ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 345658
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| Date: | Thursday 16 September 1943 |
| Time: | 21:20 |
| Type: | B17F Flying Fortress 'Ascend Charlie' |
| Owner/operator: | 562nd BSqn /390th BGp USAAF |
| Registration: | 42-5903 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Above Crickhowell south Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Framlington |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Mission: Raid over Bordeaux.
Details:
80 years ago, the American effort of bombing by day was well into it’s second year and this time the target for the aircraft and crews of ‘The Mighty Eigith’ was the aircraft factory and airfield at Bordeaux. ‘Ascend Charlie’ was one of 21 aircraft of 571st Bomber Squadron that took off from their base at RAF Framlington. One of the other squadrons that took part was the 567th, one of these aircraft was ‘Sondra Kay’. This B17 was so called after the baby daughter of the tail gunner.
When the force arrived over the area, they found the target completely obscured by thick cloud. The target of opportunity for the 571st was the submarine pens at La Rochelle which they bombed. It was over this secondary target that the No.1 engine of Ascend Charlie was hit by heavy flak, Sondra Kay also received battle damage from flak.
After the bomb run, the force turned for home, it was then the whole force encountered bad weather over the English Channel which made flying in tight formation an impossible option and the chance of collision highly likely. The standard procedure was to fly individually. The weather had the effect of totally splitting the force, seeing aircraft becoming totally lost, some more so than others.
Three aircraft found themselves further west. B-17 42-30030 ‘Old Ironsides’ ended up striking Long Holcombe Hill at Simonsbath near Moulton in Devon.
42-5903 ‘Ascend Charlie’ was last seen at 20:17hrs just before reaching the British coast, an hour later, now flying blind in the weather and with the light failing, struck the high ground of Pen-Gwyllt Meirich, a mountain belonging with the Black Mountains, the Eastern end of the Brecon Beacons, this feature over looks the village of Crickhowell 2,000 feet below. Unknown to the residents of Crickhowell, ten American crewmen met their deaths on that mountainside at 21:20hrs and wouldn’t be discovered for 48 hours when a large black scar was noticed by farmworkers who raised the alarm, sadly only to recover the bodies.
Crew:
‘Ascend Charlie’.
1st Lt Herbert Ivy Turner Jr 23yo O-794593 USAAF. Pilot. Killed. 1
2nd Lt Frederick Menke Broers 22yo O-740046 USAAF. Co-pilot. Killed. 2
2nd Lt Robert Leffingwell Schanen 26yo O-676135 USAAF. Nav’. Killed. 3
2nd Lt Orval Toft 23yo O-738947 USAAF. Bombardier. Killed. 4
S/Sgt Philip Catania 26yo 31145450 USAAF. Radio Op’. Killed. 5
S/Sgt Stanley Basil Mason 23yo 13022083 USAAF. Left Waist Gnr. Killed. 6
S/Sgt Alfred C Monson 20yo 19044338 USAAF. Tail Gnr. Killed. 7
S/Sgt John J Peterson 29yo 32394207 USAAF. Right Waist Gnr. Killed. 8
S/Sgt Sherman Everett Rambo 28yo 33325308 USAAF. F/Engr (Upper Gnr). Killed. 9
S/Sgt Swen Arnold Zetterberg 19yo 16123193 USAAF. Ball Gnr. Killed. 10
Buried:
‘Ascend Charlie’.
1 Cambridge American Cemetery & Memorial. Plot D. Row 1. Grave 44.
2 Gillespie City Cemetery. Section AA. Row 6.
3 Saint Marys Cemetery. Port Washington, Wisconsin USA.
4 Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial. Plot D. Row 1. Grave 90.
5 Northwood Cemetery Windsor, Hartford County at Connecticut USA.
6 Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial. Plot B. Row 5. Grave 48
7 Cambridge American Cemetery. Plot D. Row 2. Grave. 44
8 Cambridge American Cemetery. Plot F. Row 5. Grave 71
9 Ivy Hill Cemetery. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA.
10 Scandinavian Cemetery Rockford, Illinois USA.
Wreckage:
‘Ascend Charlie’.
A large scar and dead ground totally infused with aluminium from the intense fire, some small to medium pieces lay all around with the bigger pieces below the crash site and hidden amongst the ferns.
Additional Information:
Here is the statistics for the raid of the 16th of September 1943.
B-17 42-29699 ‘Fifi aka Old Battle Axe’ 332nd BS. Lost by Enemy Aircraft. Crew killed 0.
B-17 42-29876 ‘Battlin Bobbie’ 525th BS. Lost by Flak. Crew killed 0.
B-17 42-29893 524th BS. Lost by Flak. Crew killed 3.
B-17 42-29901 526th BS. Lost by Friendly Fire. Crew killed 6.
B-17 42-29934 526th BS. Lost by E/A. Crew Killed 10.
B-17 42-29825 511th BS. Out of fuel C/L. Crew Killed 0.
‘Meatball aka Major Ball’
B-17 42-30030 ‘Old Ironsides’ 560th BS. Out of fuel. Crew Killed 2.
B-17 42-30064 ‘Wild Cargo’ 418th BS. Lost by E/A & Flak. Crew killed 0.
B-17 42-30120 ‘Patches’ 334th BS. Collision. Crew Killed 0.
B-17 42-30276 336th BS. Lost by Flak. Crew killed 0.
‘Terry and the Pirates.
B-17 42-30601 ‘Mary Ellen II’ 336th BS. Collision. Crew killed 0.
B-17 42-3079 412th BS. Lost by Flak. Crew killed 1.
B-17 42-5849 ‘Hells Bells II’ 547th BS. Lost by E/A. Crew killed 3.
B-17 42-5903 ‘Ascend Charlie’ 571st BS. B/D, crashed. Crew killed 10.
B-17 42-5906 ‘Sondra Kay’ 562nd BS. B/D, crashed. Crew killed 10.
Total B-17 lost 15.
Killed 45.
POW 38
Home/Safe 57.
Injured 10.
Memorials:
Ascend Charlie.
Memorial on site, at Llanbeder church and in the Red Lion PH.
Sources:
www.b17flyingfortress.de
www.uswarmemorials.org
www.americanmuseum.com
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Sep-2023 07:20 | Davies 62 | Added |
| 20-Sep-2023 20:45 | Nepa | Updated |
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