (as seen on the GPS as location) This burn zone was taken from wartime imagery sourced by Matt Poole. From the GPS it can be seen it is being held in an almost identical position under lat/long coordinates. Remember there is always some satellite variance and is accurate to around 10-15 feet. _______________________________________________________ A BARBAROUS ENEMY On the night of 31 January 1945 Flight Sergeant Stanley James Woodbridge, a wireless operator with 159 Squadron, was personally selected by his Squadron Commander to fly with a crack crew on an important mission to pinpoint the location of certain Japanese radar installations in Bangkok, Mandalay and Rangoon. The operation was successfully completed and the Liberator was turning for home at 3. 10 am when it suddenly developed engine trouble and the skipper gave the order to bail out. Incredibly, six of the eight crew members managed to parachute into the same area and reunite on the ground. The other two airmen, who were in the rear of the Liberator, were never seen again and are believed to have perished in the crash. The six survivors-two officers and four NCOs-started to trek; towards the coast in the hope of finding a boat, and putting out to sea where Air Sea Rescue’ might be able to locate them as Flight Sergeant Woodbridge had managed to send a last minute SOS. The Bay of Bengal was combed repeatedly for four days. Meanwhile the airmen came upon a small village and offered the headman a large sum if he would get them a small boat. He agreed and told them to hide. For two hours the six men waited, confident that they would soon be back with their friends in the squadron. But when the headman returned he brought with him a force of Japanese soldiers. The six airmen were conveyed down the Irrawaddy River to the Bassein district where they were handed over to the Japanese 55th, Engineering Regiment. Lieutenant-Colonel Murayama, the regiment’s Commanding Officer: instructed Lieutenant Okami, his civil defence officer, to question the six British airmen. The skipper was the first to be interrogated. He produced a document on which was written, in Japanese, an extract from the Geneva: Convention stating that prisoners of war need, only tell their captors their name, rank and serial number. Japan was ostensibly a signatory. of the convention, although it had been no respecter of the rights of those prisoners who were forced to build the Burma railway. When the skipper refused to reveal the name of his base he was severely beaten for half an hour. The second officer, the navigator, was then, questioned but was not beaten because the interrogator was only interested in learning the identity of the wireless-operator. All four, NCOs were beaten, but when the interrogator recognized that Woodbridge was the wireless operator, it was he who bore the brunt of the tortures. Woodbridge was asked to reveal his codes and wavelengths, to give technical details of the equipment carried in the Liberator and tell what link he had with operators on the ground who were responsible for providing details of Japanese targets. Woodbridge steadfastly refused to reveal one scrap of information to his captors. After the first interrogations, the two officers were taken away in the middle of the night to Japanese headquarters in Rangoon for a more detailed interrogation. When the British overran Rangoon these two officers were found in gaol and released. But the fate of the four RAF airmen was seated. The beatings began again and continued for four hours. Fists, bamboo canes, and swords in their sheaths were used on the badly bruised Woodbridge. One of the soldiers, a ju-jitsu expert, threw the gallant airman around for some considerable time and at intervals another officer, Lieutenant Kanno, encouraged his soldiers to kick the defenceless airman where he lay. Eventually Kanno’s patience was exhausted with the realization that no amount of torture would force the courageous airman to speak. Woodbridge was then told he was to meet the same fate as his colleagues, who had already been executed. As Stanley Woodbridge reached the spot where his three fellow crew members had been executed he paid a silent tribute to them. They had been forced to dig their own grave, a trench about two and a half feet deep and long enough to take four, not three bodies. After digging the trench all three men were made to stand in line, then a Japanese officer, Lieutenant Matsui, invited his soldiers to kick and beat them. The airmen were then brought to the edge of the trench, blindfolded and forced to squat. Matsui ordered two prisoners to be beheaded and then Kanno ordered a corporal to behead the third airman. All the bodies were subjected to bayoneting. Woodbridge was beheaded by one of Kanno’s fellow officers, Lieutenant Okami, and pushed into the grave. He died defiant. In 1947 at the war crimes trial in Rangoon, Kanno, Okami, and a corporal were convicted and hanged. Lieutenant-Colonel Murayama was sentenced to death. It was established that. Lieutenant Matsui had been killed in action during the Japanese retreat from Burma. On 28 September 1948 it was announced that Stanley James Woodbridge had been posthumously awarded the George Cross. Source: http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/owen652-633585-wottawitch2/ http://www.rquirk.com/splflt/Specialflight.html http://www.rquirk.com/japatroc.html http://www.awm.gov.au/catalogue/research_centre/pdf/rc09125z018_1.pdf http://www.maplandia.com/burma/mandalay/myitha/letpanbin/ http://classic.mapquest.com/maps?l=16.0500&g=95.6775 |
