Source:
www.fold3.com
| General | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | Lockheed/Vega |
| Production-Block: | , B-17G-1-VE: 42-39758 to 42-39857 |
| Operational History | |
|---|---|
| Bomb Group: | , 94th Bomb Group |
| Bomb Squadron: | , 332nd Bomb Squadron |
| RCL | XM-N |
| Fate: |
, Lost by flak/aa-fire (11 November 1943) |
History of
B-17 42-39812 / Casey Jones
Delivered Long Beach 8/9/43; Gr Island 3/10/43; ass 332BS/94BG [XM-N] Rougham 8/10/43; MIA Munster 11/11/43 w/Dick Ralls, cp-Hugh Hardgrove, b-Theo Hathaway, ettg-Lester Mann, ro-Francis Markwell, btg-Lynnford Smith, wg-Bill Borman{body washed up Scharendijke, Schouwen Is, Holl 19/6/44}, wg-John Smith, tg-Alf Salsgiver (9KIA); n-John Thompson (POW); flak, on fire going down, cr Tilburg, Hol; MACR 1066. CASEY JONES.
B-17 42-39812 / Casey Jones Details
Photo were taken on November 11th 1943 on returning from Munster mission. B-17 #42-39812 / Casey Jones went lost that day. Possibly the last photo of this B-17 and crew.
This page was last updated on 24 October 2019
11. November 2023 access_time 20:36
Would like to know the name of the mission the “Casey Jones” was on 11 November, 1943.
I have information about one of the airmen on that plane.
12. December 2023 access_time 18:46
Hi Delsa! My grandpa was a part of this crew but was sick and didn’t go out on this mission. I have a lot of information about the crew and members. Are you a relative of one of the men on the crew? Which one? I would love to share information!
26. December 2023 access_time 22:54
Hi Catherine,
My great-uncle was Lt. Richard W. Ralls, pilot of “Casey Jones.” I would love to exchange information as I have been doing research as well. One discrepancy in the info given above is the plane was not “lost to Flak/aa fire” but shot down by Luftwaffe fighter pilot Adolf “Addi” Glunz.
18. January 2024 access_time 21:52
Hi Justin! I’m not sure if you were notified that I responded to your comment a few weeks ago, I think I just responded to the whole thread so I wanted to make sure you saw it. I hope to hear from you soon!
26. December 2023 access_time 22:51
Hi Delsa, My great-uncle was Lt. Richard W. Ralls, pilot of “Casey Jones” I would love to exchange information as I have been doing research (the mission is mentioned in B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the Eighth Air Force (part 2) by Martin Bowman).
27. December 2023 access_time 18:28
Hi Justin! I am so excited to talk to a relative of Richard Ralls, I have been searching for someone!! I have over 1,000 letters to/from my grandpa when he was in the air force. He was assigned to your great uncle’s crew prior to March 1943 so they had known each other for awhile before the plane was shot down. I have a few letters that mention Ralls and a few photos of the crew and some news articles which I’m sure you’ve seen . I’m not sure if you know that the crew originally flew a plane called the “Bucket of Bolts” but later flew on a plane that they named “Casey Jones” after two members of their original crew – Robert Jones and Clarence Casey went down on a different mission on a plane called “Ten Knights in a Bar”. Jones was found alive almost a year later and Casey was a POW. Anyway! My email address is catherinejane88@gmail.com – I would love to share the letters with you that I have about your great uncle!
15. January 2024 access_time 20:08
Hi, all! My uncle, William Borman, was on Casey Jones when it was shot down. Strangely, it says his body was
15. January 2024 access_time 20:12
My uncle, William Borman, was on Casey Jones when it was shot down. His body was recovered in Holland, which is quite aways from where the plane was reportedly shot down. It’s always been a mystery as to how he got that far.
It would be great if we could get in touch with the family of John Thompson, the only surviving crew member.
18. January 2024 access_time 21:50
Hi Bud!
I unfortunately don’t have any contact info for John Thompson or much information about him. I am wondering if he joined the crew later on? I have a picture of your uncle, William Borman, with the Ralls crew when they were flying the Bucket of Bolts, I’m happy to send it to you if you don’t have it. I also have a fun newspaper article that your uncle and my grandpa, Emil Petersen, are both in. Do you have any pictures/newspaper articles/anything about the crew? You can email me at catherinejane88@gmail.com so we can share! 🙂
13. October 2025 access_time 9:15
I recently came across this website from researchers in the Netherlands: https://luchtoorlogww2.wixsite.com/munster/42-39812
There are some additional photos/images I had not seen before.
Copied the article below.
94 Bomb Group / 332 Bomb Squadron USAAF.
Base: Bury St. Edmunds/Rougham Station 468 (UK).
Crash location: North Sea – 19 miles West of Westerschouwen (The Netherlands).
B-17’s of the 94th Bomb Group were attacked multiple times by German fighter planes mainly of Jagdgeschwader 26 coming from Belgium and northern France in the area of Dordrecht. Attacks were done mostly from the front and the rear of the bombers.
B-17, 42-39812, “Casey Jones” was probably already shot at over the Hollands Diep by possibly Ofw Glünz or Oblt Leuschel (both of JG26).
B-17, 42-39812 “Casey Jones” flew on for some time, but over the south west part of the Netherlands, the battered B-17 was spotted by German fighter planes of the 2nd Gruppe/Jagdgeschwader 3 which came from the airbase Schiphol to intercept the bombers.
The crippled B-17 was finally downed over sea by Uffz Martin Hausmann, 12 km west of Haamstede.
Hausmann got the claim as HerausschuB (HSS) (shooting down an already battered plane).
B-17, 42-39812 crashed and disappeared into the waves of the North Sea. Only navigator 2Lt Thompson survived the crash and was rescued by a fishing boat and taken prisoner of war in Amsterdam on November 12th, 1943.
The body of Sgt Borman washed ashore near Scharendijke on June19th, 1944, and was buried June 21st, 1944 at a cemetery in Haamstede.
After the war, Borman’s remains were brought to the US War Cemetery Ardennes near Luik (Belgium). On request of Borman’s family, his remains were then brought to the USA and buried at New Bethlehem Memorial Park Cemetery in Missouri.
The rest of the crew members are still missing in action and are listed on the “Wall of the Missing” on the US War Cemetery in Cambridge (UK).