MACR PILOT: 2Lt Robert J. Horn O-749245
MACR #: 03232
Fiche #: 01104
Organization
Location: AAF Station #139
Group: 100th Bomb Gp (H) AAF
Squadron: 418th BS
Command: VIII AF
Detachment:
Detail
Departure/Base: AAF Station #139
Initial Course: South East
Intended Destination: Augsburg
Mission Type: Operational
Weather
Weather: 4 - 6/10 undercast
Give
Date: March 18, 1944
Time: 15:11
Location: 48 22N - 10 01E
Specify: Last Sighted
Confirmed or believed reason for loss
Loss due to: Other circumstances
Other reason for loss: Unknown
Engines
Model: R-1820-97
A: 42-137390
B: 42-80103
C: 41-57945
D: 43-58463
Weapons
A: 398796
B: 394271
C: 394207
D: 398627
E: 398400
F: 395414
G: 395752
H: 394035
I: 394267
J: 394286
L: 394286 (m)394294
Persons are listed as
Casualty Type: Blank
Number of persons on board
Crew: 10
Pass: 0
Total: 10
Personnel
Use your thumb to scroll through the results box below.
| Position | Name | Rank | Serial |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | |||
| P2 | Robert J. Horn | 2Lt | O-749245 |
| CP | Bart E. Mahoney | 2Lt | O-803240 |
| NAV (N) | William A. Newell | 2Lt | O-699916 |
| BOM (B) | Charles E. Conner | 2Lt | O-690773 |
| RAD | Kenneth H. Mueller | Sgt | 36630956 |
| ENG | Albert J. Shubak | Sgt | 13171013 |
| BAL | Russell A. Rriester | Sgt | 16081438 |
| WG (W) | Victor T. Seabye | SSgt | 33392889 |
| WG (W) | Aubrey Slimm | Sgt | 32365530 |
| TG (T) | William E. Graser | SSgt | 17156121 |
Persons who are believed to have last knowledge of aircraft
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| Name | Knowledge | Rank | Serial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark G. Gunnersall | Last sighted | 1Lt | -803607 |
Personnel who are believed to have survived
Reason: Any other reason
Other: Down under control
Eyewitness description of crash
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| Last Name | First name | Report |
|---|---|---|
| At 1511 hours near 4822 N -- 1001 E, altitude 16,400 feet, A/C #508 pulled out of formation. It had been straggling most of the way and seemed to have trouble keeping up. No props were feathered and no trouble with the A/C was observed when it was last seen. (Mark G. Gunnersall) | ||
| No Data | Aircraft damaged by debris from the collision of Lt. Paul Martin and Lt Donald Stuke crews - Collision occurred over Dieppe enroute to the target. Horn continued to the target (Munich) and bombed secondary. Preceding collision group leader hit and subsequently aborted - delay in assumption of the the lead by the Deputy Lead resulted in a 360 degree turn by the 100th over the French Coast at Dieppe. In the insuring re-assembly Martin and Stoke were involved in a mid-air collision. The damaged Horn aircraft managed to continue and bomb a secondary target. The damage was so great the that flight could not be sustained for the out bound leg and the aircraft was lost. (Letter to Jim Brown from Charles E. Conner in September 1988...."We crash-landed near Ulm, with Lt Horn making a super smooth dead-stick, wheels up landing in the snow covered backyard of a farmer.) .This data obtained from crewmen in 1993 at the Little Rock reunion. Charles Connor - BOM; Russel Priester - BTG, Ken Mueller - ROG and Abrey Slimm - WG. Lt. Horn could not keep up with the formation due to battle damage and damage that occurred when they had flown through debris from a collision of two 100th planes over Dieppe on the way to the target. A P-47 offered protection for some time but as Lt. Horn was forced to descend lower and lower with the damaged "Bastard's Bungalow II," the P-47's fuel state forced him, reluctantly, to abandon the stricken B-17. This he did with a friendly wave. At the 100th's 1993 Reunion in Little Rock, AR, members of this crew related an unusual circumstance which had remained unknown to 100th historians for nearly half a century. ME-109 and a FW-190 aircraft joined up with them, one on each wing. Soon they gave Horn a "Thumbs Down" signal over a large snow covered field. Lt. Horn made a smooth wheels up landing in the snow. The two fighters circled and the ME-190 lowered his wheels and landed next to Horn's aircraft. The German fighter nosed over and crashed, but the Luftwaffe pilot was not injured. The FW-190 circled overhead a few more minutes and then departed. Soon afterward a group of German soldiers arrived and Horn and his crew were taken prisoner. Certainly not the usual way a crew became POWs...pw |
Description of search effort
Detail: No search made.
Preparing Officer
Prepared by: WALTER G. BURKE 1st Lt. Air Corps Personnel Officer
Date prepared: March 20, 1944
