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 William B. Murray crew (left to right)
Standing:
Mahlon Hall, California, William Carr, Michigan, Orrin
Heinrich, Wisconsin
William Kraft, Pennsylvania, William Murray, Pennsylvania, Emory Brandt,
Missouri
Kneeling: Fred Schillinger, Pennsylvania, Ray
Peace, Louisiana,
Palmer
Hanson, Minnesota, Nick Hamalak, New York
100th BG Photo Archives
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1st Lt |
William B. Murray |
P |
KIA |
6-Mar-44 |
Berlin |
| 1st Lt |
Richard M. Lambiotte |
CP |
POW |
6-Mar-44 |
Berlin |
| 2nd Lt |
Orrin H. Heinrich (see below) |
NAV |
POW |
6-Mar-44 |
Berlin |
| 2nd Lt |
William G. Carr |
BOM |
POW |
6-Mar-44 |
Berlin |
| T/Sgt |
Emory L. Brandt |
TTE |
POW |
6-Mar-44 |
Berlin |
|
S/Sgt |
Fred C. Schillinger |
ROG |
KIA |
6-Mar-44 |
Berlin |
| S/Sgt |
Jim Peace |
BTG |
POW |
6-Mar-44 |
Berlin |
| S/Sgt |
Palmar J. Hanson |
RW |
POW |
6-Mar-44 |
Berlin |
| S/Sgt |
Nick E. Hamalak |
LW |
POW |
6-Mar-44 |
Berlin |
|
S/Sgt |
Mahlon A. Hall |
TG |
KIA |
6-Mar-44 |
Berlin |
349th Sqdn. MACR #3017,
Microfiche #1020, A/C #42-30799.
MARCH 6, 1944-TARGET BERLIN: A 20mm shell had entered the cockpit and
decapitated the pilot, Lt. William Murray. The tail gunner S/Sgt. Mahlon
Hall was in the radio room having his head wound dressed by the radio
operator S/Sgt. Fred Schillinger when the plane went into a dive. The
centrifugal force pinned them inside the plane and they both died in the
crash
An article in the Antigo Daily Journal, Antigo, Wisconsin, describes Lt.
Orrin Heinrich's experience over Germany on March 6, 1944. This was his 16th
mission after flying 153 total hours:
Heinrich's story began March 6, 1944, when his B-17 bomber with a ten-member
crew was shot down by German ME-109 fighters over the Diepholz swamp in
Vechta County. The 28 year old lieutenant and flight navigator was one of
seven who survived [three did not]. He and another crewman parachuted to
earth somewhere in the southern part of the county. Heinrich says he
remembers landing near a barn and farmhouse, located at a crossroads. A fish
pond was nearby. The downed airmen, both wounded, were treated well by a
tall pipe-smoking farmer and his 14-year old son who spoke English. They
didn't bother us at all. They wanted us to walk the four or five miles to
town. "I was wounded and my companion was wounded and I didn't think we'd
make it", Heinrich says. "I got him to hitch up the horse and wagon and take
the two of us to town."
The casualty report read:
First pass by fighters damaged the plane, second pass injured Lt.
Murray…third pass killed Lt. Murray and seriously damaged The Bigassbird
II." Lt. Murray's Crew was shot down by German fighters in the vicinity of
Haseluenne and Holdorf, in Vechta County, Germany [about 80 miles south of
Bremerhaven on the north coast of Germany].
The following are offsite links:
Orrin
H. Heinrich History
Orrin H. Heinrich Journal |
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