Operation: Vienna, Austria

Date: 17th March 1944 (Friday)

Unit No: 756th Bombardment Squadron (H), 459th Bombardment Group (H), 304th Bombardment Wing, 15th Air Force

Type: B-24H La Borracha*

Serial No: 42-52319

Code:-

Location: Vienna, Austria

Base: Giulia airfield (Cerignola satellite #1), Italy

Pilot: 2nd Lt. William Wayne Allen O-795681 AAF Age 23. KiA

Co-Pilot: 1st Lt. Owen Vincent Kiggins O-1666552 AAF Age 25. KiA

Navigator: FO. Marion Lee Becking Jr. T-123022 AAF Age 22. KiA

Navigator: 2nd Lt. William Gerald Jacobs O-694674 AAF Age 22. KiA

Bombardier: 2nd Lt. Raoul Cuellar Diaz O-752659 AAF Age 21. KiA

Radio/Op: S/Sgt. Robert Hall Harris 11130363 AAF Age 20. KiA

Engineer: S/Sgt. Philip William Foster 11084931 AAF Age 24. KiA

Ball Turret: S/Sgt. James Lake Jameson 34517130 AAF Age 26. KiA

Right Waist Gnr: S/Sgt. Aubrey Dean Forkum 14159878 AAF Age 21. KiA

Left Waist Gnr: S/Sgt. Charles J. Federonick Jr. 35587743 AAF Age 22. KiA

Tail Gnr: S/Sgt. Lesley Garath ‘Tootie’ Davis 14162072 AAF Age 21. KiA

The B-24 had 10 crew positions. Crew complements evolved during the war and generally comprised 9 personnel who were typically, but not always, Pilot, Co-Pilot, Bombardier, Navigator, Flight Engineer/Top Turret Gunner, Radio Operator/Waist Gunner, Nose Gunner, Ball Turret Gunner, Waist Gunner, Tail Gunner.

* ‘La Borracha’ is the Spanish for ‘The Drunk’.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 17th March 1944 Smokey took off from Giulia airfield to join a force of two hundred-thirteen B-24s to bomb Vienna, some targeting the Henschel aircraft factory in the Schwechat section.

There was intense accurate flak and five liberators were lost on this mission, three from the 459th Bombardment Group.

B-24H 42-52319 La Borracha was last sighted at 13:15 hrs at 48 10N, 16 20E, which is some 6 km (3½ mls) SSW from the centre of Vienna.

Four witnesses from other aircraft in the formation reported what they saw regarding the circumstances leading to the loss of La Borracha and her crew:

2nd Lt. Samuel Pearson Lutjeans, O-668987:

“319 seemed to receive a hit by flak in the right wing and pilot seemed to try and pull out of formation and as a result he fell down and struck 406 on the right wing and 319 broke in two immediately behind the ball turret. Front part of 319 rolled over on its back and went vertically through the overcast. One man was seen to fall out of the rear part but whether he had a chute on or not is not known; it at least had not opened when he fell through the overcast”.

2nd Lt. Charles Frank Gracz, O-690803:

“In the formation on the bombing run plane No. 319 was flying No. two position. Going through the heavy flak, I was busy calling it to the crew of plane No. 342. Sat. down on the navigator’s table to get my breath back. I glanced through the right window in the nose and saw plane No. 319 in No. Five position where “Smokey, No. 406, was flying. Kept an eye on it and saw pieces of flak on right side of fuselage fall in all directions. At this time the plane went into a steep bank and went straight down. From here I couldn’t keep track of it”.

S/Sgt. Frank R. Constabile, 32574586:

“Ship No. 319 was seen to rise and suddenly fall back, part of tail section was seen to fall off. What appeared to be a body went hurtling into space, last seen about 500 feet below formation, and no chute was seen. Ship went into a slow spin and gradually the entire tail section fell off after which the ship went into a tight spin. Last seen about one thousand (1000) feet below formation, still spinning. No parachutes were seen to come out of the plane”.

S/Sgt. Armand Zach Daughtry, 18134603:

“Missed plane No 319 from formation as the position was off over right wing. Looked back and saw it going down. At this time it was going down in rather a loose spin, it right vertical stabilizer torn off. After it had fallen about a thousand feet its entire tail section tore off. The plane then went into a tight spin, falling rapidly. As it disappeared through the overcast its No. 3 engine appears to be smoking. No parachutes were seen to leave the ship”.

