Crash of a Consolidated B-24D-5-CO Liberator near Bad Zwischenahn: 9 killed
Date & Time:
Feb 26, 1943
Operator:
Registration:
41-23777
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
572
YOM:
1942
Crew on board:
10
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
9
Circumstances:
An American group of B-24s and B-17s were dispatched to take out the Focke-Wulf aircraft factory in Bremen, Germany. The skies over Bremen were overcast and the bombing run had to be diverted to a secondary target, the submarine pens at Wilhelmshaven. Approaching Oldenburg at an altitude of 8,000 metres, the airplane was shot down by a German fighter, entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in an open field located 15 km north of Bad Zwischenhahn. Two crew members parachuted to safety while nine other occupants were killed, including Robert Post, reporter for the New York Times. He was part of a group of eight reporters, known as the Legion of the Doomed or the Writing 69th, selected to fly bomber missions with United States Eighth Air Force.
Crew:
Cpt Howard Adams, pilot, †
2nd Lt Stanley McLeod, copilot, †
2nd Lt Wayne Gotke, navigator,
2nd Lt William Hannan, bombardier, †
T/Sgt Robert Vogt, flight engineer, †
S/Sgt Linwood Jones, radio operator, †
S/Sgt Donald Bowie, air gunner, †
S/Sgt James Mifflin, assistant radio operator,
S/Sgt Scott Brewer, air gunner, †
Sgt William Welsh, air gunner. †
Passenger:
Robert Perkins Post, reporter for the New York Times.
Crew:
Cpt Howard Adams, pilot, †
2nd Lt Stanley McLeod, copilot, †
2nd Lt Wayne Gotke, navigator,
2nd Lt William Hannan, bombardier, †
T/Sgt Robert Vogt, flight engineer, †
S/Sgt Linwood Jones, radio operator, †
S/Sgt Donald Bowie, air gunner, †
S/Sgt James Mifflin, assistant radio operator,
S/Sgt Scott Brewer, air gunner, †
Sgt William Welsh, air gunner. †
Passenger:
Robert Perkins Post, reporter for the New York Times.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
