COMMENTS & NOTES
MEMO 1:
CREW
1st Lt Curtis R. Biddick P KIA 17/8/43 Regensburg (with Lt Flesh Crew)
2nd Lt Hoyt L. Smith, CP POW 10/10/43 Munster (With crew of E.A.Kiessling)
2nd Lt Paul S. Warner NAV Grounded Bangor,Maine June 1943
1st Lt Dan B. McKay BOM POW 17/8/43 Regensburg (with Lt Flesh Crew)
T/Sgt Glover E. Barney TTE POW 17/8/43 Regensburg (with Lt Robert Knox Crew)
T/Sgt Ross H. Breckeen WG NOC
S/Sgt Joseph P. Eigen ROG POW Date & Mission Unknown
S/Sgt Roy L. Schellin BTG WIA 10/7/43 LeBourget-received DSC and PH for this mission, see below
S/Sgt John O. Stireman WG WIA 10/7/43 LeBourget-received DSC and PH for this mission, see below.
S/Sgt Alfred J. Vickers TG WIA 10/7/43 LeBourget (Purple Heart)
418th Sqdn. An "Original" crew. #28 A/C 42-30064 "Wild Cargo"
According to Dan McKay, Paul Warner "became ill in Bangor,Maine and was grounded there. He did not fly over to england with us." Roy Schellin, John Stireman and Al Vickers were all wounded severely in the 'Paris' raid. I heard they were scheduled to be shipped back to the States, but can't say positively that they were. The last I saw of them they were in the hospital in England "
Regensburg Mission: August 17, 1943
LT WILLIAM R. FLESH Original 100th BG Crew, 418th SQ
CREW #30 A/C #42-30066 "MUG WUMP" MACR #675
1ST LT WILLIAM R. FLESH P; See notes & crew listed below
F/O RICHARD L. SNYDER CP; KIA 17 AUG 43 REGENSBURG
2ND LT JOHN C. DENNIS NAV; POW 17 AUG 43 REGENSBURG
1ST LT PAUL R. ENGLERT BOM; POW 6 SEP 43 STUTTGART(with Crew#33, Lt Woodward )
T/SGT LAWRENCE E. GODBEY TTE; KIA 17 AUG 43 REGENSBURG
T/SGT ROBERT R. DEKAY ROG; KIA 17 AUG 43 REGENSBURG
S/SGT WALTER HALUNKA BTG; POW 17 AUG 43 REGENSBURG
S/SGT WILLIAM M. BLANK WG; POW 17 AUG 43 REGENSBURG
S/SGT CLARENCE R. BOWLIN TG; POW 17 AUG 43 REGENSBURG
S/SGT CHARLES F. VIELBIG WG SEE NOTES
MISSIONS OF LT WILLIAM FLESH CREW:
JUNE 26, 1943 LeMANS a/c 230066 MUGWUMP (NO CREDIT FOR MISSION,PLANES RETURNED DUE TO WEATHER)
JUNE 28, 1943 ST. NAZAIRE (FLAK CITY) a/c 230066 MUGWUMP
JUNE 29, 1943 LeMANS a/c 230066 MUGWUMP
JULY 4, 1943 LaPALLICE a/c 230066 MUGWUMP
JULY 10, 1943 LeBOURGET a/c 230066 MUGWUMP
JULY 17, 1943 HAMBURG a/c 230066 MUGWUMP
AUG 17, 1943 REGENSBURG a/c 25860 ESCAPE KIT
ON REGENSBURG MISSION, LT WILLIAM FLESH WAS ON LEAVE AND LT CURTIS BIDDICK, OF CREW #28 REPLACED HIM. BIDDICK'S REGULAR BOMBARDIER, LT DAN McKAY REPLACED LT PAUL ENGLERT. LT BIDDICK WAS KIA AND McKAY, BADLY BURNED, WAS A POW.
T/SGT HOWARD J. BROCK OF CREW #35 (LT BLAKELY CREW), FLEW FOR CHARLES VIELBIG AND WAS TAKEN PRISONER.
