Operation: Ijmuiden power stations, The Netherlands

Date: 17th May 1943 (Monday)

Unit No: 452nd Bombardment Squadron (M), 322nd Bombardment Group (M), 99th Combat Wing, 9th Air Force

Type: B-26B

Serial No: 41-17991

Code: DR:S

Base: Andrews Field (Great Saling) (Station #485), Essex, England

Location: Bodegraven, The Netherlands

Pilot: 1st Lt. Richard Oliver Wolfe O-791745 AAF Age 22. KiA

Co Pilot: 1st Lt. Jack Ewing Vandegrift O-663107 AAF Age 24. KiA

Bombardier/Navigator: 2nd Lt. John Howard Burns O-731019 AAF Age 21. KiA

Engineer/Gunner: Sgt. Kleber Lee Jones 18102505 AAF Age 27. PoW/Died * (1)

Radio Operator: Sgt. Chester Joseph Walas 31063892 AAF Age 23. PoW **

Tail Gunner: S/Sgt. John Leonard Nash 11038388 AAF Age 21. KiA

* Stalag 9c Mühlhausen near Bad Sulza, Thuringia, Germany.

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

Above: The Courier News, dated 29th May 1943

REASON FOR LOSS:

B-26B took off from Andrews Field (Great Saling) on the morning of the 17th May 1943 on a mission to bomb the power stations in Ijmuiden, The Netherlands.

The aircraft was involved in a mid-air collision with B-26B 41-18080 DR:K (4 KiA, 2 PoW) while repositioning after loss of the leader aircraft. The aircraft crashed at Bodegraven, some 43 km (26 ¾ mls) NNE of Ijmuiden, at 11:58 hrs.

(1) Sgt. Kleber Lee Jones was reported to have committed suicide whilst a PoW at Stalag 9C on the 14th October 1943. No further details found.

Above: Report of the death of Sgt. Kleber Lee Jones (Courtesy of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, dated 30th November 1943)

Burial details:

Above: Grave marker for 1st Lt. Richard Oliver Wolfe. (Courtesy of Des Philippet - FindAGrave)

1st Lt. Richard Oliver Wolfe. Purple Heart (PH). Netherlands American Cemetery, Plot A, Row 8, Grave 21. Born in 1921 in North Plainfield, New Jersey. Son of Carlson Eugene and Winifred Anne (née Fretwell) Wolfe of North Plainfield, New Jersey. Husband to Helen (née Midgley) of New Jersey, USA.

1st Lt. Jack Ewing Vandegrift. Purple Heart (PH). Netherlands American Cemetery, Plot M, Row 17, Grave 14. Born on the 28th March 1919 in Centrahoma, Oklahoma. Son of Leroy Franklin and Blanche (née Tiner) of Shawnee, Pottawatomie, Oklahoma. Husband to Nelda Maxine (née DeMunbrun) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Above: Grave marker for 2nd Lt. John Howard Burns.(Courtesy of Des Philippet - FindAGrave)

2nd Lt. John Howard Burns. Purple Heart (PH). Netherlands American Cemetery, Plot B, Row 19, Grave 11. Born on the 27th April 1922 in Norfolk, Nebraska. Son of Alfred Lemuel (deceased in February 1933) and Mary Jane (née Palen) Burns of Norfolk, Nebraska, USA.

Above: Grave marker for Sgt. Kleber Lee Jones (Courtesy of and in memory of Fallen Graver SFC Frank Irons Sr - FindAGrave)

Sgt. Kleber Lee Jones. Repatriated and laid to rest in Plot 35 Old Section at the North Belton Cemetery, Belton, Texas. Born on the 19th May 1915 in Belton, Texas. Son of Isaac Van Zandt and Mildred Caroline (née Reid) Jones of Belton, Texas, USA.

Above: Grave marker for S/Sgt. John Leonard Nash.(Courtesy of Des Philippet - FindAGrave)

S/Sgt. John Leonard Nash. Purple Heart (PH). Netherlands American Cemetery, Plot B, Row 19, Grave 10. Born on the 21st November 1922 in Roxbury, Washington, Vermont. Son of Philip Edward and Helen Marie (née McIntyre) Nash of Walpole, Hampshire, USA.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew. (May 2025)

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