Operation: Tours (Mission #400), France

Date: 8th June 1944 (Wednesday)

Unit No: 568th Bombardment Squadron (H), 390th Bombardment Group (H), 3rd Air Division, 8th Air Force

Type: B-17G Prowlin Tom

Serial No: 42-31114

Code: BI:C

Location: Maissemy, 10 km (6 mls) NW of St. Quentin, Northern France

Base: Framlingham (Station #153), Suffolk, England

Pilot: 1st Lt. Edwin Gover Sechrist O-811755 AAF Age 23. Evader (1 & 5)

Co Pilot: 2nd Lt. James Harold Duncan O-817641 AAF Age 24. Id No: 78300 *, PoW No: 8136 ** (2)

Navigator: 2nd Lt. Vital Gaudias Emile Turmenne O-698160 AAF Age 22. Evader (1 & 5)

Togglier: S/Sgt. Henry Ford Wilson 34444415 AAF Age 22. Evader (3 & 5)

Radio Operator: T/Sgt. Louis Dudreck Lewis 39693112 AAF Age 20. Evader (4 & 5)

Engineer: T/Sgt. Merrill Allan Caldwell 36631860 AAF Age 20. Evader (3 & 5)

Ball Turret Gnr: S/Sgt. Wendell Wayne Oge 37669266 AAF Age 20. Evader (3 & 5)

Right Waist Gnr: S/Sgt. Michael Ruta 32820841 AAF Age 21. Evader (4 & 5)

Left Waist Gnr: S/Sgt. Robert Frank Tucker 35663844 AAF Age 21. Evader (6)

Tail Gnr: S/Sgt. David Henry Helps Jr. 37344914 AAF Age 21. KiA (7)

* 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).

Togglier. When it was required for all aircraft in a Squadron formation to drop their bombs simultaneously, the designated Bombardier was on the lead aircraft. The task of the Bombardiers/Togglier in the rest of the formation was to drop their bombs when the lead aircraft dropped theirs. The role of Togglier was usually carried out by an enlisted crew member.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 8th June 1944 nearly 1,200 heavy bombers attacked rail targets and airfields in France in support for the D-Day invasion.

After take off the aircraft from the Group were to climb individually through the overcast to about 23,000 feet for Group assembly. Aircraft #114 took off at about 05:24 hrs and began to climb. The following aircraft was #121 and observed #114 entering the overcast. When the BG assembled #114 was absent and no radio message was heard from the aircraft nor was it seen again by anyone in the Group.

Hit by flak and all the crew baled out and landed at or very near near Margny-aux-Cérises, 6½ km (4 mls) southeast of Roye.

The aircraft crashed at 09:00 hrs near Maissemy, 10 km (6 mls) NW of St. Quentin in Northern France.

(1) On landing 2nd Lt. Turmenne was directed by some local French farmers to head for some woods where he met with 1st Lt. Sechrist. An old lady brought them bread and beer and indicated that they should stay in hiding. The old lady returned later and told them that Germans were going to start searching the area so they moved off through woods past Lagny and slept outside that night.

Lagny is some 8 km (5 mls) NNE of Maissemy.

The next morning they walked to Cannectancourt where a young man came up on a bike approached and took them to his father-in-law’s home in Évricourt where they were provided with civilian clothes.

Cannectancourt is some 6 km (3¾ mls) due south of Lagny and Évricourt is about 1 km (¾ ml) due north of Cannectancourt .

That afternoon a schoolmaster told them that the escape lines for evaders had been halted because all movement of civilian cars had been stopped by the Germans. They were hidden at the schoolmaster’s home from the 11th June until the 26th June and then moved to a safe house at Les Bocages near Thiescourt where they remained until the 22nd August.

(2) After landing 2nd Lt. Duncan was hidden by a French family at Fresnoy-lès-Roye who fed him, provided him with civilian clothes for about 4 weeks and also furnished him with a passport.

He then moved to a farm house about 3 km (1¾ ml) from Fresnoy-lès-Roye where he remained for about a week after which he was moved on to another farm in Bray-sur-Somme. After this no information about his whereabouts or the circumstances leading to his capture has been found.

What is known is that he was 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.

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.

Upon his return to the USA 2nd Lt. Duncan was discharged from the USAAF on the 15th October 1945. Amongst his medals he was awarded the Air Medal (AM) with two Oak Leaf Clusters and the Prisoner of War Medal.

He re-enlisted or was called up from the Reserve for the Korean conflict. He served with the USAF with the 325th Bombardment Squadron, 92nd Bombardment Group based in Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan.

On the 9th September 1950 his aircraft, B-29A #44-62084 United Notions was hit by anti-aircraft fire and exploded in mid-air near Wolbong-ni, Kanwong-do in North Korea. Five parachutes were seen to clear the aircraft.

Eight of the eleven man crew were listed as Missing in Action (MiA) and were formally presumed Killed in Action (KiA) on the 31st March 1954. Three of the crew were confirmed KiA on the day of the loss. Three of the MiA, including S/Sgt. Duncan AF14101683, were reported taken as PoWs. S/Sgt. Duncan was reported to have died whilst MiA and was formally presumed KiA on the 31st March 1954.

