Elmer P. Julius                                                                                       Updated:  26 JAN 2015

Airman: u001001.htm Surname: Julius Init: E P Rank: 2nd Lt Service: USAAF Sqdn: 728

P_link: p280.htm Plane: B17 42-39936 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Near Meltofte

Crash_d: d090444 Buried_d: b140744 C_link: c001.htm At_Next: (Agersø)

Den 9. april 1944 styrtede B17 42-39936 ned ved Meltofte på Lolland. Se Google Map p280. Det var på hjemturen fra et bombetogt til Poznan (her).
Flyvehistorisk Tidsskrift skriver (navne fra MACR - Missing Air Crew Report):

"Under angreb fra flere FW 190 blev flyets to inderste motorer skudt i brand, og den midterste del af kroppen blev også ramt kraftigt, hvorved både navigator 2ndLt
William D. Abernathy og left waist gunner Raymond E. Raley omkom. Intercom i flyet var ødelagt, og efter at piloten 1st Lt Carroll G. Boyd havde fået delvis
kontrol over flyet, forlod pilot, co­pilot 2nd Lt Elmer P. Julius og bombardier 2nd Lt William H. Craighead flyet fra forreste nødluge. Alle tre landede i farvandet syd
for Kramnitse og druknede. - " (FT 86-91-25)

2nd Lt (Co-Pilot) Elmer P. Julius druknede syd for Kramnitse. Hans lig blev fundet drevet ind på Agersø den 12. juli 1944. Han blev begravet på Agersø Kirkegård
den 14. juli 1944.
(Kilde: AOD) Som næsten alle andre amerikanske flyvere begravet i Danmark blev han taget hjem i maj 1948.
Hans navn er ikke i registret hos ABMC, så mest sandsynligt blev han begravet på en privat kirkegård i USA.

3 flyvere fra B17 42-39936 blev begravet på Svinø, 1 på Agersø og 1 i Dannemare. 1 har ingen kendt grav. 4 blev krigsfanger.
Se
B-17 Flyvende Fæstning * B17 i airmen.dk * tegning af besætningen på en B-17. 10 flyvere. 

On 9 April 1944 B17 42-39936 crashed near Meltofte on Lolland. See Google Map p280. It was on the return flight from a bombing raid on Poznan (here).
(Danish) Aviation Historical Review writes (names from MACR - Missing Air Crew Report):

"The two inner engines of the plane caught fire after hits from a number of attacking FW 190s. Also the middle section of the fuselage was heavily hit and navigator
2ndLt William D. Abernathy and left waist gunner Raymond E. Raley perished. The intercom in the plane was destroyed and after the pilot 1st Lt Carroll G. Boyd
had regained some of the control over the plane, he, co-pilot 2nd Lt Elmer P. Julius and bombardier 2nd Lt William H. Craighead abandoned the plane from the
front emergency hatch. They landed in the waters south of Kramnitse and drowned.- " (FT 86-91-25)

2nd Lt (Co-Pilot) Elmer P. Julius drowned south of Kramnitse. His body was found washed ashore on the island Agersø on 12 July 1944. He was buried in Agersø Churchyard on 14 July 1944. Like nearly all other American airmen buried in Denmark he was taken to Ardennes American Cemetery in BELGIUM in May 1948.
His name is not in the ABMC records, so most likely he was buried in a private cemetery in the U.S.A.

3 airmen from
B17 42-39936 were buried in Svinø Churchyard, 1 in Agersø and 1 in Dannemare Churchyard. 1 has no known grave. 4 became POWs.

This B-17 was from 728 BS, 452 Bomb Group (Heavy), 45 CBW, 3 BD. See 452nd Bombardment Group.
It took off from RAF Deopham Green - USAAF Station 142. See also B17s in airmen.dk and a
drawing of the crew of a B-17. 10 airmen.