Personnel

CREW



A/C # 43-37882 Happy-Go-Lucky      MACR #9509, Micro-fiche #3486



2nd Lt Frederick G.Reed             P       KIA  6/10/44 BERLIN

2nd Lt Edward .A. Hesse          CP       KIA  6/10/44 BERLIN

F/0 John T.Carmichael             NAV      KIA   6/10/44 BERLIN

2nd Lt Edmund W.Rohde        BOM      KIA   6/10/44 BERLIN                       

Sgt Roy F.Lomanno                TTE     P0W  6/10/44 BERLIN   (Bailed out - captured at Finkenwerder) 

Cpl Robert H. Bennett            ROG     KIA    6/10/44 BERLIN       

Cpl Robert E.Jackson              BTG     KIA    6/10/44 BERLIN         

Sgt Joseph J.Burghardt           WG    KIA     6/10/44 BERLIN (became TG when crew reduced to 9 men)

Cpl Edward V.Ankli                 WG    KIA     6/10/44 BERLIN

CPl Leo A.Soutaerd                 TG    NOC   (removed from crew when the reduction to 9 man crew was made and did not fly in 37882 on 6 Oct 1944) 



350th Sqdn.  Crew joined the 100th Group on 12/9/44. This WAS  probably the 3rd or 4th mission for this crew.  Crew was flying a 418th a/c.  



EYEWITNESS  "A/C #882 received a direct flak burst between #2 & #1 engine. The wing burst into flame and the A/C pealed off spinning and burning.   No chutes were seen.



MACR has Ankli as TTE, Jackson as BTG,  Burghardt as TG and Lomanno as WG.





Direct flak hit between the left engines - left formation and crashed at Ringstrasse 51-6, Finkenkrug, 10 km west of Spandau, Germany. After some minutes the bomb load exploded, killing a German woman who was attempting to assist the crew. The eight killed were buried as Unknowns in the Communal Cemetery at Falkensee, Germany. In August 1947 those interred in Mass Grave Row 2 Graves 5/7 at Falkensee were move to Ardennes. Cpl Robert H. Bennett, F/O John T. Carmichael, 2Lt. Edmund W. Rohde and S/Sgt Joseph J. Burghardt were individually identified by Graves Registration. At the request of next of kin the unidentified were buried in Ardennes in two adjoining graves.



Hello I would like to submit a photo of my Uncle Edward V. Ankli SN# 15109105  who served with the Fredick G Reed crew and was KIA 10/06/1944 MACR # 09509 Please let me know how to e-mail you this photo to your group. Thank you--Tom Doak-OAKIEDOAK@YAHOO.COM

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Edward V. Ankli was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1924, but referred to Berrion, Michigan as his home. His parents were Victor C and Anna Ankli. He had one sister, Lorraine. He enlisted on August 31, 1942 at South Bend, Indiana. He initially received training as a flight engineer, and also qualified in aerial gunnery school. He spent time in an operational training unit, receiving combat crew training. He was assigned to a replacement crew and deployed to England in 1944. Here, the crew was assigned to the 350th Bomb Squadron of the 100th Bomb Group, operating from RAF Station 139, Thorpe Abbotts in Norfolk, England.



The crew had flown either 3 or 4 missions (accounts vary) when scheduled for a bombing raid on Berlin, Germany. Over the target, the aircraft took a direct hit from flak that landed between the #1 and #2 engine. The wing caught fire, then fell off the aircraft. The aircraft dropped from formation, spinning rapidly, and crashed near Finkenburg, 10 km west of Spandau, Germany. No chutes were observed; however, one crewman managed to bail out. He survived and was captured. The remainder were killed. The bomb load detonated sometime after the crash and killed a German female who was attempting to assist the crew. Eight bodies were recovered and buried as "Unknowns" in the Communal Cemetery at Falkenser, Germany. (See attached photo.) In August 1947, four of the crew were identified and returned to the U.S. The other four were buried in two grave sites in the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. TSgt Ankli lies in Plot A, Row 8, Grave 14.



TSgt Ankli was the engineer and top turret gunner on B-17G  # 43-37882, nicknamed "Happy-Go-Lucky," assigned to the 350th Bomb Squadron.



Missing Air Crew Report 9509 was issued, and identifies the crew as:



2 Lt Frederick G. Reed    p

2 Lt Edward A. Hesse    c-p

F/O John T. Carmichael    nav

2 Lt Edmund W. Rhode    bomb

TSgt Edward V. Ankli    eng/tt gun

Cpl Robert H. Bennett    r/o

TSgt Robert E. Jackson    btg

Cpl Leo A. Southard     lwg

SSgt Rosario "Roy" F. Lomanno   rwg

Sgt Joseph J. Burghardt    tail gun



Sgt Southard was dropped from the crew when crew size was reduced from 10 to 9.