PERSONNEL:

PERSONS WHO ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE LAST KNOWLEDGE OF AIRCRAFT

PERSONNEL WHO ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE SURVIVED

EYEWITNESS DESCRIPTIONS OF CRASH

Circumstances of the loss of this A/C are unknown.

DESCRIPTION OF SEARCH EFFORT

PREPARING OFFICER

PREPARED BY: CLAUDE L. HOSFORD 1st Lt Air Corps Personnel Officer

DATE PREPARED: 1943-10-21

TRANSCRIBER NOTES

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)