Target: Aircraft Repair Factory at Zwickau, Germany - 21 April 1944
Non-Mission Casualties

The aircraft repair factory at Zwickau, Germany, was the target for 28 planes from the 392nd.

Take-offs began at 1:30pm. An account by 579th Sqdn pilot 2/Lt Robert V. Pardue describes the terrible conditions in the sky. "We took off with an overcast and were to form at 15,000 ft., but the clouds were much thicker than anticipated, and there were severe icing conditions; therefore the assembly was raised to about 20,000 ft. We loaded up with ice and stalled out in the clouds. It was a close call. [Copilot] Jernigen and I had a very hard time getting the plane level. We thought we were in a spin once. The plane stalled at 158 mph. By using full rated power we were able to finally get out of the clouds. There was no formation. Planes were everywhere. It was terribly dangerous in the clouds."

The entire 8th AF formation was finally recalled, about the time the 2nd Air Division was scheduled to depart the English coast. Three B-24s in the 2AD crashed due to the extremely bad weather.

392nd BG planes were generally in the air between 2.5 and 3.1 hours.

CASUALTIES NOT LISTED IN MACR

21 APRIL 1944:

2/LT Bass, Louis F. (P)        577th   KIA
2/LT Gahm, Kenneth L. (CP)     577th   KIA
2/LT Steele, Wayne M. (N)      577th   KIA
2/LT Stover, Arthur R. Jr. (B) 577th   KIA
T/S Thomas, James W. (R)       577th   KIA
SGT Reeves, Walter E. (RW)     577th   KIA
SGT Burnett, Warren H. (BT)    577th   KIA
S/S Norrell, Robert E. (TG)    577th   KIA

This crew was forming up for the mission to Zwickau. For reasons unknown (but perhaps related to the severe weather and icing conditions), the left wing broke off at the outer panel during assembly. Around 1417 hours, the plane crashed at North Tuddenham, near East Dereham, Norfolk, England. Two crewmembers bailed out successfully but eight perished in this accident.

The survivors were engineer S/Sgt Gerald A. Knettel and waist gunner Sgt John J. Brzostowski. Knettel rarely talked about the incident, but did tell his son Michael that the air was colder than normal that day and they were flying at a higher altitude than usual. He heard a tremendous noise and then he and Brzostowski just fell from the plane. As his chute deployed, the plane exploded and debris showered down. His parachute was damaged, causing him to descend too fast. He was severely injured; a metal plate had to be placed in his head and a rod in his leg. These injuries pained him until his death at age 47. Neither Knettel nor Brzostowski ever flew a combat mission again. Instead, both were transferred to the 577th's ground crew and finished the war with that unit.

Their aircraft was B-24J Model #42-99979, which had completed eight combat missions up to this mishap.

Sgt James W. Thomas is buried in Grave F-4-36 in Cambridge American Cemetery. He was awarded the Purple Heart and his home state of record was Arkansas. The other casualties were returned to the US for interment in cemeteries in their home towns: 2/Lt Bass in Altoga Cemetery, Collin, Texas; 2/Lt Gahm in Sedgwick County, Nebraska; 2/Lt Stover in Wyuka Cemetery, Lincoln County, Nebraska; S/Sgt Burnett in Old Chatham Colonial Cemetery, Valatie, New York; Sgt Reeves in Little Texas Cemetery, Macon County, Alabama; and Sgt Norrell in Shelby County, Tennessee.

On 18 May 2010, a memorial to the Bass crew was dedicated. Pat Baldwin, who lives near the crash site, decided that there should be a memorial because "the sacrifice made by these men should always be remembered, not only by me when I look from my home across the field to the crash site but by future generations."

Creating the memorial became a project embraced by the entire village of North Tuddenham. A bench for the memorial site was crafted by Jonathan Stapleton out of an old English oak tree. Daphne Blyth made a wreath for the ceremony with eight red roses for those killed and two white roses for the survivors. The local blacksmith, Nigel Barnett, made a replica pilot's wheel, the idea being that children could play with the wheel until they were old enough to understand what the memorial represents.

Geoff Baldwin and a group of men cleared brambles from the site and then built the memorial. John Dann arranged for the Norfolk Vehicle Preservation Group to transport attendees in three WWII jeeps and a WWII Military Police vehicle. Geoffrey Dann, owner of the farm where the plane crashed, allowed attendees to walk across his planted field as eyewitnesses described what they had seen.

A location was chosen on the village common so that when sitting on the bench, one can see the memorial and past it to the crash site.

Over 100 people were present when the memorial commemorating 2/Lt Bass and his crew was dedicated. Since the village of North Tuddenham only has about 215 adult residents, the large number of attendees showed their depth of feeling for what the memorial embodied.

Annette Tison, 392nd BGMA News editor, and John Gilbert, our "man in England," represented the 392nd BG. A USAF Honor Guard from RAF Lakenheath presented the US and USAF flags. The local RAF Association and the Royal British Legion provided standard bearers.

The Rev Robert Marsden, Rector of Wendling, presided at the dedication. In his words of welcome, he thanked "all of you who have come in such large numbers to remember those who gave their tomorrows that we might live in peace in our nations and our communities today."

