13 November 1943

Mission #8

Target: Bremen

Twenty-four (24) B-24s took off for this raid with the 576th leading. Fifteen (15) reached the target with (8) having to abort due to mechanical difficulties and (1) because of weather prior to target. Bomb loading consisted of 500# General Purpose (GP) weapons and bombing was accomplished off a PFF lead ship due to obscured target weather. Results were not observed. Enemy defenses again were quite heavy and Group losses high. Some 50-75 single and twin-engine fighters pressed home attacks and anti-aircraft fire was some of heaviest and accurate seen on these early missions. The Group lost (4) aircraft; one due to enemy fighters and (3) to flak. An additional (6) B-24s were damaged. Group gunners claimed (7) enemy aircraft, but the unit suffered an additional (43) casualties (40) crew-members MIA and (3) injured. This was to be one of the costliest raids to the Group in men and aircraft losses during the early missions of World War II. Total flight duration for this mission was 7:00 hours.

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MISSING AIR CREW REPORT SECTION

MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #01551   AIRCRAFT: #42-7540 "CREW CHIEF" "A" 6th Mission

AIRCRAFT: HARRIS     *    SQUADRON: 576th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P   l/LT  Harris, John D. Jr       POW
CP  2/LT  Kearns, Louis L.         POW
N   2/LT  Ryan, James D. Jr        KIA
B   2/LT  Westerfield, Henry B. Jr POW
R/O T/S   Veronick, Joseph J.      POW
AEn S/S   Copeland, Jack N.        POW
Eng S/S   Freshner, William I.     POW
WG  SGT   Reardon,, Patrick M.     POW
WG  S/S   Pedersen, Fredrick M.    POW
TG  SGT   Ortiz, Joseph C.         POW

MISSION CREW LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: Pilot Harris was flying the aircrew of a pilot Roper for this mission. In 1945 after war’s end, Flight Engineer Freshner was contacted regarding the details of this crew’s mission, and the loss of the Navigator, 2/Lt. Ryan. A summation of this de-briefing stated that a heavy overcast of clouds hampered the formation join-up of this aircrew with the 392nd ships. Clouds extended from around 4,000 to 20,000 feet clear inland from the Dutch coast. The ship became separated from the Group formation en-route to target and elected to return to home base from over Holland. On letting down to visual conditions, the plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire which knocked out the two engines on the right wing. The abandon ship order was given at about 8,000 feet with the aircraft crashing then about (26) miles south of Rotterdam, Holland. No sightings of this aircraft and aircrew were made by any eye-witness accounts by the mission 392nd crews upon return.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: On 1 November 1945, then Captain Harris, the Pilot, submitted a written account to military officials on his recollections, and to the effect: That the Navigator, Lt. Ryan, was dead to the best of his knowledge. He noted that Lt. Ryan was last seen on the flight deck just after the ship was hit by flak, and then returned to the nose position to retrieve his parachute and that was the last he saw of the Navigator. He and the Co-Pilot did not try egress until they were assured all other crewmen had bailed out. Later, Pilot Harris was informed by the Germans when he was captured that one of the crews members had been killed and Lt. Ryan was unaccounted for by the other members. The men had been fired upon by small arms fire during their parachute descents and possibly Lt. Ryan had suffered fatal wounds. The Flight Engineer’s report was more specific from his interview about Lt. Ryan’s fate in that he stated that the Bombardier, Lt. Kerns, later noted that Lt. Ryan was last seen by him at the bomb bay doors ready to jump, but perhaps felt there was not enough altitude left to do so. This report went on to state that the German captors had informed them later that a crushed body had been found under the ship’s remains - and this casualty was Lt. Ryan. As a concluding and clarifying point, the Co-Pilot’s account, that of Lt. Kearns, noted that there was insufficient altitude for him and the Pilot, Lt. Harris, to bail out safely after the abandon ship order was given beginning around 8,000 feet. He also last saw Lt. Ryan, the Navigator, on the bomb bay catwalk with chute on and preparing to bail out. In view of the very low altitude by then, the Pilot and Co-Pilot settled back into their crew positions and successfully crash-landed the airplane. The Co-Pilot as well felt that Lt. Ryan may have been hit by small arms fire somehow in that the ship was under heavy enemy fire from around 3,000 feet down to 1,500 feet. The surviving crew was only free for a very few minutes before capture and were taken to the German guard house in Rotterdam before being transported by rail the next morning to Amsterdam where the captors confirmed Lt. Ryan’s death. The on-scene German report, Ku All, noted this ship down on the mission date at 1007 hours, southeast of Fuettershock, Holland, and Lt. Ryan identified as deceased. The names and dog tag details on all the remaining and captured crew members were noted on this same report.

