Summary
PAGES
INTRODUCTION 1
A) the mission of the 8th august 19442
a-1)The global objectives of the bombers2
a-2)The number of planes2
B) 100th BOMB GROUP : 349th BOMB SQUADRON (1942-1944)2 à 4
b-1)History 2
b-2)The airfield of Thorpe Abbots (1942-2003)3
C) A MYTHICAL PLANE4 à6
c-1)The B17 G4
c-2)A few words about the flight tactics6
D) THE CREW OF 1st/Lt JOHN P. KEYS 7 à 25
d-1)Who were they 7
d-2)A few details about the tour of operations16
d-3)An experienced crew16
d-4)The mission of 29th may 1944 : happy ending and moment of glory
for the crew23
E) Behind THE CURTAINS OF THE TRAGEDY25 à27
e-1)The sources 25
e-2)Thorpe Abbots : morning of the 8th august26
e-3)Take-off26
e-4)From the British coast to the Norman sky 27
F) the explosion of the plane27 à 31
f-1)The sources27
f-2)Hit by the flak 29
f-3)The fall 30
f-4)The evacuation of the plane and its explosion 30
G) IN THE INFERNO OF THE CRASH31 à 41
g-1)Geographical situation 31
g-2)In the trench32
g-3)Multiple crash areas 33
g-4)The bomb load of the B17 34
g-5)A nightmare vision34
g-6)The survivor : Gilbert A. BORBA 36
g-7)The death of 2nd/Lt Elton DICKENS39
g-8)The Germans 40
H) THE BURIAL41 à 55
h-1)A collective tomb41
h-2)The foreboding of Patricia SAMUELSON 42
h-3)The moment of doudt, missing for so long 43
h-4)Searches done by the families 44
h-5)The official death annoucement45
h-6)The wedding band of 2nd/Lt Patrick H. LOLLIS 46
h-7)The exhumation ad the provisional cemetery of Blosville (Manche)48
h-8)Personal belongings were returned to their families 50
h-9)Diverging statements 50
h-10)The burials in the US 51
h-11)Gratefulness : (1944 – 2003)54
I) THE RECYCLING OF THE PLANE 55 à 56
i-1)The scarp merchants and the locals 55
i-2)Plexiglas, rubber from the tank, parts of the carlingue, sikl from55
the parachutes and the survival boat from the plane
i-3)The electricity line56
CONCLUSION 57
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INTRODUCTION
At the beginning of august 44 the Operation Overlord which started on the 6th June 1944, when the allied troops landed in Normandy was going nowhere. To force the issue and annihilate the German blockade of the road to Falaise the Allied Forces planned a large offensive with tanks. Its code name was “Totalise”; this operation would start with a heavy bombardment on the 8th august 1944 and would be executed by the Canadian and Pole troops. The bomber Command came first during the night of the 7th to 8th August and was followed by the 8th Air Force during the day of the 8th.
On the Thorpe Abbots base the crews of the 100th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force prepared to take off for their mission. Among them was the crew of the 1st/Lt John P. Keys of the 349th Bomb Squadron which would not come back.
8 of the 9 aviators died when their plane exploded above the hamlet of “Les Hauts- Champs” in Perigny (Calvados), hit by the terrible German flak.
I wrote this dissertation to tell the story of the B17G number 43-37865.
A)THE MISSION OF THE 8th AUGUST 1944 :
a-1) The global objectives of the bombers :
The mission of the bombers from the 8th Air Force is to crush the German defences placed around the villages of Cauvincourt, Bretteville sur Laize, Saint Sylvain et Gouvix (Calvados).
The time of the bombing was 12.30.
It was planned in two phases : First they would aim for the areas of Bretteville sur Laize and Saint Sylvain then those of Cauvincourt and Gouvix.
The bombers were carrying fragmentation and explosive bombs.
a-2) The number of planes :
The mission on the 8th August 1944 was the 531st of the 8th Air Force. It was a real Armada.
681 bombers coming from the 1st and 3rd Bomb Divisions took off from their base in the UK to bomb German lines following a very precise timetable.
These planes were escorted by 100 fighter planes (P51).
B)100th BOMB GROUP : 349th BOMB SQUADRON (1942-1944) :
b-1) History :
The 349th Bomb Squadron was formed on the 27th October 1942 on the Gowan airfield in Boise (Idaho, USA). It was made of men and officers from the 6th Bomb Squadron.
Together with the 350th, , 351st , 418th Bomb Squadrons they formed the 100th Bomb Group from this date onwards.
This group is part of the13th Bomb Wing, itself a part of the 3rd Bomb Division (See appendix 1).
On the 1st November 1942 the 100th Bomb Group was transferred onto the base of Walla (State of Washington) where it was allocated with B17.
The aviators started their training on this mythical plane.
From the 30th November 1942 till 28th December 1942 the group used the Wendover (Utah) airfield before moving near the Sioux Ville (Iowa).
At the end of January 1943 they moved again to Kearney airfield (Nebraska). They let Kearney on the 2nd May 1943 to move to the UK. They travelled on board the Queen Elisabeth.
Once in the UK the 100th Bomb Group was first based in Podington from the 2nd till the 8th June 1943, then they were transferred to the Thorpe Abbot Airfield from the 9th June 1943.
The 100th Bomb Group had a bad reputation in the USA, it was nicknamed “The bloody Hundredth”. It was not the group with the most casualties but it had lost the most men in a single mission on several occasions…No comment.
From 1943 to 1944 the Group mainly bombed industrial targets in France and Germany. Their 1st mission was on the 25th June 1943.
They received a mention following the successful bombing of a fighter plane factory in Regensburg near Berlin on the 17th August 1943 and another to mark their part in raids on Berlin on the 4th, 6th and 8th of March 1944.
They were also awarded the war cross with palm for their action in the liberation of France.
On the 6th June 1944 they bombed the Norman coastlines to destroy the German defences, thus taking an active part in the success of the Normandy Landing.
On the 25th July 1944 they ere part of the armada that destroyed the German positions around St Lo, contributing to the success of the operation COBRA.
The 349th Bomb Squadron was constituted by 67 officers, 360 men and 12 planes it was under the direction of Captain Veal.
The planes could be identified with the D painted on their tail (100th Bomb Group) and the code XR which identified their squadron (see appendix 2).
Their squadron’s emblem was a circle in which Mickey Mouse was flying out of the clouds on Pluto’s back (see appendix 3).
On the 8th August 1944on the airfield of Thorpe Abbot 26 planes from the 100th Bomb group were getting ready to take part in a bombing mission in support of the operation Totalize.
b-2) The airfield of Thorpe Abbots (1942-2003) :
The airfield is situated in Norfolk, less than 1km from the village of Thorpe Abbots.
It was built in 1942 and the 8th A.F moved in on the 4th June 1942.
Its first occupation by a bombing unit was in June 1943.
Each airfield had a number in the UK and Thorpe Abbots is Station 139.
It could accommodate 421 officers and 2473 men.
The 4 squadrons of the 100th Bomb group were based there from the 9th June 1943 to the 11th December 1945.
During this time around 7000 men and some women were stationed there.
On the 20th December 1945 the key of the airfield was handed back to the Royal Air Force.
The airfield was closed in 1956 and is still unused today. It houses the memorial museum of the 100th Bomb Group.
the building occupied by the 349th Bomb squadron were all destroyed, there is hardly any sign left of their presence on the airfield.
On the 8th August 1944 the airfield was in full motion as the crews were getting ready for the 178th mission of the 100th Bomb group (see appendix 4).
C)A MYTHICAL PLANE :
c-1) The B17G :
The B17 is a legendary plane, the inhabitants of Normandy remember vividly the noise a formation of B17 made when flying towards its target. they also remember the persisting white trails of condensation which formed at the back of the engines.
The B17G were introduced in 1943. It was a flying fortress with 13 12.7mm machine guns which could carry 2724 kg of bombs (see appendix 5).
Its crew consisted of 9 or 10 men, depending on the type of mission. There was a pilot, a co-pilot, a navigator, a bomber, a mechanic who was also the main gunman, a central gun man, a left and a right hand side gun man and also one at the tail.
When the plane only carried 9 crew members one of the side gun man stayed on the ground.
Technical Sheet of the B17 G :
Length : 22.68m
Height : 5.84m
Wing surface : 131.90m2
Engines : 4 Wright cyclone R 1820-97
Weight when empty : 16391 kg
Max weight on take off : 24950kg
Max charge : 2724kh
Max speed : 472km per hour
Cruising speed : 293 km per hour
Max altitude : 10850 m
Flight distance : 5472km.
The B17 had a reputation for being robust, even when badly damaged it cold still fly its crew home safely.
In the USAAF the mechanics traditionally drew suggestive or humouristic pictures with war like connotations on the fuselage of their plane. The Americans call this “Nose Art”.
They also named the planes in relation to the caricature on its nose.
This helped unify the different crews of a squadron.
The crew of 1st/Lt John P.KEYS flew on 6 planes (see appendix 6) :
SPARKY, number 42-31723, registered XR-R built in December 1943 and based in Thorpe Abbot from the 15th February 1944. It was shot down on the 29th July 1944 during the 170th mission of the 100th Bomb Group. The mission had targeted Merseburg (Germany).
YEHUDI, number 42-31723, registered XR-B and built in March 1944.It was based in Thorpe Abbot from the 22nd April 1944. It was badly damaged on the 5th December 1944 during its 44th mission.
VARGA VENUS, number 42-102621, registered XR-P crashed near Thorpe Abbot on the 29th July 1944 when returning from a mission above Merseburg. It had taken part in 25 missions.
And finally on board BILLY BOY (42-31347, registered XR-K), SHILAYLEE (42-31987) and SUPERSTITIOUS ALOYSIUS (42-31049, registered XR-U).
The crew also flew on 4 B17 that had not been named :
42-107211
42-107095
42-37939
43-37865
On the 8th august 1944 the crew of the 1st/ Lt John P .Keys flew on board the B17 number 43-37865.
This B17G, model 70-BO was the 8843rd B17 produced by Boeing in Seattle. It was delivered by the Boeing factory of Cheyenne (Wyoming) after the addition of the tower type Cheyenne.
It was assigned to the 349th Bomb squadron on 10th July 1944.
It was equipped with 4 engines R-1820-97 which bore the following numbers:
Engine number 1 : SW-018521
Engine number 2 : SW-018656
Engine number 3 : SW-020273
Engine number 4 : SW-020335
Its 12 browning machine guns (there usually were 13), type M-2 bore the following numbers:
1217475,1215572,1217059,1217342,1215732,1215598,1217128, 121469,1217504, 1217163, 1217871, 1217562.
c-2) A few words about the flight tactics :
Each mission required several hundred planes to fly close together coming from different bombing squadrons of the 8th A.F.