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| I-153 | (Kosov) | 04. Dezember 1941 | Urosozero, USSR | Sowjet Union/Soviet Union | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: On 4 December 1941 Leyteinant Mihail Grigorevich Kosov of 197 IAP was killed when his I-153 was shot down in aerial combat near Urosozero, Soviet Karelia. An I-15bis later took off to search him and the pilot saw his burning I-153.In this area two pilots of LLv 28, Luutn Tuomo Hyrkki (flying Morane 406 MS-618) and Vääp Jorma Norola (flying Morane 406 MS-617), claimed in the early afternoon (between 1300 and 1500 hrs) respectively an I-153 and an I-152, and were probably facing 197 IAP. Source: http://allaces.ru/p/people.php?id=00000014305 http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luettelo_Lentolaivue_28:n_ilmavoitoista_ja_sotatoimitappioista http://www.maplandia.com/russia/republic-of-karelia/segezhskiy-rayon/urosozero-63-26-0-n-34-15-0-e/ |
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| B 25 D | 41-30312 | 25. Januar 1944 | Papitalai Harbor, Los Negros, Admiralty Islands | USA | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: On 25 January 1944 the B-25D-1 41-30312 "Dittum Dattum (II)" of 500th BS, 345th BG, 5th AF, USAAF, took off from Dobodura Airfield as part of "C Flight" for a low level strike against Momote Airfield on Los Negros. Hit by anti-aircraft fire at the end of the runway, McLean waved before crashing at the edge of Papitalai Harbor onto Salami Plantation. The B-25 exploded on impact, killing the entire crew.Crew (all killed): 1st Lt. John P. McLean, Jr., O-730938 (pilot) from Seattle, WA 2nd Lt. Edgar A. Waite (co-pilot) from Scottsbluff, NB 1st Lt. Fred H. Wexler, O-730759 (bombardier) from Philadelphia, PA SSgt Norman E. Godsey, 35164297 (radio) from Richmond, IN SSgt Cameron N. Somsel, 16085547 (engineer) from Kaleva, MI SSgt Arthur O. Wezel, 35252845 (gunner) from Indianapolis, IN The entire crew was declared dead the day of the mission. Memorialized on the tablets of the missing at Manila American Cemetery. There was no MACR. Aircraft History: Built by North American as a B-25D-10. Modified Garbutt Airfield near Townsville at the 4th Air Depot into a D-1 strafer variant. Assigned to the 345th Bombardment Group, 500th Bombardment Squadron on July 8, 1943. Assigned to pilot McLean with crew chief SSgt. Andrew M. Rezin. Nicknamed "Dittum Dattum (II)" named after B-25D "Dittum Dattum" 41-30073. This B-25 began flying combat missions from 17 Mile Drome (Durand) near Port Moresby during October 1943, then moved to Dobodura Airfield with the Squadron during Janauary 1944. References Warpath Across The Pacific page 114 (photo), 115, 368, 392 Thanks to Daniel Leahy for additional information Source: http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-25/41-30312.html ftp://ftp.calweb.com/users/w/warbird/honorrol.txt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momote_Airport http://mapcarta.com/16522950 |
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| Ju 188 D-2 | 230147 | 29. Januar 1945 | Orio al Serio, Italy | Deutschland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: On 29 January 1945 three aircraft of 4(F)./122 were hit during a strafing attack by P-47s (possibly of the 57th FG) on Orio al Serio airfield, near Bergamo. The Ju 188D-2 WNr 230147 was destroyed (100% damage) while the Ju 188D-2 F6+HM WNr 230447 and the Ju 88T-3 WNr 330237 were both damaged at 15%. The Ju 188 WNr 230447 was later found there by the Allied No.1 Field Intelligence Unit after the German surrender.Source: http://www.luftwaffedata.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Aufkl._Gr._122_Jan_1945 http://www.luftwaffe-experten.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=11928 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orio_al_Serio_Airport http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.668889,9.700278&spn=0.03,0.03&t=m&q=45.668889,9.700278 |
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| Master II | AZ319 | 30. Januar 1943 | Hillside, Angus, Scotland | England | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: On 30 January 1943 the Master II AZ319 of 2 FIS flew into high ground at night near Canterland Farm, Hillside, near Montrose. Both crew, Plt Off Albert Edgar David RCAF (J/9336) and Sgt Christopher Ronald Young (1314261), survived the crash but died of injuries, Young in the ambulance en-route to Stracathro hospital and David at just after midnight on the 30th / 31st.Source: http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?7821-430130-Unaccounted-airmen-30-1-1943 http://www.cwgc.org/debt_of_honour.asp http://www.twgpp.org/information.php?id=2902664 http://www.maplandia.com/united-kingdom/scotland/scotland/angus/hillside/ |
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| Hurricane IIb | BG992 | 29. Januar 1943 | Kirkuk, Iraq | England | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonstiges: Other: Flg Off Frank Terry Britten RAAF of 208 Sqn RAF was killed on 29 January 1943 when the engine of his Hurricane IIB BG992 cut after take-off from LG K.1, near Kirkuk, Iraq, and spun into ground. Originally buried in British Military Cemetery, Kirkuk, Grave 6. Plot B, he was later reinterred in Mosul War Cemetery, Iraq.Source: http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?8889-Hurricane-IIB-BG992 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkuk http://www.maplandia.com/iraq/at-tamim/kirkuk/ |
