Mere end 500 amerikanske bombefly var den 9. april 1944 på bombetogt til Polen
og Tyskland.
Se 8 af de tabte fly: Google Map 9APR1944
og artiklen De satte livet på spil over Sjælland,
trykt i
en del Sjællandske Medier 9. april 2014, også om dette fly.
Den 9. april 1944 styrtede
B17 42-39936 ned ved Meltofte på Lolland. Se
Beretning fra Gunnar Ploug
and
Google Map p280 med hans angivelse af nedstyrtnings- stedet.
Det var på hjemturen fra et bombetogt til
Poznan.
Flyvehistorisk Tidsskrift skriver (navne fra p280MACR - 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, og umiddelbart før flyet
passerede kysten, begyndte besætningsmedlemmerne fra flyets bageste del at
springe ud med faldskærm. Right
waist gunner (S/Sgt James E. Parker) landede i
vandet og druknede. Hans lig drev senere ind på kysten ved Dannemare,
hvor han blev begravet. De tre sidste (S/Sgt
(Radio Operator) Timothy J. Nunan, S/Sgt (Ball Turret Gunner) Bernard H.
Brand og S/Sgt (Tail Gunner) Oather G. Meese) sprang ud syd for Tillitse, og
efter kort tid
blev de taget til fange af tyskerne. Netop som S/Sgt. Charles F. Hopper (engineer/top
turret gunner) sprang over Arninge, begyndte det tyske flak i Nakskov at
skyde
efter flyet, og han blev ramt i den ene arm af sprængstykker. Flyet fortsatte
mod Halsted og eksploderede i ca. 200 meters højde, hvorefter vragdele
styrtede ned
nordøst for det daværende alderdomshjem i Meltofte og ca. 1 km syd for
landevejen mellem Nakskov og Maribo. Falck blev sendt til Arninge for at
bringe S/Sgt
Hopper til Nakskov sygehus, hvor overlæge MacDougal arbejdede på højtryk for
at redde armen, men den måtte amputeres. Den 5. juni blev Hopper udskrevet
til
fortsat behandling i Tyskland." (FT 86-91-25)
Læs om Aage Astrup og McDougall's
behandling af 3 sårede amerikanske flyvere i 1944: Earl
F. Green * Charles F. Hopper *
Lynn H. Barbour
i artikel i Lolland-Falsters FOLKETIDENDE
6. februar 2002 af Mogens Warrer: Flyveren og sygeplejersken
(kopi fra Aage Astrup via Ib Walbum)
og
fra Peter Gade, Lolland-Falsters FOLKETIDENDE 8. maj 2015:
På færten - Snød tyskerne
med flyverbehandlinger - Likvidering
skabte frygt.
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 more than 500 American bombers were on a bombing raid on Poland
and Germany. See 8 of the lost planes:
Google Map 9APR1944.
On 9 April 1944
B17 42-39936 crashed near Meltofte on Lolland.
See Account from Gunnar Ploug and
Google Map p280.
It was on the
return flight from a bombing
raid on Poznan.
(Danish) Aviation Historical Review writes (names from
p280MACR - 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.
Just before the plane passed the coast line the crew members from the rear end
of the plane started bailing out. Right waist gunner S/Sgt James E. Parker landed in the water and drowned. His body was washed ashore at Dannemare where
he
was buried. The last three S/Sgt (Radio Operator) Timothy J. Nunan, S/Sgt (Ball
Turret Gunner) Bernard H. Brand and S/Sgt (Tail Gunner) Oather G. Meese) bailed
out south of Tillitse. After a short while they were captured by the Germans.
Just as S/Sgt Charles F. Hopper (engineer/top turret gunner) bailed out over
Arninge,
the German flak in Nakskov started firing at the plane and he was hit in one arm
by splinters of shells. The plane flew on towards Halsted and exploded at an
altitude
of about 200 m. Debris fell north east of the then Old People's Home in Meltofte
and about 1 km south of the road between Nakskov and Maribo. An ambulance from
Falck was sent to Arninge to take S/Sgt Hopper to Nakskov Hospital. Here
Consultant MacDougal worked hard to save his arm, but it had to be amputated.
On 5 June Hopper was discharged and taken to further treatment in Germany." (FT
86-91-25)
Read about
Aage Astrup and McDougall's treatment of 3 wounded
American airmen in 1944: Earl F. Green *
Charles F. Hopper * Lynn H.
Barbour
in article in Lolland-Falsters FOLKETIDENDE
6 February 2002 by Mogens Warrer:
The airman and the nurse (Copy from
Aage Astrup via Ib Walbum)
and from Peter Gade, Lolland-Falsters FOLKETIDENDE 8
May 2015:
Sensing the presense of
history * Fooled the Germans *
Liquidations.
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 BOMB GROUP
* p280MACR
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.
|