B-17 Flying Fortress B-17 44-6155

Geschichte der
B-17 44-6155

Delivered Tulsa 16/5/44; Kearney 25/5/44; Dow Fd 6/6/44; Assigned 751BS/457BG [P] Glatton 16/6/44; Missing in Action Kassel 2/11/44 with Sam Schimel, Co-pilot: Ed Grudzien, Don Scheuch, Albert Schmidt, Henry Short, Bob McFarlane (6 Prisoner of War); Bombardier: Dick Coffman,Tail gunner: Bob Kaer, Ball turret gunner: Dominic Staszwski (3 Killed in Action); enemy aircraft, crashed Ziegelrode, Ger; Missing Air Crew Report 10314.

Zuletzt aktualisiert: 13. Juli 2017

B-17 44-6155 Details

This is the account of the incident as described by Lt Schimel:

“Two of our engines were knocked out – the ship was cut to ribbons – the bombay was on fire as well as other parts of the ship. The plane went out of control. The engineer poked me and pointed to the bombay and left. The copilot and I gave the order over the phone to leave, I flipped on the auto pilot and the emergency alarm. The copilot and I bailed out and both of us were severly burned by the intense heat in the plane. The navigator, a new man to our crew, had his parachute in the parachute bag. By the time he found it and started to attach it, he was blown out as was the bombardier whose way he blocked. All members of the crew, except the three in the rear of the plane, met that evening in a temporary prison where we were held. Questioning about the fate of the three crewmen revealed little. The three were flying ball turret, tail gun and waist gun. The interrogator at the interrogation center near Frankfort told me that the three had been killed.”

Quelle: http://www.457thbombgroup.org/Fate/RLF107.HTML

B-17 44-6155 Crew