ABOUT FORTY MILES NORTHWEST OF REGENSBURG THE AIRCRAFT WAS HIT IN RIGHT SIDE OF THE NOSE AND FUSELAGE BY 20-MM ROUNDS, WOUNDING GODBEY AND STARTING AN INTENSE OXYGEN SYSTEM FIRE IN THE FLIGHT DECK AREA. THE CO-PILOT RICHARD SNYDER WAS SEEN STANDING ON THE WING, APPARENTLY HAVING EGRESSED THE AIRCRAFT THROUGH A HOLE IN THE FUSELAGE. IT IS THOUGHT THAT HE HIT THE STABLIZER WHEN HE LEFT THE WING, AT ANY RATE HIS BODY WAS LOCATED SOME THREE MONTHS LATER HANGING IN HIS CHUTE HARNESS FROM A TREE BRANCH. THIS IS THE INCEDENT MENTIONED BY BEIRNE LAY IN HIS ARTICLE ON THE REGENSBURG MISSION. OWEN "COWBOY" ROANE ALSO REPORTED SEEING SNYDER'S GALLANT BID TO ESCAPE THE DOOMED "ESCAPE KIT."(42-5860) LT ROANE REPORTED SEEING SNYDER CLIMB OUT ON THE WING AND REACH BACK INSIDE FOR HIS CHUTE PACK, PROABLY THE HOLE IN THE FUSELAGE WAS TOO SMALL TO GET THROUGH WEARING A CHUTE PACK. SNYDER BUCKLED ON HIS CHUTE WHILE STANDING IN THE FIRE RAGING ON THE WING. THE FACT HE DID NOT SURVIVE DOES NOT DIMISH HIS VALIANT EFFORT. HE WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN BY THE 100TH.
The following form contents were entered on 12th May 3
Date = 12 May 3 16:30:32
subject = 100thBG Feedback Form
messages = 1019
TYPE = Ask a question regarding history
RESPONSIBLE = 100TH BG HISTORIAN
EMAIL = rmckay@flatsurv.com
UNAME = James Reese McKay
CONNECTION = I am a relative of a 100th veteran
COMMENTS = My father, Dan Boies McKay, will turn 80 this June. He was the bombardier in Curtis R. "Pete" Biddick's crew. Their B-17 was shot down over Regensburg on August 17, 1943. The pilot, Lt. Biddick, and most of the crew were killed in action on this mission. My father and the radio operator survived and were POWs for the remainder of the war. I did not see anything in the missions history section about the Regensberg mission. Is that being worked on? My father could probably submit his account of this, although I have not talked to him about it in many years and I don't know how much detail he remembers after all these years.
My father did remember that someone named Gonzales replaced Paul Warner as navigator for the original Biddick crew. He couldn't remember his first name. He said that Gonzales had flown about 3 missions with them he thought. Most of the original Biddick crew had been shot up (all had survived their wounds as far as my father could remember) and were likely shipped back to the states by the time of the Regensberg raid. My father does not have a photo of the Biddick crew or any other crew. As far as he knows no one ever had such a photo. I will mail you one or two photos of my father though…
SUBMITTER INFORMATION
SUBMITTER: Claus Hanak
EMAIL: claus_hanak@t-online.de
PURPOSE: Ask a question
INTEREST: I am researching WW2 history
May 25, 2006
Dear Madam or Sir,
please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Claus Hanak and I live in Walldürn, a small town in South-West Germany, between Würzburg and Heidelberg. I am a historian and I am writing an academically study paper about an allied air attack on my hometown Walldürn in the Second World War. On July 21, 1944 twelve B-24 bombers from the 34. Bomb Group of 8th USAAF attacked Walldürn.
Talking to many contemporary witnesses, I found out that on August 17, 1943, there was another air-war incident near Walldürn. On that day – for the first time in war – American bomber squadrons flew over the town. German fighters attacked the flying fortresses and two aircraft were shot down and crashed near Walldürn. Those were the 100. Bomb Group aircraft B-17 »Escape Kit« flown by Lt. Curtis R. Biddick and the B-17 »Tweedle-O-Twill« flown by Lt. Ronald W. Braley.
