ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 49594
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| Date: | Wednesday 29 November 1944 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress |
| Owner/operator: | 533rd BSqn /381st BGp USAAF |
| Registration: | 42-31614 |
| MSN: | 6728 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 9 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Katsberg hill, Meijel, Limburg -
 Netherlands
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Ridgewell, Essex |
On 29 November 1944, during Eighth Air Force Mission 729, 1,077 bombers and 946 fighters were dispatched to make PFF attacks on viaduct rail targets and oil refineries in Germany:
1. 445 B-17s were sent to hit the oil refinery at Misburg (391); targets of opportunity were Osnabrcuk (36) and others (5); 6 B-17s were damaged. Escorting were 419 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
2. 307 B-24s were sent to hit the Schildesche rail viaduct at Bielefeld (152) and the Altenbeken rail viaduct (144); 2 others hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-24 was lost and 9 damaged; 10 airmen were MIA. Escorting were 261 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
3. 312 B-17s were sent to hit the Hamm marshalling yard (294); 4 others hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-17 was damaged beyond repair and 87 damaged; 3 airmen were WIA. Escorting were 112 of 120 P-51s without loss.
4. 12 of 13 B-17s flew a screen mission and hit a target of opportunity. Escorting were 26 of 32 P-47s without loss.
5. 31 of 34 P-51s flew a scouting mission.
_______________________________________________________
One of the few losses of the day was the B-17G 42-31614 "Minnie the Mermaid" of 533rd BS, 381st BG. It took part in the Merseburg raid but was hit by Flak over the German occupied part of Netherlands. The crew tried to keep the plane in the air as long as possible to reach the liberated area. But above Meijel the aircraft could not go further and the crew had to perform a belly landing on the Heihorst. The aircraft ended on the Katsberg, neat Meijel. The crash site was on the northeast side of the Heihorst road and on the southeast side of the Steenkampseweg. The entire crew survived the crash with only one slightly wounded.
Miet Basten, who was carrying a bag of corn to the village, was the first person who met the crew and they asked her "Are Germans here?" Once she had understood what the men asked, she could tell us that they were in liberated territory. The men were relieved and shared chocolate and cigarettes. Miet Basten received even a snow-white parachute as present, and used it later to make a shirt , which Harrie Gorissen wore on 26 June 1945 for his wedding with her. The crew members gave other parachutes to residents as thanks for the offered help. British ground troops then evacuated them.
The aircraft remained where it landed for several months, but on 27 January 1945, it was "salvaged". It means that it was removed by a scrap dealer from Roermond.
The B-17G 42-31614 had been delivered to USAAF at Cheyenne on 27 November 1943 and reached Ridgewell, the base of 381st BG in England, on 21 January 1944, being assigned then to 533rd BS.
Crew (all safe):
1st Lt Joe D Nelson (pilot)
2nd Lt Ken Schmalz (co-pilot)
2nd Lt Jerry Pasek (navigator)
Sgt Tom Schnidt (bombardier)
T/Sgt Larry Livington (flight engineer/top turret gunner)
Sgt George Comery (radio operator)
Sgt Francis Bergermeister (ball turret gunner)
Sgt Harlan Van Over (waist gunner)
Sgt Joe Walsh (tail gunner)
Sources:
http://www.medelo.nl/images/files/632-1944_B17_Minnie_de_Mermaid.pdf
http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/5727
http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Nov.44.html
http://www.defensie.nl/binaries/defensie/documenten/brochures/2008/04/08/verliesregister-1944/verliesregister-1944.pdf
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meijel
http://www.maplandia.com/netherlands/limburg/meijel/
https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T4756&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Dec-2008 11:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 01-Sep-2011 10:37 | Uli Elch | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 01-Sep-2011 10:38 | Uli Elch | Updated [Damage] |
| 21-Nov-2018 17:49 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Oct-2019 15:24 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Source] |
| 22-Oct-2019 16:15 | TigerTimon | Updated [Embed code] |
| 22-Mar-2020 19:18 | DG333 | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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