Target: Holland Supply DZ - 18 September 1944 - Mission #169

In preparation for this first so-called "Trucking Mission," crew training of all four squadrons was conducted on the 17th, centered on practicing low level supply drops. The Drop Zone specified was near Eindhoven in Holland for the resupply of artillery and small arms ordnance to airborne troops who had landed in the area on the 17th.

At about 1015 hours, 40 aircraft began take-offs with an Army Quartermaster Corps drop master aboard each ship. Crossing the Island of Walcheren, flak was encountered and from there to target. Light arms fire was also encountered, being especially heavy from the IP to release point.

Severe damage and loss of aircraft were suffered but all supply bundles and ammunition were dropped accurately on the briefed DZ. Four aircraft were heavily damaged and were forced to land at Woodbridge on return to England. These were Lieutenant H. K. Porter and Lieutenant H. J. Leser in ships #495 and #528 respectively, both from the 579th, and Lieutenants T. F. McGrath in #040 and H. M. Propper in #164 with wounded aboard, both from the 577th Squadron.

Three other aircrews were MIA from this mission. From the 579th in ship #886, Lieutenant J. A. Gerow's crew was last heard on VHF at 1655, position 5138N-0338E, announcing that #2 engine was feathered, #3 was leaking oil badly and intentions were to continue down the coast to land in France. Lieutenant W. P. Sewell's ship, #673 from the 579th, had been damaged on the way to the drop zone and again over the target. The men were forced to bail out in Belgium with crewmen killed, captured, or evaded. Lieutenant R. C. Martin of the 576th, in #524, was forced to crash land at Brussels and were returned the next day by C-47 with several members injured. John G. Thiel was injured during the crash and put in a Holland Hospital but the rest of the crew was returned to England along with two others who were injured on the crew. John was flown back on the 20th and put in the station hospital where he remained till the 29th. After the crash John never saw any of Lt. Robert C. Martin's crew again.

Ten other bombers were damaged upon return to Wendling about 1810. A total of (766) 500# bundles had been dropped on this mission.

To read several accounts of this mission CLICK HERE.

MISSING AIR CREW REPORT SECTION

18 SEPTEMBER 1944 - TARGET: HOLLAND - DZ (Drop Zone - Supplies)

MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #10120 AIRCRAFT: #42-94886 "NO FEATHERED INJUN" "U-Bar" (*)

(*)x-fer from 466 BG; (est): 60 missions

AIRCREW: GEROW    *    SQUADRON: 579th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P   1 /LT Gerow, James A.          POW
CP  2/LT  Vallarelli, Frederick J. POW
N   2/LT  Grandon, David P         POW
B   2/LT  Sulkowski, Joseph T.     EVD
R/O S/SGT Southwell, Elton E.      POW
EnG T/SGT Kieras, Eugene J.        KIA
WG  S/SGT Brink, Benjamin E.       POW
WG  S/SGT Ely, Loyce E.            EVD
TG  S/SGT Hebert, Normand B.       POW
ATT PVT   Yensho, Edward (NMI)     KIA  
  U.S Army Air Transportation Technician