Each bombing formation was protected by several hundreds escort planes to counter the German plane attacks. However escort planes could not do much against the German flak. Each formation was composed by several Combat Wings, each Combat Wing composed of a group leader, a high group and a low group.
As we’ve mentioned previously the 100th bomb Group was part of the 19th Combat Wing.
D)THE CREW OF 1st/Lt JOHN P. KEYS :
d-1) Who were they :
The crew was formed and joined the 349th Bomb Squadron on the 3rd May 1944 (see appendix 7).
All the members of the crew left the US at the end of April 1944.
1st/Lt John P . KEYS (0-810894)
We could not find his date of birth, the only information available was that he was 26 in 1944.
He lived with his parents in Elisabethon (Tennessee). He was the son of Mr and Mrs John E. KEYS.
He had 2 sisters: Elisabeth and Reba ( Both died, Reba on the 1st July 2003 aged 87).
He was trained as a pilot in Salt Lake City (Utah) and graduated in November 1943.
We found 2 photos of 1st/Lt John P Keys on which he has a closed face, quite shy.
We know that his crew loved him and found him very subtle.
On the 8th August 1944 he flew on board the B17 “43-37865” as a pilot, he was 26.
We did some research in Elisabethon to find members of his family using the death certificate of Reba B. SLAGLE where we found names of nieces and nephews of the late John P. KEYS.
Unfortunately we have not received any reply so far.
2nd /Lt Patrick H. LOLLIS (0-706241)
He was born on the 7th October 1921 to Oscar F. LOLLIS and Mabel G. LOLLIS. He was the oldest of 3 brothers: Roger and Jerry.
He graduated from Westport High-school in Kansas City (Missouri) in 1939. That’s where he met Laura L. LADY who would become his wife 3 years later. He went to Missouri University in Columbia (Missouri) for 2 years before joining the Army Air Corp in April 1942.He got married on the 25th April 1942.
He trained as a navigator and received his stripes of 2nd /Lt on the 15th January 1944.
On 1st May 1944 his mother sent him a 4 leaved clover in the UK. He replied that it would become his talisman and he would always have it with him (Letter received 17th May 1944).
On the 8th August 1944 he flew on board the B17 “43-37865” as the navigator, he was 22.
F/O Elvin W. SAMUELSON (T-61047)
He was born on the 6th January 1920 in Big Rock (Illinois)
He spent most of his short life there, he was the only son of William and Esther SAMUELSON.
Elvin is his administrative name, he liked to be called Alvin (His widow Patricia (SAMUELSON) WENZEL called him Alvin). It’s the name engraved on his tomb in the States.
His grand-parents were Swedish and had emigrated to the States.
He went to school in Bog Rock for 12 years and after High-school he strated working while learning the job of welder in a local company.
That’s where he met his future wife Patricia : “That’s where we met, we fell in love and we eventually got married”.
At that time, as Patricia explained, young people signed up for the Army, that’s what Alvin did and one day he was called up and went.
He was based in several military bases in the US and Patricia went to see him as often as she could.
He eventually got transferred into the USAAF.
Bright trainee officer he graduated first of his group in solo piloting.
He was always smiling even though he was not the best looking. Patricia told us that the photo where he is with T/Sgt Harry D. PARK is a good one of him, it shows well what he was like in real life.
Alvin W. SAMUELSON liked audacity and the war was just what the young American was looking for. He went happily to war, treating this as the greatest adventure of his life. He was also a musician amater, he had learnt music at school and played in an orchestra. Fascinated by music he started to learn to play the guitar after he graduated, he often sang along when he played the guitar. After a last photo with Patricia in Montgomery (Illinois) in March 1944 he left fool of confidence.
Patricia was working in a factory riveting ammunition boxes for planes near Montgomery. Almost all of the American economy was supporting the war effort.
On the 8th august 1944 she was staying with Alvin’s parents on the first floor where his dad William had done up a room for her.
At the same time Alvin took off on board the B17 “43-37865” as a co-pilot. He was 24.
2nd /Lt Elton DICKENS (0-757704)
We only have very few information about 2nd /Lt DICKENS, we know that he came from Spokane and we tried to contact 2 people with this name still living there to help us with our investigations. We have also contacted Carmen E. AURRECOECHEA. She managed to trace Elton Dicken’s nephew. He gave us very important information: 2nd/Lt DICKENS had a sister who lives in Phoenix (Arizona).
Once more Carman helped us and she found Elton Dickens’s sister: Lana PERRY and her grandson Greg PERRY in San Diego (California).
We are hoping that they will be able to provide some insight about Elton DICKENS his life and his death on 8th august 1944.
For the moment we only know that his parents lived in Spokane (Washington), that he was married to Helen and that Helen lived with her parents in Seattle in August 1944.
His name can be found amongst the 6299 names engraved on the war memorial in Seattle.
Before the war Elton was the advertising director in the Bremerton Sun.
He had started working for the newspaper in 1938 as an advert technician and was promoted into the director role.
The researches done by Gilbert A. Borba’s family in the archives of the newspaper enabled us to find an article about his disappearance on the 8th August 1944. It bears a photo.
The French witnesses thought Elton had 2 children, in reality he had only a little girl.
From 1938 to 1943 he lived with his wife in Bremerton (Washington) where he had many friends.
He left the Bremerton Sun on the 5th February 1943 to train in the Army Air Force.
He was trained in the bombers school of Victorville (California) in classes 43-15.
He graduated on the 23rd October 1943 and on the 8th august 1944 he flew on board the B17 “43-37865” as a bomber. He was 28, the oldest of the crew members.
S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA (39125536)
He was born on the 13th July 1925 in Salina (California), He was the son of John and Henrietta M. BORBA.
His parents lived in Aromas (California). He had a brother Hubert and their mother had been born in France.
He graduated from a high-school in Watsonville in 42 or 43, he the graduated as a technician for the Army Air Force in Amarillo (Texas) on the 17th September 1943.
On the 8th august 1944 he flew on board the B17 “43-37865” as a side gun man for a mission that he would remember all his life. He was 19.
T/Sgt Harry D.PARK (35477145)
He was born on the 5th February 1924 in Gales burg (Illinois).
He was the son of Lillie O. PARK (died in 1940) and of Georges H. PARK who does in 1949.
He went to high-school until 1942 when he graduated.
He was a member of the golf team of his school and played for them for several years.
His close friends called him Dale. Before being called up by the army on the 15th March 1943 he was training as a mechanic.
On the 8th august 1944 he flew on board the B17 “43-37865” as a superior gun man and mechanic. He was 20.
S/Sgt Donald V. Rieger (19128814)
He was born on the 17th March 1925 and was the son of Dora B.RIEGER.
He graduated in Manteca (California) and was a warehouse employee.
On the 8th august 1944 he flew on board the B17 “43-37865” as tail gun man. He was 19.
S/Sgt Peter P.Martin (39122647)
He was born on the 6th June 1924 in San Francisco (California). We know very little about him.
His mother lived in San Francisco in 1944.
We found a website listing all the inhabitants born in San Francisco between 1905 and 1995. It seems that his mother’s maiden name was PERIE and he was her only son. We do not have much hope of finding any more information about him.
On both pictures depicting the crew he looks rather relaxed, he pulls his tongue out on one and blows up his cheeks on the other.
On the 8th august 1944 he flew on board the B17 “43-37865” as a central gun man. He was 20.
The role as a central gun man was very thankless, it was often reserved for smaller aviators, which was the case of S/Sgt Perter MARTIN.
T/Sgt Frank O. THOMAS (11070324)
He was born on the 10th November 1921 (Vermont), he was the son of Grant and Evelyn THOMAS.
He lived with his parents, his brother (Richard) and his sister (June) in Rutland. He was the oldest, his father was an electrician in the “ Central Vermont Public Service Corps”.
He went to school in Rutland where he was very popular and well regarded. He was also very good at sport, he wanted to become a lawyer but unfortunately when the economic crisis started he had to stop his studies and started working for the “engineering Department of Westinghouse Electric” in Springfield (Massachusetts).
When he has made enough money he went to university in Alabama but was called up after a year into the army.
He was first seduced by the idea of becoming a pilot but that would not be possible because of an eye acuity deficiency.
He was bitterly disappointed but with his prior experience he became a radio operator.
In the summer of 1944 his sister June graduated from Rutland High-school, a very important step in her life, while their mother worked in a factory supporting the war effort in Burlington (Vermont).
On the 8th August 1944 he flew on board the B17 “43-37865” as a radio operator, he was 22.
d-2) A few details about the tour of operations :
Each crew had the objective to finish their tour. The number of missions needed changed during the course of the war, from June 1943 till 19th March 1944 crews needed 25 missions.
From 19th May 1944 to July 1944 it was increased to 30 missions.
From July 1944 to May 1945 it went up to 35 missions.
The crew of 1st / Lt John P. KEYS was shot down during their 26th mission on a tour that would have counted 35.
d-3) An experienced crew :
The crew of the 1st /Lt John P. KEYS was experienced, they had completed 26 bombing missions above Europe (see appendix 8) as we have just mentioned. We will give dates and objectives of these missions as we had no information on their details, we will list those missions month by month.
We had 4 sources:
•He excellent website of the 100th bomb group ( Statements from veterans, diaries etc…)
•The war diary of S/Sgt COSTANZA.
•The MACR list of missions of 1st/Lt john P. KEYS of 2nd/Lt Elton DICLKEN.
•The wonderful work done by Ray BOWDEN from the USAAF Nose Art Research Project.
MAY 1944 :
The 1st bombing mission took place on the 11th May 1944 above Belgium, near Liege (mission number 115 for the 100th Bombing Group, 351st for the 8th Air Force). The crew of 1st / Lt John P. KEYS was one of the 119 crews from the 3rd Bomb Division who took part in this mission, they flew on the B17 “Sparky”.
On the 12th May 1944 the crew should have bombed the area near Brussels on board B17 ”42-107211” but following an unknown incident ( probably mechanical) they had to turn back and were not credited for this mission.
Their second mission (mission 117 for the 100th Bomb Group, 355th for the 8th Air Force) was to bomb an airfield in Osnabruck in Germany. It was executed on the 13th May 1944 by 179 B17 from the 3rd Bomb Division. They dropped 449 tonnes of bombs on the target. The crew flew on board the B17 “42-107095”.
Their 3rd mission brought them back above Germany to bomb Berlin (mission 118 for the 100th Bomb Group and 358th for the 8th AF) on the 19th May 1944. 175 B17 from the 3rd Bomb Division took part in it, each plane was carrying 5 bombs of 1000 lb G.P.
The planes met with very heavy flak as well as many German fighter planes. Out of 175 planes, 9 were reported missing and 81 came back damaged to base. The 100th Bomb Group lost 2 planes (1 from the 349th BS and one from the 350th BS).
