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Operation: Montdidier (Mission #407), France
Date: 12th June 1944 (Monday)
Unit No: 551st Bombardment Squadron (H), 385th Bombardment Group (H), 3rd Air Division, 8th Air Force
Type: B-17G Crash Wagon III
Serial No: 42-31762
Code: Sqn code issued but not displayed during hostilities :M
Location: Farceaux, 10 km (6¼ mls) ENE of Les Andelys, France
Base: Great Ashfield (Station #155), Suffolk, England
Pilot: 2nd Lt. Loren Elwood Jackson O-747421 AAF Age 28. PoW *
Co-Pilot: 2nd Lt. Ross MacKenzie Blake O-819040 AAF Age 22. PoW *
Navigator: 1st Lt. Gerald Wendell Shaffer O-697922 DFC AAF Age 23. KiA
Bombardier: 2nd Lt. Joseph William Haught O-751828 AAF Age 28. PoW *
Radio/Op: T/Sgt. Ervin Albert Pickrel 16160046 AAF Age 22. PoW **
Engineer: S/Sgt Armando Anthony Marsilii 12132222 AAF Age 23. PoW **
Ball Turret Gnr: T/Sgt. Felipe Eulalio Muzquiz 39562808 AAF Age 24. PoW (1)
Right Waist Gnr: S/Sgt. Sam Alexander Pennell 34684485 AAF Age 21. Id No: 78289 ***, PoW No: 8184 **** (2)
Left Waist Gnr: S/Sgt. Frederic Cosmo Martini 32163997 AAF Age 25. Id No: 78299 ***, PoW No: 8177 **** (2)
Tail Gnr: Theodore George Dubenic 36655121 AAF Age 20. PoW **
Note: B-17G 42-31762 was previously assigned to 548th Bombardment Sqn and named Junior.
* Stalag Luft 7a, Moosburg, Southern Bavaria, Germany.
** Stalag Luft 4 Groß-Tychow, Pomerania, Prussia now Tychowo, Poland (Moved from Stalag Luft 6 Heydekrug on 28th May 1944. Moved to Wöbbelin near Ludwigslust and then to Usedom near Swinemünde).
*** 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:
The Crash Wagon III took off from Great Ashfield in the early morning of the 12th June 1944 and joined a force of 38 aircraft bombers from the Group to bomb the railway marshalling yards at Montdidier in France.
The aircraft pulled out of the Group formation at 09:06 hrs with #4 propeller feathered and #2 engine smoking. It attempted to regain the formation but finally went into a long spiral and glided below the clouds by 09:23 hrs at Lat/Long 49 27N, 01 30E. Seven parachutes were seen before the aircraft disappeared into the undercast.
The Lat/Long of 49 27N, 01 30E is approximately 9 km (5½ mls) east of Vascœuil.
The aircraft crashed at Le Grand Champ at Farceaux, 10 km (6¼ mls) ENE of Les Andelys, France.
Above: photograph of the crashed aircraft from the Missing Air Crew Report (MACR 5628)
2nd Lt. Haught was the first one out of the aircraft and was floating down when 1st Lt. Saffer fell past him with his parachute trailing. 2nd Lt. Jackson and 2nd Lt. Haught were taken to identify his body which was then taken to Beauvais for burial.
(1) T/Sgt. Eulalio was immediately taken prisoner. Just before VE day he escaped from an unknown PoW camp or during a forced march and reached friendly lines. No further details.
(2) S/Sgt. Martini was hidden, given First Aid and civilian clothing in the village of Provemont 3 km (1¾ mls) SSE of Étrépagny, From there he was moved him to another safe house in Hacquelville some 5½ km (3½ mls) due east of Provemont. He remained here for 7 weeks before being moved to Paris where he was betrayed and arrested by the Gestapo on the 5th August 1944.
The details of the escape and evasion for S/Sgt. Pennell are unknown. However, what is known is that he was betrayed in Paris and arrested by the Gestapo on the 7th 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.
S/Sgt. Pennell was transferred to Stalag Luft 3 over the period 15th to 20th October 1944. Whilst at Buchenwald S/Sgt. Martini suffered severe injuries to his feet and had been subjected to multiple experimental injections and suffered malnutrition which delayed his transfer to Stalag Luft 3 until the 19th 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:
1st Lt. Gerald Wendall Shaffer. DFC, Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters). Reinterred in Plot G, Row 9, Grave 201 in the US Military Cemetery Champigneul at Chalons-sur-Marne. Repatriated and interred at the Cochranton Cemetery, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Born on the 21st September 1920 in Cochranton, Pennsylvania. Son of Frank Leslie and Jessie Emma (née Custead) Shaffer of Cochranton, Pennsylvania, 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:
RS 14.06.2024 - Update for forced march
RS 24.01.2023 - Initial upload
RS 21.11.2023 - Update to Buchenwald narrative
RS 14.06.2024 - Update for forced march
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