Operation: Ludwigshafen (Mission #373), Germany

Date: 27th May 1944 (Saturday)

Unit No: 510th Bombardment Squadron (H), 351st Bombardment Group (H), 1st Air Division, 8th Air Force

Type: B-17G Queen of the Air

Serial No: 42-31975

Code: TU:O

Location: Between Sachemont and Ban-sur-Meurthe-Clefcy, France

Base: Polebrook (Station #110), Northamptonshire, England

Pilot: 1st Lt. Horace Edwin Hopkins O-803206 AAF Age 29. KiA

Co-Pilot: 2nd Lt. Everett Maylon Hale O-752059 AAF Age 25. KiA

Bombardier: 1st Lt. Carl William Habecker O-737933 AAF Age 23. KiA

Nose Gunner: T/Sgt. Dwight Elmer Suddock 37217507 AAF Age 22. Id No: 78273 *, PoW No. 8194 ** (1)

Engineer: T/Sgt. Richard Joseph Atwood 15383073 AAF Age 19. KiA

Radio Operator: T/Sgt. William Robert Stroh 35595333 AAF Age 24. Evader (2)

Ball Turret Gunner: S/Sgt. Samuel Andrew Snyder 33168426 AAF Age 32. KiA

Left Waist Gunner: S/Sgt. Avondle Louis Willhite 39534055 AAF Age 31. KiA

Right Waist Gunner: T/Sgt. Lyle Austin Norquist 17067093 AAF Age 29. KiA

Tail Gunner: S/Sgt. Norman Joseph Bruning 37658664 AAF Age 21. KiA

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

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

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 27th May 1944 the 351st Bombardment Group provided 20 aircraft for the mission to bomb the Ludwigshafen railway marshalling yards. The aircraft commenced taking off from Polebrook at 08:45 hrs and proceeded singly to the group assembly point.

About 20 mins before reaching their Initial Point (IP) the formation encountered heavy head on attacks by 50 to 75 German fighters. The cockpit of the Queen of the Air was seen to be hit by 20mm cannon fire.

The aircraft immediately went into a spin and crashed between Sachemont and Ban-sur-Meurthe-Clefcy about 17 km (10½ mls) south of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, between 12:00 hrs and 13:00 hrs. Two parachutes were seen in the air. The Queen of the Air was one of six bombers lost in this attack.

(1) Little is known about the circumstance of the evasion of T/Sgt. Suddock after he had baled out other than a man named Mistler, who was a chief of the local resistance, organised lodging and food for him at a farm in Fraize. On the 4th July 1944 two gendarmes came to the farm, arrested T/Sgt. Suddock and turned him over to the Germans.

He was 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 he was 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 receiving 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.

He was 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.

(2) T/Sgt. Stroh landed near Le Tholy, some 16 km (10 mls) WSW of the crash site. He hid in the woods that night and the next morning approached a farmhouse where an old couple gave him food and civilian clothing.

He then walked to Gérardmer, 10 km (6¼ mls) to the east, and there entered a café. The proprietor let him sleep in the barn.

The next day on the road heading toward to the Swiss frontier, some 51 km (31¾ mls) to the east, a man and his daughter picked him up. They took him to their home where he was fed and given a bed for the night. The next morning a change of clothing, food for his journey and directions how to get to Switzerland. He then set off on the road toward Belfort some 48 km (30 mls) to the south.

Arriving in Belfort he was helped by a priest who took him to a dormitory next to a church. When he asked the priest for help he was shown to a room on the upper floor where he was given food and received first aid for his sore feet.

The priest then took him to the local dentist in Belfort who sheltered him at his home. He remained there for two nights and then he was taken to a farm where he was sheltered by the family for three days.

The Germans were active in the area searching for someone so two young men, who were friends of the farmer and three girls on bicycles, led T/Sgt. Stroh to the Swiss frontier where he was hidden in a nearby wood. On the night of the 5th June 1944 he crawled across the frontier and two sentry posts.

He reached an unnamed town where he was apprehended by a Swiss soldier and taken to his headquarters where he was searched and interrogated but he just gave up his name, rank and number. He was then jailed where he met a Sgt. Roe Stanley Woodis who had walked out of Germany.

This was Sgt. Roe Stanley Woodis 14041959 the Ball Turret Gunner from B-17G 42-31595 'Sweat’er Out' lost on a mission to Ludwigshafen on the 27th May 1944. (2 KiA, 6 PoW, 1 Evd);

They were then taken to Porrentruy, some 11 km (7 mls) SE of the Swiss frontier, where they remained for 4 days and where a British officer from the Military Authority’s (MA) office who spoke with them and took their details for the International Red Cross. They were then moved to Oldten, about 63 km (39 mls) to the east, for 4 days before being moved 5 km (3 mls) to the NNE to Bad Losdorf for the remainder of 21 days quarantine.

He was then moved on to a hotel in Glion located on the northern shore of Lake Constance and some 10 km (6½ mls) from the French border as the crow flies.

