349th Squadron
A/C #42-97883 - "Miss Lollipop"
MACR #6521, Micro-fiche #2355

349th Sqdn. Crew joined the 100th on 9 May 44

A/C 42-97883 WAS HIT BY FLAK OVER DUNKIRK AT 0855 HOURS, SETTING THE NO # 4 ENGINE ON FIRE. LAST SEEN AT 0905 HOURS WITH THE RIGHT WING ON FIRE, NEAR THE NO # 4 ENGINE. LATEST REPORTS INDICATE THAT A PILOT AND TWO GUNNERS WERE PICKED UP IN THE CHANNEL. NO OTHER INFORMATION AVAILABLE.

THE ABOVE FROM THE OPERATIONAL NARRATIVE OF 12 JUN 1944..

IN FACT LT MCKEAGUE WAS RESCUED BY A BRITISH MINESWEEPER, ALONG WITH WG ROBERT GALLAGHER AND TTE GEORGE PENMAN, ONLY TO DIE A FEW DAYS LATER FROM WHAT WAS REPORTED AS SHOCK AND EXPOSURE. THE REMAINING CREWMEN WERE KIA.

SUBJECT: Supplement to Missing A/C Report , Sgt. George H.Penman,12187389, A/C #83.

TO: Commanding General, 3rd Bombardment Division, APO # 559

1. The following is a version of what happened to A/C 883 and the crew of Lt. E. P. McKeague who flew on the Operational Mission of 12 June 1944 to Rosieres-En-Santerre in North Western France "The time was about 1035 and our altitude about 26,000 feet as we were leaving the French coast. We were hit direct by anti-aircraft fire. No.4 engine went on fire and simultaneously No.3 engine burst into flames also. The RWG,S/Sgt. Robert A .Gallagher, was the first to report the fire over the inter-phone and was instructed by the pilot to watch it carefully. He was asked to describe the fire in detail as the pilot put the ship into a dive and feathered engs 3 and 4. Our airspeed indicator was fluctuating on 300 MPH indicated airspeed. The RWG's voice came over the inter-phone stating that the ball turret had received a direct hit and that the Radio operator was assisting the BT operator out of the turret to render first aid to him, but in vain. The pilot called back the WG asking how the fire was and the WG told him it was getting worse. Pilot then ordered everybody to bail out as we would land in the vicinity of three minesweepers we were headed for. I turned around and crawled through my top turret and on to the catwalk in the bomb bay and jumped. The bomb bay door would not close electrically after release of our bombs thus preventing and possibility of ditching. I landed about 3,000 yards away from one mine sweeper and was in the water, as told by the Captain of the ship, for about 20 minutes. The same mine sweeper brought our RWG and myself back to Dover where we were in the Hospital eight days before returning to our home base."

Sgt. George H. Penman
349th Bomb Sqdn.
100th Bomb Group (H)
19 July 1944

"June 12th 1944 - Walmer, Kent. At 09:15 in the morning the coastguard reported that an American Fortress aeroplane had crashed in the sea to the southeast. The lifeboat men had already seen a parachute coming down. A light westerly wind was blowing, with a choppy sea. The motor lifeboat 'Charles Dibdin (Civil Service No. 2)' was launched at 09:20 and two and a half miles east by south of the lifeboat station picked up an exhausted airman. As she neared land a small boat put out and took the airman ashore, so that the lifeboat could continue her search. This she did for some time, but without result, and returned at noon. Other airmen had baled out previously east of the Goodwins and some had been saved by an RAF rescue boat and minesweepers. Rewards £9 19s"

(Source: Supplement to Annual Reports of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution 1939-46)

Other information indicates that Lt. McKeague was also rescued but died a few days later. Crew apparently bailed out about 500 yards from English coast at about 2,500 feet altitude at approximately 5112N - 0124E.

Frank Ritter's name is inscribed on THE WALL OF THE MISSING at Cambridge, and Evan Peters is buried there in Plot F, Row 4,Grave 69.

