Lester F. Schrenk                                                                                     Updated:  24 AUG 2010

Airman: o888186.htm Surname: Schrenk Init: L F Rank: Sgt Service: USAAF Sqdn: 327

P_link: p271.htm Plane: B17 42-31377 Operation: Attack DK Crash_site: Near Hørdum

Crash_d: d220244 Buried_d: o888 C_link: o888.htm At_Next: POW

B17 42-31377 med navnet Pot O´Gold var 22. februar 1944 sammen med en del andre fly på bombetogt til Aalborg West Lufthavn (her) som afledningsmanøvre for
et større bombetogt mod Ruhr-området i Tyskland. Dårlig sigtbarhed forhindrede flyene i at bombe lufthavnen. På tilbagevejen blev dette fly beskadiget af tyske Me109
og Ju88 over Nordsøen, så Pilot 2nd Lt W.R. Lavies valgte at vende om for at nødlande i Thy (omkring her). En Ju88 blev ved med at skyde, og alle 10 flyvere sprang
ud med faldskærm. Flyet styrtede ned her ca. 500 m nordvest for Koustrup Møllegård, Damsgårdvej 3, Sønderhå, 7752 Thisted (Kilde: Niels Møller). En vinge styrtede
ned ved gården omkring her. Se dele af flyet B17 42-31377 "Pot O' Gold" på gårdspladsen. 9 af flyverne landede på jorden. Se mere ved B17 42-31377. Se også Foto af en B-17 + B-17 i airmen.dk.

Pilot 2nd Lt W.R. Lavies landede på tynd is i Ove Sø omkring her. Hvis tyskerne ikke havde forhindret danskere i en hurtig redning, kunne han måske have overlevet.
Nu blev den døde flyver trukket op i en lille båd og bragt til tyskernes hovedkvarter på den skole, der nu er Svankjær Ungdomsskole (her). Sgt L.F. Schrenk blev bedt
om at identificere ham. (Kilde: På sporet af Pot o´Gold (film, 23 minutter) om Schrenk, 84 år i 2008, der igen besøgte Thy, sendt af TV/MIDT-VEST 4. januar 2009.)

Den film blev 12. februar 2010 fulgt op af Bunkerne - Dødens Forposter (film, 36 min.) med mere om nedskydning af B17 42-31377 med Lester Schrenk og
LAN EE138, se Stadil - Flyverminde. Der er sekvenser med Lester Schrenk og Jessie Bowler, enke efter E.A.C. Thirkettle fra LAN EE138. Hendes historie blev
også fortalt i Det lange farvel The long Farewell (film, 21 min.)

Næste dag blev de 9 overlevende besætningsmedlemmer sendt med tog til Tyskland, hvor de blev forhørt i Dulag Luft Oberursel, inden Schrenk og andre kom til
Stalag Luft VI og senere Stalag Luft IV. Alle overlevede krigen, men i maj 2008 var kun en enkelt flyver og Lester Schrenk tilbage.

Sergeant Lester Schrenk besøgte Thy i maj 2008. Thisted Dagblad bragte 31. maj 2008 artikler om Lester Schrenk (pdf 8.99 MB) af Poul Erik Tarp.
Han holdt et kort foredrag på Sønderhå-Hørsted Friskole og besvarede spørgsmål. Han sendte den lange udgave af his speech in Denmark (pdf 2.19 MB).
Han skrev i december 2000 BALL TURRET om at være Ball Turret Gunner. Se fotos omkring Lester Schrenk. B-17 Ball Turret, Ammunition og Ball Turret Gunner.

I januar 2009 sendte Lester Schrenk mere til www.airmen.dk - meget mere end bare hans egen historie! Se THE SOUNDS AND SMELLS OF COMBAT
BEFORE FLYING AND DURING EACH MISSION * MY MOST DIFFICULT MISSION * MY POW EXPERIENCE * THE EVACUATION OF STALAG LUFT VI.
Også et udvalg af  POEMS BY LESTER SCHRENK. I februar 2009 sendte han kommentarer til patroner fra B-17 på Samsø.

