B 17G-VE 42-97607 - Sea off Glænø                                                        Updated: 17 AUG 2021

Airman Surname Init Rank Service Sqdn P_link Plane Operation Crash_site Crash_d Buried_d C_link At_Next
o888340.htm Ewans J T 2ndLt USAAF 349 p318.htm B17 42-97607 Bomb G Sea off Glænø d190544 o888 o888.htm POW
o888342.htm Fosdick R L T/Sgt USAAF 349 p318.htm B17 42-97607 Bomb G Sea off Glænø d190544 o888 o888.htm POW
o888339.htm Hiley D L 2ndLt USAAF 349 p318.htm B17 42-97607 Bomb G Sea off Glænø d190544 o888 o888.htm POW
o888337.htm Horne Jr. R D 1stLt USAAF 349 p318.htm B17 42-97607 Bomb G Sea off Glænø d190544 o888 o888.htm POW
o888343.htm Hunt C E S/Sgt USAAF 349 p318.htm B17 42-97607 Bomb G Sea off Glænø d190544 o888 o888.htm POW
o888338.htm McGrath J M 1stLt USAAF 349 p318.htm B17 42-97607 Bomb G Sea off Glænø d190544 o888 o888.htm POW
o888344.htm Perinsky Jr. J S/Sgt USAAF 349 p318.htm B17 42-97607 Bomb G Sea off Glænø d190544 o888 o888.htm POW
o888345.htm Staron Jr. J G S/Sgt USAAF 349 p318.htm B17 42-97607 Bomb G Sea off Glænø d190544 o888 o888.htm POW
o888341.htm Wiley L C T/Sgt USAAF 349 p318.htm B17 42-97607 Bomb G Sea off Glænø d190544 o888 o888.htm POW


19. maj 1944 (Kl. 16.15) Smålandsfarvandet, 8 km SSØ for Glænø, omkring her.
Boeing B-17G 42-97607 (XR- ) 349 BS, 100 BG, 13 CBW, 3 BD, Thorpe Abbotte, Norfolk. (Berlin) 10 POW. Flyvehistorisk Tidsskrift fortsætter:

"495 B-17 fløj til Berlin og 16 gik tabt. Over Østersøen blev 100 BG angrebet af Fw190'ere og 3 fly blev svært beskadiget.
En B-17 gik ned ved Rødbyhavn (B17 42-38191), medens 42-97607 fortsatte ind over Lolland med en motor i brand. Piloten, 1 st Lt Ralph Delmore Horne Jr., og hans besætning var på deres 21. togt. Over Smålandsfarvandet gjorde besætningen klar til en nødlanding på vandet. Alle besætningsmedlemmer undtagen de to piloter samledes i radiorummet, hvorefter der blev gennemført en perfekt nødlanding 8 km SSØ for Glænø (omkring her). Et par gummibåde blev sat i vandet før flyet sank,
og efter en times roning nåede alle velbeholdent den sydsjællandske kyst. Besætningen delte sig op i to hold, der søgte ind i landet. Desværre havde kun få lokal-
beboere set nødlandingen, så mange troede, at de amerikanske flyvere var en tysk provokation, og kontaktede derfor det danske politi i stedet for den lokale
modstandsbevægelse. Næste dag kl. 9.00 blev 4 flyvere afhentet i Nyrup (her), og kl. 10.00 blev de resterende afhentet af tyskerne i Snedinge (her)." (FT 88-40-28)
De blev sendt til Tyske krigsfangelejre. 9 flyvere.

On 19 May 1944 at 16.15 hours B17 42-97607 ditched in the Smaalandsfarvandet 8 km SSE of Glænø, about here. Boeing B-17G 42-97607 (XR- )
349 BS, 100 BG, 13 CBW, 3 BD, Thorpe Abbotte, Norfolk. (Berlin) 10 POWs. (Danish) Aviation Historical Review writes:

"495 B-17s flew to Berlin and 16 were lost. Over the Baltic Sea 100 BG was attacked by Fw190s and 3 planes were severely damaged.
A B-17 went down at Rødbyhavn (B17 42-38191), while 42-97607 flew on over Lolland with one engine on fire. Pilot 1 st Lt Ralph Delmore Horne Jr. and his crew
were on their 21st mission. Over the Smaalandsfarvandet the crew prepared for an emergency landing on the water. All crew members except the two pilots gathered
in the radio room and the plane ditched perfectly 8 km SSE of Glænø (about here). A couple of dinghies were launched before the plane sank, and after an hour of
rowing all of them safely reached the coast of southern Zealand. The crew split up into two teams and went away from the coast. Unfortunately only a few of the local residents had seen the emergency landing, so many of them thought that the American airmen was a German provocation, and that was why they contacted the
Danish police instead of the local resistance movement. Next day at 9 o'clock 4 airmen were picked up in Nyrup (here) and at 10 o'clock the rest of them were picked
up by the Germans in Snedinge (here)." (FT 88-40-28) They were taken to German POW-Camps.

This B-17 belonged to 349 BS, 100 BG, 13 CBW, 3 BD of the 8th AF. See also the 100th Bomb Group (Heavy) with Photo of the crew and MACR-Horne.
It took off from RAF Thorpe Abbott - USAAF Station 139. See also B17s in airmen.dk and a drawing of the crew of a B-17 and 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum. 
9 airmen.