| Captain Richard Carey |
P |
POW |
25 JULY 1943 |
Warnemunde Kiel |
| 2nd Lt William J. Styles |
CP |
POW |
25 JULY 1943 |
Warnemunde Kiel |
| 2nd Lt Calvin H.
Defevre |
NAV |
KIA |
25 JULY 1943 |
Warnemunde Kiel |
| 2nd Lt William E.
Griffith |
BOM |
KIA |
25 JULY 1943 |
Warnemunde Kiel |
| T/Sgt Lester I.
Berg |
TTE |
KIA |
25 JULY 1943 |
Warnemunde Kiel |
| S/Sgt Charles J.
Mayville |
WG |
KIA |
25 JULY 1943 |
Warnemunde Kiel |
T/Sgt. Steven S.
Kopczewski
See Roy Claytor crew page |
ROG |
KIA |
25 JULY 1943 |
Warnemunde Kiel |
| S/Sgt Norman C.
Eddy |
BTG |
KIA |
25 JULY 1943 |
Warnemunde Kiel |
| Pvt Robert D. Lepper |
WG |
POW |
25 JULY 1943 |
Warnemunde Kiel |
| S/Sgt Maynard T. Parsons |
TG |
POW |
25 JULY 1943 |
Warnemunde Kiel |
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 Kiel
where intense flak was met. Plane was so damaged by flak that Captain
Carey decided to ditch in the sea. All the 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 room 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.
A Danish fishing boat picked up Carey, Styles, Lepper and Parsons 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".
Mission list for Captain Richard Carey:
| Nbr |
Date |
Target |
A/C Nbr |
A/C Name |
| 1 |
June 26, 1943 |
LeMans |
23279 |
"Badger Beauty" |
| 2 |
June 28, 1943 |
St Nazaire |
23233 |
"Our Baby" |
| 3 |
July 4, 1943 |
LaPallice |
23233 |
"Our Baby" |
| 4 |
July 14, 1943 |
LeBourget/Paris |
25862 |
"Duration Plus Six" |
| 5 |
July 24, 1943 |
Trondheim |
230047 |
"Sweater Girl" |
| 6 |
July 25, 1943 |
Kiel |
25862 |
"Duration Plus Six" |
"On July 25, 1943, Lt William Desanders was either ill or on leave and
Captain Richard Carey, Operations Officer of the 350th replaced him and
became a POW. The Aircraft "Duration Plus Six" was so damaged by flak that
Capt Carey decided to ditch in the North Sea. 6 were KIA and 4 POW. "
"Capt. Carey, Lt Styles (CP), Sgt Robert Lepper (WG) and S/Sgt Maynard
Parsons (TG) were picked up by a Danish fishing boat and the latter two
were taken to a hospital in Schleswig. "
Subj: Re: Capt. Dick Carey
Date: 10/10/2001 5:22:48 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: irene@backroads. net (irene penman)To: MPFaley@aol. com
Dear Mike. .
I am thrilled to tell you anything I can about Dick. Dick was quite
interesting. He was the youngest licensed pilot in California. He took
lessons by washing airplanes. You could do it then. He took his father and
uncle and a friend of theirs on a fishing trip, I believe, in March 1939
by plane into the mountains of California. When they flew back it was
foggy and they got over the ocean and ran out of gas. They went into the
ocean and after two to three hours his father and uncle both drowned. He
had to go home and tell his mother. Not easy for a young man. He went into
the RCAF shortly after that. I will get you the exact dates. He did
training up in Canada and became as Flight Lt. in the RCAF. He never went
to England. Just stayed in Canada. When Pearl Harbor happened he
transferred to the Army Air Force. We have many papers etc. that I will go
through for you. I will send you anything about him I can that would be of
interest.
Irene
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