William R. Lavies                                                                                       Updated: 10 MAY 2012

Airman: u019065.htm Surname: Lavies Init: W R Rank: 2ndLt Service: USAAF Sqdn: 327

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

Crash_d: d220244 Buried_d: b260244 C_link: c019.htm At_Next: Frederikshavn

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). 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.

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.
Se meget mere ved Lester Schrenk og Foto af en B-17 + B-17 i airmen.dk samt B-17 Ball Turret, Ammunition og Ball Turret Gunner.

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, der igen besøgte Thy, sendt af TV/MIDT-VEST 4. januar 2009.)

Pilot, 2nd Lt William R. Lavies omkom. Begravet i Frederikshavn 26 februar 1944. Overført til Belgien 1. maj 1948. (Kilde: FAF) 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.

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, who revisited Thy, sent
on 4 January 2009 on TV/MIDT-VEST. In Danish, but with many sequences with Lester Schrenk.)

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.
See much more at Lester Schrenk and Photo of  a B-17 + B-17s in airmen.dk and B-17 Ball Turret, Ammunition and the story of a Ball Turret Gunner.

A B-17 crashed at Hørdum south of Thisted. Pilot, 2nd Lt William R. Lavies perished. Buried in Frederikshavn on 26 February 1944.
Transferred to Belgium on 1 May 1948. (Source: FAF)

Eighth Air Force Historical Society, 92 BG * 8 Air Force, 1 BD, 40 CBW, 92 BG *  RAF Podington * Life at Podington
92nd USAAF-USAF Memorial Association with Missions 1944, see Losses 22 FEB 1944. See a painting of Pot O' Gold. 10 airmen.