They claimed to have shot 10 German planes. During this mission the crew of 1st / Lt KEYS who were flying on “Sparky “ were attacked by one or several German fighter planes (FW190) and the plane was seriously damaged in a section of the tail. Despite this they managed to fly “Sparky” back to Thorpe Abbot airfield.
According to our findings a German fighter plane collided with the B17, tearing the tail and putting the plane out of service for 2 weeks.
According to an article given to us by the son of Patrick H. LOLLIS, after the plane was damaged it became impossible to control and started plummeting, miraculously it lifted its nose up again.
The 2nd Lt believed it was due to his lucky star : His lucky clover. It was the last time the crew flew on “Sparky “.
On the 23rd May 1944 the crew was to bomb Troyes but the sky was too clouded and the B17 were called back to base before they could complete the mission. It was the crew’s 4th mission and its first above France, it was their first flight on board “Varga Venus”.
Their 5th mission took place on the 24th May 1944 above Berlin again, undoubtedly not without some apprehension !
They flew on board “ Varga Venus”. 464 planes from the 1st and 3rd Bomb Division took part, each plane dropped 10 bombs of 500lb G.P. The 100th BG paid a high price in this operation, they lost 9 planes, but claimed to have shot down 10 German planes.
“Varga Venus” was badly damaged by the German fighter planes and the crew had to drop their bombs blindly and make an emergency return to Thorpe Abbot. Not before 2nd/ Lt Patrick H. LOLLIS managed to shoot down a FW190 (German plane).
Their 6th mission was on the 27th May 1944 (123rd mission of the 100th BG, 373rd mission for the 8th A.F), it took them back above France.
They objective was a factory near Strasbourg where plane engines were assembled. Each plane from the 100th BG dropped 10 bombs of 500lb G.P. No plane from the 100th BG was shot down on that day, moreover the result was qualified of excellent by the American Authorities.
While mechanics were repairing “Varga Venus” the crew flew on board the B17 “Shilaylee”.
On the 28th May 1944 the crew flew on board B17 “42-107211”, they took off as a replacement plane, their role being to replace any plane that could not take off to join its formation.
Their objective was Magdeburg (Germany ) but they came back to land without taking part, this mission was not credited to them.
On the 29th May 1944 their 7th mission (125th mission for the 100th BG, 379th for the 8th A.F) took them back above Germany.
Their objective was t destroy industrial sites around Leipzig, it gathered 251 B17 from the 3rd BD but only one plane did not return.
For the crew this mission was a nightmare which luckily had a happy ending. Thanks to a war journalist present on the base on that day we were able to follow that mission on board the B17 with the crew. It’s a moving and unique statement that we will present later on.
JUNE 1944 :
On the 2nd June 1944 the crew on board “Varga Venus” were once again flying as replacement plane and were not credited for the mission.
On the 4th june 1944 their 8th mission took them above France to bomb German coastal defences near Boulogne (130th mission from the 100th BG and 389th for the 8th A.F).
Each plane carried 12 bombs of 500lb G.P without knowing it the planes took part in the operation “Fortitude” which tried to maintain the uncertainty about the real landing area of the Allied Forces.
The result were deemed good and no plane was shot down. The crew flew on board B17 “ Varga Venus”.
On the 6th June 1944 the crew became part of History by taking part in a bombing mission in aide of the Normandy Landing. The operation was called “Neptune”.
The objective of the 100th BG was to bomb the German defences between Sword Beach and Ouistreham (Calvados).
The briefing for the officers took place on the 5th June at 23.00. The first planes took off at 2.30the next morning, each carrying 12 500lb G.P and 2 1000lb G.P bombs.
This mission was the 9th for the crew and their 4th above France.
To add to the exhilaration it was s/Sgt Peter P. Martin’s 20th birthday. The crew flew on board “Varga Venus”.
The crew completed their 10th mission on the 7th June 1944 above France. (135th mission for the 100th BG, 398th for the 8th A.F).
The planes from the 100th BG took off from Thorpe Abbot at 17.30 to bomb a railway bridge near Nantes. They were back around 23.00 and had been shot at by German planes while they were doing their debriefing.
This type of mission reflected the strategy to the Allied Forces which tried to impede the arrival of German support to Normandy by systematically bombing all means of communication : major road crossings, bridges etc…
During the mission the crew on board “ Varga Venus” was hit in 3 places by the German flak.
On the 10th June 1944 the crew on board “Varga Venus” should have executed a mission above Morlaix but it was cancelled at the last minute and was not credited.
On the 25th June 1944 the 100th BG took part in a very special mission. Code named “Zebra” the mission was to drop weapon containers for the resistance in the departments of Ain, Jura, Haute-Vienne and Vercors. 180 B17 from the 3rd Air Division took part in it.36 planes headed for the Ain area, 36 for the Jura, 73 for the Haute-Vienne and 36 for the Vercors.
4 dropping zones had been selected, for example the one for the Haute Vienne was called “Salesman-stationer”.
The planes were loaded with containers instead of bombs. It was the first daylight dropping mission on French territory and in Europe. 2160 containers were dropped, the crew of the 1st/ Lt John P. KEYS completed its 11th mission and its 6th above France (148th for the 100th BG and 442 for the 8th A.F) flying on board “Yehudi”.
Only one plane was shot down, it belonged to the 100th BG (418th BS).
On the 29th June 1944 they completed their 12th mission above Europe (150th for the 100th BG and 447 for the 8th A.F). They bombed a refinery near Bohlen (Germany ) 81 B17 took part, dropping 177 tonnes of bombs on the target. All planes returned safely claiming 2 German fighter planes shot.
JULY 1944 :
During July the crew completed 9 missions that were credited to them.
The crew did not start July very well, they lost sight of their formation for an unknown reason and had to return to base on the 8th July 1944. They were not credited for it.
On the 11th July 1944 their mission took them above Munich where the BMW’s offices were targeted in the town centre. 183 B17 from the 3rf Bomb Division took part. Each plane was carrying 5 bombs of 1000lb G.P. It was the crew’s 13th mission (157th mission for the 100th BG and 466th for the 8th AF) and they flew on board “Varga Venus”.
On the 12th July 1944 their 14th mission (158th for the 100th BG and 468th for the 8th A.F) took them back to Munich where they targeted an industrial part of the city. None of the plane were shot down. Each plane was carrying 4 bombs of 500lb G.P and 6 bombs of 500lb Inc. Clus. The crew flew on board “ Varga Venus”
On the 13th July 1944 they flew as replacement plane and did not have to step in. The mission was not credited to them.
On the 14th July 1944 the aviators from the 3rd Bomb Division took part in a mission dropping weapon containers onto some maquis in the South of France. It was the crew’s 15th mission in the European sky. Code named “Operation Cadillac” this operation required 349 B17 escorted by 524 fighter planes. The bombers dropped their precious cargo onto a zone of 2000m2 in the areas of Vercors, Cantal, Soane et Loire, Correze, Haute-Vienne and Creuse.
The resistance groups had been told about those droppings in the previous evening through the personal messages on the BBC radio.
On the day they had light 3 fires forming a triangle in the middle of the dropping zone to localize it.
Each plane was carrying 12 containers of 250lb G.P and dropped its load from an altitude of 75 feet. The crew was flying on board “Varga Venus”. The different droppings were successful, 3791 containers representing 417 tonnes of equipment were dropped and picked up.
As it was France’s national day, the last parachute to be dropped on each site were bearing the French colours!
On the 17th July 1944 the crew completed their 16th mission (161st mission of the 100th BG) which targeted a railway bridge near Auxerre. None of the plane from the 100th Bomb Group were shot down by the German flak.
On the 18th July 1944 they flew as replacement plane on B17 “ Varga Venus”, they did not take part in the mission and it was not credited to them.
On the 19th July 1944 the crew completed their 17th mission (164th for the 100th BG and 482nd for the 8th A.F) above Germany which targeted factories in Schweinfurt were the Me 109 planes were built. They had to face a terrible flak but none of the plane from the group was shot down. The crew were flying on “Varga Venus”.
On the 20th July 1944 155 B17 from the 3rd Bomb Division dropped 374 tonnes of bombs on a refinery in Merseburg ( Germany). The crew flying on “Varga Venus” completed their 18th mission (165th for the 100th BG and 484th for the 8th A.F) The 100th BG lost a plane during that mission.
The crew’s 19th mission still on board “Varga Venus” took them above Germany. It took place on the 21st July 1944 and they should have targeted Regensburg but following a mistake in the direction they bombed Ludwigshafen.
Between the 25th July 1944 and the 28th July the crew flew mostly with only 10 men on board. From then on they flew with only 9.
The side gunmen, S/Sgt. Gilbert A. BORBA and S/Sgt Joseph A. COSTANZA, were now alternating missions.
It was S/Sgt COSTANZA who took part in the mission supporting the operation Cobra on the 25th of July 1944 near St. Lo.
On the 28th of July till the 8th of August he did not take part in anymore bombing missions, S/Sgt. BORBA was covering.
We cannot confirm whether the crew actually took part in operation Cobra as sources diverge.
On the 28th July 1944 the target was a refinery near Merseburg (Germany). The flak was very dense and three planes from the 100th Bomb Group did not come back (two from the 350th BS and one from the 349th BS). The crew completed its twentieth mission on board “Varga Venus” (Mission number 169 for the 100th BG and mission number 501 for the 8th AF)
On the 31st July 1944, for their 21st mission, they bombed a factory building plane engines near Munich (Mission number 171 for the 100th BG and mission number 507 for the 8th AF). 567 B17 from te 1st and the 3rd BD took part and dropped 1499.3 tonnes of bombs on their target. The 100th BG did not lose any of their planes. The crew was flying on board “Billy Boy”.
AUGUST 1944:
At the beginning of August the crew took part in five missions in eight days. Unfortunately the fifth mission ended in tragedy.
The crew had not targeted France since the 25th of July. On the 2nd August 1944 they bombed a railway bridge near La Fere. Each plane carried six bombs of 1000 lb. GP. They completed their twenty second operation on board B17 “Aloysius Superstitious” (Mission number 172 for the 100th BG and mission number 510 for the 8th AF).
On 4th August 1944 they bombed a refinery near Hamburg, completing their twenty third mission. Each plane dropped twenty bombs of 250 lb GP. The German flak was intense but no plane was shot down. The 181 planes from the 3rd BD dropped 464.1 tonnes of bombs on their target. The crew was flying on board B17 “42-37939”.
On 5th August 1944 the crew was going to take part in a bombing mission above Magdeburg in Germany, but their B17 “Yehudi” had engine problems on take off and they couldn’t complete their mission.
The 100th BG had not targeted Berlin since the 24th May 1944 when nine of its planes had not returned to base. On 6th August 1944 the crew completed its twenty- fourth mission on board B17 “Yehudi” above Berlin (Mission number 176 for the 100th BG and mission number 524 for the 8th AF). The group did not lose any planes.
