Operation: Frankfurt (Mission #198), Germany

Date: 29th January 1944 (Saturday)

Unit No: 579th Bombardment Squadron (H), 392nd Bombardment Group (H), 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force

Type: B-24H Sally Ann

Serial No: 42-7484

Code: GC:L

Location: Waterloo, Belgium

Base: Wendling (Station #118), Norfolk, England

Pilot: 1st Lt. John Stukus O-675644 AAF Age 25. PoW *

Co Pilot: 2nd Lt. John Edward Moffat O-681164 AAF Age 24. PoW *

Navigator: 1st Lt. Marshall Combs Crouch Jr. O-744050 AAF Age 25. Id No. 78277 **, PoW No. 8132 *** (1)

Bombardier: 2nd Lt. Lester Eugene Gentry O-678355 AAF Age 24. KiA

Nose Gunner: 2nd Lt. Ronald Robert Lindlow O-683192 AAF Age 26. KiA

Radio/Op: T/Sgt. James Reid Dykes 34445240 AAF Age 24. Evader (2)

Engineer: T/Sgt. William Reinholt Mattson 11088221 AAF Age 27. Evader (3)

Ball Turret Gunner: S/Sgt. Louis Peter Rosati 37320524 AAF Age 24. Evader (2)

Waist Gunner: S/Sgt. Anthony Louis Paolantonio 32428719 AAF Age 23. Evader (2)

Waist Gunner: S/Sgt. Joe Eubanks McCrary 34345551 AAF Age 26. Evader (4)

Tail Gunner: S/Sgt. William Connel McGinley 17014751 AAF Age 21. Evader (2)

* Stalag Luft 1 Barth-Vogelsang, today situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.

** 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).

REASON FOR LOSS:

The Sally Ann took off from Wendling at 08:00 hrs to join a force of 863 B-17s to bomb the IG Farben and Vereinigte Deutsche Metallwerke and other targets in Frankfurt, Germany.

About 2½ hrs after taking off, while flying over Belgium at about 30,000 ft, the Sally Ann was forced to drop out of formation because of supercharger troubles. A few minutes after dropping out of formation the Sally Ann was attacked by a group of German Fw190s. The aircraft was hit hard but no one was injured.

After several passes the enemy aircraft left them alone and they continued onto the target. From about 20,000 ft they dropped their bombs at the Initial Point (IP). By this time, their formation was out of sight and after losing considerable altitude, they turned back for home, hiding in the clouds. About 30 mins after dropping their bombs the aircraft emerged from the cover of the clouds at about 4,000 ft and was almost immediately attacked by 9 or 10 enemy fighters.

As a result of the attack the right wing was damaged, #1 engine was running rough, a fire raged in the bomb bay and was leaking fuel, nine of the crew baled out before B-24’s wing blew up causing the disintegration of the aircraft about 3¼ km (2 ml) south of Waterloo, Belgium.

2nd Lt. Gentry was in the nose turret and 2nd Lt. Lindlow attempted to help him out, but both were killed in the explosion and crash.

(1) 1st Lt. Crouch Jr. was captured on the 15th May 1944 at a roadblock enroute to an evasion route over the Pyrenees.

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 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.

(2) T/Sgt. Dykes landed in the vicinity of Waterloo and was immediately assisted and hidden in a barn overnight. About two days later he was taken to Chapelle-Saint-Lambert, 16 km (10 ml) NE of Nivelles where he joined S/Sgt. Paolantonio, S/Sgt. McGinley, S/Sgt. Rosati and 1st Lt. Crouch.

S/Sgt. Rosati landed in a farmyard about 5 km (3 ml) from Waterloo in Belgium. A farmer hid him in a nearby copses and during that evening S/Sgt. Paolantonio arrived followed by S/Sgt. McGinley. The three were then hidden in the farmer’s barn who then brought them civilian clothes.

The following evening they were taken to an elderly couples house in Chapelle-Saint-Lambert, 16 km (10 ml) NE of Nivelles where they remained hidden for two weeks. The day after they arrived the mayor from a neighbouring village brought along 1st Lt. Crouch and T/Sgt. Dykes. During their stay they were helped by many people of the village.

On about the 14th February all five were moved to another safe house in Arquennes, 5 km (3 ml) SW of Nivelles. They stayed here for 2 weeks and then moved to Ecaussines 7 km (4¼ ml) due east of Arquennes where they remained for another 2 weeks.

Then a Glen Bremmeke [sic] and Howard Sakarias were brought in to join them. As there were now so many evaders that during each day three of them were moved to other safe houses

Note: These were Tail Gnr, S/Sgt. Glen Howard Brenneke 39311090 and Photographer S/Sgt. Howard Guest Sakarias 37278425. Both were from B-17F 42-30412 'Mischief Maker II' (339 BS/96BG), which was shot down on the 4th March 1944 (6 Evaders, 5 PoW). Both S/Sgt. Bremmeke and S/Sgt Sakarias successfully evaded.

