Crew #36 -- Aircraft #42 30063 -- "Picklepuss"
-- M.A.C.R. #677
| Capt |
Robert M. Knox |
P |
KIA |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| 2nd Lt |
John 0. Whitaker |
CP |
KIA |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| 2nd Lt |
Ernest E. Warsaw |
N |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| 2nd Lt |
Edwin F. Tobin |
B |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| T/Sgt |
Carl T. Simon |
E |
POW |
16-Sep-43 |
Bordeaux (With Crew of R.H. Wolff) |
| S/Sgt |
Malcolm K. Maddran |
WG |
-- |
-- |
(See Below) |
| T/Sgt |
Walter Paulsen |
R |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| S/Sgt |
Frank W. Tychewicz |
BT |
KIA |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| S/Sgt |
Joseph F. Laspada |
WG |
KIA |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| S/Sgt |
Henry A. Norton |
TG |
KIA |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
While in Puerto Rico during his
first hitch in the Air Corps, Malcolm Maddran had contracted amoebic
dysentary and this disease continued to plague him while with the 100th.
At the time of Regensburg he was in hospital and, after flying to
Schweinfurt in October 1943, he was grounded.
On 17 August 1943, Maddran was
replaced on the crew by Sgt. Alexander Markowski who was KIA. Carl Simon
was replaced by Glover Barney, regular engineer of Crew #28, who became a
POW.
Shot down by an enemy fighter,
the aircraft crashed at "Herbesthal Lontzen 500 meters W Schmalgraf". The six
dead were interred at the Cemetery of Honor, Eupen in Section 16, Graves
218, 219, 220, 221, 222 and 232.Much has been written about the
"Legend" of the 100th Bomb Group being "picked on" or singled out by the
Luftwaffe for punishment because a 100th Group B 17 had, during the
Regensburg raid, pulled out of formation with battle damage and then
lowered its wheels in a supposed token of surrender. Then, when approached
by several Luftwaffe fighter aircraft, its gunners were supposed to have
opened fire and shot down several of the German planes.
It has been widely reported (even
by a crew member) that the aircraft in question was that of Robert Knox.Most of us who were active with
the 100th Group at the time of the Regensburg mission realized the
silliness of this fanciful tale and it is finally being exposed as the
fairy tale that it is. In his forthcoming book about the Regensburg/Schweinfurt
mission, Martin Middlebrook gives the true facts of the situation which
may have given rise to the "Legend".
Middlebrook has located and
interviewed the B 17 pilot (not from the 100th Group) who was involved in
a "wheels down" incident during the mission and, perhaps of greater
importance in putting the Legend to rest, he has located and interviewed
the German fighter pilot who shot down "Picklepuss", aircraft #42 30063. |