ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 192808
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| Date: | Saturday 13 January 1945 |
| Time: | 14:00 |
| Type: |  Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress |
| Owner/operator: | 337th BSqn /96th BGp USAAF |
| Registration: | 44-8489 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 10 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Gustavsburg (Hessen), 5 km southeast of Mainz -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
On 13 January 1945, during Eighth Air Force Mission 791, 958 bombers and 469 fighters were dispatched to hit marshalling yards and Rhine rail bridges mostly by PFF methods; they claimed 6-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 B-17s, 1 B-24 and 2 P-51s were lost over Germany, while 13 more aircraft (5 B-17s, 1 B-24 and 7 P-51s) crashed in Allied territory:
1. 367 B-17s were sent to hit the Mainz rail bridge (31), the Gustavsburg rail bridge at Mainz (95) and the Bischofsheim marshalling yard (119); 74 hit the secondary target, the Mainz marshalling yard; targets of opportunity were Euskirchen (13) and other (7); most attacks were made using Micro H but some formations bombed visually; 2 B-17s were lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 126 damaged; 1 airman was KIA, 4 WIA and 19 MIA. Escorting were 79 of 80 P-51s; 3 were damaged beyond repair.
2. 276 B-24s were dispatched to hit rail bridges at Worms (86) and Rudesheim (89) and the Kaiserslautern marshalling yard (87); 1 hit a target of opportunity; most attacks were made using Gee-H but some formations bombed visually; 1 B-24 was lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 39 damaged; 2 airmen were WIA and 10 MIA. The escort was 114 of 118 P-51s; 1 P-51 was lost and 1 damaged beyond repair.
3. 315 B-17s were sent to hit rail bridges at Germersheim (71, using Gee-H) and Maximiliansau (159) and rail and highway bridges at Mannheim (76) visually; 1 hit a target of opportunity; 5 B-17s were lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 9 damaged; 3 airmen were KIA, 7 WIA and 42 MIA. Escorting were 77 of 82 P-51s; 2 were damaged beyond repair.
4. 102 P-47s and P-51s flew a freelance fighter sweep supporting the bombers; they claimed 3-0-0 aircraft in the air and 3-0-1 on the ground; 1 P-51 was lost and 1 damaged beyond repair.
5. 45 of 45 P-51s flew a fighter-bomber mission against Mannheim, Trier, etc without loss.
6. 20 of 28 P-51s flew a scouting mission without loss.
7. 4 of 4 P-51s escorted an F-5 on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany.
________________________________________________
One of the losses of the day was the B-17G 44-8489 of 337th BS, 96th BG. According to the other crew it was hit by Flak a few seconds after the group had dropped its bombs on Bischofsheim, south of Mainz. It pulled up above formation until it appeared to stall out, then went into a dive and crashed near the target at 1306 hrs. Two chutes were seen but observation was restricted because of contrails.
According to the German crash report KU 3568, this bomber crashed at around 1400 hrs (German time) at Gustavsburg, 5 km southeast of Mainz. Six crew were captured and four were killed.
flak, crashed Ginsheim, near Mainz, Germany.
Crew:
Capt Merlin Gareth LaRue Miller (pilot) POW
Lt Col Melvin E Buckner (squadron CO, mission leader) KIA
1st Lt Roy Dale Collier (co-pilot) POW
1st Lt Louis R Rodriguez (voice interpreter) KIA
1st Lt Warren Henry Berg (navigator) POW
Capt Robert Lewis Alford (bombardier) POW
T/Sgt Venard B Jones (radio operator, from 338th BS) KIA
T/Sgt william Thomas Miller (flight engineer/top turret gunner) POW
S/Sgt Jerome Pete Re (waist gunner) KIA
S/Sgt Paul Dudley Hollen, Jr. (tail gunner) POW
After returning from captivity, the pilot, Capt Miller, reported that the plane was hit by Flak during the bomb run and that he ordered the crew to bail out after bombs away. The plane went into a spin, the tail having been shot off, and then disintegrated. Miller was thrown out of the bomber at this time. He last saw Lt Col Buckner unbuckling his equipment preparatory to bailing out. Hollen reported that Re and himself passed out aboard the bomber. When Hollen came to he had been thrown out and was falling. He did not see Re. Alford was also thrown out of the plane and survived with a broken leg. Miller and Berg were the only ones to bail, the last survivor, Collier, was also thrown out when the ship broke up.
Sources:
MACR 11570 (http://www.fold3.com/image/46709601/)
http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Jan.45.html
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginsheim-Gustavsburg#Stadtteil_Gustavsburg
http://www.maplandia.com/germany/hessen/darmstadt/main-taunus-kreis/gustavsburg/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 13-Jan-2017 10:53 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 27-Jan-2020 18:54 | Uli Elch | Updated [Operator, Location] |
| 03-Feb-2020 10:02 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 31-Mar-2020 09:50 | DB | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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