Eyewitnesses reported that dramatic scenes had happened! The two aircraft crashed near the small villages Pülfringen and Schweinberg. Among other things balled out crew members were captured and injured airmen were medicated. The remains of the killed crew members were later buried at the local Catholic village cemeteries – with military honours, so contemporary witnesses told me. (Soon after the war, they were disinterred by US-Soldiers). The interviewed contemporary witnesses unanimously said, that the two villages were lucky, because the bombers crashed on the outskirts. An elder man – he was thirteen in 1943 – told me: “If I got the chance, I would thank Lt. Braley and his crew. He heaved the aircraft over Pülfringen, many people would have been killed, if the flying fortress had crashed in the middle of our hamlet!”
Therefore I am writing to you. Maybe you have some more information about the two aircrews. Are Ronald W. Braley and some members of his crew still alive? Are still some members of Curtis R. Biddicks crew alive? If you are interested I would be glad to give you the information I have concerning the two shooting downs.
Thank you for your co-operation. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely yours
Claus Hanak M.A.
---> NOTE TO 100TH STAFF:
To include the submitter in your reply, you must manually enter the submitter's address (claus_hanak@t-online.de)in one of the address fields.
**************************************************************************************************************
STIREMAN, JOHN O.
Synopsis:
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to John O. Stireman, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Waist Gunner of a B-17 Heavy Bomber in the 100th Bombardment Group, EIGHTH Air Force, while participating in a bombing mission on 14 July 1943, against enemy ground targets in the European Theater of Operations. The personal courage and devotion to duty displayed by Staff Sergeant Stireman on this occasion have upheld the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 8th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces.
Headquarters: European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army, General Orders No. 61 (1943)
Home Town: Superior, Wisconsin
SCHELLIN, ROY L.
Synopsis:
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Roy L. Schellin, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Gunner of a B-17 Heavy Bomber in the 100th Bombardment Group (H), EIGHTH Air Force, while participating in a bombing mission on 14 July 1943, against enemy targets in the European Theater of Operations. The personal courage and devotion to duty displayed by Staff Sergeant Schellin on this occasion have upheld the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 8th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces.
Headquarters: European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army, General Orders No. 61 (1943)
**********************************************************************************************************
Regensburg Mission:
1ST LT WILLIAM R. FLESH P; See notes & crew listed below
F/O RICHARD L. SNYDER CP; KIA 17 AUG 43 REGENSBURG
2ND LT JOHN C. DENNIS NAV; POW " " "
1ST LT PAUL R. ENGLERT BOM; POW 6 SEP 43 STUTTGART(CREW 33)
T/SGT LAWRENCE E. GODBEY TTE; KIA 17 AUG 43 REGENSBURG
T/SGT ROBERT R. DEKAY ROG; KIA " " "
S/SGT WALTER HALUNKA BTG; POW " " "
S/SGT WILLIAM M. BLANK WG; POW " " "
S/SGT CLARENCE R. BOWLIN TG; POW " " "
S/SGT CHARLES F. VIELBIG WG; SEE NOTES
BILL FLESH WAS ON LEAVE AND CURTIS BIDDICK, OF CREW #28 REPLACED HIM. BIDDICK'S REGULAR BOMBARDIER, DAN McKAY ALSO REPLACED PAUL ENGLERT. BIDDICK WAS KIA AND McKAY, BADLY BURNED, A POW.
HOWARD J. BROCK OF CREW #35, FLEW FOR CHARLES VIELBIG AND WAS TAKEN PRISONER.