349TH SQDN. CREW, AS ABOVE, JOINED THE 100TH ON 25 MAY 44

LT STELIOS LOUROS WAS KIA WITH THE McKEAGUE CREW AT ROSIERES & DUNKIRD SHORE DEF (12 JUN 44)

HOSKINSON CREW – 24 May 44 – Berlin (The 100th lost 9 Aircraft on this mission.)
A/C#42 102635
MACR #5171, Microfiche #1854

349th Sqdn. Crew, as above, joined the 100th Group on 9/5/44. This was probably their first or second mission. On 24/5/44, Lt. Joseph C. Silvestro, from the crew of E. P. McKeague, was flying as navigator and was KIA. One report indicates 1000 lb bomb from a plane in the high squadron fell on this aircraft forward of the horizontal stabilizer breaking the ship in two pieces. The main fuselage immediately went into a tight spin, which precluded anyone bailing out.

Dear Robert:

Please let me give you an overview from this day out of the German eyes: On this May 24, 1944 was from the Germans point of view a big air battle in the region of south Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost county of Germany with border to Denmark.

The combat boxes of the BG's were flying in lots of cirrus clouds and the sight was extremely bad. So the German fighters made lots of passes and could not see exactly distances to the bombers. They said it was a milky haze from the cirrus and from the smoke of the engines.. In this air battle only in our region were KIA 3 fighter pilots, one of them was the wing commander of I./JG 11 1st. Lt. Konig. Konig was coming from the night fighters with only one eye and on this day due to extreme bad view he crashed into a B-17, obviously on one of the three reported. His wing was seen falling off and his FW 190 spiraled down.

After his death 1st. Lt. Koing was made Captain and got the knights cross. Another two pilots were shot down and wounded. In the air was a mixture of Me 109s and FW 190s.

This battle is called "Die Luftschlacht bei Kaltenkirchen" the air battle at Kaltenkirchen. Kaltenkirchen a/f was a well-known airfield in the region.

From Kaltenkirchen a/f to the crash point of the three B-17
Nr. 2102635 Hoskinson at east of Itzstedt
Nr. 2102648 Roeder at west of Sulfeld and
Nr. 21026624 Johnson northeast of Rotenhahn
are only about 30 km.

2102635 Hoskinson at Itzstedt and 2102648 Roeder at Sulfeld crashed only 200 m away from each other and I think that one of them had the air crash with commander Konig, If you know what position Hoskinson was flying it would be possible to say exactly that this ship had the crash.

The whole formation of I./JG 11 on this day had only 9 or 11 planes! (in another e-mail from our contact he reports another 30 German planes were in the air battle bringing the total to 40 which our U.S. records indicate.)

Should have had 27. The school chronicle says, that the plane with big noise came down out of the clouds and crashed into the earth exploding and burning with a big cloud of smoke. All airmen in the Itzstedt B-17 were dead inside the plane and burned by fire and the 10th lay outside the plane on a field. .

Robert L. Black, survivor of 2102624, crashed at Rotenhahn, had not seen a German fighter crashing into his plane as the survivors of the Roeder crew did not.. So from today’s point of view 1st. Lt. Konig must have crashed into 2102635 Hoskinson.

In an earlier book by German fighter Fritz Engau says " This head on attack was one of the strangest and almost ghostly mission of I./JG 11. In more than 6,000 M (about 20,000 feet) the first B-17 appeared shadowy in a milky haze and made their vapor trails in this haze. The following b-17s made more and more vapor trails into haze and condensed the carped. Lt. Konig, who had only one eye made his head on pass obviously to late and crashed by accident into the B-17. Engau was flying second to the right and he saw something like a flash or explosion and thereafter-big pieces in the air. He had as well a B-17 in his Revi and shot some rounds but he got no credit this day. Lt. Hans Heinrich "King" Konig was one of the experienced day fighting commanders with 28 credits-20 4 engine bombers.

Bob Black