| 2ND LT RICHARD B. ATCHISON, JR |
P |
POW |
10 Oct 43 |
MUNSTER |
| 2ND LT WILLARD SECOR |
CP |
POW |
10 Oct 43 |
MUNSTER |
| 2ND LT KENNETH BARON |
NAV |
POW |
10 Oct 43 |
MUNSTER |
| 2ND LT SOL GOLDSTEIN |
BOM |
POW |
10 Oct 43 |
MUNSTER |
| T/SGT RUSSELL W. BENNETT |
TTE |
POW |
10 Oct 43 |
MUNSTER |
| T/SGT ELDER E. LISCH |
ROG |
KIA |
10 Oct 43 |
MUNSTER |
| S/SGT GEORGE J. BRASSELL |
BTG |
KIA |
22 Dec 43 |
MUNSTER
(With Thomas Goupill) |
| S/SGT ELLLOT O. PREBLE |
WG |
KIA |
10 Oct 43 |
MUNSTER |
| S/SGT WESTLEY M. FIELD |
WG |
KIA |
10 Oct 43 |
MUNSTER |
| S/SGT VAN T. WRIGHT |
TG |
POW |
10 Oct 43 |
MUNSTER |
418th Sqdn. Crew, as above, joined 100th Group on 25 Aug 43.
On 10 Oct 43 a S/Sgt CLARENCE A. COMBS was BTG in place of Sgt. Brassell and was KIA.
MACR #1031 A/C #42 30047 "SWEATER GIRL".
Note George Brassell was KIA on the 100th's second Munster mission with crew of T. F. Goupill when killed and is buried in Cambridge cemetery.
Statement by Kenneth Baron "I was wounded during an attack by an enemy a/c before I bailed out, sustaining a penetrating wound Of the right thigh which broke the femur. Due to possible shock I have no clear recollection Or the mission nor of most events until I was picked up on the ground
by the Germans I do know we flew along the Rhine river some distance from its mouth and that we dropped our bombs I do not recall seeing the target, although we were in large formation when we were subjected to an intense and accurate flak attack and when we were attacked by large numbers of
enemy a/c.
When I bailed out, I was the first person to leave by the lower nose exit because I recall releasing the door by means Or the emergency release handle The bombardier was immediately behind me, preparing to bail out, but once I left the ship I did not see him again, nor did I see the ship
after I left it It was flying straight and level at that time to the best Of my knowledge I executed a delayed jump in order to reach ground more quickly and I opened my chute at what I estimated to be 5000 ft During my descent I could recall seeing no aircraft of any sort "
Apparently for over a year there was much confusion as to the exact fate of this crew A German Major had taken the dog tags from several crew members when they were captured and later reports from German sources claimed that Atchison, Secor and Bennett were KIA and buried near Munster (dog
tags had been switched in some manner).
The crew this day was flying B-17F 42-30047 "Sweater Girl" LN-Q instead of their regular B-17F "Terry n' Ten" 42-30062, LD-O which was named by Lt Atchison for his wife. The crew was assigned Terry n' Ten on September 16, 1943. On October 10, 1943 the target was MUNSTER, just after the bomb
run, the 100th was hit by fighters, and intense flak with one ME 109 colliding with Lt William Beddow's aircraft "Sexy Susy, Mother of Ten" 42-30723 EP-D which had completed only 6 mission prior to October 10th. The collision occurred on Lt. Beddows left wing with flames erupting throughout
the plane. The bailout order was given and 4 men got out, the plane exploded in mid air after going into a steep spiral killing Lt Beddow and 5 of his crew. It has been speculated that "Sweater Girl" also was damaged by this midair collision but surviving crew members report that the aircraft
was under heavy flak followed by fighter attacks and was severly damaged before the crew was ordered to bail out. There is no mention from Crew reports that their plane sustained any damage from Lt Beddow's mid-air collision with the Me109. According to eye witness accounts, Lt Atchison was
hit in No 2 Engine, it must have been an oil line because oil was pouring out in a stream. All the officers along with the TTG and TG were fortunate in escaping the severely damage B-17 but unfortunately, the rest of the crew perished when the plane crashed a few miles north of Munster at
Ostberven near the Dormund-Ems canal. (mpf 6/2001)
MISSIONS OF LT RICHARD ATCHISON CREW (from Paul Andrews Appendix for "Luck of the Draw")MPF 2001
| Nbr |
Date |
Target |
Aircraft Nbr |
Aircraft Name |
| 1 |
15/09/43 |
PARIS |
AC# 42-861 |
LADEN MAIDEN |
| 2 |
16/09/43 |
LAPALLICE |
AC# 42-30062 |
TERRY N'TEN |
| 3 |
26/09/43 |
PARIS |
AC# 42-30062 |
TERRY N'TEN |
| 4 |
27/09/43 |
EMDEN |
AC# 42-30758 |
ROSIE'S RIVETERS |
| 5 |
2/10/43 |
EMDEN |
AC# 42-30062 |
TERRY N'TEN |
| 6 |
4/10/43 |
HANAU |
AC# 42-30062 |
TERRY N'TEN |
| 7 |
9/10/43 |
MARIENBURG |
AC# 42-30062 |
TERRY N'TEN |
| 8 |
10/10/43 |
MUNSTER |
AC# 42-30047 |
SWEATER GIRL |
Van "Ike" Wright's Memories of a Tail Gunner 10 Oct. 1943
Courtesy of http://www. tributeto448thbgpcrew48. net/index. htm
Our aircraft, "Terry and Ten", for some reason was not available on that day. My crew was in the 418th BS, but we were assigned to fly that day in A/C 42-30047, "Sweater Girl", 350th BS (LN-Q).