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| B 24 H | 42-95164 | 28. Januar 1945 | Garbeck, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | USA | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| Sonstiges: Other: ROBERT JOHN HARRONNavigator, Schuster Crew, 577th Squadron Assembled and written by his Nephew, Paul Costello Msgt. USAF Ret. My Uncle Robert, was born in Woburn, Massachusetts on February 13, 1921. He was my mother’s brother. He was the fourth child of five in the Harron family, my mother being the baby, and, the fifth sibling, of the Harron family. To me, this biography reads like a script from an old black and white World War II movie, but, then, that’s the era it takes place in, the “Golly” “Gee-Whiz” generation that fought and died in that great war. He was born in the house at 23 Flagg Street in Woburn, Massachusetts, the same house that my Mom would be born in, a year and a half after Uncle Robert. He attended School during his grade school years in the Woburn school system. But, he graduated from Junior High school and Senior High School from the Lexington, Massachusetts school system, graduating from Jr. High on June 20th 1935, and High School on June 15th 1938. He attended Lexington Jr. and Sr. High School because they were thought to have, at the time, a little higher caliber educational system than the Woburn school system. After his High School graduation, and before enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corp. for WW II. He was employed at the Wesco Waterpaints Company in Boston Massachusetts. I can’t determine what his actual position with this firm was, but it seems he enjoyed his employment there, and was happy with the job. My Aunt Edna, his sister, second child in the Harron family, told me, that in order for him to enter the Air Corp, he went to a hospital in Boston for some sort of operation. She said, that her, and her sister, oldest child in the Harron family, Dora, went to the hospital to be with him, and that after the operation, he was bleeding profusely from his nose. The only thing I can surmise about this is, that back at that time, it was common, in order to qualify for certain types of duty, such as aircrews, and submariner crews, to have an operation to have your adenoids removed, in order to be able to stand the great differences in air pressure involved with these types of jobs. This just goes to show, how much determination he had, in order to pass the physical, and obtain flight status in the U.S. Army Air Corp. He enlisted on February 16th 1942. Just three days after his 21st birthday, and just a little over two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and America’s entrance into WW II. Upon embarking on his Air Corp enlistment, he had a photo scrap book that he took with him, on the back of this photo album, he wrote in pen a list of his assignments in their sequential order, there are no specific dates on this list, but it contains a synopsis of his assignments, from his first day, to the date he arrived at the 577th Bomb Squadron. 1. Atlantic City, New Jersey 2. Reading, Pennsylvania 3. Nashville, Tennessee-November 1943 4. Selman Field, Louisiana 5. Harlingen, Texas 6. Ellington Field, Texas 7. Westover Field, Massachusetts 8. Charleston Army Air Base, South Carolina 9. Mitchell Field, Hempstead, New York 10. Kilmer Field, New Jersey (P.C.E.) 11. Stone, England U.K.(Arrived: November 3rd 1944) 12. Wendling A.A.F. England U.K. Crew 437, 577th Bomb Squadron, 392nd Bombardment Group(Heavy)”The Crusaders”, 14th Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force. He graduated from Air Forces Advanced Navigation School at Ellington Field Texas with class: 44-11, on August 26th 1944. On that date, by Special Order number 205, he was promoted to Flight Officer(serial # T131738). Which, in today’s military, is equivalent to a Warrant Officer. Two and a half years training, and a dozen moves, in all that time, to finally arrive at the 577th at Wendling. He departed on a troop ship in late October 1944 for England. His mother, my grandmother, and his girl-friend at the time, Lillian, accompanied him by train to New York, to see him off. In one of his letters home after his arrival, he said that he crossed the ocean on the ocean-liner “Queen Mary”. Sometime shortly after his arrival in England, he obtained a little pocket zodiac dairy, this was eventually returned with his personal affects after his death, because of that fact I believe he never took this little dairy on any of his missions, and just wrote in it after the completion of each mission. This is where I found the exact arrival date, as he circled his arrival date, and then started scratching off dates after that, in weekly increments. But, most importantly, this diary contained a record of his combat missions. This record of his combat missions states: the dates, objectives/targets, flying time/accumulated combat hours. From his arrival at Wendling, he flew practice missions every few day, around England, getting orientated with his crew and their plane, a B-24 Liberator. Serial number # 42-50868. It was probably a “D” or “J” model liberator. They probably would have started flying combat missions earlier than they did, but, their co-pilot became ill, and was kept in the base hospital for 10 days to two weeks. After he was released, they started flying combat. Although such statistics were not circulated among U.S. Army Air Forces crews at the time, but, after the war, when statistics became available, the average life expectancy of an Eighth Air Force crews mission completion rate in 1943/1944, was only 11 missions. From other records compiled after WW II, in contrast to the B-17, the B-24 Liberator was not as able to take as much punishment. This was due to it’s complex construction, in particular, the wing, was relatively weak, and in many cases, if hit in the crucial places, it gave way completely. Photographic