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MISSING AIR CREW REPORT SECTION

20 JUNE 1944
TARGET: POLITZ

MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #06154  AIRCRAFT: #42-50343 "TONDELAYO" "Bar-C" 20th Mission

AIRCREW: BELL     *     SQUADRON:579th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P   1/LT  Bell, Charles L.      INT: Returned to Duty
CP  1/LT  Dorn, Walter A.       INT: Returned to Duty
N   1/LT  Orenbach. David (NMI) INT: Returned to Duty
B   TG    Bogie, Walter W.      INT: Returned to Duty
R/O S/SGT Wright, James K.      INT: Returned to Duty
EnG S/SGT Blanco, James W.      INT: Returned to Duty
WG  S/SGT Seymour, Alden S.     INT: Returned to Duty
WG  S/SGT Asch, Howard W.       INT: Returned to Duty
TG  S/SGT Egan, Arthur J.       INT: Returned to Duty

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: A returning eye-witness (Lt. Gann, Pilot of 579th crew) statement indicated the Bell ship was last seen at 1015 hours turning toward Sweden (on return route after target) at position 54-1 7N; 1 2-27E;, and evidently hit by flak, but under control, no chutes seen. Nothing further was reported about this aircrew’s probable fate. (Note: This crew landed successfully at Bulltofta Air Base in Sweden with aircrew and aircraft interned by neutral authorities. The crew was later returned to U.S. custody by Sweden).

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: In an article in the March 1978 issue of the Second Air Division Association Journal, engineer Jim Blanco provided this account of how his crew ended up in Sweden. Sometime after crossing the coast of Denmark, Blanco saw a group of forty to fifty enemy fighters. Just as the formation turned on the Initial Point, they attacked. Blanco's ship suffered some minor damage, most likely from a JU88 and an ME210 that had pressed the attack especially close.

As they neared the target area, the flak gunners seemed to be shooting in a perfect rectangular pattern of about 400 X 600 feet and Bell's line of flight would put them right through the center of the barrage. Blanco felt several bumps indicating the aircraft had been hit. Finally the bombs fell and they turned toward home.

Blanco wrote, "After leaving the flak field, I climbed down from the turret to survey battle damage. Up front, flak had hit our radio and it was a mess. There were numerous holes in the skin, letting in daylight, and one piece of flak severed a run of wires - some of which were for the #3 and #4 engine instruments.

I started to go aft and I will attest to the fact that the combination of rubber flight boots and hydraulic oil make very slippery cat-walks. Fortunately, the bomb-bay doors were closed when the flak hit the hydraulic system. As I entered the waist section, gunners Asch and Seymour were doing a jig trying to avoid being hit by Very pistol flares set off by a piece of flak.

Returning to the flight deck, I was surprised to see we had left the formation. The #3 and #4 engines were running smoothly, but without a tach and manifold pressure gauges we did not know how much power to pull back or advance. It was decided to leave the settings as they were for a while and use #1 and #2 for flight changes. By this time we had hit the deck. Time had lost its magnitude as I busied myself leveling gas tanks and watching #3 and #4 engines for the slightest malfunction.

Decision time came when Bell announced we had three options: 1. Land in Germany; 2. Ditch in the North or Baltic Seas; 3. Land in Sweden. Personally, I did not like the idea of being a POW, nor did I care to ditch. As for Sweden, it was an unknown, and I thought it the best of what was available. It must have been, in spite of the last few hours, my lucky day. We headed for Sweden.

We limped along nursing that "gawky angel" every mile to Malmo, Sweden. As we approached Sweden, two fighters appeared high at seven o'clock. I turned my turret to meet them and thought, "Here we go again." For some unknown reason we all held our fire. This was unusual because we were all pretty jumpy. The planes were unusual. They did not have the lines of either the FWs or MEs. Someone identified them as Italian. As they approached closer, we were all tense waiting for them to flash their recognition lights (guns), but none flashed. They were fighters from the Swedish Air Force coming to escort us to Malmo.

What confronted me on landing was that I would have to crank the gear down and kick-out the nose wheel. Not knowing the field in which we would set down, I was more than concerned because we had only enough hydraulic pressure for one application of brakes. With the gear cranked down and locked, the nose wheel kicked-out. Our landing pattern was normal. As we turned in for our final approach, another wounded B-24 cut us out. Luck was with us as we applied power to #3 and #4 engines and they responded. We nursed our angel around again to the base leg. The B-24 that cut us off had touched down, ground looped and burst into flames.