S/Sgt. Rosati and S/Sgt. Sakarias were moved to another safe house in Ecaussines and remained there for 3 weeks. All seven evaders were then gathered together and moved to Brussels where S/Sgt. Rosati was moved around a number of safe houses for 2½ weeks. During this time he was told that T/Sgt. Mattson had been passed on 3 weeks before.

It was probably sometime during this period that 1st Lt. Crouch Jr. was captured (See Ser 1)

On the 13th August S/Sgt. Rosati was moved to a Convent in Jette, a municipality of Brussels, where many Jewish refugees and other people hiding from the Germans where staying. On the 4th September all the evaders staying in the convent were collected and driven in a lorry to the Hôtel Métropole in Brussels, which had been liberated by Allied forces.

(3) In T/Sgt. Mattson’s Escape and Evasion report he describes what transpired aboard the aircraft and his initial evasion:

“Two of our superchargers went out as we crossed the enemy coast, so we were trailing the formation by 500 yards when fighters jumped us. They shot up the left wing and number four oil line. Fuel was pouring into the bomb-bays when we jettisoned our bombs and started home at 6000 feet. I could not stop the leak so I opened the bomb-bays.

The tail gunner called “fighters” and we dove down to 10/10 cloud at 2500 ft. The fighters went below and when we ran out of cover the fight began. An explosion in the bomb-bay blew out the doors to the Radio Room and pilot gave the bail-out order.

We had been cloud-hopping at 2500 feet so I opened my chute immediately and landed in a field near a cluster of houses. There must have been a hundred people the plane. They left me alone and I was approached by a solitary man. He offered me coffee and I asked him, in my high school French, to hide my chute and equipment. He threw it all into a barn and said he would bury it later.

When we went inside the coffee was ready. The man gave me his own shoes in place of my electric boots. The crowd gathered around the house, so he got uneasy and asked me to move on. I travelled SW though the fields by the sun as he had indicated. I reached a paved road bordered with bushes. As the country was very open I decided to hide in a bush until dark. Ten minutes later two men stopped beside me. They told me to go to a large house a mile away.

I was 200 yards from the house when dogs started to bark so I decided to wait until dark. There was a deeply plowed [ploughed] field nearby and I lay in one of the furrows. A few minutes later two horses and plow [plough] came over the knoll ahead of me; I had no choice but to reveal myself. I had great trouble in making the farmer understand me. Finally I Knew that he wanted me to go to one side of a two family house ½ mile further on. It was lucky I got the directions straight, for I later learned that the other side of the house was pro-Nazi. I also learned that I would have been taken if I reached the first house as it was constantly watched by the Nazi.

That evening an old man came for me. I was given civilian clothes and told not to worry as the rest of my journey had been arranged”

He crossed the Pyrennes and arrived at British Embassy in Madrid on the 29th April 1944 and crossed into Gibraltar and reported to the American Embassy on the 5th May 1944.

He departed from Gibraltar by air on the12th May 1944 and landing in the UK at Bristol the next day.

(4) After S/Sgt. McCrary had landed he was quickly taken by a Canadian girl to her father’s house in Wavre, who was the owner of a butchers shop in the town. He stayed with them for 5 days. He was the collected by unnamed escape organisation people, who took him to Peewez where he stayed for 10 days and where he met a Lt. David Kramer, Thunderbolt pilot, who had fought with the Partisans.

Wavre is some 15 km (9¼ mls) due east of Waterloo and Perwez is some 17½ km (11 mls) SE of Wavre.

Note: This was 2nd Lt. David Kramer O-737141 from the 486th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group, whose P-47D #42-8514 Thunderbolt had engine failure on 30th November 1943 and he crash landed in Belgium.

He was then returned to Wavre where he remained for 4 months. He was then taken to Brussels, where he was hidden for 2 weeks. He was of the mind that this escape organisation was poorly run and he met no other Allied evaders whilst he was in Brussels. He was then returned to Wavre where he remained for another 3 months until Allied forces arrived in the area.

He was interviewed on the 9th of September 1944 in Brussels and then returned to the UK.

Burial Details:

It was reported that both 2nd Lt. Gentry and 2nd Lt. Lindlow were both initially buried in the English Cemetery at Brussels-Evere. No explanation as to why 2nd Lt. Gentry is only remembered on the Tablets of the Missing at the Cambridge American Cemetery, has been found

2nd Lt. Lester Eugene Gentry. Air Medal, Purple Heart. Remembered on the Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery. Born on the 23rd November 1919 in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Son of Lester Malachi and Leola Sophia (née Myers) Gentry of Pawnee, Oklahoma. Husband to Vivian Marguerite (née Nelson) Gentry of Pawnee, Oklahoma, USA.

2nd Lt. Ronald Robert Lindlow. Air Medal. Repatriated from Neuville-En-Condrez, Neupré and laid to rest on the 6th June 1949 in Plot 0/842 at the Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, California. Born on the 4th March 1917 in Seattle, Washington. Son of Ray R. and Ethel Lindlow of Oakland, California, USA.

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