Crew #15 -- A/C #423233 -- "Our Baby" -- M.A.C.R. #950
| 1st Lt |
Bernard A. DeMarco |
P |
POW |
8-Oct-43 |
Bremen |
| F/O |
James P. Thayer |
CP |
POW |
8-Oct-43 |
Bremen |
| 1st Lt |
John W. Downs |
N |
POW |
8-Oct-43 |
Bremen |
| 2nd Lt |
Francis C. Harper |
B |
POW |
8-Oct-43 |
Bremen |
| T/Sgt |
Benjamin J. Barr |
E |
POW |
8-Oct-43 |
Bremen |
| Cpl |
Leo T. Callahan |
WG |
POW |
21-Feb-44 |
Brunswick |
| Cpl |
Thornton Stringfellow |
R |
POW |
8-Oct-43 |
Bremen |
| S/Sgt |
Albert M. Freitas |
BT |
POW |
28-Apr-44 |
Sottevast-Noball |
| S/Sgt |
Harry C. Calhoun |
WG |
POW |
8-Oct-43 |
Bremen |
| S/Sgt |
Leon A. Castro |
TG |
-- |
-- |
Appointed Aviation
Cadet |
On the Bremen mission Leo
Callahan, Albert Freitas and Leon Castro had been replaced by Jerome
Ferroggiaro (from Crew #13), William J. Williams (from Crew #10), and
William R. Woodbury (a replacement gunner).
The crew, with "Bucky" Cleven,
Squadron Commander, aboard, was leading the 350th on the mission and was
hit by flak and fighters over the target. All eleven aboard reached the
ground safely but three suffered slight injury on landing. Stringfellow's
parachute canopy caught in a tree and his body swung into the trunk of the
tree causing fracture of several ribs.
Several farmers with pitchforks
were soon at the tree and escorted Thornton to a nearby village where the
rest of the crew were gathered. The enlisted men spent the balance of the
war at Stalag 17B, Krems, Austria where they were later joined by Leo
Callahan and Albert Freitas.Site of the crew's capture was
Essen/Assen, Germany, not far from Oldenburg. For most of the crew, it was
the 16/18 mission.
Sometime before this final
mission, Leon Castro, tail gunner, had been appointed an Aviation Cadet
and returned to the U.S.A. for training.
|
Crew #16 -- A/C #4230070 -- "Tweedle O' Twill" -- M.A.C.R. #679
| 1st Lt |
Ronald W. Braley |
P |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| 2nd St |
Walter Trenchard |
CP |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| 2nd Lt |
John E. Fawcett |
N |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| 1st Lt |
Thomas D. Carlton |
B |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| T/Sgt |
Joseph E. |
|
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| S/Sgt |
Charles C. Grissom |
WG |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| T/Sgt |
James R. Bair |
R |
KIA |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| S/Sgt |
Donald G. Ruggles |
BT |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| S/Sgt |
Elm E. White |
WG |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| S/Sgt |
Phil W. Ong |
TG |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
Riddled by 20mm shells and with
#1 engine and tail section on fire, the crew, except for Sgt. Bair, bailed
out near Tauberbischofsheim (a suburb of Wurzburg) about 125 miles before
the target.
The radio operator, James Bair,
had been wounded earlier, over Holland when the first wave of fighters
struck, but was still firing his guns when struck in the chest by a 20-mm
and instantly killed. Following his capture, Sgt. Grissom was taken by the
Germans to the wreckage of the aircraft and identified Bair's remains by a
belt buckle and a Catholic medal.
Ong was wounded in lower back by
flak and Elmo White had a bullet wound through his leg. Trenchard suffered
a broken ankle and Sgt. Grissom a fractured vertebrae. All recoverd from
their injuries.This crew, flying as wingman in
the second element of the low squadron, was truly "tailend Charlie" on the
Regensburg mission and was almost constantly under enemy fighter attack
for over an hour before having to abandon the aircraft.
|
Crew #17 -- A/C #425867" -- Alice From Dallas" -- M.A.C.R. #117
| 1st Lt |
William D.
