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Crash B-17 Fortress Up and at them

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Memorials
Crash B-17 Fortress Up and at them
Crash B-17 Fortress Up and at them
Stele in memory of the crew of the B-17 "UP AND AT THEM"  of the 379th Bomb Group526th Bombardment Squadron, of the 8th US Army Air Forces shot down by the FLAK at Kerdavid on May 29, 1943.
Crew:
2Lt. W.S. THOMAS, pilot,captured.
Maj. J.O. HALL, pilot,captured
2Lt. THOMAS, pilot,captured
Maj. J.O. HALL, pilot,captured
2Lt. W.S. KOVES, navigator,captured
2Lt. J.H. GRIFFITH, bomber, captured
T/Sgt F.A. ADRICK, radio, killed, rests at Colleville-sur-Mer American Cemetery plot C, row 26, grave 33
T/Sgt M.H. BELOCK, mechanic, killed, rests in the USA.
Sgt R.M. VANDRESTRAETEN,machine gunner, killed, rests at Colleville-sur-Mer American Cemetery plot D, row 5, grave 21
S/Sgt G.F. HAGUE, machine gunner, killed, rests in USA.
S/Sgt C.E. GALLAMORE, machine gunner, killed, rests in USA.
Sgt R.G. KUEHL, machine gunner, killed, rests in USA.

The stele was inaugurated on May 3, 1997 in the presence of  Willard S.Thomas, the aircraft's pilot.

Saturday May 29, 1943 
Pilot Willard S. Thomas recounts
Arrived in England in April 1943, the 379th Bomb Group flew its first bombing mission on Saturday May 29, 1943.
Rising very early for breakfast.
After the briefing, we went up to the aircraft so that I could make sure that everyone was aware of the mission, that everyone was equipped with their parachutes and that the machine guns were in working order.
The B 17 UP AND AT THEM took off, it was the biggest raid up to that time, 169 bombers in all. We circled for a long time over England to group into formations. I was leading a group of 6 aircraft in the bottom, most vulnerable formation. My squadron commander, Major John O, Hall, was in the co-pilot position.
The bomber headed for France escorted by fighters to the coast, but over the Channel Islands the aircraft was hit by Flak(German anti-aircraft artillery), the left inboard engine disabled, but we were still able to fly.
The B17 then continued on to Saint-Nazaire which it reached in mid-afternoon. There we are greeted by the Flak.
Posed upright, the aircraft drops its bombs on the undersea base, then after a change of course, I return to the lens in order to take more photos.
It is at this point that the aircraft is hit againby the Flak, the fuselage almost cut in two. The control cables have been severed, I can no longer control the B-17.
In great difficulty, the bomber comes in over Auray from the southwest. the left wing steeply tilted. Five crew members are deadin the aircraft and the five others then parachute while the bomber dives towards a small grove of trees, where it crashes, before bursting into flames. I land next to a road and canal before being captured by German soldiers.
Four airmen are captured as soon as they land. The fifth is found dead. The six deceased airmen are buried in Guidel cemetery on May 30. The four survivors are sent to aprison camp in Germany in mid-June. They were liberated on April 29, 1945 by the American army. The stele in their honor, erected on Place de la Mairie, was inaugurated on May 3, 1997.

Photo credit Le Bourvellec Eric

 
Crash B-17 Fortress Up and at them
Crash B-17 Fortress Up and at them.
Memoriaux
Crash B-17 Fortress Up and at them
Crash B-17 Fortress Up and at them.
Memoriaux
Crash B-17 Fortress Up and at them
Crash B-17 Fortress Up and at them.
Memoriaux

Crash B-17 Fortress Up and at them