records of WW II show B-24’s plummeting from the sky with two wings folded upward like those of a butterfly. The sturdiness of the B-17 was almost unbelievable, sometimes returning to base with major components, tail-sections, engines, even wings, very badly damaged, and even on occasion partly missing. Over 28,000 American air crews gave their lives flying from bases in England during the war. He flew his first combat mission on Christmas Eve(day), December 24th 1944. He got in the habit of sending home Stars & Stripes newspaper clippings of all his missions, except mission number three. These clippings, which he sent along with letters back to his family, along with his little pocket dairy. You combine the letters, clipping, and diary, and you get a telling story of the air war. The reason, I suppose that his pocket diary wasn’t taken on missions, was that he didn’t ever want it found on him if he ever had to bail out over enemy territory. Plus, I think that he probably thought that, if anything bad ever happened to him, that it would be sent home to his family. Which it was. The first mission, in the newspaper clipping, he underlined, “Marshaling yards and rail centers near Trier”(Germany) In his pocket diary he wrote: “Rower” “Flak light, No fighters” “5:50 Flying hours”(combat). Mission number two was flown on December 27th 1944. Objective/Target: Homburg. Pocket diary comment: “Medium Flak-Very Accurate-G knocked out-No fighters” “5:30 Flying hours”(combat). “G” must mean that a gun position on the plane was knocked out. The newspaper clipping about this mission has Homburg underlined. He wrote a letter home to his sister Edna that evening after the mission. “Dear Edna, Flew # 2 today and that is why I’m so tired. However I’m still O.K. and hoping for the best, with my fingers crossed. Boy, it’s no fun, believe me.” Mission number three, December 30th 1944. Objective/Target: Ludendorf Bridge. Pocket diary comment: “No Ball” Probably meaning that the ball turret gun was not operating on the mission that day ? “5:30 Flying hours”(combat). There was no newspaper clipping for this mission. In a letter to his sister Edna, dated December 31st 1944, the day after the mission, he wrote: “You asked me how many missions I have to do here. Well I don’t know if I’m violating any censorship rules or not, but, it’s suppose to be 35. Speaking of missions, I made the 3rd one yesterday, though I can’t say to where. Send you a clipping later. Maybe you don’t think the little old prayers don’t come out when you’re over the target and the sky is loaded with flak, oh boy, it’s no picnic, and this high altitude business where you must use oxygen certainly requires plenty of sleep and rest. Boy, it knocks it out of you and what I mean. Oh well, 32 to go, if I’m lucky. If I’m not so lucky. I’ll never know the difference, as it’s a quick exit, so that’s some consolation at least.” Mission number four, January 7th 1945. Newspaper clipping: Achern, southwest of Karlsruhe, underlined. The pocket diary: “Landau” “No flak-no fighters” “6:25 Flying hours”(combat). Mission number five, January 13th 1945. Newspaper clipping: Kaiserslautern. Pocket diary: “Kaiserslautern marshaling yds.” “Moderate flak” “7:00 flying hours”(combat). Another letter home to his sister Edna, dated January 13th 1945 same day as the mission. “Flew for 7 hours today. My 5th mission, and I’m dead tired. I’m so tired in fact that I’m making this letter very short, because I’m going to bed pronto.” Another letter, dated January 14th 1945, the day after the 5th mission. “This is just a note because I’m enclosing a clipping of yesterday’s mission. It was my 5th. So only 30 more to go. What a life !!” Mission number six, January 16th 1945. Newspaper clipping, underlined, “The heavies selected as their main target a synthetic oil plant at Ruhland near Dresden.” Pocket diary: “Ruhland-Oil Works” In large capital letters “ROUGH” “8:15 flying hours”(combat). In another letter to his sister Edna, dated January 17th 1945, the day after the mission. “Here I am again ! Flew mission number six yesterday, but didn’t get back to the base here till this afternoon. Surprised ! Well we had to land in France for reasons I can’t disclose. However everything was all right. No trouble with anything but had to land there for other reasons. Let me tell you about it. I stayed about 40 miles from Paris. Had a pretty good time there. We all had quite a party and the “Champagne” and “Cognac” flowed quite freely at the officers club there. We had been flying 9 hours on our mission, so I’ll hope you will excuse the fact that the party was enjoyed quite liberally by all. Fact is I’ve brought back a quart of Champagne and am keeping it locked up till Feb. 13th, my birthday.” In another letter to Edna, dated, January 20th 1945 he wrote: “That last mission I flew gives me the Air Medal although I haven’t received it as yet.” This mission number six, was a big question, as to why did they land in France ? In his letter home, it sounded, as if, it was just my uncles plane that was the only one that landed there. I had visions that my uncles plane was singled out to land there on some type of Top Secret mission, to transport maybe a spy, or some type of secret item, or some diplomatic correspondence back to England. But, I contacted the U.S. Air Force Historical office at Wright-Patterson A.F.B.. in Ohio. Records show, that the whole group was ordered to land on their way back from the mission, because of severe snow storms around all their home base in England. A look at the official records show, that the snow storm was just starting as they took off that morning. Mission number