Polebrook AFB

While approach RAF Polebrook, the Boeing B-17 registered 43-38080 collided with a second USAAF Boeing B-17 registered 43-37595 and carrying a crew of 9 and that was approaching the same airfield. Both aircraft went out of control and crashed in a field located in Lutton, east of the airbase. All 19 crew members on both aircraft were killed.
Crew on board B-17 43-38080:
T/Sgt James S. Allman,
1st Lt Edward R. Ashton,
F/O George Y. Bowman,
Sgt John C. Connelly,
S/Sgt Bruce Shaffer Cook,
2nd Lt Donald A. Cornell,
S/Sgt John P. Folks Jr.,
2nd Lt John F. McNeill,
Sgt John Y. Nelson,
Sgt Harold R. Wieland.

Crew on board B-17 43-37595:
St Albert Bingham Cantrelle,
Sgt Emerald G. Cutting,
F/O Stanley L. Dietel,
Sgt Francis T. Leonard,
Sgt Philip M. Singleton,
F/O Robert Earle Sollers,
Sgt Joseph E. Ventress,
2nd Lt Reinhold W. Vergen,
S/Sgt Robert L. Wheatley.

While approach RAF Polebrook, the Boeing B-17 registered 43-37595 collided with a second USAAF Boeing B-17 registered 43-38080 and carrying a crew of 10 and that was approaching the same airfield. Both aircraft went out of control and crashed in a field located in Lutton, east of the airbase. All 19 crew members on both aircraft were killed.
Crew on board B-17 43-37595:
St Albert Bingham Cantrelle,
Sgt Emerald G. Cutting,
F/O Stanley L. Dietel,
Sgt Francis T. Leonard,
Sgt Philip M. Singleton,
F/O Robert Earle Sollers,
Sgt Joseph E. Ventress,
2nd Lt Reinhold W. Vergen,
S/Sgt Robert L. Wheatley.

Crew on board B-17 43-38080:
T/Sgt James S. Allman,
1st Lt Edward R. Ashton,
F/O George Y. Bowman,
Sgt John C. Connelly,
S/Sgt Bruce Shaffer Cook,
2nd Lt Donald A. Cornell,
S/Sgt John P. Folks Jr.,
2nd Lt John F. McNeill,
Sgt John Y. Nelson,
Sgt Harold R. Wieland.

The four-engine aircraft left RAF Polebrook on a bombing mission to Frankfurt. While overflying The Netherlands, the aircraft was shot down by the German Flak and crashed in a field located 3 km southeast of Vlissingen. All ten crew members were killed.
Crew (351st BG):
1st Lt Daniel D. Nauman, pilot,
2st Lt William R. Keister, copilot,
1st Lt Walter A. Blair, navigator,
S/Sgt Mario Suozzo, bombardier,
T/Sgt Foy A. Rush, flight engineer,
T/Sgt Robert F. Martin, radio operator,
S/Sgt William R. Towsley, air gunner,
S/Sgt Lewis W. Burgess Jr., air gunner,
S/Sgt Ralph G. Robeson, air gunner,
S/Sgt Willard O. Hunter, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Polebrook on an operation to Saint-Nazaire. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed on the island of Belle-Île-en-Mer, near the beach called 'Grand Sables'. Five crew members were killed and five others became PoW.
Crew:
1st Lt John Morris Moss, pilot,
2nd Lt Leonard Bigelow, copilot,
T/Sgt Joseph J. Beal, mechanic, †
T/Sgt Burt Lee Almy, radio operator,
2nd Lt Jack R. Mason, navigator, †
1st Lt Aaron Lazerson, bombardier, †
S/Sgt John Aloysius Kennedy, air gunner,
S/Sgt Theodore E. Malish, air gunner, †
S/Sgt Emery Kenneth Criswell, air gunner,
S/Sgt Lonnie Owens, air gunner. †

