William R. Lavies                    Crew photo from Lester Schrenk 08 DEC 2014         Updated:  26 JAN 2015                     

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 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.

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. Han stod på bunden med de dræbende kolde vand til brystet. (Beretning fra Herluf Munkholm)
Hvis tyskerne ikke havde forhindret danskere i en hurtig redning, kunne han måske have overlevet. Han druknede og blev trukket op i en lille båd og bragt til tyskernes hovedkvarter på den skole, der nu er Svankjær Efterskole (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 i 2008, der igen besøgte Thy, sendt af TV/MIDT-VEST 4. januar 2009.)

Pilot, 2nd Lt William R. Lavies fra Alabama omkom. Begravet i Frederikshavn 26 februar 1944. Overført til Ardennes American Cemetery i Belgien 1. maj 1948. (Kilde: FAF) Hans navn er ikke i registret hos ABMC, så mest sandsynligt blev han begravet på en privat kirkegård i USA. 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.

Pilot 2nd Lt W.R. Lavies landed on thin ice in the lake Ove Sø about here. He stood on the bottom with the mortally cold water to his chest. (Account - Munkholm)
He might have survived, if the Germans had not prevented the Danes from a fast rescue. He drowned and he was taken up in a small boat and taken to the German HQ
at the school, which is now Svankjær Efterskole (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 in 2008, who revisited Thy, sent 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. 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 from Alabama perished. Buried in Frederikshavn on 26 February 1944.
Transferred to Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium on 1 May 1948. (Source: FAF) His name is not in the ABMC records, so most likely he was buried in a private cemetery in the U.S.A.

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.