seven, January 28th 1945. Objective/Target: Dortmund, Germany. Group mission # 231, Field Order # 548. This date was the third anniversary of 8th Air Force’s combat operations in the ETO(European Theater of Operations). The following is from the group’s history records: Another lengthy stand down period was necessitated for poor weather, both locally and over the target areas. Thus, a number of “Alamogordos” were heard by the crews and ground maintenance/ordnance personnel. Weather finally permitted a mission. This raid was against the coke oven facilities three and one-half miles northeast of Dortmund. A secondary target of the Munster marshaling yards was assigned also. General briefings for 30 crews were held at 0445 and 0600 hours, but, the relatively good weather for takeoff did not hold as forecasted. At 0805 hours, group bombers began take-off, but a heavy snow squall hit suddenly which caused 8 Liberators to abort on the ground. After a few bombers returned early due to malfunctions, the remaining 17 went in over the target, bombing the primary with excellent results. The crews released a total of 228 500Lb. GP’s(General Purpose) bombs on target with 93 percent impacting within a 2000 foot radius of the aiming point. Fighters were not encountered, but AA fire(flak) was heavy and accurate around bomb release time of 1203 hours. As a direct result, two bombers and aircrews were lost on this mission, and 3 other crewmembers from the 576th Bomb Squadron’s aircraft were wounded. From the 577th Bomb Squadron, Lieutenant Dodd’s crew in B-24H 42-95164, nose art name: “Lady Eve” was hit by AA fire in the wing and swerved into the B-24J 42-50868, no nose art name, flown by Lieutenant Schuster’s crew. This was my uncle Robert’s plane, he was the assigned navigator. His bomber lost a wing in this collision and both planes went down in a dive, exploding as they plummeted downward with a reported 4 parachutes being seen from other planes in the formation, but, in the heat of battle, these parachute reports are often inaccurate. It was not certain from which ship the chutes had egressed from. Seven other bombers returned with battle damage, but all remaining planes did manage to recover safely at Wendling around 1435 hours. Both my uncle Robert’s plane and the other bomber crashed at opposite ends of the town of Garbeck Germany. He was KIA (Killed In Action) that day. He had been in the ETO for only a total of 86 days. And, he was only 99 days away from the end of the war when Germany surrended on May 7th 1945. Did the original crash/collision kill him, did the inevitable explosion kill him, or was he trapped by the centrifugal force of the planes downward motion, scary thoughts. It was latter determined after the end of the war, that only two parachutes egressed that day, and they were the two waist gunners on Lt. Dodd’s plane. They were most likely involuntarily ejected during the collision. None of my uncle Robert’s crewmember were able to parachute to safety, all perished with their aircraft. The crew roster of both aircraft follow: Uncle Robert’s Crew (42-50868, MACR 11996): 2nd Lt.(Pilot) William N. Schuster KIA Garden City, Michigan 2nd Lt.(Co-Pilot) Thomas V. Dougherty Jr. KIA Hazelton, PA. Flight Officer(Navigator) Robert John Harron KIA Burlington, Mass. Sgt.(Top-Turrat Gunner) Raymond W. Pellecchia KIA Corona, New York Sgt.(Radio) Frank A. Kohn KIA Monclova, Ohio Sgt.(Right Waist Gunner) Louis C. Englebrecht KIA Baltimore, Maryland S/sgt.(Left Waist Gunner) Nicolas R. Marinelli KIA Philadelphia, PA. Sgt.(Tail Gunner) Paul Sablitz KIA Colchester, Conn. Sgt.(Nose Gunner) Angelo A. Maccarone KIA Boston. Mass. S/sgt.(Lower Sperry Ball Gunner) Frank G. Bleickardt KIA Rutland, Vermont Dodd’s Crew (42-95164, MACR 11995): 2nd Lt.(Pilot) James R. Dodd KIA Oklahoma City, OK. 2nd Lt.(Co-Pilot) Carl T. Sholander KIA Turlock, California 2nd Lt.(Navigator) Kenneth V. Fleming KIA Sharpsburg, Kentucky Sgt.(Top-Turret Gunner) Robert R. Hartong KIA Girard, Kansas Sgt.(Radio) Morris Epstein KIA Brooklyn, New York Sgt.(Right Waist Gunner) John J. Muka POW Chicago, Illinois Cpl.(Left Waist Gunner) Maclovio Olivas POW Cuba, New Mexico Sgt.(Tail Gunner) Leonard D. Hulbert KIA Racine, Wisconsin Sgt.(Nose Gunner) Robert E. Page KIA Vallejo, California S/sgt.(Bottom Sperry Ball Gunner) Matthew A. Bartnowski KIA Clifton, New Jersey In an article in the February 1992 issue of the 392nd BGMA News, John Muka provided these details: "When the plane went out of control, I remember getting the rear hatch open and then I was blown clear and was free-falling. I pulled the ripcord and the chute opened. The air was very cold and my gauntlets were blown off, and my hands were frostbitten. I landed in deep snow, but was unable to move because of my broken legs. Soon I was surrounded by German civilians, and they dragged me into a nearby town on a pair of skis. I was transported to a hospital, where a German doctor operated on my legs and I woke up in traction. I found out later the hospital was in the Ludensheid area. While in hospital, I sweated out Allied air raids. Although I could hear bombs exploding and machine-gun fire from strafing fighters, the hospital was never hit. On April 14, 1945, I could hear shelling and small arms fire and on the next day an American medic from the 8th Division walked into my room." The official cause for the loss of both planes: Flak/Collision. Between my uncles letters home and his pocket diary, there seems to be a discrepancy of 45 minutes in his combat flying hours. He stated in one of his letters that they had been flying for 9 hours, but in the pocket diary, he wrote 8 hours and 15 minutes. Maybe he