Glion is a village, some 700 m (2300 ft) above sea level, overlooking the NE shore of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) and some 130 km (81 mls) to the SW of Bad Lostorf.

On the 13th September he left with a group of 60 airmen led by a Capt. Hoverkamp, crossed the frontier and headed to Annecy in France.

This was Capt. Douglas K. Hoverkamp O-794411 the Pilot of B-17G 42-31040 ‘Duffy’s Tavern’ from the 527th Bombardment Sqn, 379th Bombardment Group, lost on a mission to Frankfurt, Germany on the 29th January 1944. (3 PoW, 7 Evd)

Following the June 1944 invasion of France the Allies also landed troops in the south of France in August 1944. This soon led to the southern and eastern France bordering the Swiss border being liberated. As a consequence the Swiss authorities declared the frontiers were open. The Evadés were escorted to the frontier to link up again with Allied troops.

He left Annecy by air for the UK on the 29th September 1944 and was interviewed two days later before returning to his unit.

Burial details:

All the casualties were recovered from the wreckage and initially buried in the Ban-sur-Meurthe-Clefcy communal cemetery which is some 2½ km (1½ mls) SSE of Sachemont. All eight were recovered and then reinterred at the Lorraine American Cemetery.

1st Lt. Horace Edwin Hopkins. Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters). Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot NN, Row 6, Grave 71. Repatriated and laid to rest at the Middlefield, Ohio. Born on the 23rd February 1915 in Parkman, Ohio. Son of Guy Augustus and Beatrice (née Davison) Hopkins of Middlefield, Ohio, USA.

Above: Grave marker for 2nd Lt. Everett M. Hale (Courtesy of and in memory of the Fallen Graver Bill E Doman - FindAGrave)

2nd Lt. Everett Maylon Hale. Air Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters). Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot NN, Row 4, Grave 37. Repatriated and laid to rest at the Grace Cemetery, Caribou County in Idaho. Born on the 11th October 1918 in Grace, Idaho. Son of Johnathan Harriman and Catherine Katherine Rosetta (née Keller) Hale of Grace, Idaho, USA.

Above: Grave marker for 1st Lt. Carl W. Habecker (Courtesy of Michael V. Drachman - FindAGrave)

1st Lt. Carl William Habecker. Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart. Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot NN, Row 6, Grave 72. Relocated to Plot B, Row 19, Grave 21. Born on the 16th October 1920 in Seneca County, Ohio. Son of Thomas M. and Daisy May (née Whitman) Habecker, Green Springs, Ohio, USA.

Above Left: Courtesy of The Star Press, dated 9th September 1944, right: Courtesy of the Anderson Herald, dated 30th July 1949.

T/Sgt. Richard Joseph Atwood. Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters). Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot NN, Row 10, Grave 116. Repatriated and laid to rest at the Beech Grove Cemetery in Muncie, Delaware, Indiana. Born on the 10th January 1925 in Muncie, Delaware, Indiana. Son of Duke Vance and Ocie Elizabeth (née Markins) Atwood. Husband to Jeanette (née Scampmorte) Atwood of Anderson, Indiana, USA

S/Sgt. Samuel Andrew Snyder. Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart (Oak Leaf Cluster). Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot Y, Row 4, Grave 39. Relocated to Plot A, Row 28, Grave 42. Born on the 3rd October 1911 in Huntington Township, Ohio. Son of William Edward and Margaret (née Oiler) Snyder of Marion, Ohio, USA.

S/Sgt. Avondle Louis Willhite. Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart. Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot Y, Row 7, Grave 74. Relocated to Plot E, Row 33, Grave 26. Born on the 22nd November 1912 in Crawford County, Missouri. Son of John Thomas and Lucy A. (née Earney) Willhite. His mother and father predeceased him in March 1931 and February 1933 respectively. Husband of Dorothy Allene (née Culver) Willhite of San Buenaventura, Ventura, California, USA.

Above left: Courtesy of the Globe Gazette, 8th September 1944, Right: Grave marker for T/Sgt. Lyle A. Norquist (Courtesy of Jen Shaffer - FindAGrave)

T/Sgt. Lyle Austin Norquist. Air Medal (Oak Leaf Cluster), Purple Heart (Oak Leaf Cluster). Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot NN, Row 12, Grave 135. Relocated to Plot D, Row 19, Grave 23. Born on the 15th September 1914 in Mason City, Iowa. Son of Edwin Nathaniel and Ethel (née Bouldin) Norquist of Mason City, Iowa, USA.

S/Sgt. Norman Joseph Bruning. Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters). Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot NN, Row 10, Grave 23. Repatriated and laid to rest at the St. Bernard’s Cemetery, Breda, Iowa. Born on the 22nd August 1922 in Breda, Iowa. Son of Joseph Edward and Clara (née Schaefer) Bruning of Breda, Iowa, USA.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew (Dec 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