Thomas E. Hick                                   Updated: 16 AUG 2015

Airman: u081001.htm Surname: Hick Init: T E Rank: S/Sgt Service: USAAF Sqdn: 350

P_link: p320.htm Plane: B17 42-38191 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Sea S of Lolland

Crash_d: d190544 Buried_d: b260744 C_link: c081.htm At_Next: (Sandby)

I forbindelse med et bombetogt til Berlin den 19. maj 1944 blev B17 42-38191 skudt ned over Østersøen.

"Fra Rødbyhavn så man midt på eftermiddagen den 19. maj 1944 3 fly styrte i Østersøen. I 3 tilfælde observeredes udfoldede faldskærme. En fiskerbåd blev udsendt, og den indbjergede en hårdt såret flyver, der under tysk bevogtning overførtes til Nakskov Sygehus." (FAF)

Thomas E. Hick blev fundet i vandet ved Vejlø i Nakskov Fjord den 24. juli 1944, måske omkring her.
Begravelsen i Sandby blev foretaget af sognepræst C. Petersen den 26. juli 1944. (Kilde: FAF)
Thomas E. Hick blev ført til Ardennes American Cemetery i 1948, men gravstedet er bevaret.
Mindestenen for ham her er set 6. maj 2008. Hans navn er ikke i registret hos ABMC, så mest
sandsynligt blev han begravet på en privat kirkegård i USA.

Den tyske overgivelse og Danmarks befrielse blev meddelt i BBC aftennyhederne
den 4. maj 1945. Blomsterne er fra  Hjemmeværnet.

7 flyvere fra B17 42-38191 har ingen kendt grav, 1 blev begravet i Rødby og 1 i Sandby. 1 flyver blev krigsfange og sendt til Tyske krigsfangelejre. 10 flyvere.

In connection with a bombing raid on Berlin on 19 May 1944 B17 42-38191 was shot down over
the Baltic Sea. In the middle of the afternoon of 19 May 1944 people saw from the harbour in Rødby
3 planes crash into the Baltic Sea.

From the harbour in Rødby people saw in the middle of the afternoon of 19 May 1944 3 planes crash into the Baltic Sea. Parachutes were seen in 3 cases. A fishing boat was sent out, and it rescued a severely wounded airman, who guarded by Germans was taken to the hospital in Nakskov. (Source: FAF)

Thomas E. Hick was found in the water at Vejlø in Nakskov Fjord on 24 July 1944, maybe around here.
The burial in Sandby was carried out by vicar C. Petersen on 26 July, 1944. (Source: FAF)

Allied airman Thomas E. Hick buried 26.7 1944
He was taken to Ardennes American Cemetery in BELGIUM in 1948, but his plot is still there. The memorial stone to him here is seen 6 May 2008.
His name is not in the ABMC records, so most likely he was buried in a private cemetery in the U.S.A.

The German surrender and the liberation of Denmark was announced in the BBC evening news on 4 May 1945. The flowers are from the Danish Home Guard.

7 airmen from B17 42-38191 have no known grave, 1 was buried in Rødby and 1 in Sandby. 1 airmen was captured and taken to German POW-Camps.
This B-17 belonged to 350 BS, 100 BG, 13 CBW, 3 BD of the 8th AF. See also the 100th Bomb Group (Heavy) with Photo of the crew.
It took off from RAF Thorpe Abbott - USAAF Station 139. See also 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum.    10 airmen.