B17 42-31619 nødlandede her. (Kilde: Erik Dyreborg)  Se mindetavlen, kort, oplysninger og links i Fra basen til Bornholm og De 10 flyveres flugtruter. FOTO.

"Flyet blev ramt i vingen af flak over Berlin + mere og begyndte hurtigt at miste brændstof. Over Bornholm blev flyet atter beskudt af flak, og piloten valgte på grund af de svære beskadigelser at foretage en mavelanding ved Sosegård. Landingen var perfekt, men regn og kraftig blæst forhindrede besætningen i at sætte ild til flyet, selv om de viklede en olievædet faldskærm omkring den ene motor.

Amerikanerne forsvandt ad en nærliggende ådal og kom frem mod Åkirkeby, hvor man mener, at de blev taget op af en lastbilchauffør, der kørte dem til Almindingen. Her spredte de sig to og to i det store skovområde.

Radio Operator, S/Sgt William Nunn og Left Waist Gunner, Sgt Orlando Yemma nåede frem til Stammershale (sydøst for Tejn) hvor de blev anholdt af en cyklende tysk soldat, der var på patrulje. Ved list fik de dog overmandet tyskeren og fortsatte mod nord til de nåede Allingeegnen. Her fik de husly hos Oscar Fält, og pinsemorgen stjal de en robåd på stranden (omkring her) og stak til søs. Efter en hård og anstrengende tur nåede de Brantevik (her) i Sverige, og den 5. juni var de tilbage i England.
William Nunn (se foto) besøgte Bornholm i juni 1982.

Top Turret Gunner, S/Sgt Richard O´Bannon og Tail Gunner, Sgt Jack Culliton nåede til Sandvig (her), hvor de blev anvist en robåd. Om natten stod de til søs og lydløst passerede de et par uddykkede ubåde ca. 1 sømil fra kysten. De roede godt til hele natten, men næste morgen kunne de stadig ikke se land. De var blevet fortalt, at Sverige kun lå 7 miles væk, men da de roede direkte mod nord, sejlede de således parallelt med den skånske østkyst. De fortsatte den næste nat, og den anden morgen kom de ind i en tågebanke, hvilket de var lykkelige for, idet de kort forinden var blevet fulgt af et ubådsperiskop. Ved ca. 11-tiden kom de ud af tågen og blev samlet op af en finsk damper, der satte dem af i Trelleborg (her). Den 5. juni var de tilbage i England.

Navigator, 2nd Lt Seymour Ringle og Bombardier, 2nd Lt James Stevenson nåede hurtigt frem til stranden ved Melsted. Her satte det ind med et voldsomt regnskyl, men de fortsatte langs kysten til Gudhjem (her), hvor de fik kontakt med skræddermester Chr. Holm. Den 31. maj gik de ombord på ruteskibet "Carl" (se detaljer om transporten), og i Falsterbokanalen (her) blev de overført til den svenske lodsbåd. Den 11. juni var de tilbage i England.

De fire sidste besætningsmedlemmer (Right Waist Gunner Sgt Marvin Carraway,  Ball Turret Gunner Sgt Gunner Heath Liddle, Co-Pilot 2nd Lt Horace Shelton og Pilot 2nd Lt John Whiteman) blev ad omveje samlet hos Ernst Petersen i Hasle. Den 1. juni kom de ombord på fiskekutteren "Svanen" og kursen blev sat mod Simrishamn (her), som man nåede fredag morgen den 2. juni kl. 04.00. Flyverne kom derfra direkte til den amerikanske konsul i Stockholm, og allerede den 11. juni var de tilbage i England."
(FT 87-94-7) Mere i p325MACR.

Nogle detaljer passer ikke helt med bogen Flugten fra Bornholm 1944, lavet efter et stort arbejde. Enhver historie afhænger af kilderne.
Se De 10 flyveres flugtruter med flere detaljer. John Whiteman besøgte Bornholm igen i 1998! Se Bornholm 1998 med fotos fra besøget.
Se tegning af besætningen på en B-17, Foto af en B-17 + B-17 i airmen.dk samt B-17 Ball Turret, Ammunition og Ball Turret Gunner. 10 flyvere.