On 7th August 1944 the crew completed its twenty- fifth mission, their target was a bridge near Beautor in France. Unfortunately the bad weather conditions meant that the planes had to be called back without completing the mission. The crew was flying on board B17 “43-37865”.
On 8th August 1944 the crew was undertaking its twenty- sixth mission (Mission number 178 for the 100th BG and mission number 530 for the 8th AF). As mentioned previously only nine of the ten men were on board. S/Sgt. BORBA was the side gunner for this mission.
S/Sgt. Joseph A. COSTANZA
Was from New York. After the accident he was moved to the crew of 1st/Lt Georges Allens replacing Sgt. Ray MATZ. He completed his tour of operations on 3rd October 1944 while bombing a factory making tanks near Nurnburg in Germany. According to a veteran from the 349th BS, S/Sgt. COSTANZA was a very easy-going person.
d-4) The mission of 29th May 1944 : happy ending and moment of glory for the crew :
Their 7th mission took the crew above Germany, their objective being the destruction of an industrial site near Leipzig. The crew, despite being severely hit by German fire, managed to bring the B17 “Yehudi” back to Thorpe Abbots. War reporters and photographers were there to capture the moment.
The families of Gilbert A. BORBA, Harry D. PARK, Patrick H. LOLLIS, Alvin W. SAMUELSON gave us several articles that had been published about this mission in the US.
Mr Michael LOLLIS gave us a transcription of a radio program broadcast on 2nd August, in which the crew described what had happened on 29th May 1944.
Below is a transcription of one of the articles supplied by Harry D. Park’s brother:
“Staff Sgt. Harry D. PARK of Galesburg was a member of the Flying Fortress “Yehudi” which got back safely after a hair-raising trip, says the following dispatch by Leo S. DISHER, United Press war correspondent :.
An 8th Air Force Bomber Airdrome, England, June 2.
The Flying Fortress “Yehudi” was limping home on one good and one disabled engine, rapidly losing altitude, when the pilot, First lieut. John P. KEYS, 26, of Elizabethton, Tenn., ordered the crew to “throw out everything that can’t shoot”.
The navigator, second Lieut. Patrick LOLLIS, of Kansas City, Mo.,said “ At first it sounded like a good idea. I got thinking that I’ve got a pass coming up the next day so I declined”.
T-Sgt. Frank O. THOMAS, 22, Rutland, Vt., threw out his pants, shirt and underwear, declaring “ My pants and my all, I give for my country”.
The bombardier, second Lieut. Elton DICKENS, 28, of Spokane, Wash, said it was “ a miracle” that the German fighterss in the sky didn’t attack.
KEYS and his co-pilot, flying officer Elvin SAMUELSON, 24, of Montgomery, Ill., finally tossed out all removable guns ad the am munitions.
That did the trick and the Fortress got home.
Other members of thec rew included Staff Sgt. Harry D. PARK, 22, of Galesburg, Ill.
It seems that all the photos that the families have were taken on the 29th May 1944.
Included below are two pictures provided by the Park and Samuelson families.
The first picture shows T/Sgt. Harry D PARK and F/O Alvin W. SAMUELSON. It was published in the Register Mail, a Galesburg newspaper, with the following comment:
.”A photograph sent to the Register-Mail from an Eighth A.A.F Bomber Station in England shows a partial view of an eighth A.A.F. B-17 Flyind Fortress “Yehudi” just after it had returned to its base from a bombing attack on German marshalling yards at Leipzeig. Pictured standing in front of the plane were two members of the crew, one of them Staff Sgt..Harry D. PARK, son of George H. PARK of 866 West North street, and a graduate of the Galesburg High school in 1942. Before entering A.A.F., he was a machinists’ apprentice, and now flies as engineer and top turret gunner on “ Yehudi” . Two engines had been shot out by Nazi fighter planes and a third disabled. To lighten the plane in order to keep it in the air, crewmen threw overboard guns and all equipment not nailed down one gunner even casting out a pair of shorts thaht he had removed when changig over to his fighting clothes.
The second photo is very impressive, it shows Alvin W. SAMUELSON pointing at an impact on one of the wings of B17 “Yehudi”. It was published with an article. If we compare this article with another article about 2nd/Lt Patrick H LOLLIS we can find that the B17 was attacked by a mass of German planes. The plane sustained heavy damage to its engines and some impacts on the right wing. It is one of those impacts that F/O SAMUELSON is pointing to in the picture (see appendix 9).
There must be some unpublished photos of the crew taken on 29th May left in the archives of the newspaper which employed Leo S. DISHER. Despite extensive research, on the Internet, we have not been able to locate the newspaper.
The pictures given to us by the 100th BG, Mrs June WRIGHT and Mr Michael LOLLIS, were also taken on 29th May.
The first picture is the most famous and pictures the crew in a lorry.
The second shows them under the right hand aileron of the B17 “Yehudi”.
Both are very moving.
E) BEHIND THE CURTAINS OF THE TRAGEDY :
e-1) The Sources :
3 types of documents were used to write this chapter :
-The official report (see appendix 10) from the operations officer (Lt-Col John B. KIDD) written on the 10th August 1944 and giving a detailed account of the mission. It consists of 2 chapters, the first relating to the Group A and the 2nd to the group B of the 100th BG.
Each chapter has 3 parts :
General background about the itinerary, time, weather conditions and bombing.
The second giving a detailed account about the planes that could not take part in the bombing mission and the third part which summarises the losses.
-Literary sources (magazines, historical books).
– Statements from veterans of the 100th Bomb Group.
e-2) Thorpe Abbot : morning of the 8th August 1944.
The 26 crews selected for the mission were woken up early that day. After a full cooked breakfast they went to the briefing room for a general briefing. They were told about their journey and their target for the day.
It was represented by a red piece of string on a wall map (St Sylvain in Calvados, France). A second board gave the crews their allocated plane.
They listened to each speaker (officers of information, weather, operations etc). Al technical and navigation details are presented. It followed by the top when everyone puts their watch at the exact same time.
The main briefing session was followed by different ones depending on each aviator’s responsibilities. the crew then went to the dressing room to pick up their clothes and protective gear before taking place on board a jeep or lorry that took them to their assigned plane.
The crew of the 1st/ Lt John P. KEYS was part Group B of the 100th BG, being the higher part of the 13th Combat Wing.
The 13 planes forming the Group A took off from 8.43am. the other 13 from Group B followed from 8.55am.
e-3) Take-off :
When they arrived near the B17 “43-37865” the crew got ready for the flight. Each person had a protocole to follow in order to verify different mechanical elements of the B17.
2nd/Lt Elton DICKENS must have undoubtedly carefully checked the cargo of 12 of 500 lb GP and 2 bombs of 1000 lb GP.
After a last briefing by the chief of crew each aviator climbed on board and took their seat for take off. 1st /Lt John P. KEYS and F/O Alvin W. SAMUELSON started the 4 engines.
After a few minutes the B17 left its parking space and joined the other 13 planes from group B, ready for take off.
After final engine checks, the signal for take off was given (often a green rocket). It was 8.55 when the first plane of Group B took off from Thorpe Abbot. The last followed at 9.07am.
The 9 men forming the crew of 1st /Lt John P. KEYS took off for their last mission as death was awaiting them in the Norman sky.
e-4) From the British Coast to the Norman sky :
We will follow the journey of the higher group of the 13th Combat wing remembering that they were only a small part of the formidable armada that hit German defences with more or less success (see appendix 11).
Above Luton (Beds), north of London, the 26 planes of the 100th BG took their combat position amongst the 13th Combat Wing at 10.51. Group B was the higher group of the formation.
They headed for the coast which they reached at 11.33am.
After crossing the Channel they were above the liberated French coast north east of Cherbourg at 1.58. They headed towards the 49 08N-01 26W point, 10km north of Coutances near the villages of Saint Sauveur Lendellin and La Ronde Haye at 12.10pm.
There, a minor incident took place : the lower squadron of the higher group lost its position within the formation due to thick fog, but it was quickly rectified.
For the crew of 1st / Lt KEYS things were about to take a turn for the worst. the formation flew above Vire at 12.24pm.
Vire was their initial point ( point defining a change of direction).Soon after Vire the German flak started to adjust its fire onto the B17.
The last message recorded between the members of the crew was to check their oxygen mask. several minutes before the plane was hit by the flak T/Sgt Frank O. THOMAS had come to see S/Sgt Gilbert A.BORBA at his post.
S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA says that everything was fine when they were hit by the German flak.
F) THE EXPLOSION OF THE PLANE :
f-1) The sources :
2 types of documents were used to constitute this chapter :
-Oral sources :
Testimonies from people involved in these events.
-Written sources :
Archives relating to the disappearance of the plane.
The biggest document being the MACR (Missing Air Crew Report ) (see appendix 12) written 2 or 3 days after the plane was shot down.
This document contained the following information : serial number of the plane, serial numbers for the engines and machine guns, approximate localisation when the plane was shot down, time of disappearance, list of crew members, weather conditions, circumstances of disappearance, questionnaire filled in by survivors, addresses of the next of kin.
The MACR was written on 10th August 1944 by 1st/Lt Walter G. BURKE bears the number 8073.
It was dived into 3 parts :
The 1st part consisted of the information collected 48 hours after the disappearance of the plane and its 9 crew members. It includes the testimony of 2nd/Lt John D. GOETHEL (0-700101), crew member of 1st/Lt Paul L. SPURGEON from the 350th Bomb Squadron who saw the plane being hit by flak.
The second part consists of information about the situation of each crew member before the crash. This info was probably collected during the questioning of Gilbert A . BORBA after he was liberated from a German prisoner of war camp.
The 3rd part gives the addresses of all the families to be contacted in the event of an accident.
An exceptional document has been given to us by Michael LOLLIS (son of Patrick H. LOLLIS).
It’s a letter from Gilbert BORBA to the father of John P.KEYS after he had asked him to provide information about the circumstances of the death of his son. This letter was dated 19th July 1945, it brings us into the heart of the tragedy. S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA gives very precise details about the fall of the plane.
Mrs Carman E. AURRECOECHEA (ex wife of Gilber A. BORBA) gave us his diary, he wrote it as things happened to him on the packets of cigarettes, it covers the period from the 8th August 1944 till the 26 April 1945. This is a very moving document.
We also used the report written by the operations officer as well as the testimonies of the veterans from the 100th Bomb Group to get a better understanding of the atmosphere during the mission of the 8th august 1944.
f-2) Hit by the flak :
It is very difficult to know precisely where the plane was hit.
In the MACR 2nd/ Lt John D. GOETHEL indicated that the plane had been hit 1.5 minute before they dropped the bombs. The dropping was done at 12.300 by the Group B of the 13th Combat Wing.
In history books relating the bombing prior to the operation Totalize the authors mention that the planes had been badly shaken by German flak in the region of Vire. the operation officer also mentions intense flak in the target are and the veterans remember a terrible and very precise flak of 88mm.