Then, Les Perrett told his memories of that fateful day. He was nine years old and at school. He and his chums "were in the playground at the time and did not witness the breakup of the plane. All I can remember is a very large explosion which turned out to be the bombs exploding on the fields about one and a half miles to the West of us. The debris was flying through the air hundreds of feet high. The teacher then called us into the classroom for safety.

"However, my brother, who was 13 years old at the time, was off school that day , and was on his cycle in the lane called Mill Road in North Tuddenham at the time of the incident. Mill Road is about 600 metres to the east of the crash site. He heard planes overhead but didn't take any notice at the time. We were so used to planes being overhead as there were USAF bases at Shipdham, 8 miles to the South West, Wendling, 8 miles to the West, and Attlebridge 5 miles to the East, plus the RAF base at Swanton Morley, 3 miles to the North.

"He suddenly heard a tremendous explosion and looked up and saw a large amount of debris flying hundreds of feet up through the air. He noticed two parachutes coming down in the distance over the fields and what he thought was a piece of debris coming down alongside Mill Road. He went to investigate and discovered this was indeed the dead body of a crew member. My brother reported this to an adult and did not return to the scene. My brother assumed the airman managed to jump from the stricken plane and his parachute was cut off by the debris. However, he cannot remember seeing any signs of the parachute. The two parachutes which he saw in the distance were obviously the two survivors coming down.

During the 2nd World War there was a decoy (dummy) airfield at North Tuddenham staffed by the RAF. There were dummy planes, fire engines, trucks etc with a dummy airstrip made up of stones. In the early part of the war in 1940 and 1941 we had night raids on this airfield by the Luftwaffe. By 1942 the Germans realized the British had many of these dummy airfields and the raids ceased. You can imagine the excitement these bombing raids caused for the kids. The reason I mention this is because the main crash site of the B24 in question and where the bombs exploded was on the Western perimeter of the decoy airfield.

"All the kids, after school, visited the crash site. There was very little left of the plane and the debris was spread over an area of about a square mile. There were several very large bomb craters, quite close together and about 20 feet deep. Over a period of weeks these filled up with water, Tuddenham has a very high water table, and we kids played around these small lakes for years. These were filled in some years ago and a duel carriageway road runs along the site."

The Rev Marsden then led the audience in an Act of Remembrance: "Let us remember before God, and commend to his sure keeping those who have died for their country in war; those whom we knew and whose memory we treasure; and all who have lived and died in the service of mankind."

Annette read the names of those killed, after which The Rev Marsden recited these lines from the poem "For the Fallen" by Laurence Binyon: "They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them." The audience then vowed, "We will remember them."

A bugle call sounded, followed by a minute of silence.

The Rev Marsden prayed, "Almighty and eternal God, from whose love in Christ we cannot be parted, either by death or life, hear our prayers and thanksgivings for all whom we remember this day; fulfill in them the purpose of your love, and bring us all, with them, to your eternal joy. Through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Annette unveiled the memorial plaque and The Rev Marsden gave this prayer of dedication: "We offer to you this memorial to young lives lost in the cause of peace and freedom. We remember with thanksgiving all those who made, and make, the supreme sacrifice for us in time of war. By your grace enable us this day to dedicate ourselves anew to the cause of justice, freedom and peace; and give us the wisdom and strength to build a better world, for the honor and glory of your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

After the national anthems of Great Britain and America were played, retired USAF Senior Master Sgt John McAlister laid a wreath at the memorial. The card on the wreath said, "Remembering the sacrifice of our American cousins from the parishioners of North Tuddenham."

Daphne Blyth, who made the wreath, then read John 15:9-14. The Rev Marsden then prayed "for all who suffer as the result of war" and "for those who mourn their dead, those who have lost husband or wife, children or parents, and especially for those families whose sons died here."

The ceremony ended with everyone saying the Lord's Prayer followed by a benediction.

At the ceremony, Roger Howard gave Annette a bullet he had found at the crash site. Ronald Nelson gave a small motor from #979 to John Gilbert. On the day of the crash, a rubber dinghy and a glove had landed in his garden.

The Rev Marsden welcomes the audience. From left to right: USAF honor guard, The Rev Marsden, Daphne Blyth, Les Perrett, and the standards of the local RAF Association and the Royal British Legion. In the background are three WWII vehicles provided by the Norfolk Vehicle Preservation Group

The standards of the local RAF Association and the Royal British Legion are lowered while bugle plays.

392nd BG researcher Annette Tison unveils the Memorial.

Retired USAF Senior Master Sgt John McAlister lays a wreath at the memorial

Geoffrey Dann, owner of the land where the crash occurred, tells USAF personnel about the artifacts that have been found at the crash site

The plaque on the memorial

Pat and Geoff Baldwin sit on the bench facing the memorial.

John Gilbert, 392nd researcher (left) displays a generator from the plane presented to him by Ron Nelson (right)

From L-R: Roger Howard, Annette Tison, and John Gilbert. Annette holds a bullet from the wreckage presented to her by Roger Howard.

CREW LOADING LIST - Target: Aircraft Repair Factory at Zwickau, Germany