Target: Munster - 5 November 1943 - Mission #7

Thirty (30) ships were launched on this mission with (26) reaching the target. Munster, located just northeast of the Ruhr Valley industrial complex was equally a heavily defended one with anti-aircraft. The 578th was assigned lead for this raid and all aircraft carried a mixed loading of 100# and 500# bombs. The Group had to release using PFF methods due to poor visual target weather and results were not observed. In one of the unique instances, a B-17 Flying Fortress PFF ship led the Second Bombardment Division to this target. Colonel Rendle, flewing as Command Pilot in this ship, was feared lost, but returned. A heavy concentration of AA defenses and enemy fighters was encountered to and from the target area. Some 40-50 single and twin-engine fighters attacked causing the loss of one Group B-24 with unit gunners claiming (6) enemy aircraft downed. The 392nd suffered the loss of (3) aircraft total with (2) shot down by flak defenses. Thirty-two (32) casualties resulted (30) aircrew members MIA and (2) injured. Total flight time for this raid was 6:30 hours. Fair bombing was achieved.

Read Richard Hoffman, Ball Turret Gunner 579th Squadron, first hand account, of this mission by CLICKING HERE

MISSING AIR CREW REPORT SECTION

MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #01163 AIRCRAFT: #42-7490 "BIG ASS BIRD" "U-Bar" 7th Mission

AIRCREW: STEINMETZ    *    SQUADRON: 578th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P    l/LT  Steinmetz, Douglas R. KIA
CP   2/LT  Sporrey, Richard F.   KIA
N    2/LT  Magee, William H.     KIA
B    2/LT  Kempker, Edward J.    KIA
R/O  T/S   Jeans, Roy C.         KIA
EnG  T/S   Elliott, Malcolm L.   KIA
AEG  S/S   Perry, Elda L.        KIA
WG   S/S   MacKenzie, Walter B.  KIA
WG   S/S   Spalding, Robert E.   KIA
TG   S/S   Mislinski, George J.  KIA

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: The MACR file on this aircrew reflects very minimal information on the loss particulars of this aircraft. The 392nd route map flimsy does indicate this ship going down under enemy fighter attacks in the vicinity of Uedem, Netherlands, north of Antwerp near the islands and inland seaway channels, on the route outbound from the target area. The German reports indicate the aircrew was shot down at 1416 hours at Uedem near Kleve.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: None in the MACR file.

BURIAL RECORDS: The German reports filed with Luftwaffe higher Commands from Airbase Headquarters, M-Gladbach on 11 November 1943 reflected the following information about interment of all crew members of this aircrew: A total of (9) casualties were reported located and buried in the parish cemetery at Uedem, Netherlands. Two (2) of these crewmen were identified only as "unknowns" - which were later concluded by U.S. authorities to be Sgts. Jeans and Perry. German graves of the members were identified as follows: Steinmetz (#32); Mislinski (#33); MacKenzie (#34); Elliott (#35); Magee (#36); two "unknown" deceased in graves (#37) and (#38); Spalding (#39); and Sporrey (#40). Lt. Kempker was never identified on this German report, however his body was recovered by U.S. authorities much later as he is buried in the U.S. ARDENNES National Cemetery, Grave B-30-19. Steinmetz and MacKenzie were also reburied in the ARDENNES Cemetery in Graves D-1-18 and B-38-16 respectively. The recovery of the other men from the initial German burial location subsequently after the war is not known from MACR file data. Those crewmen buried in U.S. ARDENNES are recorded as being awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII: The only information available is that of: Steinmetz (New York); Kempker (Iowa); and MacKenzie (New York).

MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #01164 AIRCRAFT: #42-7543 "GEORGIE BELLE" "B-Bar" 2nd Mission

AIRCREW: NICHOLSON    *    SQUADRON: 579th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P   2/LT  Nicholson, William R   POW
CP  2/LT  Culbertson, Leonard D. POW
N   2/LT  Kary, William W.       POW
B   2/LT  Hammond, James W.      POW
R/O T/S   Chamblin, Jean N.      POW
EnG T/S   Olson, Erling A.       POW
AEn S/S   Perry, Raymond A.      POW
NG  S/S   Hoffman, Richard H.    POW
WG  S/S   Martin, Charles D.     POW
TG  S/S   Bosworth, Benjamin L.  POW