A French civilian, Mr Raymond PIQUET (17 in 1944) remembers the intensity of the flak : “We were evacuating Caligny on the 8th August 1944, we had to seek shelter under a hedge while it lasted. The flying fortresses kept flying above our heads. I had never seen so flak as on that day. The shots were materialised by an explosion followed by black smoke. I saw a fortress get shot, it caught fire straightaway, it left its place in the formation and lost a wing. I saw 4 or 5 parachutes (it could be the B17 “43-37510 from the 612th Bomb squadron).
The plane of 1st/Lt john P. KEYS was hit quite low, around 11000 feet according to the MACR or around 12000 or 14000 according to Gilbert BORBA : ” We were flying very low that day, around 12000 or 14000 feet”.
the MACR establishes the time when the plane was hit at 12.32 pm GMT +2 ( There was not time lag between France and Great Britain in 1944).
S/Sgt BORBA in his diary reports the time of hit as 11.30. We are not able to explain this difference.
Reading these data it is possible to get an idea of where the plane was when it was hit.
The formation of B17 covered a distance of 57.5km in 12 minutes, it then covered the next 50km in 14 minutes. Vire is their initial point where the bombers changed direction of between 30 and 45 degrees to be in the axis of the objective. Between Vire and the target 9 minutes passed. The formation has therefore covered 32km towards the objective on the 9 minutes. Given that the plane was hit at 12.32, 2 minutes before the dropping started they has covered 27km between Vire and the place where they were hit. this points to the German flak of Conde sur Noireau.
The plane was hit in several places :
Near the engine number 2 (on the left of the seat of 1st/ Lt john P. KEYS), near the rear door of the plane, between the side gunner post and the tail of the plane. The impact made a large part of the tail fall off. S/Sgt Gilbert A.BORBA remembers a direct hit to the front of the plane, this could be the impact (see appendix 13) described as near engine number 2 in the MACR.
f-3) The fall :
Very quickly the plane left its formation, S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA describes how they started going down immediately.
Reading those accounts and despite the legendary robustness of the plane the fall and the explosion were inevitable. There must also have been a terrible draft inside the plane.
2nd/Lt John D. GOETHEL seems to have been the last person to have witnessed the fall of the plane. He mentions seeing the plane leaving its formation straightaway and not seeing any parachute deploy.
The MACR does not report what happens afterwards.
Reading the letter sent by Gilbert BORBA it seems that it was only a matter of seconds before the plane exploded.
f-4) the evacuation of the plane and its explosion :
In the MACR S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA does not indicate that any other member of the crew apart from himself and 2nd/Lt Elton DICKENS could get out of the plane.
When asked if each aviator had used their parachute his reply was the same : “to my knowledge they did not “.
When asked if not why, he replied: “They were killed or too badly injured and unable to jump”.
He also indicates that he did not have any contact with the other members of the crew in the seconds before the explosion.
In his letter to John P. Keys’s father he gives a more personal account : ” there was a redy made holr in the ship which I went out through……,I didn’t see any other chutes or any of the crew besides Lt DICKENS. I will be fronk Mr KEYS far as I know they went down with the ship or whatever part they were in”
Two questions remain unanswered : Which of the aviators were killed on impact and which were only injured but unable to jump ?
Probably coming from the direction of St Pierre La Vieille- Pontecoulant the B17 exploded just before the “Hauts-Champs” at a very low altitude.
S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA got out of the plane just before the explosion but it did not witnessed it. He also saw 2nd/Lt Elton DICKENS leave the plane: “my bombarrdier Lt DIKENS also got out of the ship quite sure he was blow clear”.
S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA did not mention the word explosion in his letter to the father of John P. KEYS, certainly out of care. He mentions parts of the plane flying and falling onto the ground : “evidently the ship went to pieces in the air because I found sections and pieces of it on the ground”.
Further down in his letter he writes :” I will be fronk Mr KEYS far as I know they went down with the ship or whatever part they were in, as I said before the ship went to pieces far as I can figure”.
He also mentions that the different parts of the plane were scattered on a large area. We drew a map of where the remains of the plane were found from witness statements : Pieces have been found in an area 1200 meters wide. As mentioned by S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA the plane was losing parts while still in the air, the draft must have been very strong within the plane. Fires must have started inside the plane and get to the ammunition, the tank and the oxygen bottles leading to the explosion which most likely took place near the pilot’s post.
G) IN THE INFERNO OF THE CRASH :
g-1) Geographical situation :
The area where the tragedy took place is called “Les Hauts-Champs” (see appendix 14), it’s part of the village of Perigny.
It is also where the CAUTRU family lived.
They lived on a small farm that comprised 2 farm building and a main dwelling. A path ran through the farm linking the high side of Perigny to the low point of Saint Pierre La Vieille through a small vale called “Vallon d’Alsace”.Its sides are steep and covered in overgrowth and thick thorny bushes.
Below the farm there were steep fields, some of them covered by bushed at their top. At the top of one of the field was a waterhole used as a washing place by Mrs Cautru, she could go there via a path. This scenery was typical of this area. On the plateau were at least 7 fields all divided by thick hedges, some fields were also planted with trees.
In august 1944, the hedges were very thick, the trees very green and the overgrowth inaccessible.
g-2) In the trench :
On the 8th August 1944 Perigny was almost liberated (it was freed on the 10th August). Many bombs from the British artillery had started to fall into the village and its surroundings.
For the past month in the hamlet of “Les Hauts-Champs” Mr Emilien Cautru ( owner of the farm and veteran of the Great War) had dug 2 trenches (see appendix 15) to shelter his family and some inhabitants of the village.
The higher trench was near the path, dug at the limit of a field facing the house. there was only one way in but another entrance would br dug the day following the tragedy.
The lower trench was also near the path but in a bank. They were distant of about 10 meters. The civilians sheltered inside (30 people) were almost in the middle of the blaze.
Below is the list of those who had taken refuge in the trenches, it was written by Mrs Marie and Mr Vautier.
Higher Trench: Lower Trench :
Emilien CAUTRU. Charlotte RENOUF.
Germaine CAUTRU. Gérard RENOUF.
Fernande CAUTRU. Rolande RENOUF.
Suzanne CAUTRU. Jeanne RENOUF.
Yvette HUE. Jean RENOUF.
Marie LEBOUCHER. Francine RENOUF.
Joséphine MONNET. Juliette JACQUELINE.
Léon ROBIN (refugee from Condé sur Noireau). Maurice JACQUELINE.
Paulette ROBIN (refugee from Condé sur Noireau). Georges JOUVIN.
Lucette ROBIN (refugee from Condé sur Noireau). André RENOUF.
Madeleine RUELLE (refugee from Condé sur Noireau).
André RUELLE (refugee from sur Noireau).
Thérèse RUELLE (refugee from Condé sur Noireau).
Michel RUELLE (refugee from Condé sur Noireau).
Michel VAUTIER.
Agnès VAUTIER.
Fernand VAUTIER.
Léa VAUTIER.
Berthe VAUTIER.
Odette VAUTIER.
They would not have imagined that they would always remember what happened in front of their eyes on that day.
g-3) Multiple crash areas :
A terrible explosion in the sky followed a few second later by a rainfall of metallic objects, that’s the account of what the witnesses saw of the tragedy.
Mrs MARIE ( daughter of Mr CAUTRU, 12.5 at the time) remembers a piece fire falling at the bottom of the lower trench. On impact and for a few more minutes explosions took place, hudding the occupants of the higher trench onto each other.
Mrs MARIE remembers having been hysterical, she also remembers her little sister (2.5 ) who was screaming. Michel VAUTIER remembers being projected at the bottom of the trench and suffocating with the lack of air.
Jane RENOUF was injured in the lower trench.
The atmosphere was very tense, a suffocating smell and thick black smoke were coming from a large part of the plane on fire on the right hand side of the trenches. Georges JOUVIN remembers that they ” could not see a thing”.
The bushes were also on fire in places, these fires provoked the explosion of the ammunitions from the plane.
The house was hit by a large part of the plane, probably a large part of the landing wheels which crashed onto one of its sides damaging the structure quite badly.
Mr Philip MARIE, the current owner of the farm, found a piece wheel cover at the base of the house.
All the windows exploded with the plane, the survivors still can’t believe they were alive afterwards, “we were lucky, we could have all been roasted”.
The B17 dislocated through the air.
One of the engines fell on the hills of the hamlet of “Sous Le Mont”.
The slopes of the “Vallon d’Alsace” were covered with many parts of the carlingue.
Along the path going from “Bout de La” to “Val Merienne”, Mr Michel VAUTIER, Mr Gaston LEMARCHAND (23 in 1944), Mr Georges JOUVIN and Mrs MARIE
remember a place where a rather large part of the B17 had fallen : probably 2 engines and the wing or part of it (see appendix 16).
But the largest part of the plane fell below, on the right and on the left of the farm of Mr CAUTRU (see appendix 17).
As we mentioned earlier, a large part of the plane including an engine, a rack of bombs, a wheel, a wing fell on the right of the trenches. The fire lasted for several days.
A large part of the rear fuselage of the plane fell in a field near the farm buildings.
Mr Philip MARIE kept preciously the radio (see appendix 18) aerial his grand father (Mr Emilien CAUTRU) found on a piece of fuselage.
Mr Michel VAUTIER remembers this piece of fuselage as he used to go inside it through the rear door of the plane. Inside he had discovered a glove with a sort of electric plug under al large pile of silver ribbons (Those were the windows ribbons which were pieces of black paper 27cm long and 2cm wide with a thin layer of aluminium on one of their side. They were dropped by B17 crew members, who just threw them out to create a multitude of echoes on the German radar screens. They were used as lures). The place where he found this glove was the place where S/Sgt Gilbert A.BORBA would have sat.
A few months later while they were harvesting a drop of barley behind the church, an identical glove was found. Mr VAUTIER could thus spend the 44-45 winter with his hands kept warm. He remembers keeping those gloves for a long time as they were very resistant. The parts that fell around the farm of Mr CAUTRU were probably the disintegrated elements from the front and rear of the plane.
g-4) The bomb load of the B17 :
When the explosion took place the bombs were not armed. The witnesses saw some of them fall onto the plateau of “Les Hauts-Champs”, one of them was on the path linking “Les hauts Champs” to “Bout de La”, about 100 m before the 1st building of Mr Cautru’s farm. another was found on the heights of “Val Merienne” and Mr CAUTRU disabled it after the war.
g-5 ) A nightmare vision :
In the field below the 2 farm buildings and 50m right of the higher trench Mr JOUVIN saw the mutilated body of one of the aviators, probably still strapped to his seat and crushed amongst piles of metal parts. He remembers that he had had a very serious head injury.
It could have been the body of the gunner sitting at the tail end of the plane. Mr JOUVIN also remembers horribly burnt bodies not far from the large piece of fuselage. The area indicated is still today scarred by the fire that took place on the 8th August 1944, traces of burning can be found up to 2cm into the ground.