ABOUT FORTY MILES NORTHWEST OF REGENSBURG THE AIRCRAFT WAS HIT IN RIGHT SIDE OF THE NOSE AND FUSELAGE BY 20-MM ROUNDS, WOUNDING GODBEY AND STARTING AN INTENSE OXYGEN SYSTEM FIRE IN THE FLIGHT DECK AREA. THE CO-PILOT RICHARD SNYDER WAS SEEN STANDING ON THE WING, APPARENTLY HAVING EGRESSED THE AIRCRAFT THROUGH A HOLE IN THE FUSELAGE. IT IS THOUGHT THAT HE HIT THE STABLIZER WHEN HE LEFT THE WING, AT ANY RATE HIS BODY WAS LOCATED SOME THREE MONTHS LATER HANGING IN HIS CHUTE HARNESS FROM A TREE BRANCH. THIS IS THE INCEDENT MENTIONED BY BEIRNE LAY IN HIS ARTICLE ON THE REGENSBURG MISSION. OWEN "COWBOY" ROANE ALSO REPORTED SEEING SNYDER'S GALLANT BID TO ESCAPE THE DOOMED "ESCAPE KIT."(42-5860) LT ROANE REPORTED SEEING SNYDER CLIMB OUT ON THE WING AND REACH BACK INSIDE FOR HIS CHUTE PACK, PROABLY THE HOLE IN THE FUSELAGE WAS TOO SMALL TO GET THROUGH WEARING A CHUTE PACK. SNYDER BUCKLED ON HIS CHUTE WHILE STANDING IN THE FIRE RAGING ON THE WING. THE FACT HE DID NOT SURVIVE DOES NOT DIMISH HIS VALIANT EFFORT. HE WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN BY THE 100TH.
The following form contents were entered on 12th May 3
Date = 12 May 3 16:30:32
subject = 100thBG Feedback Form
messages = 1019
TYPE = Ask a question regarding history
RESPONSIBLE = 100TH BG HISTORIAN
EMAIL = rmckay@flatsurv.com
UNAME = James Reese McKay
CONNECTION = I am a relative of a 100th veteran
COMMENTS = My father, Dan Boies McKay, will turn 80 this June. He was the bombardier in Curtis R. "Pete" Biddick's crew. Their B-17 was shot down over Regensburg on August 17, 1943. The pilot, Lt. Biddick, and most of the crew were killed in action on this mission. My father and the radio operator survived and were POWs for the remainder of the war. I did not see anything in the missions history section about the Regensberg mission. Is that being worked on? My father could probably submit his account of this, although I have not talked to him about it in many years and I don't know how much detail he remembers after all these years.
My father did remember that someone named Gonzales replaced Paul Warner as navigator for the original Biddick crew. He couldn't remember his first name. He said that Gonzales had flown about 3 missions with them he thought. Most of the original Biddick crew had been shot up (all had survived their wounds as far as my father could remember) and were likely shipped back to the states by the time of the Regensberg raid. My father does not have a photo of the Biddick crew or any other crew. As far as he knows no one ever had such a photo. I will mail you one or two photos of my father though…
*************************************************************************************************************
Dear Mr. Faley,
I talked to you (by email at least) a few years back about my father, Lt. Dan B. McKay, who was shot down over Regensburg Aug. 17, 1943. He spent the rest of th war as a POW. (He was later promoted to the rank of captain.) He was in the crew of Lt. Curtis Biddick who was killed in action on the Regensburg mission. Their B-17 exploded in flight. My father was burned pretty badly, but he bailed out and survived.
My wife and I met Capt. Charles Cruikshank and Capt. Frank Murphy at the Houston reunion in 2003. I really enjoyed talking with them at the reunion. I have not been able to persuade my father to go to any of the reunions. He did go to Washington DC last year (flown there by a volunteer group) to see the World War II Memorial and to see the changing of the guard at Arlington. One of my brothers flew there with him. He was very tired afterward, but he enjoyed the whole trip. He and my mother live in Mangham, Louisiana, near where both of them grew up.
My wife and I were noticing while looking up information about American POWs in World War II that there is a POW medal offered to all service members captured while engaged in combat with the enemy and who served time as POWs. Apparently this has been the case since 1985. I do not remember my father ever receiving this medal, and am wondering if you can tell me more about it, and about the information I would need to fill out an application for my father to receive it.
Thanks very much for your help.
