Operation: Abbeville (Mission #392), France

Date: 5th June 1944 (Monday)

Unit No: 571st Bombardment Squadron (H), 390th Bombardment Group (H), 3rd Air Division, 8th Air Force

Type: B-17G Hap’s Hazard

Serial No: 42-97473

Code: FC:O

Location: 1 km (¾ ml) south of Dargnies, 10 km (6 mls) east of Le Trépot, France

Base: Framlingham (Station #153), Suffolk, England

Pilot: 2nd Lt. Earl Marvin Armstrong O-809467 AAF Age 26. KiA

Co Pilot: FO. Daniel Walter Johnson Jr. T-061769 AAF Age? PoW *

Bombardier: 2nd Lt. Donald George Baker O-757865 AAF Age 23. PoW *

Radio Operator: S/Sgt. Harold William Clark 35648598 AAF Age 21. PoW ***

Engineer: S/Sgt. Everett Franklin Ludwig 35420599 AAF Age 22. Id No: 78339 **, PoW No: 8175 * (1)

Ball Turret Gnr: S/Sgt. Paul Ortega Jr. 14105386 AAF Age 24. KiA

Right Waist Gnr: S/Sgt. Thomas Glenn Richey 38411022 AAF Age 22. Id No: 78317 **, PoW No: 8186 * (1)

Left Waist Gnr: S/Sgt. Basil Arthur Coats 18225893 AAF Age 24. Id No: 78308 **, PoW No: 8165 * (1)

Tail Gunner: S/Sgt. William B. Norrod 36406858 AAF Age 22. PoW ***

* Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland. (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser, Bavaria).

** Buchenwald concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany in July 1937.

*** Stalag Luft 4 Groß-Tychow, Pomerania, Prussia now Poland (Moved from Stalag Luft 6 Heydekrug. Moved to Wöbbelin near Ludwigslust and then to Usedom near Swinemünde).

Above: Original 2nd Lt. Armstrong crew: Front row left to right: S/Sgt. Clark, Caruso, S/Sgt. Ortega Jr. S/Sgt. Norrod, S/Sgt. Coats. Back Row left to right: 2nd Lt. Baker, Decker, Edwards, 2nd Lt. Armstrong. (Courtesy of and in memory of the late Robert Whitehead – FindAGrave)

Not on this mission: Caruso, Paul J. was a Bombardier/Togglier; Decker, James L. was a Navigator who was WiA on the 9th September 1944 aboard 570th BS B-17G 42-97849 ‘Liberty Belle’; Edwards is believed to be Edwards, Robert R. a Co-Pilot on 571st BS.

REASON FOR LOSS:

Hap’s Hazard took off from Framlingham on the morning of 5th June 1944 to join a mission to bomb the railway bridge at Abbeville in France

At 09:30 hrs just north of Dieppe the aircraft was seen to receive a direct a flak burst in the bomb bay. The aircraft was seen to dive straight down with fire in the bomb bay and disappeared into the undercast.

Aboard the aircraft the flak burst blew up the ball turret killing S/Sgt. Ortega Jr. The crew were ordered to abandon the aircraft. Flight Officer (FO) Johnson Jr., 2nd Lt. Baker, S/Sgt. Clark and S/Sgt. Norrod were captured immediately. It was reported that 2nd Lt. Armstrong had managed to bail out but was found dead on the ground from what appeared to be a head wound.

The aircraft crashed 1 km (¾ ml) south of Dargnies which is 10 km (6 mls) east of Le Trépot in France and was totally destroyed.

(1) The details of the escape and evasion of S/Sgt. Ludwig, S/Sgt. Richey and S/Sgt. Coats are unknown. However, what is known is that all three were betrayed in Paris and arrested by the Gestapo on or about the 5th August 1944.

They were then taken to the Fresnes prison located to the south of Paris. This was where French political prisoners were held and ordinarily Allied airmen, after questioning, were moved to a PoW Camp. In the summer of 1944, with the Allies having liberated Paris and closing in, the Gestapo guards started reducing the prison population by execution, and then relocating surviving prisoners to various concentration camps east of France. On the 15th August 1944 they were amongst 169 Allied PoWs and hundreds of French men and women who were packed into a freight train and transported to Buchenwald concentration camp on a journey lasting five days. Buchenwald was located 8 km (5 mls) north of Weimar, in the German province of Thüringen. It was established and administered by the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Fg Off. Joel Mathews ‘Tex’ Stevenson C27788 RCAF, the pilot of 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF Lancaster X KB727 VR:H escaped from the train and successfully evaded.