just rounded off the time in the letter home. Maybe it was just 8 Hrs 15 Mins flying time up to landing in France, and then just 45 minutes flying time back to England the next day ? Irregadless, his total combat flying hours came to either, 38 hours and 35 minutes or, 39 hours and 20 minutes. Of course the time flown on the date of his death doesn’t become considered, because, you have to successfully complete a mission by returning to your base, to have the combat hours added to your record. As stated in the official history records of the group. They took off at 0805 Hrs. and his plane became in the collision after the bomb run which was at 1203 Hrs. So, the crew accumulated 4 more combat hours that were not credited. And, that was just at the turn point, so it would have been another 4 hours back to the base, which would have resulted in about another 8 hours of flying time. Speculation, but you just have to ask, about the quirk’s of fate, that happen in war, you have to think about, the big “IF”...... His plane was not directly hit by flak that day, but the plane that was in formation next to his was, it was hit in the wing, which caused it to swerve into my uncles aircraft. What if, Dodd’s plane had been hit in the opposite wing that day, would his plane have swerved in the other direction, away from my uncles plane, swerving in that opposite direction, would it crash into another different plane in the formation ? What if, the construction of the wing assemblies on the B-24’s were stronger, would both planes have survived the collision ? What if, the Co-Pilot of my uncles airplane hadn’t spent that time in the base hospital at the beginning of their tour, would this had been their 10th mission instead of their 7th. What if, they were one of the crews that had aborted that morning back at the base, on the ground or shortly after take-off, returning back to base. What if, the flying hours, the experience of this crew, especially the pilot’s had more air time, would that have helped ? Statistics state that the average age of the World War II G.I. was 25 to 26 years old. The average flying experience of aircrews was less than 200 hours, and most of that was in training in the United States. What if, my uncle had made it back from this mission, how many more mission would he have flown and completed, would he have survived to the end of the war, which was so close at hand, only about 3 months away. What if, he had bailed out, survived the bail-out, became a POW ? What if, the question asked in time immortal of every war ever fought. He was just 23 years old, only 17 days away from his 24th birthday. Like the old saying’s goes,“War is a young man’s game.”“Where have all the young men gone?” War’s are usually started by old fat politicians, arguing over something, usually something stupid, and then they send out the young men to finish the dispute. And, usually, a lot of these young men don’t return. “Only the dead have seen the last of war.” Because, it seems that every generation(every 25 years) has it’s own war thrust upon them. My uncle had almost a total of 3 years on active duty. I remember my Grandmother telling me that he enjoyed the Air Corp., and enjoyed flying, and that he probably would have made the military a career after the war was over. In one of his other letters home he mentioned that the paperwork for his promotion to 2nd Lieutenant, he was so looking forward to receiving that promotion. What if ? There are two more ironic heart-wrenching thoughts of my uncle. Another letter, to his mother, my grandmother, wrote on, January 28th 1945. Yes. The date of his death. Can you believe this un-believable spooky scenario. During the war, it took anywhere from two to three weeks for a letter to get back to the U.S. What arrived first, this letter or the notification telegram ? This letter read: “Dear Ma, A few lines to you this evening to let you know that I’m well. Rec’d your Pkg. with chocolates. Thanks very much. Certainly came in handy and I enjoy them to the fullest. Spent a couple of days in London returning last night. Shall write you about it tomorrow night. It’s 1 AM now Ma and I may be up in 2 or 3 hours to fly so I’m closing now. Shall write you a nice long letter tomorrow. Love Bob” No, I am not making this up. I’m just putting into chronological order the events as I have researched them. The second part of this irony is a story that my Dad told me. My Dad was home because the previous August(1944) he was discharged from the U.S. Navy because of a back accident, having served over two years on active duty. He drove my mother down to the Western Union office, which was located at O’Brien’s Drug Store, on the corner of Main and Campbell street’s in Woburn, Massachusetts. My Mom was the first one to get the news that her brother was actually first listed as MIA(Missing In Action), because they could not account for who’s parachutes were seen leaving which plane. So, there was a glimmer of hope. My Dad said that the news was just devastating, and my Mom and the whole family just really broke down. I just can’t imagine the agony that my Mom felt all the way home to her Mom’s house, and the pain she had to go through telling her family the sad news. These two acts, the letter arrival and the telegram arrival, happening around the same time. This, and everything else I’ve reported, is, why, in the beginning, I said that this reads like an old WW II B & W movie script. But, it’s all just the way it happened. My Aunt Edna immediately started a letter writing campaign to senators, congressmen, the Army Air Corp., the Red Cross, to anybody that she could think of to find out if her brother