Operation: Carpetbagger, France

Date: 4th/5th July 1944 (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Unit No: 850th Bombardment Squadron (H), 801st Bombardment Group (H) (Provisional), 8th Air Force

Type: B-24H

Serial No: 42-95317

Code: :B

Location: Autry-sur-Juine, about 4 km (2½ mls) south of Méréville.

Base: Harrington (Station #179), Northamptonshire, England

Pilot: 2nd Lt. John Joseph Meade O-810192 AAF Age 20. Evader (1)

Co Pilot: 2nd Lt. James LeRoy Lovelace O-758588 AAF Age 23. KiA

Navigator: 2nd Lt. Gerald Earnest Mitchell O-599945 AAF Age 23. Id No: 78307 *, PoW No: 8147 ** (2)

Bombardier: 2nd Lt. John Demenoe Bonnin O-698861 AAF Age 22. Evader (1)

Radio/Op: T/Sgt. Edward Johnson Jones 34645699 AAF Age 21. Evader (3)

Engineer: T/Sgt. Frank Edward Hines 35374005 AAF Age 23. Evader (4)

Tail Gunner: S/Sgt. Ellis Howard Syra 35572604 AAF Age 21. KiA

Despatcher: S/Sgt. William Robert Dubois Jr. 12039333 AAF Age 23. Evader (5)

* 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).

The B-24 normally had 10 crew positions. However, for the Carpetbagger aircraft, the ball turret and nose guns were removed along with any equipment unnecessary for the mission, such as oxygen equipment, to provide more space and to increase the aircraft’s air speed. The aircraft were also painted black.

Carpetbagger: The US Army Air Force (AAF) Carpetbagger mission was to transport agents and supplies to resistance groups operating in the enemy occupied western European nations. Operations commenced in late 1943, flying firstly from Tempsford in Bedfordshire, then Alconbury in Cambridgeshire and finally out of Station #179, Harrington which was west of Kettering in Northamptonshire. Initially two Squadrons (Sqns) were formed and in late March 1944, just before the move to Harrington, were given provisional status as the 801st Bombardment Group (BG). In May of 1944 two more Sqns were added to the BG and in August 1944 the group was redesignated as the 492nd BG.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the night of the 4th July 1944 the 801st Bombardment Group despatched 36 B-24s on Carpetbagger operations. B-24H 42-95317 took off at 22:25 hrs from Harrington on the evening of the 4th July 1944 on an SOE mission to France.

A night-fighter was seen to be shadowing them so 2nd Lt. Meade tried to hide in clouds but the layers were too thin. Coming out of the clouds the aircraft was hit by a burst of cannon fire setting the #2 engine and the rear of the bomb bay ablaze.

Efforts at firefighting proved futile so the pilot rang the alarm bell at about 6,000ft and the crew baled out over Méréville, about 64¼ km (40 miles) south of Paris.

S/Sgt. Syra was either seriously injured or killed in the fighter attack. The rest of the crew successfully baled out but tragically 2nd Lt. Lovelace was killed when his parachute became entangled as he tried to exit the aircraft.

B-24H 42-95317 was claimed as a Lancaster by Hptm. Fritz Söthe, flying a Bf110 G-4 was his 14th Abschuss and the first of two this night, from 4./NJG4 40-60 km SW to South of Paris at 18000m. at 01:14 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (12 May 1944 - 23 July 1944) Part 3 - Theo Boiten).

Hptm. Söthe was shot down three times and wounded twice. On the night of the 28th September 1944 his Ju-188 was shot down for the third time and he was killed by a Mosquito from 85 Sqn flown by Flt Lt. M. Phillips. He was credited with 18 Abschüsse. (17 at night and one 4 engine bomber in the daytime) (Luftwaffe ACES - Biographies and Victory Claims (Mathews and Foreman) - Volume 4)

Note: This was Flt Lt. Michael Henry Clarmont Phillips DFC 115785 RAFVR and his Navigator, Flt Lt. Derek Viney Smith DFC 1166688 RAFVR flying Mosquito NF.XIX VY:Y from 85 Sqn.