BURIAL RECORDS: Initial burial of Lt. Ryan by the Germans was made at the Rotterdam-Oreeswijk cemetery in the sector for enemy forces, Row 1, #121. U.S. National Cemetery records reflect that this crew member was later interred in the NETHERLANDS (Margraten) Cemetery, Grave 0-7-17. He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart according to the latter.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII: This listing was: Harris (Mother, Edith L. Harris, W. Los Angeles, California); Kearns (Father, Salt Lake City, Utah); Ryan (Wife, Iris of Hollywood, California); Westerfield (Mother, Calfern, New Orleans, Louisiana); Veronick (Mother, Julia, of Largo, Pennsylvania); Freshner (Wife, Anna of Miamisburg, Ohio); Copeland (Mother, Emma, of Mineral Springs, Arkansas); Reardon (Mother, Catherine Reardon, Glouchester, Massachusetts); Pedersen (Mother, Mrs Louis G. Pedersen, Algengnia, Illinois) and Ortiz (Wife, Mrs Joseph C. of Chicago, Illinois).

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MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #01552   AIRCRAFT: #42-7503 "MISS AMERICA" "V" 5th Mission

AIRCREW: MARFIA     *    SQUADRON: 577th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P   l/LT Marfia, Frank (NMI)    KIA
CP  2/LT Bondar, Nicholas D.    KIA
N   2/LT Wyatt, Raymond L.      KIA
B   2/LT Moor, James W.         KIA
R/O T/S  Brown, Kenneth 0.      KIA
EnG T/S  Sekavec, Roy G.        KIA
NG  S/S  DeSimone, Peter P      KIA
WG  S/S  Emerson, Herbert B. Jr KIA
WG  S/S  Cunningham, William A. KIA
TG  S/S  Simpson, James F.      KIA

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: An after-mission report on 15 November 1943 given by Major Gray, Acting Command Pilot, on the Deputy Lead aircraft #492 reported that Lt. Marfia’s B-24 had been struck by bombs from the 392nd Lead ship #527 and #2 engine of the Marfia aircraft was set afire, and immediately following over this target the latter Liberator was attacked by enemy aircraft with a 20mm shell going through the tail gunner’s turret and waist gun positions - probably killing the gunners in all these positions. This conclusion was based on guns being observed from these stations, but not firing at this point on. This aircraft then began losing altitude under the enemy attacks, but was seen still continuing the route and subsequently crashed or ditched in the North Sea approaches near the Zuider Zee. No parachutes were ever seen. The target attack time was at 1144 to 1147 hours for all elements of the 392nd. Another report noted that the Marfia ship was last seen at approximate coordinates 52-40N 02-30E at 1330 hours, shot up but seemingly under control. It was further speculated that this aircraft had run short of fuel contributing to this crew’s loss.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES. No record exists.

BURIAL RECORDS: All crew members are listed on the WALL OF THE MISSING at the U.S. National Cemetery, CAMBRIDGE, England. All members are noted to have received the Air Medal and the Purple Heart. There are no German records to reflect the loss of this aircrew and aircraft.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII: No record exists in the MACR. However, the home States of the crew members were as follows: Marfia (Michigan); Bondar (Michigan); Wyatt (Missouri); Moor (Texas); Brown (Wisconsin); DeSimone (Massachusetts); Sekavec (New York); Emerson (Massachusetts); Cunningham (Illinois); Simpson (Arkansas). (Author’s note: A correction to the proper spelling of De Simone’s name as shown here, from the initial crew loading list, was made by the 392nd later and the cemetery record reflects same).

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MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #01553   AIRCRAFT: #42-7483 "BIG DOG" "R-Bar" 5th Mission

AIRCREW: MARX     *    SQUADRON: 578th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P   2/LT Marx, Issac S.          POW
CP  2/LT Chenet, James H.        POW
N   2/LT Ferrari, Victor J.      INT
B   2/LT Roberts, Omar E. Jr     POW
R/O T/S  Mandell, Nicholas (NMI) INT
EnG T/S  Pose, Harold E.         POW
NG  S/S  Sanna, Mario G.         POW
WG  S/S  Fletcher, Edgar B.      POW
WG  S/S  Stewart, Jack. 0        POW
TG  S/S  Wright, Richard S.      POW

