ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 192807
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| Date: | Saturday 13 January 1945 |
| Time: | 13:12 |
| Type: |  Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress |
| Owner/operator: | 863rd BSqn /493rd BGp USAAF |
| Registration: | 43-38271 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 9 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Bauschheim (Hessen), 8 km SE of Mainz -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
On 13 January 1945, during Eighth Air Force Mission 791, 958 bombers and 469 fighters were dispatched to hit marshalling yards and Rhine rail bridges mostly by PFF methods; they claimed 6-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 B-17s, 1 B-24 and 2 P-51s were lost over Germany, while 13 more aircraft (5 B-17s, 1 B-24 and 7 P-51s) crashed in Allied territory:
1. 367 B-17s were sent to hit the Mainz rail bridge (31), the Gustavsburg rail bridge at Mainz (95) and the Bischofsheim marshalling yard (119); 74 hit the secondary target, the Mainz marshalling yard; targets of opportunity were Euskirchen (13) and other (7); most attacks were made using Micro H but some formations bombed visually; 2 B-17s were lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 126 damaged; 1 airman was KIA, 4 WIA and 19 MIA. Escorting were 79 of 80 P-51s; 3 were damaged beyond repair.
2. 276 B-24s were dispatched to hit rail bridges at Worms (86) and Rudesheim (89) and the Kaiserslautern marshalling yard (87); 1 hit a target of opportunity; most attacks were made using Gee-H but some formations bombed visually; 1 B-24 was lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 39 damaged; 2 airmen were WIA and 10 MIA. The escort was 114 of 118 P-51s; 1 P-51 was lost and 1 damaged beyond repair.
3. 315 B-17s were sent to hit rail bridges at Germersheim (71, using Gee-H) and Maximiliansau (159) and rail and highway bridges at Mannheim (76) visually; 1 hit a target of opportunity; 5 B-17s were lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 9 damaged; 3 airmen were KIA, 7 WIA and 42 MIA. Escorting were 77 of 82 P-51s; 2 were damaged beyond repair.
4. 102 P-47s and P-51s flew a freelance fighter sweep supporting the bombers; they claimed 3-0-0 aircraft in the air and 3-0-1 on the ground; 1 P-51 was lost and 1 damaged beyond repair.
5. 45 of 45 P-51s flew a fighter-bomber mission against Mannheim, Trier, etc without loss.
6. 20 of 28 P-51s flew a scouting mission without loss.
7. 4 of 4 P-51s escorted an F-5 on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany.
________________________________________________
One of the losses of the day was the B-17G-80-BO 43-38271 "Big Buster" of 863rd BS, 493rd BG. It was flying the No. 3 position of the lead element of the 493rd "A" Squadron when it received a direct hit by Flak at 1312 on the No. 3 egine, just a few seconds before the group’s target, Bischofsheim (south of Mainz), at an altitude of 26,700 feet.
Immediately after the aircraft was hit, the No. 3 engine and the landing gear directly beneath it fell off. The pilot pulled the plane to the right and left the formation under what observing crews described as "partial control", and lost altitude rapidly. he was in a tight spiral with the right wing on fire, where the No. 3 engine had been.
At about 20,000 feet, the bomber went into a tight spin and was last seen just before diving into an undercast at about 15,000 feet, where observers said the right wing broke off and the aircraft disintegrated. There were no chutes seen.
The bomber crashed near Bauschheim, 8 km SE of Mainz. Six crew were killed, while two survivors (Carlock and Eaton) were captured and are covered by the same German report (KU 3576). The third survivor, Gustafson, was captured at 1930 hrs at Hechtsheim, near Mainz (report KU 3568).
Crew:
1st Lt Norman S Lamoreaux (pilot) KIA
2nd Lt Douglas Nelson Carlock (co-pilot) POW
F/O Samuel H Gordon (navigator) KIA
1st Lt Thomas L Tucker (bombardier) KIA
T/Sgt Richard C Pearce (radio operator) KIA
T/Sgt Ralend E Rhodes (flight engineer) KIA
Sgt Irving Weiss (ball turret gunner) KIA
Sgt Jerome Alvin Eaton (waist gunner) POW
S/Sgt Ellsworth E Gustafson (tail gunner) POW
Eaton reported after returning from captivity that he helped Weiss out of his ball turret. He was apparently shocked but not wounded, and followed him to the escape hatch but did not bail out before the aircraft exploded. He also saw Tucker slumped over in nose of ship, and last saw Rhodes in the upper local in difficulty with oxygen equipment. Gordon bailed out but fell in Rhine River and drowned, having no Mae West. Carlock said that Lamoreaux was still trying to pull ship out of spin when the plane disintegrated.
Sources:
MACR 11736 (http://www.fold3.com/image/46703602/)
http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Jan.45.html
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauschheim
http://www.maplandia.com/germany/hessen/darmstadt/grosharp-gerau/bauschheim/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 13-Jan-2017 10:49 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 13-Jan-2017 10:51 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 27-Jan-2020 18:53 | Uli Elch | Updated [Operator, Location] |
| 03-Feb-2020 10:01 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 31-Mar-2020 09:50 | DB | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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