The aircraft crashed at Autry-sur-Juine, about 4 km (2½ mls) south of Méréville.

Three other aircraft from the Sqn failed to return to base and were posted missing in action:

B-24H 42-95170 Hell and Back was claimed by Ofw. Wilhelm ‘Willi’ Glitz and his regular Funker, Fw. Martin Bohnhof, from Stab NJG2 in the St. Valery-Dieppe-Barentin area, at 4000m, at 00:38 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (24 July 1944 - 15 October 1944) Part 4 - Theo Boiten);

B-24H 42-50386 on ‘Operation Peter’ was claimed by Uffz. Gottfried Schneider, his 9th Abschuss, from 3./NJG3 between Senlis and St. Soupplets in France. The eight man crew were KiA. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (24 July 1944 - 15 October 1944) Part 4 - Theo Boiten);

B-24D 42-72873 Star Spangled Banner on an SOE mission to France was claimed by Hptm. Fritz Söthe, his 15th Abschuss and second this night, from 2./NJG2 in the Artenay area. Seven of the crew were KiA and one successfully evaded capture (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (24 July 1944 - 15 October 1944) Part 4 - Theo Boiten).

(1) 2nd Lt. Meade sustained minor scratches to his face and an cut ear on landing in a woody swamp. After discarding his parachute and Mae West he walked to a nearby small town. He then hid in a good sized woods until 11:00 hrs when he halted a man with a cart who went off and returned with wine, food and civilian clothes.

He was then taken to a cave and from there by bicycle to a safe house where he remained until the 10th July. He was then moved on and met up with S/Sgt. Jones, T/Sgt. Dubois and 2nd Lt. Bonnin of his own crew and a John Lafferty, whom he thought was a B-17 pilot.

John Lafferty was in fact 2nd Lt. William H. Lafferty the pilot from B-24J 42-110029 of the 703rd Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group lost on the 1st April 1944 (3 PoW, 7 Evd).

On the 12th July, S/Sgt. Jones and T/Sgt. Dubois left the group together. Also on this day he and 2nd Lt. Bonnin were shown the flower covered graves of 2nd Lt. Lovelace and S/Sgt. Syra in the Autruy-sur-Juine Communal Cemetery.

They were moved around to various safe houses until the 20th July when they were taken to Paris where they were well looked after and their travel to Spain was arranged. However, on the 2nd August they missed their train and shortly later the railway lines were attacked and cut. On the 9th August a further attempt was made but to no avail.

On the 11th August they caught a train to Versailles. After arriving there they started walking on the main road to Chartres hoping to join up with American forces. They reported that the road was clogged with German high ranking officials in cars marked with Red Cross insignia.

Walking with an unnamed French PoW and 2nd Lt. Bonnin about 16 km (10 mls) north of Chartres they were stopped by a Wehrmacht captain who question them. The French PoW started up a rapid conversation in French after which the Captain let them go on their way. They were stopped again but let go again and arrived in Chartres at about 18:00 hrs.

In Chartres they were sheltered until the 16th August when American forces arrived and they were liberated.

2nd Lt. Meade and 2nd Lt. Bonnin were interviewed the next day on the 17th August 1944.

(2) After 2nd Lt. Mitchell successfully baled out he was sheltered in a house in Orégres for 10 days and then handed over to a man and woman who took him to Paris and placed him in the hands a man who attempted to secure information from him about his organisation and its activities. He then placed him in a truck which drove straight to the Gestapo headquarters at 84 Avenue Foch and delivered him into the hands of the Nazis.

Above: PoW photograph of 2nd Lt. Gerald Earnest Mitchell

From the description of the man and woman that 2nd Lt. Mitchell provided to war crime investigators it is probable that this couple were Jean-Jacques and Madame Orsini.

Jean-Jacques was a Belgian traitor named Jaques Desoubrie (Jean-Jacques, Jean Masson and Pierre Boulain were aliases) who had infiltrated the Réseau Comète (Comet Line) escape route in Brussels and Paris. He was responsible for the Nazis rounding up dozen of members of the Réseau Comète and Allied airmen. He was finally captured and stood accused at a French military trial in Lille. He was convicted and condemned to death for having participated in the capture and assassination of members of the resistance and for sending Allied military to their deaths in violation of the Geneva convention. He was executed by firing squad.