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: No precise eyewitness accounts exist on the loss of this aircraft and crew from returning 392nd aircrews. However, the Bombardier’s interrogation report by his German captors, as recorded in summary below, does give some insight as to the aircrew’s loss. According to this person’s report to the Germans, the specific target was the submarine dockyards at Bremen; their ship was hit by anti-aircraft fire at the target and forced out of bomber formation; and upon return over Holland the aircraft was shot down by a German fighter, and the entire crew bailed out.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: The MACR file indicates that (2) crewmen succeeded in evading capture by the Germans for a period of time, but later were taken as POWs as the other (8) members initially. The Bombardier gave a detailed account to his captors when apprehended some five (5) months later. His story, as related in a written and unsigned German interrogation letter, subject "Investigation of an American Prisoner of War", taken at Wiesbaden, Germany and dated 5 April 1944 is summarized in brief as his facts were stated to the Germans:

he was sent to England in September 1943; was assigned as a 2/Lt. crew member of a B-24 Liberator to the 578th Squadron, 392nd Group with home base Wendling; he was trained as a Bombardier and had a part in (2) raids on 5 November 1943, target Munster, and a mission of 13 November, the raid on Bremen and the submarine dockyards; their ship was downed by flak and later an enemy fighter over Holland; all (10) crew men of his aircrew by crew position, rank and names were as given (in this letter); he did not know the number of his airplane; that a 20 year old Frenchman and another boy helped him, whose names were not known; rode a bicycle to a safe farmhouse shelter; and was given civilian clothing and taken later to a unknown town and house where he stayed from 14 November 1943 until 14 January 1944; he was given a Dutch ID card and taken to Brussels and there was given a French ID card, and within two days taken onto Paris where he and two other aviators stayed for two weeks; no knowledge of any house or person’s name is known in all these hidings; after Paris they were taken by train to Toulouse and left this train at a village south of Toulouse, name also unknown, at about the 6th siding; at this location he was moved with (10) other American and English aviators and about (7) French and Dutch civilians in a overnight march over mountains toward a Spanish border; his group was seen by two German border policemen with a dog and he and (8) aviators and (7) of the civilians were arrested, all incidents of which occurred on 6 February 1944; and that as a Bombardier flying in bomber formation, he did not know of any special bombsights, pathfinder planes, and his job was just to open the bomb bay doors at the moment the leading plane dropped bombs at the target, which bombs he was told in England would have long colorful ribbons attached so as to give the formation a better visibility of the target but that it was unknown whether this procedure is employed today by lead planes. (This typed letter also noted that it had been read in English to this man, approved and signed by him, but no signature was evident). No other crew member accounts exist on their capture and the German report covering their apprehension was #KU414 taken on 13 November 1943. After the war, higher headquarters sought information on T/S Pose, whom it was thought to have been a casualty at the time. Queries to and answers from the Pilot, 2/Lt. Marx and T/S Mandell, on the fate of Sgt. Pose noted that this crew man was not a casualty; that both had been in close touch with him and all other crew members in the States since their release and return from POW captivity, and that his (Pose) address as of 28 February 1946 was: 10164 Sunland BIvd, Roscoe, California. Pilot Marx was writing from his address on this date of: % The Southern Hardware Co., Monroe, Louisiana.

An article in the August 1997 issue of the 392nd BGMA NEWS provided additional details. The Marx crew was on their second mission when flak damage ruptured the fuel lines. Marx knew they couldn't make it back across the Channel, so he "gave the bail-out order over Holland. The six in the front of the plane exited by parachute, but the four gunners in the rear did not hear the bail-out signal and rode the plane down. The pilot had put it on automatic pilot, and when it neared the ground it pancaked, ending up in a canal right side up. It landed at the outskirts of the Dutch village of Zwartsluis, and the villagers brought the crewmen to shore with boats. They had no choice but to turn them over to the German occupying forces, and the four crewmen spent the rest of the war as POW."

Ferrari and Roberts bailed out together. Roberts broke his shoulder on landing; he evaded for some time but was eventually captured.

Ferrari and Mandell "hid in the cold November waters of a pond until dark and were picked up by the Dutch resistance. Then began a 3-month odyssey through Holland and Belgium and Toulouse, France by way of Paris. Most of the trip was by train with Ferrari disguised as a Flemish laborer and with many layovers in safe houses. On the way he was joined, separated, and joined again by Nick Mandell. Arriving in Spain, Ferrari and the small party of evades were passed to the Americans there. Ferrari was sent to Gibralter where he boarded a C-47 for the flight to England. Even aboard the plane he could not heave a sigh of relief, because the gooney bird developed engine trouble and barely made it to Land's End, England."

