Down and Out in Belgium

Down and Out in Belgium, 1945
By W. Budd Wentz, MD, CAPT USAAF
It was the first mission for my crew and almost the last mission for all of us. The
nine of us arrived at Eighth Air Force Station 137 in Lavenham, England in late
1944. We sailed from New York City to England aboard the Queen Elizabeth.
Crossing the North Atlantic in winter was cold but happily uneventful. When we
pulled up to the airbase I was startled to see dozens of B-17 Flying Fortresses
parked off in the distance. I asked the Captain who met us what were those
bombers? We were a B-24 Liberator aircrew! After several moments of disbelief, the Captain
resigned himself that the Bomb Group would have to accept us as we were and get us checked out
quickly on B-17s. The war was taking it’s toll on the 8th Air Force and the 487th Bomb Group
(Heavy) desperately needed replacement crews. For several days we had a chance to become
acquainted with the B-17.
There was a policy in the 487th that the first pilot of a replacement crew fly his first
mission as a copilot with an experienced crew. Then the replacement pilot would have one combat
mission experience before he took his crew out on their initial mission. My first mission was
Operation Thunderclap flown on 3 February 1945 as a maximum effort involving 1,437 fourengine B-17s and B-24s and 948 fighter escorts to Berlin. There were planes as far as I could see –
stretching to the horizon in every direction. It was like a sky full of black dots.
Several days later my crew and I prepared for our 1st combat mission together with the
838th Squadron. From the morning briefing this trip was expected be uneventful for our crew. I had
learned a lot on my first mission but soon would be forced to realize that there was so much more
to learn. That morning the skies were clear and the mission was on. We were headed to Weimar,
Germany.
We took off east to west on runway 1 at about 0900 from Lavenham in B-17G-75-BO #4338033. Some aircrews named the main runaway “The Bathtub” because of the “big bow” in it.
Trying to get the fully loaded fortress off the ground, going up hill, could be a struggle. I would sit
at the very end of the runway with my brakes on and increase throttle to full power before starting
to move. Once airborne we began our escalation and climbed to 16,000 feet. It was easy to identify
our group formation with the large boxed [P] on the B-17’s huge yellow tails and slide into our
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assigned No.11 position in the squadron. Ours was the last plane of a formation of 3 Vee’s of nine
planes in tandem. The position was called “Tail End Charlie” and was almost always assigned to
the newest in the group. It was the most difficult position to fly due to the constant jockeying
around to stay in formation. This was also the most dangerous spot because it was more vulnerable
to German fighters.
As we crossed the Channel and reached the coast of France, the group entered a solid bank
of dark clouds. Now we were flying in close formation inside dense clouds with poor visibility.
The lead plane took the group to a higher altitude but the clouds extended even higher so we
returned to our planned altitude. Instrument flying isn’t dangerous once you learn to use and trust
the instruments. But flying in close conditions relying on instruments can be fatal. The pilot must
constantly keep jockeying to stay in his assigned position while letting the co-pilot watch the
instruments. The formation’s lead plane flew on automatic pilot and course adjustments are made
by very slight changes. It can be very tedious and tiring.
The formation continued flying eastward into Germany on our way to Weimar. By
monitoring the group radio channel we learned the forward planes had crossed the border into
Germany. We started hearing reports of accurate anti-aircraft fire from the German radar-directed
guns. Minutes later we heard several metallic noises and felt the plane shudder as we were hit by
German flak. The No.4 engine started losing power and causing drag. I feathered the engine so the
edge of the propeller blades faced forward to reduce the drag. We could not keep up with the
formation, so I banked left to head back west towards the French coast. To keep airborne we
jettisoned our armed bombs through the clouds. We don’t know what was hit, but knew it was
within German borders. As we continued westward we suddenly lost power in the No.3 engine, so I
feathered it as well. Now only two of the four engines remained. Although the B-17 can still fly on
two engines we needed to reduce altitude and reduce weight to keep up our airspeed. We continued
to let down slowly and had the crew toss overboard anything possible to reduce the load, including
ammunition from the 10 machine guns. Boyer (Navigator) worked feverishly to plot our position as
I struggled to keep the same westward compass heading. Hidden in the clouds we felt fairly safe
from Luftwaffe fighters. Being alone over enemy territory was a dangerous situation for a bomber.
We continued westward slowly losing speed and altitude along the way. About 15 minutes later
and at 3,000 feet the No.1 engine heated up and began losing power. We must have been hit by flak
all over. It was not possible to remain airborne much longer, much less to make it back to England.
