Operation: Merseburg (Mission #652), oil refineries, Germany

Date: 28th September 1944 (Thursday)

Unit No: 563rd Bombardment Squadron (H), 388th Bombardment Group (H), 3rd Air Division, 8th Air Force

Type: B-17G

Serial No: 43-38404

Code: A

Location: 1 km (½ ml) west of the southern part of the Leunawerk, Germany

Base: Knettishall (Station #136), Suffolk, England

Command Pilot: 1st Lt. Charles Maring Jr., O-758593 AAF Age 23. KiA

Pilot: 1st Lt. Julian Louis Heimendinger O-754003 AAF Age 27. KiA

Co-Pilot: 1st Lt. Quinton Everett Gray O-756099 AAF Age 25. PoW *

Navigator: 1st Lt. Jack Dean Edwards O-703616 AAF Age 23. PoW *

Bombardier: 1st Lt. Harold Frederick Knight O-757527 AAF Age 20. KiA

Radio/Op: T/Sgt. William John Hutter 33186050 AAF Age 24. KiA

Engineer/Top Turret Gnr: T/Sgt. William John Vacho 16092312 AAF Age 22. PoW **

Ball Turret Gnr: S/Sgt. Johnnie Gonzalez Reina 39129533 AAF Age 20. KiA

Waist Gnr: S/Sgt. Anton Sirmer 36656505 AAF Age 20. KiA

Tail Gnr: S/Sgt. Frank Pfrimmer 18129286 AAF Age 23. KiA

One of the two waist gunners was removed from crew complements starting on the 7th June 1944 and then both from 23rd February 1945.

* Stalag Luft 1 Barth-Vogelsang, today part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.

** Unknown Camp.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the morning of 28th September 1944 over a 50 min period commencing at 07:00 hrs the 388th Bombardment Group launched a force of thirty-three aircraft and three Path Finder Force (PFF) aircraft. This force made up three groups with 43-38404 being the lead aircraft of the low group with Command Pilot 1st Lt. Maring Jr., from the 560th Bombardment Sqn. aboard. The assigned target was the IG Farben Leunawerk synthetic oil refineries at Merseburg, Germany.

The official after mission interrogation report recorded that:

“a/c #404 and a/c #953 collided after bombs away. #953, in the lead, started evasive action and losing altitude and in a right turn cut in on his right wing a/c #404, which was reported out of formation, and attempting to get back in at the time the accident occurred. The tail was cut off #953 and the left wing of #404 was damaged, the #1 engine being knocked out. Both planes spun down over the target. A total of four chutes was seen from both planes.”

#953 refers to B-17G 42-102953 Sky Anne*, 388th Bomb Group (H), 563rd Bomb Sqn.

* The name appended to B-17G 42-102953 is reported as Sky Anne and Shy Ann in the “B-17 Nose Art Name Directory”. A number of publications reporting on B-17G 42-102953 interchange the two names. The name Sky Anne has been recorded by the 388 BG historian and therefore for this report that is the name being used

43-38404 crashed 1km west of the southern part of the Leunawerk at 13:15 hrs. German records claim that the aircraft was downed by flak.

In his Individual Casualty Questionnaire (ICQ) 1st.Lt. Gray recalled that his aircraft was in a mid-air collision with another B-17 immediately after bombs away. The aircraft then entered a spin and seconds later he was knocked unconscious from being struck in the head by flak. He was told later by 1st.Lt. Edwards that himself and T/Sgt. Vacho had bailed out after the aircraft came out of the spin.

To his knowledge all of the crew members, except for 1st.Lt. Edwards and T/Sgt. Vacho were aboard the aircraft when it fell to earth. He had no knowledge of the crew’s condition except for S/Sgt Reina who had suffered a leg wound from flak before the aircraft was lost.

In his ICQ T/Sgt. Vacho described that the aircraft was hit in the starboard wing either by flak or in a collision with the starboard wing man about 30 seconds after bombs away. The aircraft then went into a vertical spin so he opened the front hatch and was the first to bail out. He opened his parachute right away at about 20,000 ft and floated down on the outskirts of the city (Merseburg). He did not see the aircraft after he had bailed out or any of the other crew members.

In his ICQ 1st.Lt. Edwards recalled that T/Sgt. Vacho bailed out before him and that was the last he saw of him until after the war. 1st Lt. Gray told him, after meeting up with him as a PoW, that he did not remember bailing out of the aircraft. 1st Lt. Edwards believed that the rest of the crew were uninjured except for S/Sgt Reina who had been hit in the leg by flak over the target seconds before the aircraft entered the spin. He had no knowledge of where the aircraft crashed.