Og Lester Schrenk WW2 Airman poet af Gordon Leathers for WW2 People´s War, hvor han også er i Photo Gallery.
Se nogle af hans digte i Midwestern POWs poetry fra TRACES. Se også Loss of Lives. Den 21. marts 2010 sendte Lester Schrenk denne video! (2 min.)

Eighth Air Force Historical Society, 92 BG * 92nd Bomb Group, 327th Squadron * 8 Air Force, 1 BD, 40 CBW, 92 BG *  RAF Podington * Life at Podington
Airwar over Denmark har mere om dette fly og dets besætning. 10 flyvere.

On 22 February 1944 together with a number of other planes B17 42-31377 "Pot O´Gold" was on a bombing raid to Aalborg West Airfield (here) as a diversion for
a greater bombing raid to the Ruhr area in Germany. Bad visibility prevented the planes from bombing the airfield. This plane was damaged on the return flight by
German Me109s and Ju88s over the North Sea, so Pilot 2nd Lt W.R. Lavies decided to return to crash land in Thy (about here). A Ju88 kept firing and all 10 airmen
bailed out. The plane crashed here about 500 m northwest of Koustrup Møllegård, Damsgårdvej 3, Sønderhå, 7752 Thisted (Source: Niels Møller). A wing crashed at
the farm about here. See parts from the plane B17 42-31377 "Pot O' Gold" in the yard.
9 of the airmen landed on the ground. See more at B17 42-31377. See also Photo of  a B-17 + B-17s in airmen.dk.

Pilot 2nd Lt W.R. Lavies landed on thin ice in the lake Ove Sø about here. He might have survived, if the Germans had not prevented the Danes from a fast rescue.
Now the perished airman was taken up in a small boat and taken to the German HQ at the school, which is now Svankjær Ungdomsskole (here). Sgt L.F. Schrenk
was asked to identify him. (Source: På sporet af Pot o´Gold On the Track of Pot o´Gold (film, 23 min.) about Lester Schrenk, 84 in 2008, who revisited Thy, sent
on 4 January 2009 on TV/MIDT-VEST. In Danish, but with many sequences with Lester Schrenk.)

On 12 February 2010 that film was followed by Bunkerne - Dødens Forposter The Bunkers - Outposts of Death (film, 36 min.) with more about the shotdown of
B17 42-31377 Pot O'Gold with Lester Schrenk and LAN EE138, see Stadil - Memorials. There are sequences with Lester Schrenk and Jessie Bowler, the widow
of E.A.C. Thirkettle from LAN EE138. Her story was also told in Det lange farvel The long Farewell (film, 21 min.)

Next day the 9 surviving crew members were sent by train to Germany, where they were interrogated in Dulag Luft Oberursel, before Schrenk and others were taken
to Stalag Luft VI and later to Stalag Luft IV. All of them survived the war, but in May 2008 only a single airman and Lester Schrenk were left.

Sergeant Lester Schrenk revisited Thy in May 2008. See articles about Lester Schrenk (pdf 8.99 MB). He sent his speech in Denmark (pdf 2.19 MB).
Actually he held a shorter version and opened for questions. In Dec. 2000 he wrote BALL TURRET. See also B-17 Ball Turret, Ammunition and Ball Turret Gunner.

In January 2009 Lester Schrenk sent more to www.airmen.dk  - much more than just his own story! See THE SOUNDS AND SMELLS OF COMBAT *
BEFORE FLYING AND DURING EACH MISSION * MY MOST DIFFICULT MISSION * MY POW EXPERIENCE * THE EVACUATION OF STALAG LUFT VI.
Also a selection of the POEMS BY LESTER SCHRENK. In February 2009 he sent comments on Ammo from B-17 found on Samsø.

And Lester Schrenk WW2 Airman poet by Gordon Leathers for WW2 People´s War, where he is in the Photo Gallery, too.
See some of his poems in Midwestern POWs poetry from TRACES. See also Loss of Lives. On 21 March Lester Schrenk sent this video! (2 min.)

Eighth Air Force Historical Society, 92 BG * 92nd Bomb Group, 327th Squadron * 8 Air Force, 1 BD, 40 CBW, 92 BG *  RAF Podington * Life at Podington
Airwar over Denmark has more about this plane and its crew. 10 airmen.