BLACK WEEK 8 Oct-14 Oct 43.
8 Oct 43 Bremen
9 Oct 43 Marienburg
10 Oct 43-Munster
14 Oct 43 Schweinfurt.
The 100th BG had participated in raids on 8 Oct at Bremen, and had lost or required major maintenance on many aircraft and replacement crews. Replacement aircraft had not been received to cover the losses at Bremen. The group could only put up 18 aircraft, so they added 2 aircraft from the
390th BG to make an even 20. Briefed for Munster at 0730 to expect heavy flak and about 400 enemy fighters - heavy ground fog would delay takeoff until 11:30 hours. After takeoff, 6 of the aircraft aborted over the North Sea. One was one of the 390th BG. That left 13 aircraft of the Bloody
100th to carry out the mission to Munster.
This is the story of the tail gunner (S/Sgt Van "Ike" Wright) on Sweater Girl, one of the 12 100th Bomb Group aircraft lost that day.
Munster Raid- Target-Demoralization Raid at the mouth of the Rhur Valley Heavy Industrial Area
We were Flying at 20,000 - 22, 000 ft when fighters came in soon after we entered the area. Flak was very heavy just prior to the fighters’ arrival. We could see the planes of our group blowing up and going down.
I think our aircraft Sweater Girl was hit before we dropped our bombs. It was probably while we were on the bomb run to the target.
ME-109s, ME-110s, and JU-88s accounted for many of our losses. They were firing rockets and we took a hit at my tail gunner’s position next to my left shoulder. Our intercom was dead, my guns were useless, and the control wires were hanging down.
I decided to crawl to waist, as I knew our plane was in deep trouble. The rocket damage hole was large enough I could have jumped through the hole. When I got to the waist I saw S/SGT W. M. Field and S/SGT. E. O. Preble. They were both on the floor. Field was bleeding and Preble's oxygen
mask was off and he was bleeding from the mouth, but he got to his feet. I crawled to the ball turret position and there was no movement from him. The plane started to bank and lurch, so I went to the side door, opened it, and motioned to Preble that we were going to jump. He motioned me to go
ahead and shook his head yes that he was ready to go too. I must have been the last man to jump, for I saw no other chutes and the plane was spiraling down quickly. I saw the plane crash and burn. I landed near trees, pulled my chute in, and hid until dark. I started walking north until
morning and hid in a haystack early that morning. Two dogs spotted me and the farmers came running with their pitchforks. We were advised to avoid civilians, Hitler youth, and SS. Where possible evade, otherwise turn in to the military. Then German soldiers appeared from Munster and handcuffed
me. I then went to Frankfurt-on-the-Main and was photographed then to Stalag 17B for the duration. "
During my stay at Stalag 17B, I did not meet or see any of the squadron crews.
Our aircraft was brought down by rocket fire, but I'm certain our crew members Field, Combs, Preble and Lisch were killed by machine gun fire or wounded to such an extent they were unable to depart the falling aircraft. I did expect to see Preble descend with me even though he was severely
wounded.
I knew nothing about the rest of the crew until after we were liberated, when I found out that Fields, Preble, Lisch, and Combs had been killed, and one of the officers had been wounded. "
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