German documents recorded the recovery of a number of bodies from the aircraft wreckage but had incorrectly listed airmen from both 43-38404 and B-17G 42-102953 Sky Anne. From these records it has been determined that five airmen were recovered from 43-38404 with only 1st Lt. Maring Jr., and S/Sgt. Sirmer being named along with a number of unknowns.

1st Lt. Gray suffered bruising to the back his head and was admitted to Reserve Lazarett (Hospital) (PoW) Leipzig-Wahren on the 29th September. His treatment was expected to take 2 to 4 weeks. T/Sgt. Vacho was captured at 13:30 hrs and transferred to Oberursel on the 29th September.

There is no record of when 1st Lt. Edwards was captured. However, in an article published by him on the 388 BG website he describes how he landed heavily in the coal yard of the targeted oil refinery. S/Sgt Wesley G. Rood, the waist gunner from B-17G 42-102953 Sky Anne (Insert Link) also landed close-by in the coal yard. Together they took cover as two more groups of B-17s dropped their bombs narrowly missing them. After the raid had finished they hid until later that night and decided to head for France. They evaded capture for three days but were spotted and captured during the afternoon of the 1st October.

Nine American airmen who died in aircraft crashes in the Merseburg district on 28th September 1944 were initially buried on the 4th October 1944 at the Friedhof für alliierte Militärpersonen (früher Exerzierplatz); (Cemetery for allied military personnel (former drill ground)) Five were unknown with three of the five recovered from 43-38404. The five unknowns were buried in graves 1, 5 (two burned airmen; Observer & Rear Gunner), 6 & 7. The other four were 1st.Lt. Maring Jr., S/Sgt. Sirmer and T/Sgt. Hutter in graves 2, 3 & 4 respectively and from B-17G 42-102953 Sky Anne, S/Sgt. Garland Duncan Vaughan in grave 8.

Burial Details:

1st Lt. Charles Maring Jr. Interred at the Lorraine American Cemetery in April 1945, Plot M, Row 4, Grave 1768. Repatriated and interred at the Pleasant Township Cemetery, Powerhiek County, Iowa. Born in 1921. Son of Charles Emory and Ruth Marine (née Copeland) Maring from Grinnell, Iowa, USA.

1st Lt. Julian Louis Heimendinger. Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart. Interred at the Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot N, Row 18, Grave 1943. Relocated to Plot K, Row 15, Grave 16. Born on the 28th February 1917 at Lake Charles, Louisiana. Son of Henri Louis and Cleve Carrie (née Abraham) Heimendinger and husband of Helen Louise (née Kiplinger) Heimendinger from Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA.

Above: 1st Lt. Knight marker (Credit: Major M - FindAGrave)

1st Lt. Harold Frederick Knight. Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart. Interred at the Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot N, Row 24, Grave 2010. Relocated to Plot K, Row 47, Grave 23. Born in 1923 in Canada. Son of Philip and Louise Knight from Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Above: Cutting from The Morning Call, dated Tuesday September 25th, 1945

T/Sgt. William John Hutter. Interred at the Lorraine American Cemetery in April 1945, Plot N, Row 22, Grave 1985. Repatriated and buried on the 23rd July 1949 at the Sacred Heart Cemetery, SE Section 5 Grave 4, Allentown, Pennsylvania. Born on 30th April 1920 in Stiles, Pennsylvania. Son of Fabian and Anna (née Newhand) Hutter and husband to Elsie M. (née Raubenhold) Hutter from Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA.

S/Sgt. Johnnie Gonzalez Reina. Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart. Interred at the Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot N, Row 18, Grave 1943. Relocated to Plot K, Row 39, Grave 22. Born on the 1st February 1924 in Alameda, California. Son of John Gonzalez and Barbara G. (née Ramos) Reina from Newark, California, USA.

S/Sgt. Anton Sirmer. Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart. Reinterred at the US Military Cemetery Grand-Failly near Longuyon, France, Plot L, Row 7, Grave 172. Repatriated and interred at the Bohemian National Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois. Born on the 12th June 1924. Son of Charles F. Sirmer from Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Above: Cutting from The Daily Oklahoman, dated Sunday, October 7th, 1945

S/Sgt. Frank Pfrimmer. Air Medal (Oak Leaf Cluster). Interred at the Lorraine American Cemetery in April 1945, Plot N, Row 21, Grave 1980. Repatriated and interred at the Crescent Cemetery, Logan County, Oklahoma. Born 31st May 1921 at Crescent, Oklahoma. Son of Francis Marion and Josie Susan (née Lane) Pfrimmer from Crescent, Logan County, Oklahoma, USA.

Researched by Ralph Snape and Traugott Vitz for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with additional thanks to Traugott for his work on the ‘VitzArchive’.

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