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: Returning eye-witness accounts (Lt. Neudorl, Crew Pilot 579th) gave a brief statement on the loss of this aircrew: "..Lt. Gerow called on VHF at 1655 stating that #2 engine was feathered and #3 was leaking badly. "He said he was going to land, and going right down the coast of France". German Report #KU 988, Hqs Limburg (Germany) forwarded an upchannel message that (4) of this aircrew had been captured in Holland on 18 September: Gerow, Vallarelli, Grandon, and Brink. A later supplementary report to this account listed (2) remaining men also taken prisoner: Sulkowski and Ely, and listing of one dead crew member, Sgt. Kieras (no status). The body of the second deceased member, Pvt. Yensho, was found in the wreckage by the Germans, as related later in a survivor’s account.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: An interrogation of two crew men who had avoided capture and successfully evaded with the assistance of their underground ‘helpers’, and were returned to U.S. control later, revealed the following accounts, as cited in a 22 December 1944 letter prepared by the Intelligence Officer of the 392nd. These (2) members were Lt. Sulkowski and Sgt. Ely, and a summary of this debriefing of both was as follows: "..S/Sgt. Ely reports as seeing Lt. Gerow and Lt. Grandon being taken prisoner; he adds that Lt. Gerow was burned about the face. (Both returnees) were informed by their helpers that 2nd Lt. Vallarelli, S/Sgt Brink, S/Sgt Hebert, and S/Sgt Southwell were taken prisoners; and further, that S/Sgt Hebert was wounded, the nature of his wounds being unknown. Both returnees were told by their helpers that T/Sgt Kieras was killed when his chute failed to open. The same helpers had his dog tags in their possession and had buried the body. (Note: Probably accounts for the Germans having ‘no status’ on this member). The returnees reported that Pvt. Yensho did not get out of the plane. Their helpers said that the Germans recovered the remains of his body. Signature block of Edwin T. Wood, Capt. PW. Officer". After liberation from POW status, Pilot Gerow gave this account of the mission events: that the drop mission was near Arnheim, Holland, to supply airborne troops and releases were made at an altitude of 250 feet; that his ship due to severe battle damage had left the formation near the coast of Holland; that he ordered bail out over Holland. His account then continued in details: "..(Pvt) Yensho, Edward flew with us on this mission as dropmaster and was stationed in the waist. He directed the drop of our bundles over the target and then was free of any specific duties. Part of the bundles were released through the opening where the Sperry Ball (turret) is normally installed, and the rest in the bomb bays. I had lost one engine (#2) over the target area and most of the gas from the second cell, but was managing to keep up with the formation. Halfway back to the coast my gunner called saying the rudder cables were gone (which I knew), and to turn on the automatic pilot. My autopilot was out of order, and shortly afterwards my #3 engine started going out and I decided to gain what altitude I could before #3 was gone - and to head for Brussels rather than start out over the water and face almost certain ditching. It was after we were headed for Brussels that I called all members of the crew and told them to be prepared for an immediate bail out if I deemed it necessary. Each reported they would comply and that none were wounded seriously enough to hinder this procedure. Approximately (10) minutes from Brussels, we were hit again and the ship was set on fire in the bomb bays. Just before this last (emergency), I had sent my engineer to the waist to repair (the) rudder cables. When (we were) hit the fire spread rapidly in the bomb bays and I called the crew over interphone to bail out, and pressed the warning bell. We were at 1700 feet indicated, but the ship seemed to be losing altitude. I trimmed up the plane as best I could and felt the crew had had sufficient time to bail out, so (then) bailed out myself...and since (Pvt) Yensho was wearing a back type pack and was uninjured, as far as other members had ascertained, I do not understand why he did not leave". Lt. Gerow indicated also in his account that all forward members of the crew including himself had bailed out through the bomb bays while he knew the Engineer and rear gunners, and he expected Pvt. Yensho as well, had jumped through the aft waist hatch. Another survivor, Sgt. Southwell, Radio Operator, also submitted a very similar account of the emergency and bail outs but had one very fateful and poignant observation as regarded the Engineer, Sgt. Kieras, as follows: "... he told me he was going to the rear of the plane to fix the control cables which were shot out...he was not injured when I last talked to him...(on bail out), yes, he clung to the back of another crew member from the rear hatch, near or around some small village near Nijmegen, Holland...(and regarding some later hearsay from another member)...yes, Sgt. Brink told me that he had clung to his back as the fire in the plane had made it impossible for him to get to his chute and as the chute opened he was jerked off (Brink’s back)...and he was killed upon hitting the ground". Sgt. Southwell’s statement concerning Pvt. Yensho noted some possible clarification on the latter’s fate...(on did he bail out?).."yes, because I counted eight chutes besides my own". (Note: that would account for the (10) members in view of the emergency situation for Sgt. Kieras, as explained). On hearsay information later, Sgt Southwell stated: "...we, the crew, wonderd what had happened to him, but wondered if the Germans had not shot him for - we heard shots in the direction of which he (Yensho) apparently landed - for he (did) bail out and his chute opened". A somewhat conflicting survivor account from a third source (Pilot Gerow) concerning Pvt Yensho was: "... one gunner later reported that he thought (Yensho) had bailed out; while another said that he had seen him on the ground....if my Bombardier’s report is true, then Yensho went down with the ship..(because)..my Bombardier visited the scene of the plane crash and reported his body in the wreckage". : (Note: When S/Sgt Leigh was interrogated on 4 October 1944, he stated that he was a friend of Cpl Johnson and he got permission from Lt Sewell for Johnson to fly the mission.) (Note: According to the Bombardier’s statement, as he was one of the two members who managed to evade capture and was returned to duty later, his helpers had seen the Germans recover the remains of Pvt Yensho from the ship’s crash, thus the latter account appears as the one most reliably correct).