Sqn Ldr. Lamason and Fg Off. Chapman succeeded in getting all but two of the Allied PoWs transferred to Stalag Luft 3. Two airmen, 1st Lt. Levitt Clinton Beck Jr. O-736945, US AAF and Fg Off. Philip Derek Hemmens, 152583, RAFVR died in the sick barrack.

Recognition:

For decades the International Red Cross (IRC) had stated that there were no military personnel in Buchenwald despite the overwhelming documentary and anecdotal evidence. It was not until 1988 that the IRC eventually confirmed the airmen were illegally held at Buchenwald.

The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian governments also consistently denied that any of their service personnel were ever held in concentration camps and refused to investigate the claims made by a 'mere’ handful of men.

Reparations were made to the British airmen who had been illegally held at Buchenwald in 1965. Eventually in 1988 the Australian, New Zealand and it is believed the Canadian governments acknowledged that their airmen had been illegally held in concentration camps.

American airmen were among those who received compensation and the US Air force have acknowledged the Buchenwald airmen with an exhibit at the Air Force Museum, albeit the airmen are shown in uniform rather than in civilian attire. Furthermore, there is no mention of decades-long denial of their experiences by other branches of the government.

They were transferred to Stalag Luft 3 over the period 15th to 20th October 1944.

On the night of the 27th January 1945, with Soviet troops only 26 km (16 mls) away, orders were received to evacuate the PoWs to Spremberg which is to the West in Germany. The PoW’s were informed of the evacuation, which was on foot, at about 22:00 hrs the same night and were given 30 mins to pack and prepare everything for the March. The weather conditions were very difficult, with freezing temperatures, and it was snowing accompanied by strong winds. There was 15 cm (6 in) of snow and 2000 PoWs were assigned to clear the road ahead of the main groups.

The first groups of American PoW’s set out from the South Compound with the last PoW leaving at 23:00 hrs. The next group of American PoWs set out from the West Compound. At 03:45 hrs the North Compound left, followed by the Centre Compound. At 06:00 hrs the East Compound left. All the groups were accompanied by guards.

After a 55 km (34 mls) march, the PoWs arrived in Bad Muskau where they rested for 30 hours. The PoWs were then marched the remaining 26 km (16 mls) to Spremberg where they were housed in empty garages, storerooms and in military barracks. There they were provided with warm soup and bread.

During next days, PoWs were divided up according to Compounds, and they were led to railway sidings and loaded into tightly packed carriages.

On the 31st January, the South Compound prisoners plus 200 men from the West Compound were sent to Stalag 7A at Moosburg followed by the Centre Compound prisoners on the 7th February.

The camp was liberated on the 29th April 1945 by units of the 14th Armoured Division from Patton’s 3rd Army.

Burial Details:

2nd Lt. Armstrong and S/Sgt. Ortega Jr., who was not identified, were initially buried in the Dargnies Cemetery. They were recovered and reinterred in the US Military Cemetery at St. André in France.

2nd Lt. Earl Marvin Armstrong. Air Medal (Oak Leaf Cluster). Repatriated and interred at the Rockton Township Cemetery, Rockton, Illinois. Born on the 13th October 1917 in Rockton, Illinois. Son of Everett Leroy (deceased in Oct 1918) and Florence L. (née Blackmore) Armstrong. Husband to Dorothy (née Littleton) Armstrong of Miller, Arkansas, USA.

S/Sgt. Paul Ortega Jr. Air Medal (Oak Leaf Cluster). Repatriated and interred at the Cedar Lawn Cemetery, Paterson, New Jersey on the 21st May 1949. Born on the 28th June 1919 in Spain. Son of Marcelino (deceased) and Paula Ortega of Paterson, New Jersey. Husband to Norma (née Comstock) Ortega of Minnesota, USA.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew (Jan 2023). Update to include forced-march information (Jun 2024).

Other sources listed below:

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