Operation: Budapest, Hungary

Date: 18th September 1944 (Monday)

Unit No: 758th Bombardment Squadron (H), 459th Bombardment Group (H), 304th Bombardment Wing, 15th Air Force

Type: B-24J

Serial No: 42-51524

Code:-

Location: Budapest, Hungary

Base: Giulia airfield (Cerignola satellite #1), Italy

Pilot: 1st Lt. Claude Albert ‘Dusty’ Rhodes O-819271 AAF Age 26. PoW * (1)

Co Pilot: 1st Lt. Willard Graham O-667695 AAF Age 22. Died (2)

Navigator: 2nd Lt. Manfred A. Gwinner O-2057800 AAF Age 22. PoW **

Radio/Op: S/Sgt. Charles Harry Huber 13108577 AAF Age 22. KiA

Engineer: S/Sgt. William Joseph Vitale 32496661 AAF Age 25. PoW *

Gunner: Cpl. James Joseph Jacks 38435085 AAF Age 21. Murdered (3)

Gunner: Cpl. Malcolm Leslie Jennings 32855901 AAF Age 20. PoW **

Gunner: Cpl. John Christopher Scott 14177094 AAF Age 19. PoW **

Photographer: S/Sgt. Joseph Lawrence Collins 31421347 AAF Age 23. PoW **

The B-24 had 10 crew positions. Crew complements evolved during the war and generally comprised 9 personnel who were typically, but not always, Pilot, Co-Pilot, Bombardier, Navigator, Flight Engineer/Top Turret Gunner, Radio Operator/Waist Gunner, Nose Gunner, Ball Turret Gunner, Waist Gunner, Tail Gunner.

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

** Stalag 7a Moosburg, Bavaria (Work Camps 3324-46 Krumbachstrasse and 3368 Munich).

*** 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).

Above: 1st Lt. Willard Graham from the Class book for Basic pilot - Class 42-K at Waco Army Air Field, Texas. (Courtesy of the AAF collection website)

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the morning of 18th September 1944 B-24J 42-51524 took off from the Giulia airfield in Italy, also known as Cerignola satellite #1, on a mission to bomb the northern and southern railroad bridges in Budapest.

Bombs hit the northern bridge and a small marshalling yard, a factory and river barges. At the southern bridge, the raid damaged the bridge, cut tracks at one end, and hit an industrial area and the Ferencvaros marshalling yard.

An after mission statement by Capt. Walter L. Carrs, Jr, O-726571 describes what happened to B-24J 42-51524:

“I was flying as pilot of a B-24 type aircraft, in #5 position of "A" Flight. Lt. Rhodes of the 758th Bombardment Squadron (H) 459th Bombardment Group (H), was flying in #4 position of "A" Flight, to the left and in front of me. We were between the IP and target when the aircraft Lt. Rhodes was piloting received a direct hit of flak between #3 and #4 engines, tearing a large chunk out of the wing and leaving a huge gaping hole. Immediately afterwards another direct hit of flak exploded in the radio compartment of the aircraft. It swerved sharply to the right and went underneath my aircraft, becoming lost to my sight. I did not see any parachutes emerge from the aircraft and the other members of my crew also reported seeing no parachutes. I did not see it crash. That is all I know of this occurrence”.

All of the crew baled out except for S/Sgt. Huber, who according to those of the crew who saw him, appeared to be paralysed with fright after the aircraft was hit. It assumed that S/Sgt. Huber went down with the aircraft.

(1) 1st Lt. Rhodes was admitted to military hospital #11 in Budapest with a gunshot wound to the chest, inflicted by a civilian during his arrest, and numerous other injuries resulting from beatings. (Ref 1. p. 221)

The hospital is believed have been the Budapest Royal Hungarian Honvedspital No.11.

The incident appears to have been reported and a case number exists, however, it is not known if any investigation was carried out and if so we have no knowledge of the results.

(2) 1st Lt. Graham broke his leg on landing and was also admitted to the military hospital #11 in Budapest. His leg became gangrenous and had to amputated but sadly he died in the hospital on the 6th October 1944.

(3) Cpl. Jacks was seen to have baled out of the aircraft but he was not seen again. 2nd Lt. Gwinner reported that approximately 2 hrs after they had been shot down he was told by an English speaking German that a member of his crew with the name “Jack” had been beaten to death by Hungarian civilians before German soldiers could get to him. This story has not been corroborated and all that is know is that he perished on his first operational mission.

Above: Cpl. Jacks notification (Courtesy of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, dated Wednesday, September 26, 1945)

Burial Details:

1st Lt. Willard Graham. Air Medal, Purple Heart. Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot G, Row 9, Grave 25. Born on the 1st November 1921 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Son of Willard Hills and step mother Grace Lee (née Coggeshall) Graham of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Husband to Janet Carol (née Bogart) Graham of Winfield, Kansas, USA.

S/Sgt. Charles Harry Huber. Air Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart. Repatriated and interred at the Calvary Cemetery Lot 132, Section A, in Charleroi, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Born on the 1st March 1922 in Charleroi, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Son of John George and Anna (née Daniska) Huber. Husband to Wanda Claire (née Kelley) Huber of Charleroi, Washington County, Pennsylvania, USA.

Above: Grave marker for Cpl. James Joseph Jacks (Courtesy of 1966 - FindAGrave)

Cpl. James Joseph Jacks. Air Medal. Repatriated and interred at the Shannon Rose Hill Memorial Park, Oaklawn Section, Forth Worth, Tarrant County, Texas. Born on the 7th July 1923 in Fannin, Goliad County, Texas. Son of Clifford Henry and Anna Clair (née Cochran) Jacks of Tarrant, Texas, USA.

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

Other sources listed below:

Reference:

1. Georg Hoffmann, Fliegerlynchjustiz, © 2015 Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn. ISBN 978-3-506-78137-6.

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