BURIAL RECORDS: There is no record in this MACR about German burials of the two deceased men. Sgt Kieras was re-interred in the Ardennes American Cemetery (Grave D- 21-11) and was awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster. Pvt Yensho was re-interred in the Luxembourg American Cemetery, (Grave I-4-23); he had been awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII: Gerow (Wife, Mary D., 63-14th Street, Buffalo, New York); Vallarelli (Mother, Clementine, 374 Midland Avenue, Rye, New York); Grandor (Father, Preston F., 1208 Marquette Street, La Salle, Illinois); Sulkowski (Father, John S., 210 Craft Street, Everson, Pennsylvania); Southwell (Mother, Sadie P, Spaye, Nebraska); Kieras (Mother, Mary T., 1353 Porter Avenue, La Salle, Illinois); Brink (Mother, Edith M., Box 23, Kryona, Pennsylvania); Ely (Mother, Ruth A., 1300 Hall Street, Cameron, California; Hebert (Wife, Juanita J., Pemble, California); and Yensho (Father, Andrew, 14120 Lakewood Heights Blvd., Lakewood, Ohio)).

MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #10660 AIRCRAFT: #42-50673 (NO NICKNAME) "Bar-K" 1st Mission

AIRCREW: SEWELL    *    SQUADRON: 579th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P   2/LT  Sewell, Wade P       EVD
CP  2/LT  Weise, Everett H.    KIA
N   2/LT  Richards, William J. KIA
B   2/LT  Bremer, Adolph F.    EVD
R/O T/SGT Fulton, Lester A.    EVD
  (Allied)
EnG T/SGT Barnes, Glenn M.     POW
WG  S/SGT Coogan, Alphonsus J. EVD
WG  S/SGT Negri, John D.       POW
TG  SGT   Leigh, Robert H.     EVD
ATT PVT   Floyd, Carlis M.     POW
  Died of Injuries - U.S. Army Air 
  Transportation Tech (Drop Master)
Pax CPL   Johnson, Nevin J.    KIA 
  An unauthorized (stowaway) passenger 
  from the 10th Station Complement Sqdn

