Thanks for sharing those pic's!!!That last picture of the B17 with the triangle P on its tail is from the 384th BG and on April 13th 1944 they were on a mission to Schweinfurt's ball bearing factories. My Uncle Joe was shot down on that mission!
Semper Fi
Phil
here is another pic of the same Airplane... There is a large story to it... do you want me to copy it in for you?
Taken from: Absturz in Mils - Bullock
This is the story of one particular aircraft, a B17G. Flying Fortress of the 547th Bomber Squadron, 384th Bomber Group (H) of the 8th Air Force, I am sure that this will be no surprise to the reader, having reached this far.
2nd Lt. James M. Bodker and his eight man crew were awakened around 3.30 a.m. on a dewy morning in the heart of Northamptonshire, England, it looked as if it might be a nice day, but it is most unlikely that this thought at 3.30 a.m. occured to them. Still rubbing sleep from their eyes they made their way to the Mess Hall for a breakfast of bacon and eggs, washed down by coffee, after which they ‘trundled’ along to the Briefing Halls were, the officers received separate briefing from the enlisted men, but, whether officer or an enlisted man the same cry went up when they learned of the destination of this, their third mission to be, and the cry, “Oh! no, not that long and dangerous haul!” The particular target for the 384th on this day was a Chemical Works at Höllriegelskreuth some 10 km. south west of the City of Munich.
The Bodker crew had only been in England since 8 July, 1944 and had absolved just two raids, one on the 17th and one on the 18th and this 19th of July was to see them on one of the longest possible for a Fortress and one that would see them in the air for something like 8 hours and 30 minutes, at least, with most of this time being on oxygen, necessary at the height they would be flying, IF all went according to plan.
By 0515h. all 36 aircraft forming the attack as part of the 384th Bomber Group where assembled in the air above the English countryside and had started the first phase of their journey to the Munich area, a journey from which some would never return. In all, over 1,100 heavy bombers of the 8th Air Force, operating in 5 forces, assembled and then headed for Augsburg/Munich, deep in the heart of the German Third Reich, where targets included, 2 plants producing hydrogen peroxide (which is an ingredient used in V-weapon fuels), a chemical plant, 2 aircraft factories, 4 ball bearing plants, 6 marshalling yards, 4 airfields and a river dam, but we are only really concerned with just 36 of this great armada, namely, the 36 aircraft flying under the colours of the 384th Bombardment Group of which two returned to base before they had crossed the North Sea and a further three, never to return, in which 8 young men were to make the surpreme sacrifice, killed in action (KIA).
The 384th crossed the Dutch coastline on time, without any problem, Aachen reached with no sign of enemy attack by flak batteries or fighters, Strassbourg reached all was calm and tranquill, except for the roar of 136 engines, only counting those of the 384th, but by now, many hearts were beating faster, eyes were straining for a fighter attack, the nervous tension was beginning to mount and the nearer they came to the target so this tension increased, they were now bearing to the left, the Initial Point (the point at which the bomb run would start), but where were the fighters, spitting death with their 20mm. cannons, the fighter airfield bases must now be close, Kaufbeuren, Schongau, to name but two. The I.P. now reached with every member of every crew in their respective positions in the aircraft, all waiting, waiting for the flak to be hurled up at them that they all knew would come, for now they were approaching the ‘bomb run’ and here was no deviation, to the left, to the right, up or down, this was now their course for the next 5 to 7 minutes, they knew it as did the flak batteries on the ground and as expected those harmless looking little puffs of smoke suddenly started to appear, with an intensity and accuracy that was frightening to behold, also they seemed to be concentrating on leading ships in the ‘Lead Group’. With the prevailing weather conditions, officially, clear and vision unlimited, the target could be seen, visual bombing was ordered and a straight run was made onto the target, during this time flak continued to pound the heavy bombers and although some of them were undoubtedly receiving hits, none were brought down. After what seemed like an eternity, those magic words were heard, “Bombs away”. At long last evasive action could be taken and a course set for home, but it was then that the “Lead Group” was hit by fighters of the German Air Force who came in out of the sun to down two aircraft from the “Lead Group”, Lt. Bodker, who was to land in field near the village of Mils bei Imst in the Austrian Tirol and Lt. Mount who was to make it safely to the land at Dübendorf in Switzerland. In the same attack the “Low Group” was also to lose one of their machines, that piloted by Lt. Gerard Heim who was to blow up in midair and crash near to the junction where the River Isar and Loisach join, just a very short distance south of the target itself.
Can't really like it Philby AZPhil
Thanks for sharing those pic's!!!
Semper Fi
Phil
Not all 'internees' had an easy ride
After landing in Switzerland, interned crewmembers were typically interrogated and then quarantined for a short period before movement to a permanent internment camp. The first permanent internment facility was established at Adelboden, and others soon followed in Wengen and Davos. Several “punishment” or concentration camps were also established to house internees undergoing disciplinary punishment, normally for attempting escape. These camps included Straflager Wauwilermoos, Hünenburg, Les Diablerets and Greppen. Wauwilermoos was the most notorious of the punishment camps, due to deplorable camp conditions and a fanatical Swiss Army commander. Incarceration in such facilities grew dramatically after the Allied invasion of France, mainly because of the increased prospect of escape to Allied lines.
"In all my years as a soldier, I have never seen men fight so hard." - SS Obergruppenfuhrer Wilhelm Bittrich - Arnhem
Thank You Dan. With my uncle Joe's connection with the group I became a member of the 384th Bomb Group Nex Gen. We maintain all of the records from the 384th while serving during WW2 . We also get to talk with the veterans from that Group. There are some very interesting and disturbing stories from those times.
Woolgar is absolutely correct about how some were treated. On another mission one of the 384th B17's was damaged and tried to make it to Switzerland. They were shot down as it entered swiss airspace. They crashed in a lake and the crew rescued. One of the enlisted men on that flight was sent to a camp that also had Russian prisoners. The young enlisted man(19) was beaten, his teeth smashed out of his mouth and he was raped on a daily basis.
To think to yourself, well the war is over for me, I'll just sit here and chill in Switzerland for the duration and then live the horror that young man endured. Just terrible!
Semper Fi
Phil
My uncle survived being blown out of his B17 when it exploded in flight. 4 out of the 10 man crew died but my Uncle spent the rest of the war as a guest of the German government in Stalag 17B.
Semper Fi
Phil
Got it finally !
Watched it a couple of years ago.
Quality poor , but interest great !
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