| General | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | Boeing |
| Production-Block: | , B-17G-55-BO: 42-102544 to 42-102743 |
| Operational History | |
|---|---|
| Bomb Group: | , 305th Bomb Group |
| Bomb Squadron: | , 365th Bomb Squadron |
| MACR | 8067 |
| Fate: |
, Lost by enemy aircraft (09 August 1944) |
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History of
B-17 42-102645
Delivered Cheyenne 22/3/44; Kearney 14/4/44; Grenier 29/4/44; Assigned: 365BS/305BG Chelveston 14/5/44; MIA Karlsruhe 9/8/44 Pilot: Clayton Child (POW), Ken French, Henry Colt, Harry Kilmer, Andy Kuhn (4EVD); John Dubinskas, John Waldren, Grady Lucas, Jerry McEldowney (4KIA); Enemy aircraft, crashed Segelsen, Germany. ; MACR 8067.
Information may include corrections and additions based on Jing’s research.
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B-17 42-102645 Crew
| Position | Rank | Name | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | F/O | Child Clayton | POW | - |
| CP | F/O | Kenneth French | EVD | - |
| NAV | 2LT | Henry Colt | EVD | - |
| BOMB | F/O | Harold Kilmer | EVD | - |
| ENG/TT | SGT | Andrew Kuhn | EVD | - |
| RO | S/SGT | John Dubinskas | KIA | - |
| BT | SGT | John Waldren | KIA | - |
| WG | SGT | Lucas Grady | KIA | - |
| TG | SGT | Jerry McEldowney | KIA | - |
This page was last updated on 13 October 2019
27. February 2021 access_time 22:29
Kilmer on his record EVA Harold Francis KILMER / T 2522.
Stottville, New York.\
Born December 20, 1920 in Stottville, New York / living in Texas in 2013
Fl / Off, USAAF 305 Bomber Group 365 Bomber Squadron, bomber
Place of landing: Clabecq, towards noon
Boeing B 17G-55BO Flying Fortress, 42-102645, KY-A defeated by a FW 190 on 9 August 1944 during a mission on Munich hijacked on Karlsruhe.
Forced / crushed landing at Zegelsem, between Brakel and Ronse.
Duration: 4 weeks.
Camps: released in Beauraing.
Further information :
Crew Loss Report MACR 8067. Escape Report E & E 2015 available online.
The aircraft took off from Chelveston at 06:00. The bombs barely dropped on the lens, the B-17 is touched by the Flak. Attacked by a Fw190 fighter, its ailerons can not be controlled, the left engine is on fire and the pilot Clayton E. Child gives the order to leave the plane.
In addition to Harold Kilmer (this form), three others will be able to escape, 2nd Lt Henry Colt Jr., navigator, S / Sgt Andrew Kuhn, back gunner and co-pilot Kenneth French (E & E 1756 – landed near Braine-le-Château, assisted by Émile Crispeels of this locality and informed as having stayed on farms in Hal and Enghien and interrogated on September 7, 1944 by IS9.).
Two crew members were killed in the aircraft crash: S / Sgt radio operator John B. Dubinskas and the Sgt John R. Waldren back gunner. Clayton Child will be taken prisoner, as will Sgt Jerry R. MacEldowney and Sgt Grady Lucas Jr. Sgt Grady Lucas Jr. Both are reported to have died while in detention. It is probable that they were killed during a forced evacuation march from a camp to the approach of Russian troops. Jerry McEldowney rests at the American Ardennes Cemetery in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium.
Harold Kilmer jumps 15,000 feet (5,000 m). He sees the side gunner, Sgt Grady Lucas, fall into a canal. His escape report indicates that he will later hear that he was taken prisoner. Kilmer landed 10 meters from German soldiers on the roof of a building. He says the owner hides it on the second floor and the Germans do not search the house.
Harold Kilmer told us on the phone on April 15, 2008 to have landed at noon on the roof of Mrs. REYERS ‘house in Clabecq (not Tubize as written in her E & E report). It is first hidden for several nights (he says “one night” in his report) in the dovecote under the eaves of this house and is not found by the Germans who search “all”. After that, he was taken to a school in Tubize, where he remained three or four days (one week in his report and disguised as a priest) before being taken to Waterloo (by three resisters armed with Thompson submachine guns) , Then in Brussels (“near the Royal Palace”). Released to Beauraing by the GIs of the 1st Infantry Division (Big Red One), he accompanied them to the capture of Aachen, the first German city of importance conquered by the Allies. Kilmer has repeatedly told us that he will never forget what the Belgians did for him and that he will never be able to pay them back. It still corresponded to the time with its navigator, Henry Colt.
The archives of EVA tell us that de Tubize, Kilmer actually passes by Waterloo to be guided at Albert PEETERS, Rue du Tabellion in Ixelles, who hands him to EVA by lending his home as a relay for the handing over of Kilmer and Sgt RAF Walter Western. Kilmer is collected on 27 August 1944 in Schaerbeek by Yvonne BIENFAIT and hosted by Ms Marie-Anne VAN WEDDINGEN and Mrs Vve PEETERS (listed on the list of Belgian Helpers at 76 Rue du Tabellion in Ixelles …) from 27 to 30. Kilmer is evacuated August 30 by truck with LEEMAN on the camp of Bellevaux via Namur with Geoffrey Congreve. The two airmen rejoined Beauraing by bicycle.
Due to too many movements of German troops, they remain at Beauraing where they are released by the American troops. Kilmer cites Henri NACELLE (he says Henri MALLE elsewhere) of Beauraing for having lodged a week. They are Louis NICAISE and his wife Eugénie REQUET at 68 Rue de Bouillon in Beauraing. The list of Belgian Helpers includes “Eugénie RIQUET” …)
Kilmer heard about Colt and Kuhn in Belgium and saw them again in Paris. Kilmer is debriefed on September 11 by the 2nd Lt Richard Dana of the IS9, and returns to England on the 12th.