It was time to bailout, regardless of where we were. I called out over the inter-phone and rang the
bell to order the crew to bailout. The 4 crew members in the front of the plane (Navigator, Nose
Gunner, Engineer, Co-Pilot) parachuted out as I held the plane level. Again I rang the bell and
called out to the crew in the rear to get out. Just then the No.2 engine seized up. The 4 crew
members in the rear still had not responded. I could not bail out since the 4 rear crew members had
not yet escaped. The wounded plane had to be landed one way or another.
The bomber was losing altitude rapidly and the last engine died as I finally came out of the
clouds. I had less than 500 feet to prepare for a crash landing. Off to the left I could see a fairly flat
field and started aiming for it. While keeping the plane somewhat level I turned off all the switches
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within reach. At the last second I raised the nose slightly so I wouldn’t plow nose first into the field
and flip end over end. Although the controls were sluggish, luckily the plane still responded. I hit
the ground hard, bounced once, plowed into the mud, and eventually stopped at the edge of a lake.
Anxious about fire, I got out of my seat as quickly as I could and headed for the rear of the plane.
Entering the fuselage I saw the bomb-bay doors had broken away. To my surprise, there were the
remaining 4 rear crew members half buried in mud that came through the bomb bay doors while
landing. We all helped each other scramble out in case the plane caught fire. There was no more
ammunition or bombs on board but lots of fuel still remained in the tanks. Fortunately I had turned
off the master switches so the electric circuits weren’t shorting out and causing sparks.
Five of us stood dazed outside the silent plane and commented on our good luck. Everyone
was shaken, yet unharmed. Not taking too much time to revel in our safe landing, we started
scanning the surrounding area. A tiny village was just to the north about 300 yards away with about
a dozen houses and a church. I was surprised to see the little village since there wasn’t much time
after coming out of the clouds; I was too busy aiming toward the field, letting down the flaps and
tuning off the switches to notice anything on the right side of the plane. Suddenly we spotted a
group of about 50 people running from the village towards the plane. The five of us, Carson (Radio
& Waist Gunner), Jewel (Tail Gunner), Barczy (Waist Gunner), Robins (Belly Gunner), and I
(Pilot), were standing by the plane. They hadn’t spotted us yet since we were on the opposite side
of the plane from them. Running to the rear and peering around the tail we could see that they were
all dressed in civilian clothes, not military uniforms. I thought of all the petrol in the tanks since we
didn’t use very much. There still was a real possibility of fire. So I took my chances and began
yelling at the crowd to stop and stay back. My shouting in English was ignored and my knowledge
of French was poor. Suspecting we were in Germany, it didn’t seem very prudent to try French. We
could have been in France, Belgium, or Germany. I began shouting in German “Stop! Fire!”, “Halt!
Feuer!”. Suddenly the atmosphere of the crowd changed to growling and shaking their fists with
nasty looks. I switched back to English and began yelling “American, United States,” but to no
avail. Either they did not understand or they did not speak German. A small truck appeared on the
scene and five rough looking men came running over with rifles and sub-machine guns. I attempted
to explain that we were Americans, which also appeared to be unsuccessful. The five men muttered
to themselves and looked angry. At this time a Mercedes convertible car bumped across the field.
A well dressed man about 45 years old got out of the car and walked over to the five armed men.
The way the men reacted suggested he was the leader of the group. After conversing with the men,
he turned and looked at me and my crew and the plane. We were all wearing flying clothes. I had
no hat, no insignia and wore a dark green parka with a hood, light brown flying suit and Eskimolike mukluk boots. My other crew members had leather helmets and electric flying suits over their
clothes and fur-lined leather boots. Inside the pant legs of our flying suits we all carried curved
individual escape kits. Even though our plane had American markings and no German swastika
markings, the villagers and armed men could have thought we were German. There had been
reports that downed Allied planes had been recovered by the Luftwaffe, repaired and flown in
disguise in American and British formations. However the well dressed man seemed ready to
believe us. I suspect that the B-17 sitting in the mud with a big USA roundel star insignia on the
side was far more convincing than my crew or my shouts. Fortunately, he spoke English. After the
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head man calmed the people down we spoke for a few minutes and he revealed that he was Doctor
Edgar Vandeveld, a physician from the somewhat larger, village of Gedinne, about 2 miles east.