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: There were no returning aircrew, eye-witness reports on this loss, however detailed accounts were submitted later by the survivors who managed to evade or be taken by friendly ground troop’s care - and these men were returned to duty soon after this mission. There are no German Reports connected with this crew’s MACR.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: Extensive and detailed reports, given later by survivors - evaders and ex-POWs alike after returns to duty - are included in this MACR file. For the sake of some brevity, some paraphrasing has been taken with the contents of these statements, however the substance of all is included as follows as transcribed in personal crew member interrogations recorded by 392nd Staff elements, and forwarded to higher headquarters charged with processing MIA files. This latter report cited the statements which had been given by Lt. Bremer, T/Sgt Fulton, S/Sgt Coogan and S/Sgt Leigh who had reported back to England by 28 September - ten days after their mission ...Statement by Lt. Bremer: "At about the IP, the plane received serious hits in the waist and wings from light flak and lesser hits (small arms?) covering the entire plane. Nothing was reported over the interphone. When the bomb bay doors failed to open, I knew that something was seriously wrong. As we reached the drop point, I told the men in the waist to kick out their bundles; about the same time the Pilot asked the Navigator for a heading back to England (as) he wanted to get back as soon as possible. At that time #4 engine was smoking and there were no other serious signs of trouble (and) the ship remained under control. Approximately five minutes after the drop time, #4 engine burst into flames (and) the Pilot gave the order to abandon ship. After the order to bail out, the Pilot pulled up to something less than 1,000 feet; the Navigator Lt. Richards was the first to bail out; Sgt. Coogan in the waist was number two and I was number three...Sgt Coogan and I came down in German territory near Lichtaart, Belgium..and we ran in the opposite direction of the plane’s flight path...(later) a man who lives about ten miles to the north came for us (Belgian underground helper)...(but) he was stopped by the Germans and arrested...(but) we weren’t seen, so we took off by ourselves...and stopped for help at a farm house and fortunately they were associated with the same (helper) organization...and we were returned to England on 28 September....in Lichtaart, I saw the graves of Lts. Weiss and Richards...Lt. Weise was killed by strangulation when he became entangled in his shroud lines...nothing definite on Lt Richards....was told (by Sgt Coogan) that Cpl. Floyd, the Drop Master, was quite seriously wounded, sustaining flak injuries about his head and quite serious injuries to his right arm....from what I know, I believe...(his) chances of survival are small. Sgt. Negri sustained relatively slight injuries to his legs...(and) Sewell (Pilot) and Barnes (Engineer) crash landed the plane. On the way down they hit a clump of trees..Sewell was seriously injured...fractured skull and severe cuts...was without medical attention for about 24 hours...until (the helpers) could provide a Doctor for him....he was moved to a convent where he was kept until the British amved....Barnes (also) was picked up by the underground, but (was) later captured". The 392nd report corrected the above account somewhat, based on the statement received by Sgt Leigh at the same time. The latter corrected the account, as follows: "...(Sgt) Fulton did not get Cpl Floyd cleared from the aircraft...Fulton attached his (Floyd’s) chute to a static line but could not get him out. So it was (Floyd) and not (Sgt) Barnes who rode the plane in with the Pilot. The underground said that Floyd was taken by the Germans; so he appears to have survived....Barnes did not crash land with the plane but jumped and broke a leg." Added information in the 392nd’s S-2 office interrogation also reported the following: "...The interrogation of T/Sgt Fulton states that he landed in Belgium in territory held by the Germans..he was on his own from Monday, 18 September to Saturday, 23 September before being taken over by Allied troops...(and) during this time he saw the graves of Lts. Weise and Richards." A further report on the fate of Cpl. Nevin Johson, the passenger ‘stowaway’ from the 392nd, the S-2 covered a statement also made by S/Sgt Leigh, who was quoted:..."a man I knew to be Cpl. Johnson, a member of the ground crew, was on our ship when we took off. After we were hit and the Pilot gave the signal to bail out, I saw Cpl. Johnson bail out. Later I heard that he had bled to death after his foot was injured when he landed. I later saw his grave marked ‘Cpl. Nevin J. Johnson’ in Lichtaart, Belgium." On Cpl. Johnson’s being aboard this aircraft on the mission as an ‘unauthorized’ crew member, the 10th Station Complement prepared a brief summation of this event (a summary statement prepared by a ‘Miss Steins’ of this unit later), which read in part: "...he stowed away in on the ships assigned to the 579th Bomb Squadron...the ship was mortally wounded by flak and small arms fire necessitating the personnel...to parachute to the ground...Cpl. Johnson parachuted...safely..but upon landing broke his leg.. .was unable to help himself and due to enemy activity around the area....the rest of the crew men were not able to reach him to give him first aid....and (thus) he bled to death as the fighting on the ground was going on rather fiercely and Johnson (had) landed in the middle of (it). How he arranged for the ride; how he got the necessary flying equipment still remains a secret...he is carried on the records as AWOL. (His) transfer to the paratroops had just been approved by this office and sent to higher headquarters when his time came and he went to Belgium....Too bad, but ..card was finally punched out." As a concluding note on the after-action reporting, an 8th endorsement to all the MACR letters and inquires involved on this crew, and addressed from the 392nd to CG, 2nd Bombardment Division, 20 October 1944, stated in Paragraph 3..."Investigation conducted by this Headquarters, in compliance with AR 60-SSO, found Cpl Johnson Killed in Action - Line of Duty, Signed Franklin W. Dawson, Capt., Air Corps, Personnel Officer." This aircrew from the records had completed (20) combat missions at the time of this loss.

BURIAL RECORDS:2/Lt Weise is buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery (Grave B-42-38) and was awarded an Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters and a Purple Heart with Oak Leaf cluster. 2/Lt Richards is buried in Saint Joseph Cemetery, River Grove, Illinois. Pvt Floyd is buried in Georgia.

Sgt Johnson's younger brother, Malcolm N. Johnson, was a member of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Sadly, he was killed in action on 30 Sep 1944 during Operation Market Garden. Nevin and Malcolm were both buried on 20 May 1949 in Pine Hill Cemetery, Sparrowbush, NY.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII: MACR information is nearly unreadable. Best known data is: Sewell (Wife, Mrs Wade, Murfreesboro, Tennessee); Weise (Washington State); Richards (Michigan); Bremer (% A.F. Bremer, 577 Johnson Street, Winona, Minnesota); Coogan (New York State); Negri (Michigan); Barnes (Virginia); Johnson (New York State); Floyd (Georgia); Leigh (unreadable); Fulton (unreadable).

CREW LOADING LIST - MISSION #169

X = U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps Air Transportation Technician (Drop Master)