Madame Orsini, also known as Colette, was Marie-Antoinette Orsini and an accomplice of Desoubrie. She was arrested by the French authorities but not before Desoubrie tried but failed to kill her so that she would not inform on him.

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 csick 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.

(3) T/Sgt. Jones baled out through the right front bomb bay over . He believed that he was the first man to leave the bomber between 6000 and 7000 feet and did not delay his jump. He did not see any parachutes in the air because it was very cloudy.

He landed between a road and wheat field, hid his chute in some bushes and then ran away from the location. He kept moving until 05:00 hrs and then hid in some woods and a wheat field. At about 11:00 hrs he saw some houses nearby but did not want to take a chance. At about 22:00 hrs he walked south to the town of Bazoches-les-Gallerandes, some 17 km (10½ mls) south of Méréville and at about 01:30 hrs on the 6th July he met a friendly Frenchman who took him to a farmhouse at Chatilion near Outarville, some 5½ km (3¼ mls) to the north. He was given food and civilian clothes and remained there until the 8th July. He was then taken to a house in Guigneville, some 11 km (7½ mls) to the east ,where he met with S/Sgt. Dubois of his crew and a Lt. LaFayette [sic].

Lt. LaFayette was actually 2nd Lt. William H. Lafferty (see above)

The three of them left on the 11th July and went to Charmont-en-Beauce, some 7 km (4 mls) to the east, where they met with 2nd Lt. Bonnin but were again split up. T/Sgt. Jones returned to Chatilion arriving there on the 15th July. He remained there until the 20th July. He then left for Paris where he stayed at 246 Boulevard de Sébastopol where he remained until American forces liberated the city.

T/Sgt. Jones was interviewed on the 30th August 1944.

(4) T/Sgt. Hines landed NW of Outarville about 9 km (5½ mls) SW of the crash site. He made his way in a south-easterly direction with occasional aid until a farmer whom he approached brought an English speaking member of the resistance who took him to his farm in Dampierre-en-Burley, some 63 km (39 mls) SE of Outarville.

He kept T/Sgt. Hines at his home for several days and then moved him between various farmhouses in the vicinity for several days at a time, until the chief of resistance in Dampierre-en-Burley on the 19th July took him by bicycle to Bellegarde, 26 km (16¼ mls) NNW of Dampierre-en-Burley.

There they met some men of the FFI who came in an vehicle from Courtenay which is 46 km (28½ mls) to the west with Fg Off. Tony Vidler (RAF) and Plt Off. Frank O'Niell (RAAF), picked up T/Sgt. Hines, and took the three evaders to a maquis camp near CHAMBON.

Fg Off. Anthony Edward ’Tony’ Vidler 137146 and Plt Off. Frank Herbert O’Niell 420989 RAAF, were the Navigator and Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, respectively, from Stirling III LJ448 of 218 Sqn which was shot down on the 20th April 1944 (2 KiA, 1 PoW, 4 Evaders).

The next morning the evaders were taken over to the British camp in the Forêt d’Orléans which was under the command of Maj. Ian Fenwick from 'D' Sqn, 1 Special Air Service (SAS). Some time later T/Sgt. Hines and Plt Off. O'Niell were in Nancray-sur-Rimarde for the day at the cafe when a German patrol went through the town and attacked the British camp.

The next day Maj. Fenwick was ambushed and killed by a SS unit enroute back to the camp at Forêt d’Orléans. Plt Off. O'Niell and T/Sgt. Hines who had hid in the forest for the day were taken back to Nancray-sur-Rimarde a French boy who hid them in the town for three days and then for a further three weeks at other locations in the town.

Col. Main of the SAS came into town toward the end of this period and the two evaders worked for him, requisitioning and repairing automobiles, On the 20th August an American patrol came through Nancray-sur-Rimarde, and on 23rd August T/Sgt. Hines and Plt Off. O'Niell got a ride to Pithiviers, some 13 km (8 mls) to the NW and thence onto Le Mans some 153 km (95 mls) to the west. They were then passed back to 9th Air Force HQ where T/Sgt. Hines received his orders and arranged his transportation to the UK.