Under the conditions we had flown, our landing was normal. As we passed the burning B-24, the ammo aboard was exploding. Then came our moment of truth. Our one application of brakes brought us within three feet of the end of the runway…

For Bell's crew it was a very long haul that lasted for five months. Bell and I stayed behind for a total of ten months. Through all the years and future years I always say, "Tack a mike för Sverige" - literally translated, "Thanks a million for Sweden!"

BURIAL RECORDS: No casualties were suffered on this mission.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII: Bell (Mother, Edna L., 1915 Hochspin Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota); Dern (Mother, Margaret F., RFD, Soboderk Landing, New York); Orenbach (Mother, Eva., 86S6-24th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York); Bogie (Mother, Anna I., 2818 Park Row, Dallas, Texas): Asch (Mother, Mrs. Carl A., 1333 A Terminal Avenue, Long Beach, California); Bianco (Wife, Lorraine., 1958 West Roscoe Street, Chicago, Illinois); Egan (Mother, Sadie E.K., Savage, Minnesota); Seymour (Mother, Eunice, RFD #6, Brewer, Maine); Wright (Wife, Mrs James K., 4005 Newell, Kansas City, Kansas).

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MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #06155  AIRCRAFT: #42-50586 (NO NICKNAME) "Bar-U" 6th Mission

AIRCREW: SCHAFER     *     SQUADRON: 579th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P   l/LT  Schafer, Wesley A.   INT: Returned to Duty
CP  2/LT  Winans, George L.    INT: Returned to Duty
N   F/O   Martin, Arliss V.    INT: Returned to Duty
B   2/LT  Jaffe, Arthur J.     INT: Returned to Duty
R/O T/SGT Ward, Raymond A., Jr INT: Returned to Duty
EnG T/SGT Reid, Henry R. Jr.   INT: Returned to Duty
WG  S/SGT Miller, Samson (NMI) INT: Returned to Duty
WG  S/SGT Razo, Eusevio G.     INT: Returned to Duty
TG  S/SGT Pitts, Jimmie B.     INT: Returned to Duty

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: A returning pilot eye-witness (Lt. Gann, 579th) account stated that the Schafer ship turned towards Sweden on the outbound route at approximately 54 -17N; 12-27E; at 1015 hours, under control and no chutes seen from this aircraft. No other information regarding this plane or crew is recorded in the MACR regarding the circumstances at the time. (Note: This crew landed safely at the Swedish Air base at Hjortshog, and all members were taken as internees. Later, the crew was turned back to U.S. custody).

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: No crew member survivor statements are recorded in the MACR. It is known that all (9) members were returned safely to U.S. control at some time later.

BURIAL RECORDS: None pertaining to the crew on this mission.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII: Schafer (Mother, Bernice I., 7048 Sidney Point, Cincinnati, Ohio); Winans (Father, Elmer E., 154 Park Street, Chelsea, Michigan); Martin (Father, Dan., Route 2, Box 69, Salem, Missouri); Jaffe (Mother, Sarah R., Box 232, Hollybourne Avenue, Menlo Park, California); Reid (Wife, Victoria T., Augustine Park 0-19, Port Wentworth, Georgia): Miller (Mother, Fannie, Mescalero, New Mexico); Razo (Wife, Isabel F., 1825 Eighty Eighth Street, Oakland, California); Pitts (Father, Joseph T., Planington, Missouri); Ward (Mother, Clara I., 738 2nd Avenue, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania).

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MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #06156  AIRCRAFT #42-51125 (NO NICKNAME) "F-PIus" 7th Mission

AIRCREW: PAGE     *     SQUADRON: 577th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P   l/LT  Page, Leander, Jr    INT: Returned to Duty
CP  2ILT  Qualey, Leroy F.     INT: Returned to Duty
N   2/LT  Bishop, Charles R.   INT: Returned to Duty
B   2/LT  Hotle, David J.      INT: Returned to Duty
EnG S/SGT Kellerman, Robert B. KIA
WG  S/SGT Kowalchik, Edward G. INT: Returned to Duty
WG  T/SGT Morgan, Lenard S.    INT: Returned to Duty
DG  SGT   Rehill, James F., Jr INT: Returned to Duty
TG  SGT   Deck, Glenn A.       KIA
R/O S/SGT Moore, Robert L.     INT: Returned to Duty