Near the waterhole used as to wash clothes, the witnesses saw another body. They described him as being rather strongly built.
The plants around him were on fire.
Their understanding of the situation differs : for some he was badly injured and trying to move away from the fire, they thought he had scratched the soil around him. He was found on his front.
For others he was ejected from the plane and fell onto the ground. The sock created a hole where his body landed.
The witnesses seem to amalgamate the death of 2nd/ Lt Elton DICKENS from his injuries and the death of an aviator found on the heights of “Val Merienne”. We describe this in part I-5.
The bodies of the other members of crew were horribly mutilated and burnt (pieces of burnt flesh and burnt bones were found in the fields, in the dislocated parts of the plane).
Mrs MARIE remembers it still with a lot of emotion : “It was horrible”.
The witnesses did not know how many aviators died in this tragedy but Mrs MARIE remembers at least 3 bodies that could be identified.
At the start of our research we had heard a rumour that a body had been found on the heights of “Val Merienne” in the Autumn of 1944. A week before finishing the dissertation we collected the unexpected statement of Mrs Adrienne BELLENGER (25 in 1944) which shed some light onto it.
During a hunt after the end of the war Mr Fernand BELLENGER (her husband) found the wallet of one of the aviators at the top of the “Val Merienne”.
” We were not present on the day of the crash and hunting did not start after the war. My husband found the wallet in a field that was cultivated by Mr CAUTRU, “Le champ d’Avoine”.
He came back at lunchtime and told me he had found a wallet in the woods. There were fir trees planted by Rene GERMAIN and near it he saw parts of the plane. He walked into the woods and spotted the wallet. We put this wallet in the room next door but it smelled of decomposed flesh and we had to put it outside on a wall. When the town-hall opened a few days later we took it there. What I don’t understand is that the aviator must have died there and his body got decomposed, but who found him? Fernand thought the man must have scratched the soil around him because there was a small pile of soil. Inside the wallet we found letters and some money. The letters were not in French so we took it to the town-hall. Mr Georges LEMARCHAND was the mayor and Mr JAMET his assistant then.”
This statement is very moving and shows that a body must have been found in the “Val Merienne” near the parts of wing and fuselage also pesent there.
There are still unanswered questions regarding who it was and, who found him and who buried him.
We are unable to trace the wallet’s whereabouts after it was handed in to the town-hall of St Pierre le Vieille. Researches are still ongoing.
Note from the author :
Paragraphs h-5 to h-7 deal with the afternoon of the 8th August.
60 years on, the memory of our witnesses has somewhat altered their notion of time, that’s why we have divided the events into 3 parts even tough they took place simultaneously.
The only precise time reference we have is the time of the death of 2nd/Lt Elton Dickens placed by S/Sgt Borba around 16.00pm in the MACR and his letter to John P. Keys’ father.
g-6) The survivor : Gilbert A. BORBA
We’ll start this chapter by letting Mrs MARIE speak : “Gilbert A. BORBA, I can still picture his face, I remember him as if it all happened yesterday. I keep his photo close to my heart.”
Mrs MARIE did not take long to recognise him from the picture of the crew members. She’s not the only one, Mr Michel VAUTIER and Mr Georges JOUVIN also recognised him and remembered him.
He was the sole survivor, he jumped out of the plane with his parachute and landed ok.
Mr Georges JOUVIN remembers : ” Two aviators jumped out, they were rather low and one of them landed on an apple tree. The survivor had his face scratched and an injury to his forehead.”
S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA had a deep cut to his forehead which was bleeding profusely. Mrs MARIE also remembers :”He was injured on the left hand side of his forehead”.
Sixty years later his widow told us that he had a scar on his forehead as wide as 4 fingers.
When he touched the ground he was slightly astound and his first move was to hide his parachute.
The following events all took place in a short space of time, we have tried to classify them chronogically, also using what Gilbert A. BORBA described in his letter to the father of John P. KEYS.
He went to the place where 2nd/ Lt Elton DICKENS had landed to help him. His left leg was seriously injured.
After comforting him(“I did what I could for him”) he headed for the farm buildings. He met Mr George JOUVIN : “I saw the survivor at the corner of the filed that is above the house (NB : On the aerial photo from June 1946 we can see that S/Sgt Gilbert A.BORBA was heading towards the field entrance giving access to the house), he tired to tell me what he wanted using a French-English book. We had to look into it to understand that he wanted some civilian clothes, probably to join the allied forces”.
Mr JOUVIN refers to the survival kit given to each aviator during the war which contained a French-English dictionary.
He also remembers how he was dressed : “He had a coat with fur on its collar and a lead which was hanging behind him ending in a sort of plug”.
Mrs JOUVIN got some clothes from his parents and gave them to him.
Mrs MARIE remembers that her dad had wanted to hide him in the attic of one of the outbuildings.
S/Sgt Gilbert A. Borba said that he did not see any other member of the crew on the ground : “I didn’t see any other chutes or any of the crew besides Lt DICKENS. I will be fronk Mr KEYS far as I know they went down with the ship or whatever part they were in”.
This confirms that he did not go further than the farmhouse otherwise he would have seen the mutilated body of one of his companion amongst a pile of metal. From where he spoke with Mr JOUVIN he could not see that part of the field.
He mentions having noticed parts of the plane, probably below where he landed.
After he met Mr JOUVIN, S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA went back to see 2nd/Lt DICKENS and remained with him until his death around 16.00-16.30pm.
He said : “After I got on the ground, I want directly to my bombardier he was wounded very seriously in the leg. I done what I could for him and tried to get help for him, but it was impossible, he died about four hours later, he needed immediate medical attention”.
Indirectly he refers to the French witnesses : “I done what I could for him”.
It’s only after the death of his companion that he was captured : ” I was captured right after my bombardier died”.
Mr Michel VAUTIER witnessed the surrender : ” S/Sgt Gilbert BORBA surrendered, the 2 German soldiers walked with him to check on his companion who had just died and they came back to the farm. I witnessed a scene that I will never forget : Emilien Cautru, my father and I were present. The Germans wanted to offer him a cigarette but he turned it down. He took a whole packet out of his pocket and offered cigarettes to the Germans and to the French civilians present. He was fairly well treated by the German soldiers. He was taken away to an unknown destination.
Mrs MARIE remembers : “I saw him while he was walking down the path between 2 German soldiers. I often see this image even though I was only a child. I was only 12.5, but I can still picture him. He had a round face and brown curly hair”.
From the statement of an indirect witness Gilbert A. BORBA was taken to “La Chapelle Engerbold” with one or two French civilans that the Germans had decided to take with them. Among them was Gilbert BOISSE who ahd just arrived in “Les Hauts-Champs” to pick up his girlfriend. There Gilbert A. BORBA would have been in contact with 2 of his compatriots : T/Sgt Jerome G.FIELDS and 1st/Lt Selby P. HEREID from the 398th Bomb Group aho had survived the crash of their B17. This info cannot be verified as all parties have now died.
From the moment S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA is taken away we have no account of his situation but Mrs Carman AURRECOECHEA gave us his diary. this very fragile document that he wrote inside empty packets of cigarettes gives us an account of the days that followed his capture. This document was only discovered after his death as he had not revealed its existence to his family. to respect his wish of secrecy we will not reproduce the entire diary. It covered the period between 8th August44 and the 26th April 45 with an interruption between the 19th September 44 and 10th November 1944.
Here is what he wrote during the 8th to the 10th august :
“August 8 shot down approx. 11:30. Direct hit. Carrying externat bombs. Bombardier wounded very seriously in leg. Died approx. 6:30 p.m. the same day. Captured shortly after that. Artillery was close and heavy. Hit the dirt 5 or 6 times while detting out of front lines. No trace of any of my crew.
August 9 getting away from front lines. Very little to eat. Artillery still close. Fighters overhead.
August 10 rode in jerry army car practically all day. Sletp in shed that night. Still vry little to eat and no smokes. Things are damn rough”.
The first town he mentions in his diary is Argentan where he arrived on the 11th August 44. Between Perigny and Argentan the distance is forty km, it took him 3.5 days to cover it. On the 10th August he slept in a barn which must have been situated near Argentan,
He received his first Red Cross parcel on the 15th August 1944and his joy was immense because he could smoke.
He was taken to Germany where he was locked up in a prisoner of war camp which moved almost on a daily basis. His conditions of detention were very poor. He arrived in the war camp of Limburg on the 26th august 1944.In his diary he mentions being interrogated on the 3rd September, which is certainly when his name was put on the list of war prisoners. this list was given to the American authorities on the 7th October 1944 via the Red Cross.
So, after several months of anxiety after they heard htat his plane went missing, his parents heard at the beginning of October that their son was still alive in a prisoners’ camp in Germany. He was liberated on 26th April 1945 and returned to the US in June 1945. He would always keep the scar on his forehead, a souvenir of this terrible day of august 1944.
g-7) The death of 2nd /Lt Elton DICKENS :
As we saw previously 2nd/LT Elton DICKENS evacuated the plane but was seriously injured. Once on the ground S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA tried to give him a first aid help, he then tried to get help from the French civilians.
Mrs MARIE remembers that her dad brought some water to 2nd/Lt Elton DICKENS. According to the witnesses 2nd/Lt Elton DICKENS feeling that he was about o die showed Mr CAUTRU the photo of his wife and 2 children. This info is not correct as he only one very young daughter..
Mr JOUVIN remembers seeing S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA using the clothes he had been given to make a pillow for 2nd/Lt DICKENS.
The french civilians could not be of much assistance as he was too seriously injured, he would have needed urgent professional attention but it was impossible to get some.
On the 8th August 1944 Perigny and its surroundings were still occupied by German soldiers and violent fights were taking place only a few km away.
The 30 people who had taken refuge in the trenches were destitute who had fled Conde sur Noireau after they lost everything when it was bombed.
Mr VAUTIER remembers collecting mouldy bread discarded by German soldiers so they could eat something.
They had no medical knowledge or equipment to help 2nd /Lt Elton DICKENS.
In his letter to the father of 1st/Lt John P. Keys’s, S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA summed up the situation by saying : “it was impossible”.
g-8) The Germans :
It was very difficult to place the part played by the Germans in this tragedy. One main question remains : Why was S/Sgt BORBA only captured around 17.30 on the 8th August?
The witnesses are positive that not many German soldiers were present on the site of the tragedy.
Mr JOUVIN remembers: “The Germans came shortly after the explosion, there were 2 or 3 of them on a motorbike. they went to see the body of the aviator crushed under the pile of metal, they tried to search him but stopped when something exploded. I was not far from them, at this instant we saw another flying fortress flying really low and falling towards “La Chapelle Engerbold” and another one in the direction of “Aunay sur Odon”.