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: The Group's eye-witness reports during mission de-briefing indicated that the ship was last seen with #3 engine smoking and the aircraft had come under attack by FW-190 fighters and flak gun fire as large anti-aircraft shell holes were observed just aft of the wing section in the fuselage. Reports indicated that three or four parachutes were seen from the stricken B-24. The Group route map later reflected that this aircrew had been downed just after the target outbound about 15-20 miles northeast of Dortmund, Germany.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: Long after the war, T/Sgt Richard Hoffman wrote an account of the day's events. The sky was clear once they reached the coast of Holland and pure white vapor trails streamed behind each plane. As they neared the target and the flak grew heavier, Olson called out "Fighters! Ten o'clock, level!" Friendly and enemy fighters were locked together in a furious dog fight. The P-47 escort had arrived early and was holding about fifty German fighters back from their formation. Later, as they were over the target, Hoffman watched the bombs impact from his ball turret. The last three definitely hit the target-one in a large building next to the marshalling yard, another in the center of the yard, and the last one in what appeared to be a canal next to the yard.

Suddenly, there was a large explosion under the left wing. The plane bounced hard, left wing up, and a big chunk of flak ripped through the fuselage next to the ball turret. A hole the size of a man's head was also made in the left wing. Flak was bursting furiously around them; then, a thunderous explosion forward jerked the bomber up hard, and it hung half stalled in mid-air. Hammond was slammed hard against Kary, who had been manning the nose turret on the bomb run. They were both shocked to see a huge gaping hole where the nose wheel assembly had been. Chamblin had been standing on the flight deck. The explosion knocked him backwards against Perry's legs in the top turret. Smoke filled the cockpit and chunks of metal flew all over. Nicholson grabbed the throttles and supercharger handles to shove them forward for more power, but the handles pulled out in his hand. The control pedals were also blown out from under his and Culbertson's feet.

The plane banked sharply in a steep dive away from the formation, losing about 600 feet per minute. Oily smoke streamed from the outboard port engine. With no controls, the plane rolled into a steeper bank. In the nose, Kary and Hammond saw the thick red hydraulic fluid streaming from the flight deck, assumed it was blood, and thought everyone on the flight deck had been killed. They bailed out the hole in the bottom of the plane.

The bomb bay doors opened; after dropping a few hundred more feet, the plane leveled out. Nicholson gave the bail out order over the interphone and the men on the flight deck rushed to jump out of the bomb bay. Hoffman scrambled to get out of the ball turret onto the rear deck. Neither Olson nor Martin had heard the bail out order, so they were startled to see Hoffman snapping his chest chute in place. Bosworth soon joined them from the tail. Almost immediately, the tail turret received a direct hit and it leaned out from the tail section. Another burst of flak caused a large piece of the right rudder to fly off.

Hoffman climbed up into the waist window. The right inboard prop stopped turning as he lunged out. He was momentarily hung up, but then got loose and whizzed past the tail. He delayed opening his chute, and then had trouble when the shrouds got hooked under his leg. He finally got all the shrouds unhooked and saw his chute open up. Into the silence came the sound of a B-24 engine. Poor guy's in trouble too, he thought. As it neared, he could see a smoking engine and the still blades of a feathered prop. It was his own plane, heading toward him on a direct line.

Suddenly an Me109 closed in behind the B-24. Cannon and machine gun fire tore into the shattered tail, then the fuselage and wings. Georgie Belle went into a steep right bank away from Hoffman. The fighter kept coming toward Hoffman, and he felt sure its guns would get him next. Instead, the fighter swooped past in a slight bank while the pilot waved and saluted Hoffman. Hoffman returned his salute, and then the fighter disappeared into the sun.

When Hoffman landed, he was approached by three elderly farmers holding pitchforks. "Ist dis Holland?" he asked in crude German. "Nein, Deutschland," was the reply. Over the next two hours, the entire crew was captured and brought together in a flak battery command center near Munster. The enlisted men were then sent to Stalag 17B while the officers were sent to Stalag Luft III.

POW STATUS REPORTS: A German record on capture of all crewmembers was one captioned as #KU396, 5 November 1943, the day of this mission. The B-24’s correct serial number was listed, as well as the airmen’s complete and full names; their dates of birth and serial numbers. No mention of prison camp processing or detainment was mentioned in this file.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII: No record existed in the MACR.

MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #01165 AIRCRAFT: #42-7477 "THE DRIP" "K-Bar" 2nd Mission

AIRCREW: D’AOUST    *    SQUADRON: 579th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P    l/LT D’Aoust, Wallace W.   KIA
CP   2/LT Marshall, James W.    KIA
N    2/LT Winzenburg, George T. KIA
B    2/LT  Etheridge, Mart T.   KIA
R    T/S  Dahlen, Russell E.    KIA
E    T/S  Anderson, Thomas (NMI)POW
AE   S/S  O’Neill, Christ D.    KIA
NG   S/S  Jereb, John F.        POW
WG   S/S  Sutton, Ralph H.      POW
TG   SGT  Blanc, Alex D.        POW

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: The Group eyewitness accounts noted this ship peeled off to the left just after the bomb run and gradually lost altitude though all engines appeared to be operating. Seven crewmen were seen to bail out around 22,000 feet and two chutes of these were seen to open at about 20,000 feet. This account placed the downing of the aircrew immediately south but in the target area as verified by the mission route map annotations (which later was clarified somewhat from testimonies given by two surviving crew members after the war).

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: On 12 January 1949, the Office of the Quartermaster General of the Army was able to contact survivors Sgts. Anderson and Sutton to learn facts about this mission and losses. Sgt Sutton's account in summation noted that: He was wounded (shot) in the elbow and leg and losing a great deal of blood. He was ordered to bail out after the ship was hit by enemy fighters and flak and caught on fire. The ship lost altitude very fast, and as best known crashed finally on the edge of a waterway channel near a town named Bergem op Zoom, Holland. He also noted that Pilot D'Aoust and others in the front had been shot up pretty badly and did not know whether these men bailed out or not. The Liberator had been damaged badly right over the target by flak, and then finished off by fighters.

Sgt Anderson's reply was very similar, noting that it was doubted that the Pilot and Bombardier Etheridge ever successfully exited the crippled plane. He had seen the ship crash right on the edge of the water at the North Sea. He noted further that the surviving men who parachuted and were taken POW had landed near GOES, Holland. Anderson later told his wife that one of the crew was killed when the plane was hit. Another was injured but they could not get to him because of his location in the plane and lack of time. S/Sgt Jereb was severely injured. They put the rip cord in his hand and rolled him out of the plane, hoping he could pull the cord. Anderson thought he was one of the last men to bail out. His parachute caught in a tree and he could not get free before being captured.

S/Sgt Jereb was injured by flak but he was apparently able to pull the rip cord as he became a POW. His injuries were so severe that he was repatriated to the US by the Germans. He was awarded the Purple Heart on 16 September 1944. Jereb spent 22 months in US military hospitals before being discharged on 23 July 1946.

One German report in the MACR noted that the ship was shot down at Desberg on Walcheren Island. One man who had bailed out (S/Sgt O'Neill) was badly wounded and taken to a German Hospital Midelburg but died of his injuries the following day, 6 November.

BURIAL RECORDS: S/Sgt O'Neill was initially buried at Vlissingen Memorial Cemetery, Grave # 214, but after the war was reinterred at the ARDENNES AMERICAN CEMETERY (Grave (B-17-19). Also buried at the ARDENNES AMERICAN CEMETERY are Marshall (Grave D-12-37); Winzenburg (Grave A-39-32); and O'Neill (Grave B-l7-19). The names of 1/Lt D'Aoust and 2/Lt Etheridge appear on the Wall of the Missing at the NETHERLANDS AMERICAN CEMETERY. D'Aoust, Marshall, and O'Neill had been awarded both the Air Medal and the Purple Heart, while Winzenburg was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. Records kept by 579th Sqdn commander Maj Myron Keilman show that Etheridge, Anderson, Jereb, and Sutton had also flown enough missions to qualify for the Air Medal. Keilman's records also show that 2/Lt Etheridge was credited with damaging an Me-109 on 2 October 1943.

NEXT OF KIN IN WWII: The records indicate only the home States for the following deceased crew members: D'Aoust (Minnesota); Marshall (Nebraska); Winzenburg (Minnesota); Etheridge (Kentucky); and O'Neill (Pennsylvania). The WWII homes-of-record for the (4) survivors are recorded as: Anderson (Caryville, Tennessee); Blanc (1214 Race Street, New Orleans, Louisiana); Jereb (Box 236 Beaverville, Pennsylvania); and Sutton (Beloit, Kansas).

CREW LOADING LIST - MISSION #7

With PFF ship #909 from the 482nd Bomb Group: Polking, W.S. Maj.

With ship 42-3500 from the 482nd Bomb Group: Rendle, I.A. Col. and Paddock, Capt.