Desanders |
P |
CPT |
1944 |
-- |
| 2nd Lt |
William J. Styles |
CP |
POW |
25-Jul-43 |
Warnemunde Keil |
| 2nd Lt |
Calvin H. Defevre |
N |
KIA |
25-Jul-43 |
Warnemunde Keil |
| 2nd Lt |
William E. Griffith |
B |
KIA |
25-Jul-43 |
Warnemunde Keil |
| T/Sgt |
Lester I. Berg |
E |
KIA |
25-Jul-43 |
Warnemunde Keil |
| S/Sgt |
Charles J. Mayville |
WG |
KIA |
25-Jul-43 |
Warnemunde Keil |
| T/Sgt |
George L. Rudden |
R |
CPT |
-- |
(With Crew #10) |
| S/Sgt |
Norman C. Eddy |
BT |
KIA |
25-Jul-43 |
Warnemunde Keil |
| Pvt |
Robert D. Lepper |
WG |
POW |
25-Jul-43 |
Warnemunde Keil |
| S/Sgt |
Maynard T. Parsons |
TG |
POW |
25-Jul-43 |
Warnemunde Keil |
On July 25, 1943, Bill Desanders
was either ill or on leave and Captain Richard Carey, Operations Officer
of the 350th, flew in his stead and became a POW. Another replacement on
the crew this day was T/Sgt. Steven S. Kopczewski, the regular radio
operator on Crew #11. He was killed in action.
Unable to bomb Warnemunde, the
primary target, the Group flew to Keil where intense flak was met. Plane
was so damaged by flak that Captain Carey decided to ditch in the sea. All
crew except for pilot and copilot were in radio room when ship hit the
water.
Apparently, Parsons and Lepper,
both of whom were wounded, got out of the overhead hatch but the others in
the radio noon were trapped and went down with the ship which rapidly
sank. A subsequent report by William Styles said that, "Griffith was
struggling to get out of hatch as the plane was sinking, that is the last
I saw of him."During a search for survivors,
Danish fishermen found the body of Sgt. Kopczewski but, after making
certain of death, left it in the water.
Carey, Styles, Lepper and Parsons
were picked up by a Danish fishing boat and the latter two were taken to a
hospital in Schleswig. It was mission #8 for this crew who were flying in
"Duration Plus Six" and not their regular plane, "Alice From Dallas".
|
Crew #18 -- A/C #42 5878 -- M.A.C.R. #843
| 1st Lt |
Harold B. Helstrom |
P |
POW |
4-Oct-43 |
Hanau |
| F/0 |
Hubert E. Trent |
CP |
EVA |
4-Oct-43 |
Hanau |
| 2nd Lt |
Harold E. Curtice |
N |
POW |
4-Oct-43 |
Hanau |
| 2nd Lt |
Hilbert W. Phillippe |
B |
POW |
4-Oct-43 |
Hanau |
| T/Sgt |
Robert C. Giles |
E |
EVA |
4-Oct-43 |
Hanau |
| Pvt |
Joseph Shandor |
WG |
EVA |
4-Oct-43 |
Hanau |
| T/Sgt |
Carroll F. Haarup |
R |
EVA |
4-Oct-43 |
Hanau |
| S/Sgt |
Charles C. Sprague |
BT |
CPT |
1944 |
-- |
| S/Sgt |
Charles E. Crippen |
WG |
POW |
4-Oct-43 |
Hanau |
| S/Sgt |
Thomas F. Mezynski |
TG |
EVA |
4-Oct-43 |
Hanau |
On this mission to Hanau, Sgt.
Sprague's position was taken by S/Sgt. William D. Edwards who became a
POW.
The Missing Air Crew Report does
not disclose the reason that this ship left formation. An eyewitness, 2nd
Lt. W. G. Lakin, statesin the M.A.C.R. as follows:
"Captain Helstrom's ship was last
seen as the Group formation dispersed to go down through the undercast
just off the coast of England Southwest of London on the route back. The
ship peeled off in a normal manner and seemed under perfect control."In a phone conversation with the
writer in 1980, Joe Shandor related that enemy action had knocked out one
engine of their ship and damaged another and that they crash landed near
Caen, France.
All ten of the crew got out
safely and they burned the aircraft. Joe was hidden by the French
undergound until January 1944, and then walked over the Pyrenees into
Spain and thence to England.Giles, Haarup and Mezynski also
were successful EVAs. Phillippe was loose in France for a long period
of time but was finally captured by the Germans.
Joe Shandor has written a very
interesting account of his experiences with the French underground and his
eventual return to Thorpe Abbotts. He is a current member of the 100th
Bomb Group Association, and anyone
interested should contact him. |
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