Reese McKay
Boulder, CO Reese-McKay@q.com
Hi Michael,
Attached are two photos of my father in uniform. One is a formal portrait of just him. The other is a more informal photo at the air base in England (I believe). In this photo he is the second from the left and is with three other airmen. I have asked my father on more than one occasion if he could identify any of the other three men. My best recollection is that he told me that he could not remember who they were or even if they were on his crew. Perhaps someone else in the group can recognize one or more of the other men in the photo. My dad has told me that unfortunately he does not have any photos of his entire crew.
I apologize that it has taken me so long to even send you a photo. I have still been unable to coax my dad into retelling any stories of either of the two missions. It is too bad that no one in my family had the sense to write down his accounts from back in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, although he rarely talked about his experiences, he did sometimes talk about them. I was too young and too mesmerized by the stories to think of writing any of them down. I have memories of what he said in general terms back then, but it would not be the same as his first-hand account.
I do remember one more basic item of information. Although my father was burned seriously, the burns very fortunately did not leave any significant scars on his face or hands. He did receive pretty good medical care in a hospital (in Frankfurt I believe) before being sent to Stalag Luft 3.
I am really not the right person to interview my father about the air battles, and no one else in my family seems able to do it either. It is a very sensitive topic. I have always been very close to my father, which makes it more difficult in some ways. He named me after his best friend and cousin, Ensign James Reese Boies, who was a Navy fighter pilot, killed in action at the Battle of Wake Island just a few weeks after the Regensburg mission. His fighter, a Grumman F6A, crashed into the Pacific Ocean. His body was never recovered. My father is a model citizen, a very good father and grandfather. He does occasionally talk about the war years, but almost never feels like talking about those battles at 40,000 feet over Germany. Too many of the men he knew best in the war were killed in action.
I can send you more based on my own recollections of what my father told me in bits and pieces over the past 50 years, but I don't know if that would be useful for the website and the group history.
Reese McKay
Boulder, CO
From: MPFaley@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 6:26 PM
To: Reese-McKay@q.com
Subject: Re: Lt. Dan B. McKay, POW medal?
Hi Reese,
I remember you. I think this will explain everything you need to do http://www.amervets.com/replacement/pow.htm to get the medal. Your Dad deserves it. If you have any questions, just email me. I remember you were asking about the Regensburg mission and I pointed out where there were articles about the mission and books that were written about it.
You once offered to get me your Dad's account of the Regensburg mission and some photos of your Dad but they never came our way? I know life is hectic so I ask, please can you get them for us now? I know you said your Dad did not have a Crew photo. I would like to put his military photo on the crew page http://www.100thbg.com/mainpages/crews/crews1/biddick1.htm I could really use your help and it would be much appreciated. Your Dad is Original Cadre and has so much info Especially about the Regensburg Mission. Nobody has EVER talked to anyone from the plane your Father was shot down from. He was NOT suppose to fly the mission that day, but my understanding is (digging behind the scenes) that Flesh returned from London "under the weather" or had not returned from London yet to make the mission. Now this was a problem either way since the mission was a maximum effort and security was tight, no one was to leave the base. Well, Flesh could not fly so Biddick was asked to fill in and wanted his own Bombardier. Biddick must have had tremendous confidence in your Dad to request that. I would love to know your Dads thoughts on all of this. I know he was burned pretty bad and that scar and the emotional ones of being a POW have had to haunt him. I have interviewed many a man who survived this mission over the years but few are still alive today. I need your Dads perspective, in his own words, not mine. In that bombardiers position, he had a ring side seat to HELL before the fighters chewed up the plane and he had to bail out. I hope you can help. It can even be a video tape if that works. Just him talking about his time in the 100th, his crew, his pilot, the missions, his plane, give us a blow by blow of what he saw. Ask him to tell us about the LeBourget mission where everyone in the back of his plane was shot up. That has to be a great story.