B17 42-31619 crash landed here. (Source: Erik Dyreborg) See memorial plaque, maps, information and links From Base to Bornholm and Escape Routes. PHOTO.

"The plane was hit in the wing by flak over Berlin, and it soon started losing fuel. Over Bornholm flak started again, and due to the heavy damages the pilot decided to make a belly landing at Sosegård. The landing was perfect, but rain and strong wind prevented the crew from making the plane catch fire, even if they wrapped a
parachute stained with oil around an engine.

The Americans disappeared along a neighbouring creek in the direction of Åkirkeby, where some people think they were picked up by a truck driver, who drove them to Almindingen. Here they dispersed in twos in the big forest.

Radio Operator, S/Sgt William Nunn and Left Waist Gunner, Sgt Orlando Yemma reached Stammershale (southeast of Tejn) where they were arrested by a German soldier who was on a patrol on his bicycle. They managed to overpower the German and went on north till they reached the area of Allinge. Here they were sheltered by Oscar Fält, and on Whitsunday morning they stole a rowing boat at the beach (about here) and went to sea. After a hard and exhausting journey they reached Brantevik (here) in Sweden, and they were back in England on 5 June. William Nunn (see photo) visited Bornholm in June 1982.

Top Turret Gunner, S/Sgt Richard O´Bannon and Tail Gunner, Sgt Jack Culliton reached Sandvig (here), where they were assigned a rowing boat. At night they went to sea, and without a sound they passed a couple of submarines, which had surfaced about 1 nautical mile off the coast. They rowed well all of the night, but next morning they were still unable to see land. They had been told that Sweden was only 7 miles away, but as they were rowing directly north, they were sailing parallel with the east coast of Sweden. They carried on the next night, and on the second morning they got into a fog bank. They were happy with that since a short while before they had been followed by a periscope of a submarine. At about 11 a.m. they came out of the fog and were picked up by a Finnish steamer, which set them down in Trelleborg (here). They were back in England on 5 June.

Navigator, 2nd Lt Seymour Ringle and Bombardier, 2nd Lt James Stevenson soon reached the beach at Melsted. Here a heavy rain started, but they went on along the coast to Gudhjem (here), where they got in touch with master tailor Chr. Holm. On 31 May they went on board the ship "Carl" for Copenhagen, (see details about "Carl") and in Falsterbokanalen (here) they were transferred to the Swedish pilot boat. (Text in English without map, the Falsterbo Canal.) They were back in England on 11 June.

After some detours the last four crew members (Right Waist Gunner Sgt Marvin Carraway,  Ball Turret Gunner Sgt Heath Liddle, Co-Pilot 2nd Lt Horace Shelton and Pilot 2nd Lt John Whiteman) were gathered at Ernst Petersen´s in Hasle. On 1 June they came aboard the fishing boat "Svanen" ("The Swan") and the course was set for Simrishamn (here) which they reached on Friday morning 2 June at 04:00. From there the airmen came directly to the American consul in Stockholm, and they were back in England as early as 11 June." (FT 87-94-7) More in p325MACR.

Some details do not agree with the book Flugten fra Bornholm 1944 (The Escape from Bornholm 1944) written after careful research. Any story depends on the sources.
See Escape Routes for more details. John Whiteman revisited Bornholm in 1998! See Bornholm 1998 with photos from the visit.  
See a drawing of the crew of a B-17, Photo of  a B-17 + B-17s in airmen.dk and B-17 Ball Turret, Ammunition and the story of a Ball Turret Gunner.
This B-17 belonged to 615 BS, 401 BG, 94 CBW, 1 BD, 8 AF of the USAAF. See The 401st Bomb Group (H) Association and 401st Air Expeditionary Group.
It took off from RAF Deenethorpe - USAAF Station 128. 10 airmen.