Ship 406 was B-24H 42-52406 Smokey, nine of the crew perished and one baled out and became a PoW. 342 was B-24H 42-52342 which was lost on the 2nd July 1944 (7 KiA, 3 PoW).

Burial Details:

Above Courtesy of The Minneapolis Star, dated 19th April 1944

2nd Lt. William Wayne Allen. Repatriated and interred in a joint grave at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Section 84, Site 416-418 on the 6th December 1951. Born on the 12th January 1921 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Son of William W. Allen. Husband to Verna Ellen (née Bemis) Allen of Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA.

1st Lt. Owen Vincent Kiggins. Repatriated and interred in a joint grave at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Section 84, Site 416-418 on the 6th December 1951. Born on the 28th March 1918 on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Son of Mark Vincent and Catherine Mary (née Wilson) Kiggins of Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA.

Above: Courtesy of The Bakersfield Californian, dated 11th August 1945

FO. Marion Lee Becking Jr. Repatriated and interred in a joint grave at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Section 84, Site 416-418 on the 6th December 1951. Born on the 7th September 1921. Son of Marion Lee and Letha Jane (née Doyel) Becking. Husband of Jeane Ferrel (née Wood) Becking of Bakersfield, California, USA.

2nd Lt. William Gerald Jacobs. Repatriated and interred in a joint grave at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Section 84, Site 416-418 on the 6th December 1951. Born on the 22nd January 1922. Son of Aloysius Leo and Jollietta Elizabeth (née Shaver) Jacobs of Lemay, Missouri, USA.

2nd Lt. Raoul Cuellar Diaz. Repatriated and interred in a joint grave at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Section 84, Site 416-418 on the 6th December 1951. Born on the 5th December 1922 in Texas. Son of Mrs and Mrs Robert Anaya of El Paso, Texas, USA.

S/Sgt. Robert Hall Harris. Repatriated and interred in a joint grave at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Section 84, Site 416-418 on the 6th December 1951. Born on the 25th June 1923 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Son of Herbert Bennett and Charlotte Mae (née Hall) Harris of Middlesex, Massachusetts USA.

S/Sgt. Philip William Foster. Repatriated and interred in a joint grave at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Section 84, Site 416-418 on the 6th December 1951. Born 28th November 1919 in Walcott, Vermont. Husband to Ethel Mabel (née Barclay) Foster of Craftsbury, Vermont, USA.

Above : S/Sgt. James Lake Jameson (Courtesy of Michel Beckers – FindAGrave)

S/Sgt. James Lake Jameson. Repatriated and interred in a joint grave at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Section 84, Site 416-418 on the 6th December 1951. Born on the 25th February 1918 in Easley, Pickens, South Carolina. Son of Thomas Milton and Minnie Lee (née Cox) Jameson of Easley, Pickens, South Carolina, USA

Above: Grave marker for S/Sgt. Aubrey Dean Forkum (Courtesy of and in memory of Fallen Graver BBrown – FindAGrave)

S/Sgt. Aubrey Dean Forkum. Repatriated and interred at the Gallatin City Cemetery, Sumner, Tennessee. Born on the 25th March 1922 in Jacksonville, Tennessee. Son of Gilbert Wakefield and Irene O. (née Jones) Forkum of Sumner, Tennessee, USA.

Above: Grave marker for S/Sgt. Charles Federonick Jr. (Courtesy of Dominique Potier – FindAGrave)

S/Sgt. Charles Federonick Jr. Purple Heart. Ardennes American Cemetery Plot D, Row 39, Grave 8. Born on the 22nd February 1922 in Kenmore Ohio. Son of Charles Federonick of Suffield, Ohio, USA.

Above: Courtesy of the Nashville Banner, dated 14th April 1944

S/Sgt. Lesley Garath ‘Tootie’ Davis. Repatriated and buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee. Born on the 14th February 1923 in Nashville, Tennessee. Son of German D. and Mamie R. (née Smith) (deceased) of Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Researched by Ralph Snape and dedicated to the relatives of this crew.

Other sources list below:

Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them. Franklin Delano Roosevelt