Fg Off. Vidler and Plt Off. O’Niell left from the B.14 airstrip at Banville, Bayeux.

T/Sgt. Hines flew to Reading, England on the 25th August and reported to the US Special Reception Centre at 63 Brook Street in London, which provided interrogation and debriefs for airmen who had evaded capture.

(5) After S/Sgt. Dubois landed, approximately 24 km (15 mls) north of Pithiviers, he buried his parachute and took off. Soon he came across a farmhouse were a woman saw him and indicated that he should stay hidden. She then brought a man who checked his identification discs. This man then took him down a road and showed him to a large farmhouse. It was now about 06:00 hrs.

S/Sgt. Dubois decided to take a chance with the farmhouse and found that another American, a 2nd Lt. William H. Lafferty (see above) was hidden there. They were provided with food after which they were hidden in nearby woods for the morning whilst the Germans were hunting for them.

At about 14:00 hrs they were taken to Outarville, 18 km (11 mls) west of Pithiviers, where they remained until the 13th July. While there, T/Sgt. Jones arrived and spent a few days and nights. On the 18th July he, 2nd Lt. Lafferty and T/Sgt. Jones were split up. S/Sgt. Dubois went to a farm near Greneville-en-Beauce some 7½ km (4¾ mls) to the east where he remained until the 23rd July.

On that day T/Sgt. Jones joined him and they both went to Charmont-en-Beauce, some 5½ km (3½ mls) to the north. On the 26th July 2nd Lt. Bonnin joined them. All three were then taken to the house of the farmer where 2nd Lt. Meade was being hidden. After spending the night there, he and T/Sgt. Jones were taken back to Charmont-en-Beauce where they remained until the 29th July.

Once again the three were taken back to the house of the farmer who had first helped S/Sgt. Dubois discovering when he arrived that 2nd Lt. Meade and 2nd Lt. Bonnin had already left for Étampes and Paris. He, T/Sgt. Jones and 2nd Lt. Lafferty spent the night until 09:00 hrs the next day.

They then took a train to Paris with two members of the Resistance who took them to a cafe in the depot where other Resistance personnel were located. These people took all off them to various places in Paris. He and 2nd Lt. Lafferty were taken to the home of a head of Resistance on Bd Gouvion-Saint-Cyr in Paris where they remained until American forces entered Paris.

He was interviewed on the 31st August 1944 at the US Special Reception Centre at 63 Brook Street in London, which provided interrogation and debriefs for airmen who had evaded capture.

Burial Details:

2nd Lt. Lovelace and S/Sgt. Syra were initially buried in the Autruy-sur-Juine Communal Cemetery to the left of the entrance gate in the 9th row, in graves 1 and 2 respectively. They were recovered and temporarily reinterred in the US Military Cemetery Solers at Melun.

Above: Plaque commemorating their names at Autruy-sur-Junie (Courtesy of Dwight “Andy” Anderson - FindAGrave)

Above: Grave marker for 2nd Lt. James L. Lovelace (Courtesy of Dwight “Andy” Anderson - FindAGrave)

2nd Lt. James LeRoy Lovelace. Air Medal, Purple Heart. Finally laid to rest at the Epinal American Cemetery, Plot A, Row 33, Grave 29. Born on the 30th June 1921 in Jackson, Mississippi. Son of James LeRoy and Vida (née Gilleylen) Lovelace of Jackson, Mississippi. Husband to Esther (née Tomlinson) Lovelace of Mountain Home, Idaho, USA.

Above: Grave marker for S/Sgt. Ellis H. Syra (Courtesy of Dwight “Andy” Anderson - FindAGrave)

S/Sgt. Ellis Howard Syra. Air Medal, Purple Heart. Finally laid to rest at the Epinal American Cemetery, Plot B, Row 29, Grave 60. Born on the 8th September 1922 in Metcalfe, Kentucky. Son of James Milton and Lillie M. (née Scott) Syra of Edmonton, Kentucky, USA.

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