Personnel

Lyle Nord from Superior Wisconsin graduated from Las Vegas gunnery school and studied engineering and radio at Sebring Florida.  He served with distinction as the tail gunner on Everett Blakely’s Just A Snappin for 18 missions.  That plane sustained over 800 holes on its last mission October 8, 1943 to Bremen Germany.  The gunners shot down 9 enemy fighters that day including one by Lyle Nord.



Just A Snappin was destroyed but Lyle Nord needed to find another plane to complete his 25 missions.  Another B-17 Shining Hour needed a new tail gunner due to an unusual accident.

B-17 Shining Hour was on a mission targeting an air-field.  On the bomb run a tragic accident occurred.  The bomber above Shining Hour swerved to avoid flack.  It accidentally dropped a 100-pound bomb on the tail of Shining Hour below. The bomb didn’t explode but it lodged in the tail killing tail gunner Raymond Cohen.  



After physically changing the entire tail section Lyle Nord replaced deceased tail gunner Raymond Cohen. On May 29, 1944 Shining Hour piloted by Lt. Burdette Williams targeted the Junkers aircraft plant at Leipzig.   Multiple enemy aircraft attacked; Lyle Nord was killed by a 20 mm canon shell in his back.  The plane crashed in a devastating nose dive.







CREW



1st Lt Everett E.Blakely             P  CPT

 2nd Lt Charles A.Via,Jr.        CP  SWA   8/10/43 

1st Lt Joseph H.Payne          NAV  KIA     28/4/44 (With crew of W,G.Lakin)

 2nd Lt James R.Douglas       BTG   CPT 

T/Sgt Howard J.Brock        TTE   POW  17/8/43 (With crew of W.R.Flesh)    

T/Sgt Monroe B.Thornton     WG  CPT 

T/Sgt Edmund G.Forkner     ROG   CPT 

S/Sgt John L.Olson             BTG  Transferred 

S/Sgt Lyle E.Nord                WG  KIA   29/5/44 (with crew of B.L.Williams) 

S/Sgt Lester W.Saunders      TG  KIA  8/10/43



418th Sqdn.  An ''Original" crew.



———————————————-

From “Death Was Our Co-Pilot” by EE Blakely re Bremen mission:



Staff Sergeant Lyle E. Nord of Superior, Wis., normally our tail gunner (he was firing the radio operator’s gun this day, leaving Forkner free for radio work) reported that the flak was flying off his flak suit, “like pebbles bouncing off a tin roof …Nord, our tail gunner, got one.  Two Me-210’s came in stacked up from about 600 yards out.  Nord took one of them and our left waist gunner, Yevich, the other. …



From “Contrails” pg 138 by Harry Crosby writing about the Bremen mission:    



The gunners were good. S/Sgt. Lyle E. Nord was pretty busy scratching flak fragments out of his face, head, neck and clothing, but he still managed to bring down a fighter from a tough position.  Two ME 210's came in stacked up from about 600 yards out. Nord took one of them and our left waist gunner the other. It slipped to the right, then blew up. Pieces of the fighter splattered against our plane…



————————————



On 8/10/43, S/Sgt Edward S.Yevich LWG & S/Sgt W illiam F.McClelland,Bt were aboard in the place of H.J.Brock & J.L.Olson. Both of these men were wounded.





Lyle Nord was flying as TG on the crew of B.L.Williams on 29/5/44 and was hit in the back by a 20mm. He had flown a total of 27 missions,the last 8 of them with the Williams crew.



Crew on May 29, 1944 

Target: Leipzig

Missing Air Crew Report: #5237

A/C 42-107011  LD-T "Shinning Hour"



Lt Burdette L. Williams     Pilot- POW  

Lt Ellie R. Nesmith           Copilot- KIA, Buried Torgau City Cemetary, Sec C, Row 2,  Grave 7, 

Lt Walter M. Pickett        Navigator-POW

Lt Vernon O. Breazeale    Bombardier-KIA, Ok when he bailed out.  Buried Torgau City Cemetary,  Sec C, Row 2,  Grave 6, 

S/Sgt Melvin H. Evans      Radio Operator Gunner-POW

Sgt Gordon L. Ticker       Top Turret Engineer-POW

Sgt Larry C. Boyer           Ball Turret Gunner-POW

S/Sgt willard V. Goos       Waist Gunner-KIA Drowned in Elbe River, Buried in Mun Cemetary, Torgau Sec C, Row 2, Grave 8

Sgt Elroy A. Yaroch         Waist Gunner-POW

S/Sgt Lyle E. Nord           Tail Gunner-KIA, Buried Torgau City Cemetary,Sec C, Row 2, Grave 6?



On 29 May 44  The target was Leipzig with Col Jack Kidd leading.  The target was the Junkers plant .  Fighters hit the formation over the target and Lt Williams aircraft was lost to enemy aircraft at 1233 hours.  The #2 engine and nose was hit by 20 mm fire. The aircraft peeled out of formation, lost altitude and went into a vertical dive and exploded.  3 chutes were seen.  Sgt Larry C. Boyer was flying in place of Leroy Moore and became a POW. S/Sgt Lyle E. Nord, from the  original crew of E.E.Blakely, was flying in place of Cohen and was KIA.



S/Sgt Nord was killed by a 20mm entering his back, Goos is believed to have survived his jump but landed in water and drowned.  Nesmith was alright when he bailed out and the cause of his death remains unknown. Breazeale was also killed by 20mm fire.