Date & Time:
Jun 28, 1943
Type of aircraft:
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Operator:
Registration:
42-29887
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Polebrook - Polebrook
MSN:
5001
YOM:
1943
Country:
France
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
10
Crew fatalities:
3
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
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. †
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. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.