BURIAL RECORDS: Not involved in this MACR.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII: Not given except for the post-war addresses given above for T/S Pose and 2/Lt. Marx.

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MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #01554   AIRCRAFT: #42-7561 "MACK’S SACK II" "A-Bar" 16th Mission

AIRCREW: LAMMA     *    SQUADRON: 577th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P   1/LT Lamma, Ralph E.       KIA
CP  1/LT Robson, Nicholas B.   POW
N   1/LT Adams, John H. Jr     POW
B   1/LT Freeborn, Duane E.    KIA
R/O S/S  Heckendorn, George F. KIA
EnG T/S  Prudhomme, Elroy J.   POW
NG  T/S  Murphy, William F.    POW
WG  S/S  Wind, Frank A.        KIA
WG  S/S  O’Reilly, Charles E.  POW
TG  S/S  Lanier, Ralph (NMI-G) KIA

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: The eye-witness accounts given by a 392nd returning aircrew Pilot, LT. Fôgarty, stated that the above aircrew’s ship went down at 1125 hours in a spin and on fire having been attacked by an FW-109 enemy fighter, north and east of the target. There were no other related details of the loss in the MACR.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: After the war, certain surviving crew members who had been POWs were queried by higher headquarters through an "Individual Casualty Questionnaire". This form was a standard one used for the purpose of follow-up later. In the case of this aircrew, these queries were initiated on Pilot Lamma and Gunner Wind regarding what was known about their loss, and made to the Navigator, Lt. Adams. Lt. Adams in summary responded by noting: that Sgt. Wind had been killed while they were in the ship by enemy aircraft firing, either a 20mm shell or rocket while in his waist position and SGT. O’Reilly, another crew gunner, was the source of this information; and that Pilot Lamma, last seen in his pilot seat, was also killed while in the air. A German on-scene report, #KU141 on the same date of mission, listed the (5) prisoners of the aircrew who were captured; and (5) dead crewmen found with (1) of these listed as "unknown".

The Lamma crew initial duty assignment was making anti-submarine patrols. When they were re-assigned to the 392nd, they received mission credit for their patrols, as follows:

     1st Lt Lamma, credited with 15 operational missions
     1st Lt Robson, credited with 12 operational missions
     1st Lt Adams, credited with 16 operational missions
     1st Lt Freeborn, credited with 16 operational missions
     S/Sgt Heckendorn, credited with 15 operational missions
     T/Sgt Murphy, credited with 15 operational missions
     S/Sgt Wind, credited with 15 operational missions
     S/Sgt O'Reilly, credited with 15 operational missions
     S/Sgt Lanier, credited with 15 operational missions

The crew was shot down on their third mission with the 392nd. According to an article in the August 2000 issue of the 392nd BGMA NEWS, "The weather was terrible, the formations not tight, and the Luftwaffe fighters showed up in force. The a/c was badly shot up and in a flat spin when the bail-out order was given and half the crew parachuted safely."

BURIAL RECORDS: The German on-scene report above reflected that the (5) dead members were interred at the Lawe cemetery in Oldenburg, Germany. No grave plots were given. The current U.S. National Cemetery list the following members of this aircrew interred later as follows: Heckendorn at the ARDENNES Cemetery, Grave A-28-2; and Freeborn also in the ARDENNES location in Grave C-22-5. No record exists of any German or later U.S. burial of Lt. Lamma nor any U.S. subsequent interment for Sgts. Wind and Lanier. Both Heckendorn and Freeborn were noted as having been awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII: The existing record lists the following: Lamma (Wife, Ruth of Albany, Georgia); Robson (Mother, Mrs H.T. Robson, Salina, Kansas); Adams (Father, John H. of Hamden, Connecticut); Freeborn (Sister-in-Law, Mrs. Donald H. Kane, Binghampton, New York); Heckendorn (Father, Joseph T. of Reading, Pennsylvania); Prudhomue (Mother, Mrs Clara G. Prodhomue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin); Wind (Father, Frank A. of South Greenwood, S. Carolina); Murphy (Father, Marion L. Murphy, Hornbeck, Louisiana); O’Reilly (Mother, Marguerite O’Reilly, Manchester, New Hampshire); and Lanier (Father, William A, Calhoun, Georgia).