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Operation: Chartres Airfield (Mission #508), France
Date: 1st August 1944 (Tuesday)
Unit No: 615th Bombardment Squadron (H), 401st Bombardment Group (H), 1st Air Division, 8th Air Force
Type: B-17G Stormy Weather
Serial No: 42-39873
Code: IY:Q
Location: Néron, north of Chartres, France
Base: Deenethorpe (Station #128), Northamptonshire, England
Pilot: 1st Lt. Gerard Joseph Melofchik O-1292037 AAF Age 23. KiA
Co Pilot: 2nd Lt. James Erwin Pratt O-819312 AAF Age 21. KiA
Navigator: 2nd Lt. Richard Cameron Tyson O-710350 AAF Age 20. KiA
Bombardier: 2nd Lt. Hughlon Kato Grisham O-765585 AAF Age 25. KiA
Engineer: S/Sgt. Herbert Pressman 33582133 AAF Age 20. KiA
Radio Operator: T/Sgt. Leland Blaisdell Tracy 11068352 AAF Age 32. KiA
Ball Turret Gunner: S/Sgt. Lyle Perry Wheaton 15135533 AAF Age 31. KiA
Waist Gunner: S/Sgt. Harold Edward Mapes 33627760 AAF Age 21. PoW *
Tail Gunner: S/Sgt. James Walter Bozarth 37536354 AAF Age 19. Id No: 78340 **, PoW No 8162 *** (1)
* Stalag 17b Krems-Gneixendorf near Krems, Austria.
** 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).
Above: B-17G 42-39873 Stormy Weather
Caption reads: A Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" of the 401st Bomb Group "got stuck in the mud" while landing at 8th Air Force base in England. 13 December 1943. (USAAF Official photograph courtesy of Fold3)
REASON FOR LOSS:
On the 1st August 1944 the 401st BG took off from Deenethorpe to join a force of 385 B-17s to attack a rail bridge and five airfields near Paris. B-17G Stormy Weather was assigned to attack Chartres Airfield.
B-17G 42-39873 Stormy Weather was hit by flak over the target. It pulled out of formation to the left and collided with B-17G 43-37859 Jeanne. The tail section of Stormy Weather came off, the forward section of the aircraft went into a spin and then exploded.
1st Lt. Charles W. Bryant O-750238 a Navigator in the formation glanced out of his bomber to see if all aircraft had dropped their bombs. He witnessed the tail assembly of aircraft 42-39873 Stormy Weather twist sideways and come off. He saw 43-37859 Jeanne go down in a spin and the other aircraft sort of floated down. He definitely saw the tail gunner crawl out of tail section of Stormy Weather and open his chute.
S/Sgt. Bozarth was thrown clear when the aircraft exploded and at that time to his knowledge no other chutes were in view. However S/Sgt. Mapes also managed to bale out, presumably from the severed tail section, but no details of this, his capture and subsequent time at Stalag 17b are known.
The aircraft wreckage fell to earth at 14:57 hrs near Néron, 17½ km (11 mls) north of Chartres.
(1) The details of S/Sgt. Bozarth’s evasion are not known. However, what is known was that he was hidden by a French family for 11 days and that he was betrayed and captured either on the 11th or 12th August 1944 in Paris.
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 the 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 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.
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.
Burial details:
Above: The Brittany American Cemetery, Wall of the Missing (Courtesy of the American Battle Monuments Commission)
1st Lt. Gerard Joseph Melofchik. Air Medal, Purple Heart. Tablets of the Missing, Brittany American Cemetery. Born circa 1920 in New Jersey, New York. Son of Stephen H. and Pauline J. Melofchik of Staten Island, New York, USA.
2nd Lt. James Erwin Pratt. Air Medal. Recovered and reinterred on the 5th February 1945 in the US Military Cemetery, St André at Evreux in Plot C, Row 7, Grave 132. Repatriated and laid to rest at the Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio. Born on the 30th October 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Son of Raymond and Marie Haunstean Pratt. Husband to Elaine J. Pratt of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
2nd Lt. Richard Cameron Tyson. Air Medal. Recovered and reinterred on the 5th February 1945 in the US Military Cemetery, St André at Evreux in Plot C, Row 9, Grave 163 (X-97). Repatriated and laid to rest at the Maplewood Cemetery in Durham, North Carolina. Born on the 31st October 1923 in Durham, North Carolina. Son of George Fitts and Margaret Monroe (née Cameron) Tyson of Durham, North Carolina, USA.
2nd Lt. Hughlon Kato Grisham. Air Medal, Purple Heart. Tablets of the Missing, Brittany American Cemetery. Born on the 20th June 1919 in Corinth, Mississippi. Son of Robert Bob Elijah and Edna Augusta Gussie (née Blanchard) Grisham. Both his parents predeceased him in May 1927 and December 1936 respectively. His brother Charles Wesley Grisham was his immediate Next-of-Kin was of West Point, Mississippi, USA.
S/Sgt. Herbert Pressman. Air Medal, Purple Heart. Tablets of the Missing, Brittany American Cemetery. Born on the 8th January 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Son of John and Miriam (née Bluestone) Pressman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
His older brother S/Sgt. Aaron A. Pressman 13006134, served in the US Army Finance Office in Manila, Philippines. He was captured by the Japanese during the invasion and surrender of American forces in May 1942.
Above: Courtesy of The Philadelphia Inquirer, dated 7th July 1943.
He died of Beriberi on the 14th February 1943 whilst being held at the temporary PoW Camp Hoten (Mukden) in Manchuria (China). His remains were repatriated on the 12th July 1949 and laid to rest at the Roosevelt Memorial Park, Trevose, Pennsylvania, USA.
Above: Grave marker for T/Sgt. Leland B.Tracy (Courtesy of Chuck Metcalfe – FindAGrave)
T/Sgt. Leland Blaisdell Tracy. Air Medal. Recovered and reinterred on the 5th February 1945 in the US Military Cemetery, St André at Evreux in Plot C, Row 7, Grave 133. Repatriated and laid to rest on the 4th April 1949 at the Woodlawn National Cemetery, Plot C, Grave 3306 in Elmira, New York. Born on the 3rd February 1912 in Rome, Maine. Son of George A. and Daisy M. (née Smith) Tracy of Rome, Maine, USA.
Above: Grave marker for S/Sgt. Perry Wheaton (Courtesy of Andy Swinnen)
S/Sgt. Lyle Perry Wheaton. Air Medal. Purple Heart. Recovered and reinterred on the 5th February 1945 in the US Military Cemetery, St André at Evreux in Plot C, Row 7, Grave 131. Relocated to the Normandy American Cemetery in Block B, Row 9, Grave 28. Born on the 26th April 1913 in Harbor Springs, Michigan. Husband to Isa Bertha (née Emery) Wheaton of Stockton, California, USA.
Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew. Thanks also to Andy Swinnen from Remember Our Heroes for permission to use the crew images and grave markers in this report (Jul 2023). Update to include forced-march information (Jun 2024).
Other sources listed below:
RS 14.06.2024 - Update for forced-march
RS 04.07.2023 - Original upload
RS 22.11.2023 - Update to Buchenwald narrative
RS 02.03.2024 - Correction to Buchenwald narrative
RS 14.06.2024 - Update for forced-march
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