Date & Time:
May 29, 1943
Type of aircraft:
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Operator:
Registration:
42-29838
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Polebrook - Polebrook
MSN:
4952
YOM:
1942
Country:
France
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
10
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
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.
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.
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.
