B-17 Flying Fortress B-17 43-38689

History of
B-17 43-38689

Delivered Fairfield 4/9/44; Hunter 25/9/44; Grenier 3/10/44; Assigned 601BS/398BG Nuthampstead 11/10/44; transferred 427BS/303BG [GN-A] Molesworth 28/10/44; Missing in Action Germersheim 13/1/45 with pilot 2Lt Oliver T Eisenhart, copilot 2Lt Henry McCullough, Navigator 2Lt Maurice Merrick, Bombardier F/O Herring Joyce, Flight Eng S/Sgt Sam Hindman, Radio Sgt Bernie Kaufmann, Ball turret Sgt Bill Kimber, Waist gun Sgt Jack Thompson, tail gun Sgt Therman Conaway (9 Killed in Action); direct flak hit in the tail, crashed Roxheim, Ger; Missing Air Crew Report 11574.

Last updated: 27. December 2024

B-17 43-38689 Details

Aircraft 43-38689 failed to return from an operational sortie to Mannheim, Germany on 13 January 1945. This aircraft received a direct hit in the tail section from enemy anti-aircraft fire, blowing off the horizontal stabilizer and pulverizing the whole tail section. Aircraft started into a steep dive, then broke up in mid air. No parachutes were seen to leave the aircraft.

Source: MACR 11574

Failed to Return (FTR) mission to bomb railroad bridge at Mannheim. Took a direct hit in the tail and plummeted earthwards. No crew escaped, probably held by the gravitational forces of the rapid descent. The lead plane of a higher squadron caught the plunge with its strike camera. Crashed Roxheim, Germany. 9 x KIA. MACR 11574.