The airplane departed RAF Polebrook on an operation to Saint-Nazaire. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed near Tinéüé, on the island of Belle-Île-en-Mer. Three crew members were killed and seven others became PoW.
Crew:
2nd Lt Derward Rudolph Copeland, pilot,
2nd Lt Donald Lewis Parker, copilot,
S/Sgt Frank W. Hanan, mechanic, †
2nd Lt Ralph Sidney Reback, navigator,
2nd Lt Charles William Shanley, bombardier,
S/Sgt John Joseph Castello, radio operator,
T/Sgt Vincent Paul Klanka, air gunner,
S/Sgt Edward T. Tuminski, air gunner, †
Sgt Robert Leonard Wood, air gunner,
Sgt Merwyn A. Ranum, air gunner. †

The airplane departed RAF Polebrook at 1430LT on an operation to Saint-Nazaire. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Muzillac. Four crew members were killed and six others parachuted to safety. Four became PoW and two evaded.
Crew:
1st Lt Robert William Adams, pilot,
F/O George Henry Gloudeman, copilot,
T/Sgt Everett L. Brannen, mechanic, †
T/Sgt Ermyle E. Young, radio operator, †
2nd Lt Joseph P. Normile, navigator,
2nd Lt Roy L. Sage, bombardier,
S/Sgt Dragie J. Yareff, air gunner, †
S/Sgt Joseph F. Wolfe, air gunner,†
S/Sgt William Weldon Claggett, air gunner,
S/Sgt Donald Franklin Capper, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Polebrook on an operation to the Chemische Werke synthetic rubber plant located in Hüls. Passing over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Beek. All 10 crew members became PoW.
Crew:
2nd Lt Leo P. Turgeon, pilot,
2nd Lt Burton W. Caruso, copilot,
2nd Lt Chas R. Bryant Jr., navigator,
2nd Lt John R. Turney, bombardier,
T/Sgt John W. Cabaniss, flight engineer,
S/Sgt Larry V. Ferns, radio operator,
S/Sgt Video Pacciotti, left wing gunner,
Sgt Ed Knower Jr., right wing gunner,
S/Sgt Leasure S. McGinniss, ball turret gunner,
S/Sgt Fred L. Aye, tail gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Polebrook on a mission to the submarine yards at Bremen. Over Germany, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Oldenburg. Three crew members were killed and seven others became PoW.
Those killed were:
2nd Lt Charles Noetzel,
S/Sgt Edward H. Berry,
Sgt Roy Johnson.

The airplane departed RAF Polebrook at 1350LT on an operation to Saint-Nazaire. Passing west of Vannes, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed in Ploeren. Four crew members were killed and six others became PoW.
Crew:
1st Lt Colonel J. Russell Jr., pilot,
F/O Leo Grikstas, copilot,
S/Sgt Charles T. Eaton, flight engineer,
T/Sgt James F. Welk, radio operator, †
2nd Lt Roy Paul Stealey, navigator,
1st Lt Charles Boyd Woehrle, bombardier,
S/Sgt Nahannie Bader, air gunner, †
T/Sgt Wayne I. Baldwin, air gunner, †
S/Sgt Maurice McLaughlin, air gunner, †
S/Sgt Frederick Dunkerton Williams Jr., air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Polebrook on an operation to a railway marshalling yard in Emden. While returning to base and flying along the Frisian Islands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed into the North Sea some 80 km north of Ameland Island. All 10 crew members were killed.
Crew:
1st Lt Joseph A. Meli Jr., pilot,
2nd Lt Robert P. Cooper, copilot,
2nd Lt Jack Howell, navigator,
2nd Lt Howard E. Lewis, bombardier,
S/Sgt Stanford W. Henry, flight engineer,
T/Sgt Bernard A. Guenzig, radio operator,
S/Sgt Dewey K. Bishop, air gunner,
S/Sgt Louis M. Hilscher, air gunner,
S/Sgt Melvin E. Hugo, air gunner,
S/Sgt Charles D. Summers, air gunner.