In 1993 on our first visit to Hardt we met Georg Laufer and with him we were taken to the place called "the Steinreute" where the tail section came down. Now three years later I again wanted to meet with Mr. Laufer and clear up some of the my questions about Saturday, March 18, 1944.

This time we were able to sit down with Georg and discuss the crash and his memories in detail. It was one of the most informative meetings of our trip, and after several hours, Georg gave us another surprise by taking us down into his basement and giving us all the pieces of wreckage of the Books plane that we could find and carry,another unbelievable day in the Black Forest.

For Georg Laufer 52 years have gone by, but the memories are in his mind as though it were yesterday. Georg remembers that the airflight over Schramberg was observed by almost everyone in the surrounding areas on Saturday afternoon at 3:00, March 18, 1944. The four-motored bombers belonging to the 392nd Bomber Group were returning from an attack on the Armaments Center at Friedrichshafen. Even from Freudenstadtm and Rottweil, other towns in the area, the planes could be seen well enough in the sky to be recognized.

L to R. Carsten Kohlmann, Georg and Martha Laufer, Jim Marsteller and Ben Jones

Carsten translated as Georg recalled, “The planes, which were flying in the locked bomber formation, were suddenly attacked by German fighter planes that had the sun at their backs. The German fighter planes attacked according to the same pattern each time. Altogether, they flew into the bomber formation four times. With every attack a bomber was hit. A late arrival with damage to his plane was eventually shot down by a single ME109. Upon retreat the German fighter pilot came over the Rottweiler meadow and wicked his wings as a sign of victory. As a result some people got the idea that maybe the high ranking Fischbach (Holder of the Knight’s Cross) from Rottewil flew the fighter plane. This has never been confirmed. After the bombers were hit, I heard a humming noise next. The damaged bombers did not burn immediately but staggered in the air. I feared immediately that one of the falling aircraft would strike a farmhouse. One pilot apparently was able to win back control of his aircraft for a short time until all at once it exploded, like it was ignited by a tonque of flame. It then began to burn and break up into various pieces. The majority of the plane wreckage landed at the farmhouse of the Kopp family on the Steinreute..." Jim interrupted, “The tail section, that’s where we were the last time with you Georg.” Carsten nodded, "Yes." Georg continued, “And on the upper Tischneck. In the garden of the farmhouse, an engine and a part of the wing dug into the ground, which was still covered with snow. On the steep drop-off of the slope lay the wreckage of the body of the plane and a little further below was the tail unit. Parts of the wreckage were lying around everywhere. One man even found an inflated rubber boat on the old sports field.” Georg continued as Carsten listened and translated, “ Mr. Laufer said he was wounded and home on leave from the front but had to report back on Monday. After he saw the plane crash down at the Kopp farm,” Georg continued,” I buckled my skis on right away and skied to the crash site. I was the first person to arrive. In the tail section I found a badly injured American airman whose red hair and freckles I can still remember. He was trapped between the pieces of wreckage but still breathing. I tried to pull this wounded man from the wreckage, but it was not possible. Ammunition was exploding all around me. I had no tools with me and could not get this man out.” At this point in the conversation, we opened up the album and showed Georg the photograph of Sgt. Daniel Jones, the tail gunner on the Books plane. Chester Strickler told me that Jones was trapped in the tail and couldn’t get out because of a small fire between him and the waist doors. Georg looked at the photographs but said that after 52 years he was not sure.

Tail section of the Books Plane

We looked all through the Books crew album and must have asked a million questions. After we took a short break, Georg said to follow him to his basement. He then surprised us by dumping a wooden box , full of metal parts of all kinds, onto the concrete floor. Georg picked up one of the pieces and said, “This is from the bomber, and this... here take what you want." One by one we began picking through the metal parts picking out the Books crew wreckage. It was not very hard to identify with the chromate green paint the airforce used which was still evident on many of the pieces. Part numbers in English and dirt from the crash still covered other pieces. We were glad to have Ben Jones along because this was his opportunity to show us what he knows about identifying aircraft wreckage. He passed the test with flying colors.

Wreckage parts, bomb door gear

Wreckage pieces from the garden

It was another memorable experience visiting with the Laufers. We thanked them for being such wonderful hosts and especially for all the wreckage pieces from the tail section of the Books aircraft. We then went outside for some group photographs; then we said our goodbyes. It was a short drive to the home of Hildegard Kattinger, who as a young girl watched in horror as the cockpit from the Books plane, with 6 men inside, slammed into the trees on the hillside in the Black Forest. We were about to see the place that my grandparents only dreamed about. The place where their son was killed 52 years before.