had survived by parachuting from the aircraft to safety. I’m sure that it took from a few weeks to a month or so before the names of the POW crew members were releast by the international Red Cross. All the family found out that day my Mom brought home the telegram, all except one, my uncle William, Robert’s older brother, the third child in the Harron family. He was a Private, in the infantry, on the ground with the U.S. Army, Hq. Co. 54th Armored Infantry Battalion, 10th Armored Division. Invading Germany from southern France and Austria. Imagine his pain also, and with the fighting all around him, and other important things to worry about, like staying alive himself, and, also being closer than any other family member, but un-able to do anything, but, then, what was there to do. There was more he could and would do after the war ended. When the shooting finally stopped, he got permission to take leave to Garbeck, Germany. My Uncle William (Bill) arrived at the crash site on July 2nd 1945. He learned that the crew had a been buried in a mass grave in a small cemetery behind the catholic church in town. Before entering the service my uncle Bill lived and worked in Montreal Canada, where he learned French almost fluently, he was a great asset when his unit was moving up through France. Since arriving in Germany, he was learning to speak German fairly well also. With his knowledge of the German language he had learned, he made friends with the burgermeister’s daughter, who had studied English. Through his instructions to her he had the town make up a nice big white cross and a big wooden plaque sign to go at the base of the cross. He had a list of both crews names, he obtained through channels before he started for Garbeck. All of the crews names were entered on the plaque/sign. He talked to the priest of the church, and found that the names had been entered in the church diary or daily log book. Uncle Bill only had two days in Garbeck, but, he also had the town plant flowers around and near the grave, before he left to return to his unit. When he got back to his unit, he notified U.S. Army Graves Registration Unit as to to exact location, even though he surmised that they knew the general area. He supplied them with the exact coordinates. Eventually my uncle Robert’s body and all the rest of the bodies, were removed to a U.S. Military cemetery in Belgium, were it remained for a few years, until it was finally repatriated back to the United States. He was finally laid to rest 4 years and 4 months after his death, on May 18th 1949, at Woodbrook Cemetery in Woburn, Massachusetts. Another ironic twist to this movie script story, my uncle Bill, who could have rotated home with his CIB(Combat Infantryman’s Badge). Decided to re-enlist, and stay on in Germany with the occupation forces. He was promoted to Staff Sergeant. And was assigned as a MP. Driving a jeep on duty one day he was involved in an accident, and he died on September 23rd 1947, in Munich Germany. He had just turned 30 years old. His body was airlifted back to the United States, and buried at Woodbrook Cemetery, Woburn, Massachusetts. He was buried at the family plot almost a year and a half before his brother Robert was returned, now both brothers rest side by side. I myself was stationed in Germany for two years, from December 1967 to December 1969, with the U.S. Air Force at Ramstein A.B. I finally had the opportunity to take leave,shortly before I was to leave Germany, in November 1969, to go to visit Garbeck myself. I took the train from Ramstein to Garbeck. After arriving at the station on the outskirts of town I walked into the village, and found the only Gasthaus(Hotel/Resturant/Bar) and without having prior reservations, lucked out in getting a room for the next couple of nights. Being a little backwater town, it was a nice little out of the way village far from G.I. camp towns and off the beaten tourist track, located in the North Rhine Westphalia state of Germany. Using my small vocabulary of German, the innkeeper introduced me to a German man in the bar area of the gasthaus that could speak some English. This individual and the innkeeper, and other people in town were very very helpful, it was, as if I was some sort of minor celebrity, I don’t believe they had seen an American G.I. since my uncle Bill was there about 24 years prior. I wasn’t in uniform, I only wore civilian clothes since I was on leave. The English speaking German gentleman became my guide around the town, when I told him the story of my uncles plane crashing there during the war, he told me that he remembered it very well, he was about 10 years old when it happened. He showed me the two different areas where the planes impacted. Both were in fields in the outskirts around the town. My guide, I can not recall his name after all this time, he told me a story about that period of time, towards the end of the war, how that essential items were hard to come by, and after they removed and buried the crews from the planes, that he and other towns-people, removed the thick rubber fuel bladder bags from the wings of the aircraft, to use as soles for their worn-out shoes. Interesting, how, out of one tragedy, the plane crash, comes an element of hope, rubber soles of shoes, for others. Another one of those strange fates of war. My guide took me to meet the priest of the catholic church in town, where the crew was buried during the war, and where my uncle Bill had the cross and plaque placed after the war. The priest spoke fairly good English also, he showed me the handwritten dairy/records from the time of the crash, and it told about the burial, and a list of the crews