***************************************************************************************************************
Dan Boies "D.B." McKay
Services will be held for retired Richland Parish Clerk of Court, D. B. McKay, at Rayville First Baptist Church, Rayville, at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, with the Rev. Rick Aultman officiating, Interment to follow at Gwin Cemetery in Mangham, LA.
Visitation will be held at Mangham Baptist Church from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, under the direction of Mulhearn Funeral Home-Rayville, LA.
Dan Boies "D.B." McKay, 89, of Mangham, died Sunday, March 10, 2013, at his residence.
He was preceded in death by his parents Daniel Baker McKay and Ethel Annette Boies McKay of Mangham, and his grandson, Thomas E. "Trey" Cooper III of Rayville.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years, JoAnn McKay of Mangham, four sons, Dan B. McKay, Jr., of Bunkie, Stephen R. McKay of Lake Charles, James Reese McKay, Boulder, Colorado, and Kevin B. McKay of Mangham; and two daughters, JoAnnette Mattison of Dallas, and Dedee Mangold of Erie, Colorado. He is also survived by four granddaughters, five grandsons, and seven great-grandchildren.
He was born in Mangham, June 8, 1923. He graduated from Mangham High School in 1940 and attended college at Northeast in Monroe for about 3 semesters until the outbreak of World War II, at which time he volunteered to join the U.S. Army Air Corps. After his tenure as Richland Parish Clerk of Court from 1957-80, he operated Richland Abstract Company until shortly before his death. He was a lifelong member of the Mangham Baptist Church where he served as a deacon for many years. He volunteered as a coach for Mangham Little League Baseball, where he taught many young boys how to play the game and work together. Another activity he loved was taking care of his herd of beef cattle on the family farm near Mangham.
In the Second World War, he served on a B-17 Flying Fortress in the 100th Bomb Group, 418th Squadron, of the U.S. Army Air Corps., Eighth Air Force. After training as a bombardier at several air bases in the U.S., he flew high-altitude daylight combat missions into the heart of Nazi Germany during the especially perilous year of 1943, when the Air Force had no fighters that could escort them all the way to their targets. He flew with his pilot and two different crews on several missions, including two missions that suffered very heavy losses.
On the mission to Regensburg, his B-17 was set ablaze when heavy machine gun fire from German fighters hit the oxygen system. His pilot was killed along with half the crew. Lt. McKay and the navigator both suffered burns but managed to bail out before the aircraft exploded in midair. He and the other surviving crew members were captured by the German Luftwaffe. He was taken first to a hospital, where he was treated for burns, and then sent to join other captured American and British airmen in Stalag Luft 3 at Sagen near the current German-Polish border.
He spent next 20 months as a POW. Near the end of the war both the prisoners and the prison guards were on starvation rations of bread and water, with potatoes when they were lucky. In the dead of winter, in early 1945, as the Russian army approached from the east, he and his fellow POWs were sent on a forced march through the snow for about 100 miles to the west. From there, they were taken by train to the much larger Stalag 7A. In April 1945, elements of the 14th Armored Division of General Patton's 3rd Army managed to fight their way to Stalag 7A at Moosburg where they liberated over 110,000 Allied prisoners. One of Lt. McKay's high school classmates, Bennie M. Hixon, was serving in the Division at the time and the two of them managed to meet up in the chaos of the newly liberated prison camp.
He was promoted to the rank of Captain and awarded the Purple Heart, Air Medal, American Campaign Medal, and the Europe, Africa, Middle East Ribbon with battle star.
Pallbearers will be Dan B. McKay III, John McKay, Nathan McKay, Hunter McKay, Jared McKay, Joel McKay, Donald Womack, and Paul Descant.
Honorary pallbearers will be the members of Mr. McKay's Sunday School class and the deacons of Mangham Baptist Church.
The family requests memorials made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, or to the building fund of Mangham Baptist Church.
Online registry/condolences at www.mulhearnfuneralhome.com
Mulhearn Funeral Home
Rayville, LA
.
Published in The News Star on March 12, 2013
MEMO 2:
Original 100th, Crew #28. Replaced Paul Englert on this mission. He was badly burned during the mission.
