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Archive Report: US Forces
1941 - 1945

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.

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29.07.1943 No. 333rd Bomber Squadron B17F 42-30146 TS-A Lt. Palmer

Operation: Warnemunde Germany

Date: 29th July 1943 (Thursday)

Unit: No. 333rd Bomber Squadron, 94th Bomber Group

Type: B17F Flying Fortress

Serial: 42-30146 ('Down and Go')

Code: TS-A

Base: Rougham Airbase

Location: Avedøre, Denmark

Pilot: Lt. Ned Palmer 0-794678 USAAF Age 23. PoW Stalag Moosburg (Isar)

Co-Pilot: Lt Eugene R. Snyder 0-670650 USAAF Age 24. PoW Stalag Luft Sagan and Belaria

Nav: Lt Frank S. Pellegrino 0-800761 USAAF PoW Stalag Luft Sagan and Belaria

Ai/Bmr: Lt Arthur E. Cooper 0-670015 USAAF PoW Stalag Luft Sagan and Belaria

Radio/Gnr: T/Sgt George A. Hamling 12093574 USAAF PoW Stalag Luft Sagan and Belaria

TT/Eng: T/Sgt Christos Bassios 32244606 USAAF PoW Stalag Gneizendorf

BT/Gnr: S/Sgt Vernon P. Rathbun 17043490 USAAF PoW Stalag Gneizendorf

RW/Gnr: S/Sgt Olin E. Brown 34350657 USAAF PoW Stalag Luft Sagan and Belaria

LW/Gnr: S/Sgt Damon D. Cottingham 36270637 USAAF PoW Stalag Luft Sagan and Belaria

T/Gnr: S/Sgt William P. Clark 39103345 USAAF PoW Stalag Gneizendorf

REASON FOR LOSS:

42-30146 was having engine troubles when outbound and after having reached the Danish west coast it was decided to try to reach Sweden. The bombs were dropped to lighten the aircraft which was now down to one good engine.

After a while the navigator 2nd Lt. Pellegrino declared that they were over Sweden, the pilot, Lt. Ned Palmer started looking for a place to land.

He found a large field where he at 10:15 hours made a good belly landing with little damage to the aircraft.

The aircraft was dismantled and taken to Fliegerhorst Kastrup near København for repair. It was painted in German colours and operated by the Luftwaffe until 9/2-1945 when it exploded at Stuttgaard-Echterdingen airfield, just after take off killing seven of the crew and ten passengers

Burial details:

None - crew survived as PoWs.

Researched for Aircrew Remembered by Michel Beckers. Dedicated to relatives of the crew.

MB - 05.01.2018

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Acknowledgments: Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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Last Modified: 24 March 2021, 16:37

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