Reading the MACR on the different crashes that took place on that day, we can estimate that it must have been around 13.00 as the B17 “42-97399” from the 600th Bomb squadron crashed near the village of “La Chapelle Engerbold” and the B17 “43-37510” from the 612th Bomb Squadron fell near “Culay le Patry”.
Mr JOUVIN remembers that :”The Germans had a look round but not for long”.
The Germans left only to come back a few hours later and capture S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA.
During their first visit of the crash site the German soldiers did not see S/Sgt BORBA but did they really look for him ? Had they seen his parachute ?If so they would have investigated more carefully.
How was is possible the S/Sgt BORBA could move freely to find help for his friend? How was it that the Germans in the surrounding woods of “Becquerel” did not intervene? This remains a mystery.
One element of explanation could be the state of the vegetation and the geography of the area. The footpath linking “Bout de La ” and “Les Hauts-Champs” was borded by huge trees and the hedge were very thick. The place where S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA and 2nd/Lt Elton DICKENS were, was much lower than the path so the Germans could well have missed the 2 aviators hidden by the vegetation. The refugees would leave their trenches 2 or 3 days after the tragedy on German orders and had to seek refuge in “Bout de La” at Mr Collin’s.
H) THE BURIAL :
h-1) A collective tomb :
The bodies of the 8 aviators were buried around the 15th August by Mr Emilien CAUTRU and Mr Fernand VAUTIER.
Mrs MARIE (daughter of Mr CAUTRU) remembers that day very clearly : ” I was in the house when I saw my father and Mr VAUTIER walk up the path, the first one pushing a wheel barrow with the corpse of an aviator inside, the second pulling it with a rope. My dad stopped in front of the house and despite being told not to, I had a look at the body. It was rather big. probably the body of the aviator who died near the water hole”.
Emilien CAUTRU and Fernand VAUTIER would bury them in a hole 1.5m deep used before to protect the sheets and clothes from the war and who belonged the the AUVRAY, LEBOUCHER and VAUTIER families.
They put the identifiable bodies next to each other, 2 were buried under a tank, one body was wrapped into blankets. The burnt bodies and mutilated body parts found in the woods and fields were put in bags separately. They then covered them in soil.
Mrs MARIE remembers her dad putting some blessed box on the tomb on Palm Sunday.
h-2 ) The foreboding of Patricia Samuelson :
Patricia SAMUELSON the widow of F/O Alvin W. SAMUELSON, she shared with us the story she wrote on the day her husband died in the sky above Perigny. She allowed us to reproduce it :
“This is August 8, 1944, a regular day. I am at the Samuelson residence in Big Rock, Il, A big highway runs through town going east and west right out front of this big 2 story house .
The main street in town , called Rhode Street runs north and south and comes right up to highway 30, in front of our yard in front of the house. Rhodes is the only big street that Big Rock has. In fact; the town is built right around this three way corner, and spreads out each way a block or two.
Rhodes run north and south,of course, is about a quarter mile long, and stops right past the little cemetery I go to on august 8th.
The August 8th, I will always remember was the one in 1944.
My husband is Alvin W.Samuelson. The offical spelling of Alvin is Elvin, but Alvin is the most used. Alvin’s parents live in this house and He was an only child. He has been in the service for almost 4 years, I,guess, and He has just written that he is on his last few missions as co-pilot in a bomber, and he thinks he will see me in September. I came out here , thinking it wouldn’t be long before he returns.
His Dad had fixed an upstairs room for me with a library table, a map and a calendar on the wall, so I can enjoy a good place to write. I was in this room on August 8, 1944 when the Bomber Alvin and a crew of 8 were in when it was hit with a lot of flak, causing it to crash soon after, in Perigny, France.
I was sitting at that desk, starting a letter, when a great awareness of here and now came over me. I can’t explain it. I never had that feeling before or since. I was just very alert and a little alarmed, and felt it was special . I didn’t hear anything with my ears, but I either felt it or heard with my mind. I heard Alvin say,”I am walking out of your life”. I got up and went to the opposite corner of the room that opened out on the hall and the open staircase going down stairs. Once again, I think it was in my mind or spirit that I saw or imagined Alvin walking down the stairs which turned at the bottom, and out of my area of vision. I marked that day on the calendar, and when I got the telegram from the President about the crash, it said the crash was that same day.
It is almost 60 years later, and I am crying now, because of the reality of that which happened to me that day “.
h-3)The moment of doubt, missing for so long :
10 days after the tragedy, the families received the dreaded telegram from the Department of War. The life of Laura Lollis was put upside down on the 18th August 1944, the day she received the sad news.
She was pregnant with Michael born on the 29th October 1944 and who would never know his dad. He now lives in Las Vegas and has preserved this souvenir from a dad he never knew.
Mrs SAMUELSON understood when she received the telegram that her foreboding had proved right.
The newspaper would relate the disappearance of the crew members: Mr Willard Rieger gave us a press article (see appendix 19) called.Here is the content
“.Mrs Dora B. Reiger received a telegram Friday from the War Department announcing that her son, Staff Sergeant Donald V. Reiger was missing in action. The telegram follows :
“ Secretary of War desires me to express his deepest regret that your son, Staff Sergeant Donald V. Reiger, has been reported missing in action since august 8 over France. If further details or other information is received you will be promptly notified”.
Mr Donald Park also gave us an article (see appendix 20) from a Galesburg newspaper, the Daily Register, dated 24th August 1944 with the title :
“T/Sgt Harry D. Park reported missing since auguste 8” and relating the disappearance of his brother during that mission :
“G.H. Park, formerly of 1011 lincol street, that his son, T/Sgt Harry D. Park, has been missing in action since August 8.
T/Sgt Harry D. Park first engineer and top turret gunner of the Flyning Fortress “Yeudi” and was statioed with the Eighth Air Force in England. At the time they were lost the Fortress was in action over France”.
Please note that the journalist is mistaken on one account : The crew was flying on board the B17 “43-37865 and not the “Yehudi”.
h-4) Searches done by the families :
Some documents enable us to get an idea of the researches the families did to try and get some information about their loved one.
One of the most active person seems to have been the father of JoHn P. KEYS.
In July 45 he sent a letter to Gilbert A. BORBA. This letter was given to us by the son of Patrick LOLLIS, we can therefore conclude that there were contacts between both families as well.
We cannot confirm whether he wrote to the American Authrities. Patrick Lollis’s father also tried to find out about the circumstances of the disappearance of his son. He wrote to the commandant of the 100th Bomb Group in the UK in October 1944. We found a copy of the response written by Major Horace L. Varian.
In 1948 some families contacted Gilbert BORBA to know more about how their loved one died but we don’t know whose families they were. They probably contacted him when the bodies were repatriated to the US.
We have no more information about those researches and whether they yielded any results. However Mrs MARIE gave us some troubling information.
For many years the family of Mr CAUTRU received financial help. Mrs MARIE remembers her mother talking about letters received in the village town-hall regarding the aviators but we cannot find any of those letters.
h-5) The official death announcement :
The LOLLIS, PARK, RIEGER and THOMAS families gave us 3 documents relating the death of their relative.
Those 3 documents were dated 9th August 1945:
2 press articles announcing the death of S/Sgt Donald V. RIEGER (see appendix 21).
The letter from the Ministry of War to the mother of T/Sgt Harry D. PARK (see appendix 22).
The press article regarding Sgt Donald V. Rieger starts like this : “.Donald Rieger been officially declared dead. This is the news his mother, Mrs Dora B. Rieger of lathrop, received in a recent letter from the War Department”.
The letters are written in the similar fashion, let’s take the example of the one announcing the death of T/Sgt Harry D. PARK :
“Dear Mr Park
Since your son, Technical Sergeant Harry D. Park, 36,477,145, Air Corps, was reported missing in action 8 august 1944, the War Department has entertained the hope that he survived and that information would be revealed dispelling the uncertainty surrounding his absence. However, as in many cases, the conditions of warfare deny us such information. The records of the War Department show that your son, as a member of the crew of a B17 (Flying Fortress) aircraft, participated in a tactical bombing mission to St. Sylvain France. Near the target the aircraft was damaged by enemy antiaircraft artillery fire, and crashed near Caen, France.
Full consideration has recently been given to all available information bearing on the absence of your son, including all records, reports and circumstances. These have been carefully reveiwed an considered. In view of the fact that twelve months have now expired without the receipt of evidence to support a continued presumption of survival, the War Department must treminate such absence by a presumptive finding of death has been recorded under the provisions of public Law 490, 77th Congress, approved march7, 1942, as amended.
The finding does not establish an actual or probable date of death ; however, as required by law, it includes a presumptive date of death for the termination of pay and allowances, settlement of accounts and payment of death gratuities. In the case
of your son this date has been set as 9 august 1945, the day following the expiration of twelve month’s absence.
I regret the necessity for this message but trust that the ending of a long period of uncertainty may give at least some small measure of consolation. I hope you may find sustaining comfort in the thought that the uncertainty with which war has surrounded the absence of your son has enhanced the honor of his service to his country and his sacrifice”.
This letter gives us the indication that one the 9th August 1945 the aviators were still missing, presumed dead.
h-6) The wedding band of 2nd/Lt Patrick H. Lollis :
Mrs MARIE gave us a document that she had kept preciously amongst her parent’s papers. It is like a card : 10.6cm X 7.2cm.
On the one side are printed the RAF logo, the initials of the unit in English, the name in French, its address and phone number, the hand written name of the person who wrote the message, the date it was written.
On the other side is the following text :
“Have received from Mr CAUTRU, a gold wedding band with the initials LL and LP and dated 25.04.42 coming from one of the victims of an American plane that crashed on his property. The wedding band will be returned to the American Authorities by myself.
this document was dated 16th March 1946 and signed by Commandant LE BAS.
Despite extensive researches in the History service and Personnel Service of the RAF with the help of both services and of Adjudant FOUCHER Pascale from the History service of the Territorial Army, no document was found about a Commandant LE BAS.
This officer must have been a French officer attached to the services of the RAF or he would have signed Squadron Leader LE BAS.
This officer was a member of the M.R.E.U. (Missing Research and Enquiry Unit) looking for information about missing British aviators. This service was located in the Hotel Moderne, 14 Rue Bourg-Pele in Le Mans from November 1945 till August 1946. In 1946 they moved to Chantilly.
It’s likely that during his investigations in the area of Conde sur Noireau or after receiving a letter from the town-hall or some other organisation like the Red Cross, Commandant LE BAS had been informed that aviators had been buried in Perigny.
There he met Mr CAUTRU who gave him the ring. We do not know how he had
found it. this ring was the wedding band of Patrick Lollis who had married Laura Lady on the 25th April 1942.
h-7)The exhumation and the provisional cemetery of Blosville ( Manche) :
They exhumed the remains from the collective tomb at an unknown date, probably in 1946 and transported them to Blosville (see appendix 23) where they were reburied.
