Eyewitness to Bomber Crash: Jan 21, 1944

I have been connected with an 86 year old (and very lucid) gentleman with information about my great uncle's crash site and grave site in N. France.

In the course of correspondence through a third party (translator), Monsieur Visse mentioned being the eyewitness to another bomber crash, presumably somewhere in N. France, on January 21, 1944. I am trying to learn more about this aircraft and the fate of this crew as I will meet with Monsieur Visse for the first next month. A translated transcript of his testimony is:

[FONT=&quot]Three men survived. One was hurt in the leg. The Germans arrived and caught him. Etienne Visse was arrested for talking to him. He had to give the Germans the name and address of the airman and return a pocket compass (the airman gave it to Etienne Visse so he could give news to his family later). Nobody knows what happened to the two other airmen. Rumors say they succeeded in reaching the French Resistance and return to England, but nothing is known for sure. His village[/FONT][FONT=&quot] was freed in August 1944, hardly 2 months after D-Day.[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]The best I can determine is that this must have been a US Bomber given the dates and rough location. The US Eighth Air Force records indicate that a strategic operation (Mission 187) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]lost 5 B-24s and 1 B-17 on this date [/FONT][FONT=&quot]targeting V-weapons sites in the Pas de Calais and Cherbourg areas.
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Can anyone suggest how to a) confirm if one of these losses matches Monsieur Visse's testimony and b) obtain aircraft/crew details?
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*
Brian

 

hello brian,found this snippet of info,hope it has some value to aid you...

FRIDAY, 21 JANUARY 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 187: 36 V-weapon sites in France, 34 in the Pas de Calais area and 2 in the Cherbourg area, are targetted; 24 are attacked by 302 of 597 B-17's and 68 of 198 B-24's; 15 B-17's and 9 B-24's hit targets of opportunity (2 V-weapon sites and 3 airfields); they claim 5-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-24's and a B-17 are lost, 3 B-24's are damaged beyond repair, and 103 B-17's and 41 B-24's are damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 31 WIA and 74 MIA. This mission is escorted by 49 P-38's, 531 P-47's and 48 Ninth Air Force P-51's; they claim 6-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-2-0 on the ground; 1 P-47 is lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; casualties are 1 MIA.

 

Whereabout in Northern France? Did the man tell you where he was in January 1944 ? This would help.

 

Of the B-17 and B-24 losses on 21 January, this one appears to be the only fit of 3 survivors:

42-7514, 44th BG, 68th Sq.
4 KIA
3 MIA (probably not recovered)
3 POW

Crashed near LeHarve, Fr.

 

good show mccoffee, Lehavre is in Normandy however (this would bea Cherbourg target casualty) , I wonder if this would fit with the "northern France" location, which I suppose is the Pas de Calais target

 

All of the B-24 losses that day were from the 44th BG, which would be the same target. The two B-17 losses were from the 301st BG (target near Toulon - S.France, 15th AF) and 42-37818 of the 390th BG, target Heuringham, Fr. The casualty list for 37818 was 4 KIA, 6 POW so it doesn't fit the OP criteria. Hopefully, Brian Olson can provide a more specific location.

 

Interesting, I suppose Le Havre was the area where the stream crossed the Channel , I doubt they would have taken extra risks by following the coastline further up north. This would mean the Normandy area would be the area we are looking for

 

Thanks again for the quick delivery of real, credible research here - I continue to be impressed!

I have to agree that the Normandy location sounds like a better fit. Unfortunately, I won't be able to confirm the location until next month. For now, I will try to research the 3 POWs listed on the documents to learn if there are any other first hand accounts of their capture story to match with Monsieur Visse. Will keep you posted.

Brian

 

Brian ........ sorry had to edit, was pushing the wrong date of op

 

I recieved an email for mission 187 on the said date,stating "bois coquerel" does this aid in info search?

I'm clutching at straws here I think.but mission 100 also went out on that night to "bois coquerel" I cant open the pdf to view content..

http://www.303rdbg.com/missions.html

 

Hello all,

I have just returned from my side business visit to France to investigate the crash site of my great uncle's Lancaster (see Lancaster Forum post Lancaster-Archive Forum • View topic - Possible Lancaster aileron located) and to verify the other personal story of eyewitness Mr Etienne Visse.

Mr Visse guided us on a short trip and showed us the exact location where he saw three airmen parachute and land during the afternoon of January 21, 1944 on a sloped rise just outside the small village of Guizancourt (Department Somme). He further recounted seeing the bomber ablaze and crashing in an open field between Guizancourt and the next hamlet of Equennes-Eramecourt.

From what I can now gather, it is possible that there were more than three survivors; he confirmed that he just saw three individuals parachutes from his vantage point - their could have been other parachutists or other survivors on the ground, he just didn't see any others. All of this story had to be repeated to me through my French speaking friend/translator - I will be receiving a more detailed account from my friend in a few weeks.

Based on some additional research I've made, it is possible that the crew involved was from the 68th Sq., #42-7635 Q, Howington RAM IT-DAM IT/ ARIES (MACR #2357). All I need to do is try to confirm a more exact location for this crash to match Mr. Visse's specific locations. If this is the crew, the likely individual that Mr. Visse may have aided (with foot/leg injury and later captured) was S/Sgt. Earle E. Boggs from Porter, Oklahoma (ASN 18162560). A fairly comprehensive set of personal accounts from this January 21 mission can be found on the following website link http://www.greenharbor.com/ROHPDF/ROHJ44.pdf (see pdf document pages 4 through 22, especially pages 6 through 9)

I've also attached a photo of myself and Mr. and Mrs.Visse - a very charming and successful farm couple from nearby Dargies, France.

View attachment 10893

 

Wow! Great stuff! Thanks so much for sharing this! I'll be anxiously awaiting more!

 

I'm sorry but there must be some confusion here, now we are talking about day time ops with Lancasters ? the 44th bg (8-balls) was only equipped with B-24's.

 

Erich,

Sorry to confuse - my trip to France was two-fold. One, to visit the crash site of my great uncle's Lancaster (see link in my previous post) and two, to interview an elderly farmer in the area who also witnessed a day time bomber crash - the main subject of this thread.

I'm doing my best to provide him with more details about the day time bomber crash as a favor for his help with the other night time Lancaster crash.

Brian

 

That sounds better. The Day time crash is the B-24 and the Lancs usually flown at night. Maybe you could start a thread (if you haven't already) for the Lancaster night Operation