For his service in Korea he was awarded a further two Oak Leaf Clusters to his Air Medal (AM) on the 17th August 1950 and 19th September 1950.

James Harold Duncan: 27th January 1920 - 9th September 1950

(3) S/Sgt. Wilson, S/Sgt. Oge and S/Sgt. Caldwell landed close together near Ameins and were met at once by French children who hid them in a barn. They were brought civilian clothes and that night with two other women they were moved to nearby woods. At dawn the three walked southwards and approached a farmhouse. The occupants took them to the house of the chief of the Resistance in the region.

The three remained here for three days and whilst S/Sgt. Wilson remained S/Sgt. Oge and S/Sgt. Caldwell were taken to Noyon some 60 km (38 mls) southeast of Amiens. S/Sgt. Caldwell went to a home where he lived for the next two months and S/Sgt. Oge to a home near to the Cathedral. S/Sgt. Oge remained there for eight days after which he was taken to the farm some 13 km (8 mls) northeast of Ameins and lived there until the 22nd August.

(4) T/Sgt. Lewis and S/Sgt. Ruta landed about 50 yds (45 m) from each other near Ameins. They hid in a wood for the rest of the day, that night, and all of the next day. At midnight they began to walk and at dawn approached a farmer who fed them and told them hid in a nearby forest. There three woodcutters gave them civilian clothes and in the evening took them to a hotel in a village for the night.

The next morning they were collected and taken to a house where they found S/Sgt. Wilson. The next day these three, S/Sgt. Wilson, S/Sgt. Lewis and S/Sgt. Ruta, where taken to the small farm where remained from the 12th June to 22nd August.

(5) On the 22nd August all five evaders were gathered together and in a lorry proceeded to collect 1st Lt. Sechrist, 2nd Lt. Turmenne, a Capt. Clayton Davis and a P/O Wm. Chisholm (RAF) from different places in the neighbourhood.

Capt. Clayton Davis was Capt. Clayton E. Davis O-666887, DSC, DFC of the 487th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group, 8th Air Force whose P-51D #44-13651 was hit by flak and he baled out on the 17th August 1944.

P/O Wm. Chisholm was Plt Off. William Arthur Chisholm 172980 RAFVR of 19 Sqn whose Mustang III FX990 was shot down by a Bf109 on the 22nd April 1944.

All of these men were then taken to a wood 19 km (12 mls) south of Beauvais where they were joined by ten more British and American evaders, amongst this group were Wallace, Rogers, Howard, Neff and Carroll.

The first four named were from B-17G #42-97319 of 326th Bombardment Squadron (H), 92nd Bombardment Group (H), 8th Air Force, which crash-landed after running out of gas on the 29th April 1944 (3 PoW, 7 Evd)

Co-Pilot: 2nd Lt. Guy A. Wallace O-734398,
Bombardier: 2nd Lt. Oscar S. Rogers Jr. O-757035,
Radio Operator: S/Sgt. Dale F. Howard 37410620,
Ball Turret Gnr: S/Sgt. Kenneth E. Neff 19045952

Carroll was S/Sgt. Jack W. Carroll 39281377 of the 554th Bombardment Squadron (M), 386th Bombardment Group (M), 8th Air Force whose B-26G #43-34211 was by flak over target on the 18th August 1944 (1 KiA, 3 PoW, 2 Evd).

The group received clothing and supplies from an officer in the French Army. On the 30th August the Irish Brigade of Guards came into the region and they were liberated and transported back to Beauvais. Here the Americans were sent to the 9th Air Force HQ at Laval where they were given orders and transportation to the UK where they arrived on the 3rd September 1944.

(6) S/Sgt. Tucker baled out at about 9000 ft. Whilst descending he was fired upon from the ground by machine gun fire and was slightly wounded. He landed at about 10:00 hrs in some woods near a Hamlet east of Ameins. He then buried his parachute and Mae West and remained hidden until picked up by a Frenchmen who fed and clothed him and sent him on my way as he was a French speaker.

For the first three days he walked in the direction of the Allied lines, each night finding shelter with friendly French. On the forth day he was ferried across the Seine by a Frenchman who introduced him to a friend with whom he stayed for five days. He then set out again and walked for the next two days and was again sheltered each night. After the second night he met another Frenchman who cared for him until the arrival of US forces. He returned to the UK on the 29th August 1944.

(7) S/Sgt. Helps’ parachute was shot at by small arms fire from the ground. His body was found near two houses at de Pavé, at the crossing of Roye to Noyon road (D934) and Margny-aux-Cerises to Avricourt road (D159).

He was initially buried in grave 1 of the County Cemetery Amy near Roye.

Burial Details:

S/Sgt. David Henry Helps Jr. Recovered and reinterred in the US Military Cemetery at Blosville, Carentan Plot DD-9-171. Repatriated and laid to rest at the Golden Cemetery, Colorado. Born on the 22nd August 1924 in Golden, Colorado. Son of David Henry and Agatha Maria Wilhelmina (née Boom) Helps of Golden, Colorado, USA.

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