Mrs MARIE remembers the exhumation : It was in the spring, we were planting potatoes. A large lorry from the Red Cross came to “Les Hauts-Champs”. It had trouble turning. My father did not want me to watch but I was too curious. I saw people putting the corpses into white bags, the remains were picked with bare hands.
the white bags could have in fact been used to collect the belongings of the aviators. These bags are in white cotton and close with a fine rope. Each bag has a form sawn onto it with information about such as where they were buried, name, grade, how they died, state of the body, missing parts etc…
The identifiers did not stay long, “they arrived around 12” remember Mrs Marie and her sister “and they were gone before we had finished lunch”.
In theory a document stating that the bodies had been taken charge of by an officer of the 603 Quartermaster Graves Registration Company should have been given to the local authorities but we cannot find such document in the archives of Perigny. We therefore cannot date this exhumation precisely. It could have been during the spring of 46 or 47.
We base our theory on the following elements :
-Mrs MARIE remembers that it took place in the Spring of 1946.
-In the spring of 1948 the remains of the aviators were sent back to their families in the US.
-On the 9th august 1945 the aviators were still reported missing, presumed dead.
-The first bodies to be buried in the US were those of T/Sgt Harry PARK on the 24th April 1948 and of 1st/Lt John KEYS on the 23rd April 1948.
-On the 16th March 1946, the Commandant LE BAS came to Perigny to check there were not British aviators buried there so the exhumation had not taken place yet.
-During the spring and summer of 1946 the American Services of Identification exhumed several aviators around Conde sur Noireau.
-An aerial photography taken by the IGN on the 26th June 1946 (See appendix 24) shows a large white spot in the area where the tomb was. It could correspond to a digging having taken place there shortly before.
How did the American authorities hear about these bodies ? Perhaps through Commandant LE BAS ?
The bodies were transported to the American cemetery in Blosville where they were provisionally buried.
From 1944 to 1948 around 6000 American soldiers were buried there, but in 1948 some were sent home if requested by their families or transferred to the cemetery of Colleville sur Mer.
The cemetery in Blosville was looked after by men of the Graves Registration company which was looked after by men under the command of Lt Charles D. BUTTE.
The grave diggers were French people.
Mr Yves DE LA RUE was one of the assistants of the American officer identifying the bodies on arrival : “On arrival the bodies were searched thoroughly. One of the Id Tags left with the bag and one given to the officer. Bodies were buried in white bags.”
The 8 aviators were buried in individual tombs in block EE, rows 61 to 68.
S/Sgt Donald RIEGER was in 61, T/Sgt Harry PARK in 63, 2nd/ Lt Patrick LOLLISs 62, 1st/Lt Elton DICKENS in 64, 1st /Lt John KEYS in 65, S/Sgt Peter MARTIN in 66, T/Sgt Frank THOMAS 67 and F/O Elvin SAMUELSON in 68.
There was hierarchy in the tombs.
h-8) Personal belongings were returned to their families :
A few years after the tragedy some families received some belongings that had been found on the bodies of their loved ones. It was the case for the widow of F/O SAMUELSON and F/O Patrick LOLLIS.
Mrs Patricia (Samuelson) WENZEL received several years later the burnt watch of her late husband. She told us it was a great shock, people had thought it probably would be of some comfort but she could only think about how her husband must have died burnt in a plane on fire. She kept it for a while but this souvenir was too hurtful and she got rid of it.
We have not had any confirmation regarding whether Patrick Lollis’s wife received his wedding band.
h-9) Diverging statements :
After 60 years the witnesses seemed to mix some of the events or adapt them.
It the case for the following stories:
The witnesses mixed up the death of 2nd/Lt Elton DICKENS, the retrieving of F/O Patrick Lollis’s wedding band and the discovery of the wallet of an aviator by Mr BELLENGER.
Some told us that the aviator who had died from his injuries had given his wedding ring to Mr Cautru but the documents like the MACR or the leter from Gilbert Borba to the father of John P. KEYS prove tha there is no link.
They also claimed that the dying aviator had shown a picture of his 2 children when 2nd /Lt DICKENS only had one little girl and 2nd/Lt LOLLIS was not a father yet.
They also juxtaposed the discovery of the wallet when they mentionned the scratched earth next to the body of one of the aviators that died near the waterhole. In fact Mrs BELLENGER told us that her husband had noticed that when he found the wallet several months alter.
It is very difficult to clarify the situation.
h-10) The burials in the US :
In 1948 the families were contacted individually and offered 2 alternatives : Either they could get the body of their loved one back for a burial in the US or their body could be moved to a war cemetery in France.
All 8 families opted for the repatriation on the bodies.
We found on the internet the date and places where the aviators were reburied.
The first body to come home was that of T/Sgt Harry PARK and the last one that of S/Sgt Peter MARTIN.
The bodies had to transit via a military centre before they could being handed over to their families.
We could only trace one : T/Sgt Harry Park’s body was repatriated throught the military centre of Chicago before being sent back to his native town the day before the burial.
He was buried in the cemetery of Henderson Grove near Galesburg (illinois) on the 24th April 1948.
An article published in the Daily Register on the 23rd April was given to us by his brother. It announced the burial : “Last rites for T/Sgt Harry D.PARK , son of George H. PARK, who was killed in Europe August 8,1944, while serving whith the army air force, will be held this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. from the First Lutheran church, with the Rev. Leman V. Olsenius, pastor, officiating.
Military honors at the burial in Henderson Grove cemetery will be under direction of Knox county post n° 2257, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. The body will arrive this afternoon from the quartermaster depot in chicago, and will be taken to the Kimber and West mortuary”.
2nd/Lt Alvin SAMUELSON was buried in the cemetery of Big Rock (Illinois) next to his parents and his sister (William Esther and Sally who died in 1954,1952 and 1946).
2nd/ Lt Patrick LOLLIS was buries in the national cemetery of springfield (block 31, row 0, tomb 2300) on the 26th May 1948.
T/Sgt Donald THOMAS was buried in the cemetery of Mount Cavalry in Burlington (Vermont).
S/Sgt Donald RIEGER was buried on the Park View cemetery (California) on the 12th June 1948. Mr William Rieger sent us a copy of the announcement published in the newspaper of Lathrop.
It read :
“ Donald RIEGER buried with military honors.
Staff Sergeant Donald V. REIGER, son of Mrs Dora B. RIEGER of Lathrop was given a military funeral Saturday by membres of McFall-Grisham Post, American Legion, and Jimmie Conors post-VFW. The rites were held at the Park View Chapel with the Reverend Pierson of Riverbank in charge of the services .
Sgt RIEGER was a tail gunner on a B17, and was shot down over France on August 8, 1944. He had completed 27 missios before he went down, and held clusters, and the Purple Heart and Presidential Citation were awarded posthumously. He was a graduate of the Manteca High School.
The palbearers, all in uniform were : Randy Albertsen, rodney Elliot, James Miniaci, john Mec Fall, Carol Parker and George Reynold”.
S/Sgt Peter MARTIN was buried in the national cemetery of the Golden Gate (California) on the 10th June 1948.
1st /Lt John KEYS was buried in one other cemeteries of Spokane (Washington State).
It’s after those burials that the families contacted Gilbert Borba to get information about their loved one.
h-11) Gratefulness: (1944-2003) :
As early as 1944 the people who had been present in “Les Hauts-Champs” wanted to build a chapel to thank the Virgin Marie for her protection on that day and to remember the American aviators who died in the explosion. But this project was never completed.
Mr CAUTRU , a strong Christian, had bought and put in his house a frame with a wooden figure of the Virgin Marie. this was for him and his family a way of showing their gratitude and remember those who died on the 8th august 1944.
Mr MARIE remembers that her dad put some blessed box on the tomb of the aviators. the place where they were buried is still sacred today.
Mr CAUTRU never talked about the 8th august 1944, he had been too shocked by the events.
S/Sgt Gilbert A.BORBA would rarely mention that day, only after a few pints !
I) THE RECYCLING OF THE PLANE :
i-1) The scrap merchants and the locals :
After the waar there was a lot of carcasses from tanks, canons, planes etc to clear from the battlefields. Each scrap merchant was allocated an area.
Thus most of the pieces of the plane were taken away by an unknown scrap merchant.
But there were also “Sunday Scrap merchants” and the witnesses remember seeing, hearing people sawing, hacking into parts of the plane.
Nowadays there are only very few parts left : a part of a wing, 3 pieces of carlingue saved by Mr CAUTRU and which Mr MARIE keeps religiously.
until August 2002 there was still a piece of the wing bearing the American falg but the owner got rid of it.
i-2) Plexiglas, rubber from the tank, parts of the carlingue, silk from the parachutes and the survival boat from the plane :
Perigny was badly damaged by the war and the pieces of B17 were a godsend to repair walls and roofs. Mr JOUVIN remembers that “anything was good enough to mend a roof”.
After the war Mr CAUTRU did not have anything left, his animals had been killed, his house damaged. To survive they had to improvise.
He took the plexiglas from the plane and made some candles with it, Mrs MARIE remembers the terribly suffocating smoke those candles were producing.
The rubber from the tank was used as shoe soles and the rear door of the plane wa used to protect from the wind when doing the washing. She also recycled the silk from the parachutes and transformed them into shirts.
Mrs MARIE remembers that the dress her mum made for her communion was made of that silk. She also remembers that the roof of her grand-dad’s stables was made out of olive green elements from the carlingue.
On the steep slopes of the “Vallon d’Alsace| some French civilians found the survival bat from the plane, it was used to search the sunken boats outside of Arromanches.
i-3) The electricity line
In the 1950s an electricity line was put on the area of the crash. There were no large parts of the plane left then but 2 airguns were found on the site. One was sold to a scrap merchant, the other fired by Mr CAUTRU because it was live.
CONCLUSION
During these research, with the meeting of the witnesses, the exchange of numerous email with the families of the aviators in the US, I have been able to relive the sacrifice that was done by the crew of the 1st/Lt John P. KEYS.
8 out of the 9 crew members died on the 9th August 1944 in the explosion of their plane above “Les Hauts-Champs” in Perigny.
This tragedy is still very much alive in the memory of those who witnessed it.
The place where the aviators were first buried has retained an element of sacred and some parts of the valley where the plane fell are still impregnated with a strange atmosphere where the time seems to have stopped.
The Norman soil is through the blood lost there a piece of America.
In memory of the crew of the 349th B.G who died here
on the 8th August 1944.
1st /Lt John P. KEYS
2nd /Lt Elton DICKENS
2nd/Lt Patrick H. LOLLIS
F/O Alvin W. SAMUELSON
T/Sgt Harry D. PARK
S/Sgt Gilbert A. BORBA
T/Sgt Frank O. THOMAS
S/Sgt Donald V. RIEGER
S/Sgt Peter P. MARTIN
The grateful municipality
