Vern C. Swindler                     Crew photo from Lester Schrenk 08 DEC 2014         Updated:  26 JAN 2015 

Airman: o888189.htm Surname: Swindler Init: V C 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 nå 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. Se ID+Lester Schrenk.
Se Lester Schrenk - Den dag jeg blev taget til fange og Beretning fra Herluf Munkholm efter Kom ned med faldskærm i Thy i dag for 70 år siden 2014.

Næste dag blev de 9 overlevende flyvere sendt med tog til Tyskland. Alle overlevede krigen, men i maj 2008 var kun en enkelt flyver og Lester Schrenk tilbage.

Schrenk fra Minnesota, Byers fra Arkansas, Harman fra Ohio, Guastella fra Florida, Walcott fra Pennsylvania og Swindler fra Colorado blev ført til Tyske krigsfangelejre.
Fra Dulag Luft blev sergenterne ført til Stalag Luft 6 Heydekrug. De blev adskilt under den hårde transport til Stalag Luft 4 Gross-Tychow. "Swindler og Walcott var i en anden lejr men stadig i Stalag Luft 4, og vi så dem ikke igen fra da af. Vi mødtes dog igen i England." (Lester Schrenk) I februar 1945 kom de på en march på 86 dage
og omkring 1100 km - se kort -  gennem det nordlige Polen og Tyskland for at undgå Allierede styrker. De blev befriet af den engelske 8 Armé den 3. maj 1945.
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.

Sergeant Vern C. Swindler var Tail Gunner. Se tegning af besætningen på en B-17. 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 reach Thy (about here). 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 ID + Lester Schrenk.
See also The day of my capture and Account from Herluf Munkholm after Came down by parachute in Thy on this day 70 years ago 22 FEB 2014.

Next day the 9 surviving crew members were sent by train to Germany. All of them survived the war, but in May 2008 only a single airman and Lester Schrenk were left.

The enlisted men Schrenk from Minnesota, Byers from Arkansas, Harman from Ohio, Guastella from Florida, Walcott from Pennsylvania and Swindler from Colorado
were taken to German POW-Camps. From Dulag Luft Oberursel they were taken to Stalag Luft 6 Heydekrug. They got separated during the Heydekrug Run to
Stalag Luft 4 Gross-Tychow. "Swindler and Walcott were in another compound, but still at Stalag Luft 4 and we did not see them from then on. We did meet again in England." (Lester Schrenk) In February 1945 a march of 86 days some 700 miles (see map) across northern Poland and northern Germany started to avoid capture by Allied forces. The group was liberated by the British Eighth Army on 3 May 1945. (Source: MY POW EXPERIENCE and THE EVACUATION OF STALAG LUFT VI by Lester Schrenk)
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.

Sergeant Vern C. Swindler was the Tail Gunner. See a drawing of the crew of a B-17.

8 Air Force, 1 BD, 40 CBW, 92 BG, 327 BS *  RAF Podington * 92nd USAAF-USAF Memorial Association with Missions 1944, see Losses 22 FEB 1944.
See a painting of Pot O' Gold * Crew photo from Lester Schrenk 08 DEC 2014 * B-17 Flight 2013. 10 airmen.