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: A returning crew member eye-witness (Flight Officer Pierce) account stated that the Page ship was hit by anti- aircraft fire while in the target area; that it peeled off from the formation and headed towards Sweden, seemingly under control with no parachutes observed at that time. No other information was recorded in this MACR for that event after the crew dropped their bombs.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: The Pilot, Lt. Page, rendered a brief account much later after his repatriation to U.S. control about the emergency situations regarding his crew, and death of (2) crew members. The plane had been badly damaged by flak to the extent that just over Sweden where landing was contemplated, the bail out order had to be given. This order was given early while the ship was under some control and at a reasonably safe altitude in order to permit a safe, controlled bail out of crew men. He stated that some (18) minutes elapsed from time of the bail out order until he was forced to abandon the ship which then was going out of control and into a spin. All crew members had had time to exit the aircraft at this moment, and his own escape was narrowly made due to excessive centrifugal forces as he was virtually thrown from the plane when it went inverted into a spin. Page learned later that two of his men had perished in this emergency, as described to him by Swedish officials of a ground party, but could not elaborate further. He also related in his written statement (given some two years later to U.S. inquiring agencies) that he had given a full report on this incident to the Office of the (U.S.) Military Attache in Stockholm right after the event. The crew Navigator, Lt. Bishop, added to the above account in stating that crew bail outs were made over Swedish territory at around 1220 hours; that all were out in about five minutes of time; and the two members who eventually perished, Sgts. Kellerman and Deck, were in the waist section of the plane, uninjured, but both were very nervous (about jumping). Swedish authorities searching the plane crash site told the crew survivors later that Sgt. Deck’s body was found in the wreckage with parachute unopened and Kellerman’s was found about 60 yards away with his chute partially depoloyed. It appeared the latter may have bailed out at the last moment, but was too low for his chute to have opened fully to break his fall. The same survivor account surmised that he believed that the Tail Gunner had been too frightened to bail out, and waited too long to attempt it, or that centrifugal forces may have prevented egress at that very late moment. No other individual statements were filed in this MACR. The surviving men were interned by Swedish authorities at Rostanga initially. (Note: This emergency into Sweden territory was the second event for Lt. Page, the Pilot. On 4 Jan 44, the Keil mission, Pilot Page had diverted his plane and full crew into Smedstorp Air Base safely where they were interned for a period with all (10) members being returned to U.S. Military control soon after. All crew men were new members that had been assigned to Lt. Page in this second emergency. Refer to MACR #1910 for this earlier mission).

BURIAL RECORDS: No information was available during MACR research on the two crew member casualties.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII: This data was not filed in this crew MACR.

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MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #06157  AIRCRAFT: #42-95135 (NO NICKNAME) "Bar-D" 14th Mission

AIRCREW: FORSYTHE     *     SQUADRON: 579th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P   2/LT  Forsythe, William M.   INT: Returned to Duty
CP  2ILT  Olive, William E.      INT: Returned to Duty
N   2/LT  Bean, Norton M.        INT: Returned to Duty
B   2/LT  Cechowski, Casimir C.  INT: Returned to Duty
R/O S/SGT Weber, Roy C.          INT: Returned to Duty
EnG T/SGT Young, Francis E.      INT: Returned to Duty
WG  SGT   Plank, Gerald R.       INT: Returned to Duty
WG  SGT   Barton, James C.       INT: Returned to Duty
TG  SGT   Brockway, Gilbert S.   INT: Returned to Duty

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: An eye-witness (crew Pilot, Lt. Gann, 579th) stated at mission debriefing that the Forsythe crew had "called on ‘A’ (VHF radio) Channel after bombs away, and said (they) were heading towards Sweden. They left formation under control at 54-l7N; 1227E, no chutes seen". No other debriefing accounts were given in this crew MACR. Research notes crew landed at Bulltofta, Sweden.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: Not available in this MACR. BURIAL RECORDS: All crew members survived on this mission.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII: Forsythe (Wife, Mildred R, 2200 Westwood Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee); Olive (Wife, Rachel F., 410 Chandler, Marianna, Arkansas); Bean (Father, Benjamin B. , Williamstown, Massachusetts); Cechowski (Wife, Eleanor B., 1323 West 78th Street, Chicago, Illinois); Young (Mother, Mildred L., RFD #1, Alcolu, South Carolina); Weber (Mother, Ella G., 2852 South 13th Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin); Plank (Mother, Emma L., Industry, Illinois); Barton (Mother, Teacie, #6 North Franklin Road, Greenville, North Carolina); Brockway (Father, Howard W., 2345 27th Street, Troy, New York).

(Note: The B-24 involved, #42-95135, interestingly enough was regained by the U.S. on 10 Jan 45, and record has it as surviving WWII and being recovered at Altus Air Base, Oklahoma).