names, these were probably obtained from the dog tags, because it was incomplete, but another page had a listing That my uncle Bill had given to the burgermeister’s daughter. Back in 1969, there were not that many xerox machines available outside of big office buildings, so, there was no way to obtain a copy, but, before I left, the priest had a typed page on church stationary type for me and presented to me, of course, it was all in German, but it was real nice of him, and the church, and the people of Garbeck. They sure made me feel welcome. Even though Garbeck was just a little village, in the Gasthaus were I stayed, they had picture post cards of the town. I bought two(2 different views) and mailed one from the town bundespost(post office) to my Aunt and Grandmother, then living in Florida, and I kept the other for myself. My Aunt and Grandmother have both past on, and among all their belongings I now have that card that I mailed over 30 years ago. Since I got started on doing my families genealogical history in 1994, I have been collecting information, and obtaining items from my family member’s, especially my Mom and my Aunt Edna. In 1996 my Aunt Edna gave me the letters that I have used in this biography, and my Mom gave me my uncle Robert’s dress uniform, that was more than likely send back home with his personal belongings. Both my Mom and my Aunt coverted these item’s all these many years, I was honored to be given them. After going through all the letters, my own military training caused me to take a second look at my uncle’s uniform, on the uniform was two ribbon’s, one was the European Theather Campaign Ribbon and the ribbon for the Purple Heart medal. I’m suspect that the G.I.’s in his outfit or the orderly room put these ribbons on his uniform, as he wouldn’t have purchased a purple heart ribbon for himself, or even the European Campaign ribbon either, as his tour wasn’t even half way over. But I did notice the absence of the Air Medal, that he had mentioned in one of his letters home, that he had obtained enough combat flying hours to qualify for this medal. But, since this was mentioned in a letter after his 5th mission, and he never returned from his 7th mission, being that he flew mission number five on January 13th 1945 and his last mission on January 28th, 1945, a period of just 15 days, I imagine that the paperwork that probably had been submitted for his Air Medal, got pushed to the side, in the orderly room, after it became more imperative at the time to send out the Notification to the Next of Kin Telegram on the status of your relative. So, in late 1996 I started writing letters to the US Air Force, in order to have my uncle’s Air Medal finally awarded to him, posthumously. After about a year of writing letters, I finally got a favorable response, in November 1997. The Air Force agreed to award my uncle his medal. Since this medal is authorized to be presented to the recipient. The Air Force told me that I had three options in accepting the medal. 1. I could have it mailed to me. 2. I could pick it up at the nearest personnel office at the nearest military base. 3. Or, I could have it formally presented to me by a ranking officer at the nearest military base. I wanted to have either my Mom or my Aunt to receive the medal in a formal ceremony, but they both declined that, as they both were handicapped with hip operations, and they don’t go in for big flashy ceremonies, plus, most of all, they don’t like to be reminded of the loss of their brother’s in the war. They both suggested that I accept the medal whatever way I think would be best. After discussing the options with the personnel office and the liaison/protocol officer at Luke A.F.B. Arizona, I requested that the Wing Commander present the medal to me in person. On December 23rd 1997, at the Wing Commander’s office on Luke A.F.B. Arizona at about 1 P.M. Brigader General Howard “Howie” Chandler, Commander of the 56th Fighter Wing presented me with the Air Medal for valor for my uncle Robert’s action’s during WW II. This was just about one month short of the 53rd year anniversary of his death. Another strange coincidence. My brother Bill passed away in October 1997. After the funeral graveside service in Woodbrook cemetery in Woburn, Massachusetts, my cousin Shirley Perrett and her husband Tom(WW II Vet) asked me to show them were my Grandmother and my uncle’s grave’s were located, as they wanted to go and pay their respects there also. When we arrived there, Tom was reading the engraving on the tombstone, and he mentioned to both me and his wife, that he could not believe the date of uncle Robert’s death. He said, that, that date was his date of baptism under fire, his first day(time) in combat. He was in the infantry in Germany at the same exact time, a date, that no doubt, a man never forgets, his first day in combat. In that date in history, my uncle was meeting his fate in the skies above Germany, on the ground, in Germany, my cousin’s husband was fighting to stay alive, fighting for his life. One day, different fate’s, crossed family path’s. Source: http://www.b24.net/stories/harron.htm http://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=123863 http://www.b24.net/missions/MM012845.htm http://www.adoptiegraven-database.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2305:pellecchia-raymond-w http://www.adoptiegraven-database.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1824:fleming-kenneth-v http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbeck http://www.maplandia.com/germany/nordrhein-westfalen/arnsberg/markischer-kreis/garbeck/ |
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