Date & Time:
May 29, 1943
Type of aircraft:
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Operator:
Registration:
42-29689
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Horsham - Horsham
MSN:
4803
YOM:
1942
Country:
France
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
10
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed Horsham on an operation to the naval depot in Rennes. Over the Bay saint-Michel, it collided with a German fighter and was later shot down by the German Flak. The crew abandoned the airplane between 20,000 and 9,000 feet and parachuted to safety. The airplane crashed in a field and exploded. All crew became PoW.
Crew:
1st Lt Cody Usry Watson, pilot,
2nd Lt Reynold P. Lasher, copilot,
T/Sgt Paul E. De Haven, flight engineer,
T/Sgt Francis Patrick Eugen Moran, radio operator,
2nd Lt Robert A. Titus, navigator,
2nd Lt Rex L. Orme, bombardier,
S/Sgt Joseph D. Coss, air gunner,
S/Sgt Harry D. Rants, air gunner,
S/Sgt John Gerard Brown, air gunner,
S/Sgt Donald Chester Hemminger, air gunner.
Crew:
1st Lt Cody Usry Watson, pilot,
2nd Lt Reynold P. Lasher, copilot,
T/Sgt Paul E. De Haven, flight engineer,
T/Sgt Francis Patrick Eugen Moran, radio operator,
2nd Lt Robert A. Titus, navigator,
2nd Lt Rex L. Orme, bombardier,
S/Sgt Joseph D. Coss, air gunner,
S/Sgt Harry D. Rants, air gunner,
S/Sgt John Gerard Brown, air gunner,
S/Sgt Donald Chester Hemminger, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.
