Operation: Évreux-Fauville airfield (Mission #403), France

Date: 10th June 1944 (Saturday)

Unit No: 714th Bombardment Squadron (H), 448th Bombardment Group (H), 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force

Type: B-24H

Serial No: 44-40107

Code: EI:F

Location: Between Jouy-sur-Eure and Sassey in France.

Base: Seething (Station #146), Norfolk, England

Pilot: 1st Lt. Raymond Stockley Towles O-2045237 AAF Age 24. KiA

Co-Pilot: 2nd Lt. Hugh James Harries O-755558 AAF Age 23. PoW **

Navigator: 1st Lt. Arthur Edward Zander O-805378 AAF Age 24. Id No: 78368 *, PoW No: 8160 ** (1)

Bombardier: 2nd Lt. Thomas Knowles Foster O-744267 AAF Age 24. KiA

Radio/Op: T/Sgt. Howard Philip Lepley 13137364 AAF Age 21. KiA

Engineer: T/Sgt. Mabron Paul Johnson 18007370 AAF Age 25. KiA

Ball Turret Gunner: S/Sgt. Earl Leon Taylor 37498287 AAF Age 23. Died (2)

Right Waist Gunner S/Sgt. Andrew Henry Novak 36723031 AAF Age 21. PoW ***

Left Waist Gunner: S/Sgt. Robert Thayer Johnson 11088443 AAF Age 22. Id No: 78272 *, PoW No: 8183 ** (1)

Tail Gunner S/Sgt. Cyrus Packer 18130544 AAF Age 22. KiA

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.

* 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).

*** 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: Crew of 44-40107 (Courtesy of Nathan C. Brittles - FindAGrave)

Back row left to right: S/Sgt. Packer, S/Sgt. Novak, T/Sgt. Mabron Johnson, S/Sgt. Taylor, T/Sgt. Lepley, S/Sgt. Bob Johnson. Front row left to right: 1st Lt. Towles, 1st Lt. Harries, 1st Lt. Zander, 1st Lt. John Bloznelis.

Note: 1st Lt. Bloznelis was transferred to another crew and replaced by 2nd Lt. Foster as the Bombardier. This was 2nd Lt. Foster’s first mission with this or any other crew.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 10th June 1944 the 448th BG took off from Seething (Station #146) in Norfolk on a mission to bomb the Évreux-Fauville airfield which today is an operational airfield, and is some 5½ km (3½ mls) east of Évreux and 1½ km (1 ml) ESE of Fauville.

Immediately after the bomb run 44-40107 was hit by flak in the area of the bomb bay. It flew on for a short time before breaking in two at the bomb bay. The aircraft disintegrated and the wreckage crashed between Jouy-sur-Eure and Sassey, about 4 km (2½ mls) NE of the Évreux-Fauville airfield. Five parachutes were seen in the air. This was the Group’s first loss for a month.

From the available information three of the surviving crew members were captured immediately. 1st Lt. Zander and S/Sgt. Johnson initially evaded capture.

(1) The circumstances of 1st Lt. Zander’s evasion and capture are unknown other than he was arrested on the 28th July 44 in Paris.

S/Sgt. Johnson was sheltered by the son of the Mayor of Boncount for a week who provided him with civilian clothes and also contacted a doctor in Passey who treated his wounds for the next month. He also arranged for French papers, ration cards and hiding places.

In Jouy-sur-Eure he was hidden for a month by a Mon. Albert Guilbert who also built the three caskets and crosses for 1st Lt. Towles, T/Sgt. Johnson and S/Sgt. Packer whom he also buried in the Communal cemetery at Jouy-sur-Eure . On the 27th July Mon. Guilbert gave him 5,000 francs for his journey to Paris. In Paris he was captured by the Gestapo the following day on the 28th July 1944.

They were 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.

1st Lt. Zander and S/Sgt. Johnson were 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) S/Sgt. Taylor was one of the five airmen who baled out but had suffered severe burns to his face and a broken thigh. He never fully regained consciousness and finally died of pneumonia on the 23rd June 1944.

1st Lt. Towles, T/Sgt. Johnson and S/Sgt. Packer were initially buried at the Communal Cemetery at Jouy-sur-Eure. One unidentified airman was buried at the Communal Cemetery at Huest some 2 km (1¼ mls) SW of Sassey. No initial burial record for the fifth airman to perish aboard the aircraft has been found.

Burial details:

Above: Courtesy of Wichita Falls Record News, dated June 10th,1949

1st Lt. Raymond Stockeley Towles. Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters). Recovered and reinterred at the US Military Cemetery St. André, Plot E-10-182. Repatriated and laid to rest at the New Electra Cemetery, Wichita County, Texas. Born on the 14th January 1920 in Texas. Son of John Mark and Myla Mae (née Cornelius) Towles of Wilbarger, Texas, USA.

Above: Courtesy of The Spokesman Review, dated April 19th, 1949

2nd Lt. Thomas Knowles Foster. Air Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters). Recovered and reinterred at the US Military Cemetery St. André, Plot E, Row 10, Grave 185. Repatriated and laid to rest at the Riverside memorial Park in Spokane, Washington. Born on the 19th September 1920 in Spokane, Washington. Son of Earl Joseph and Mildred Olive (née Jones) Foster of Spokane, Washington, USA.

T/Sgt. Howard Philip Lepley. Air Medal (Oak Leaf Cluster). Recovered and reinterred at the US Military Cemetery St. André, Plot E, Row 10, Grave 184. Repatriated and laid to rest in the Cook Cemetery, Hyndman, Pennsylvania. Born on the 14th September 1923 in Barrellville, Maryland. Son of Oscar Adam and Cora Elizabeth (née Getz) Lepley of Hyndman, Hyndman, Pennsylvania, USA.

T/Sgt. Mabron Paul Johnson. Air Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters). Recovered and reinterred at the US Military Cemetery St. André, Plot F, Row 9, Grave 179 on the 6th April 1945. Repatriated and laid to rest at the JDWF Cemetery, Farmersville, Texas. Born on the 10th February 1919 in Farmersville, Collin, Texas, Son of Clyde Mabron and Pearl Estha (née Wisdom) Johnson of Denton, Texas, USA.

S/Sgt. Earl Leon Taylor. Air Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart. Recovered and reinterred at the Military Cemetery South Sebastian at Arniéres. Reinterred in the US Military Cemetery St. André Plot F, Row 6, Grave 117 before finally at the Normandy American Cemetery Plot A, Row 9, Grave 10. Born on the 26th January 1921 in Cassville, Missouri. Son of John William and Mary Belle (née Starkey) Taylor of Exeter, Missouri. Husband of Twila M. Taylor of Satanta, Kansas, USA.

Above: Courtesy of the Clinton Daily News, dated June 5th, 1949

Above: Grave marker for S/Sgt. Packer (Courtesy of Dolores Colwell Willis – FindAGrave)

S/Sgt. Cyrus Packer. Air Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters). Recovered and reinterred at the US Military Cemetery St. André. Repatriated and laid to rest at the Clinton Indian Cemetery, Clinton, Oklahoma. Born on the 1st January 1922 in Clinton, Oklahoma. Son of Brinton “White Tail” and Clara “Man Standing” (née Standing Bird) Packer from Clinton, Oklahoma. Husband of Emma (née Standingwater) Packer of Clinton, Oklahoma, USA.

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