Personnel

CREW



2ND LT DELBERT D. REEVE            P KIA 10 APR 45 BURG-bei-MAGDEBURG, AF

F/O HAZEN F. WILLET               CP KIA 10 APR 45 BURG-bei-MAGDEBURG, AF

F/O STEVE S. POULOS            NAV KIA 10 APR 45 BURG-bei-MAGDEBURG, AF

F/O  GEORGE E. WOODHAM       BOM EVA 10 APR 45 BURG-bei-MAGDEBURG, AF

SGT ALBERT D. CRABBS, JR.       ROG KIA 10 APR 45 BURG-bei-MAGDEBURG, AF

SGT ROBERT E. TRUEBLOOD       TTE KIA 10 APR 45 BURG-bei-MAGDEBURG, AF

SGT HERMAN WILLIAMS            BTG KIA 10 APR 45 BURG-bei-MAGDEBURG, AF

SGT ARTHUR F. EHRLER, JR.         WG KIA 10 APR 45 BURG-bei-MAGDEBURG, AF

SGT WESLEY A. WOODS             TG KIA 10 APR 45 BURG-bei-MAGDEBURG, AF



349TH SQDN…. CREW JOINED THE 100TH ON 30 MAR 1945 .THIS WAS THE CREWS FIRST MISSION.

THIS IS THE LAST, 100TH CREW LOST..pw



Herman Williams, 349th, BTG, Lil Rebel, 43-38840, KIA, April 10th, 1945





EYEWIITNESS: "A/C 43-38840 (Lil Rebel) was attacked by 2 ME 262' and received hits in the TT and

                        #2 engine.Dense smoke came from the #2 engine and then it made a vertical

                        slow roll on its right wing and burst into flame. It still seemed under

                        control when 2 chutes were observed. Later it was believed to have hit the

                        ground and exploded in a very large flame."

 

The following statement was given by F/O George E. Woodham who returned to this station (#139) on 15 April 1945.:

                     "I was the third man to bail out of the A/C; the co-pilot and navigator ahead

                      of me. The plane was in a dive when I bailed out, and soon after my chute

                      opened I hit the ground. I saw no chutes at all when I was in the air, and

                      saw none of the other members of my crew after hitting the ground. The

                      plane crashed and exploded close to where I landed."



On 24 Sept.1945 at San Antonio,Texas (Personnel Center), F/O Woodham gave a similar picture of events.

 

                       "The B-17 of which he was bombardier was attacked by jet fighters at

                       20.000 feet and sustained a number of hits.He states that intelligence

                       later reported two directs hits in the tail turret. F/O 'Woodham believes

                       that there were a number of other hits but has no idea as to how many.

 -                     He states that the interphone was out and that he saw the navigator bail

                       out first, then the co-pilot bailed out and then F/O ,Woodham bailed out.

                       He believes that there were only three chutes in the air. He landed about

                      75 yards from where the plane had crashed and exploded and states further

                       that there were two explosions. After landing, F/O Woodham ran to some woods

                       nearby where he watched the plane burn at a distance of about 200 yards."

 

                       It is the opinion of F/O Woodham that no member of the crew could have

                       survived if he had not parachuted out of the stricken plane.He has written

                       to the families of all the members of the crew giving as much information

                       as he had."

Could not be identified. Interred along with three other Unknowns from the crew in Ardennes Plot FF-7-166. Graves Registration as well as the Germans could not individually identify the crewmen. Final Interment - Group Burial in Fort McPherson National Cemetery, Maxwell, Nebraska - USA