Edgar was the head of the underground resistance unit for the area.
We were in Belgium, about 7-10 km from the French border, near the village of Rienne on
Lake Boiron. (Rienne is about 230 miles from Lavenham.) Although there were no German troops
quartered in the village, trucks with German soldiers would drive into the village at odd hours and
stay for 15 to 20 minutes, 3 or 4 times a day. Later, we learned that Edgar had given orders to all
the local people to tell the same story to the Germans about seeing a B-17 close by in the pasture.
They were to say that nine people immediately left the airplane and were seen walking across the
field in a south-easterly direction toward the French border. Edgar was quite confident that there
were no traitors in the village, a fact later confirmed by the local Priest.
A small truck, driven by one of the doctor’s group, drove up with our missing four crew
members who had parachuted. With the exception of Hanford (Nose Gunner), who had fractured
his ankle, they were also unharmed. Hanford landed on a railroad track in the middle of Gedinne.
Dr. Vandeveld treated him by setting his ankle in a cast. Time was pressing on us and we were
anxious to depart the area before any Germans arrived. But before we left the Maquis asked if they
could have the gas from the plane. By now it seemed fairly safe that the plane wasn’t going to
blow-up or catch fire, so we acted quickly and I took my pilot relief tube and motioned that it could
be used to siphon out the gas. The first siphon was not gas. After spilling out and making faces, the
Belgian was able to get a stream of gas flowing through the tube into the truck.
The doctor took all nine of us to a small bistro in Rienne where we had several cognacs to
celebrate our good fortune. After the refreshments, the Doctor proposed we divide up the crew into
three groups and each trio stay in a different house. He did not want to lose his small supply of gas
using the two resistance group’s trucks to take us to Brussels. The Battle of the Bulge was winding
down and the American infantry was expected to be moving east and pass though Rienne soon.
Rienne is located less than 40 miles southwest of Bastogne.
I was quite aware of the scarcity of food for civilians in German occupied territory and
remembered that we had two sealed cases of food stored in our plane. After it was dark, Boyer
(Navigator) and I went back to the crash site to get the food as well as the Norden bombsite to
prevent the Germans from getting either. I took the clock as a souvenir of our fateful event.
Returning to the Bistro we opened the two cases of food and emptied out the contents to divide into
three piles for the three groups. The cases contained cans of roast beef, cheese, vegetables, rice,
candy, fruit, cigarettes, aspirin, matches, coffee, powdered milk and sugar. A woman who lived in
the house above the bistro volunteered to take in one group of airmen. Women from two other
families in the village were also quite willing to help and hide the other two groups of US airmen.
Each woman was given a third of the food to augment her family’s meager diet and share it with
her 3 unexpected “guests.” I instructed the crew members to stay indoors and away from the
windows. It now seemed that we were fairly safe and hoped that the American troops would arrive
soon. For security reasons we were not told where the other six crew members were hidden.
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Now that the situation had calmed down and we were safe for the moment, we pondered
the potential fate of the three families who took us into their homes. I knew that the penalty for
hiding enemy soldiers was execution. I was worried that if the Germans did not believe the tale of
us walking to France they would began searching the houses. If that happened, we were all to run
out the back doors and into the woods behind the houses. That way the Germans could not prove
which house quartered any of the crew. Perhaps this late in the war the villagers wouldn’t be so
brutally punished if we were captured. I hid in the house above the local bistro. The owner had
been a resistance member and the mayor of Rienne. He had been taken to a concentration camp and
died there. His wife acted as mayor for the duration of the war and was also involved in the
Underground Resistance. She did not seem as concerned as I was about being found by the
Germans. She had a son about 11 or 12 years old that I gave my binoculars to as a remembrance.
The next day I wanted to get a message back to England to inform our unit that we were all
still alive. Doctor Vandeveld thought that this was possible. It was important to me to keep our
names off the Missing in Action Report (MACR) to prevent our families from hearing that we were
missing or dead. Around 11:00 pm that night, the Doctor and a few others came for me in their
truck. We rode about 7-8 miles up a small mountain to a tiny cabin hidden in the woods. Several
times while driving we had to get out of the truck to remove logs that had been placed across the
road. Once we arrived at the cabin the Doctor contacted an agency in England by radio. With
instructions to keep my communications short and say a little as necessary, I reported my name,
rank, serial number, air force base number, and that the entire crew was alive and well. The Doctor
was pleased with the briefness of my message. I felt better afterward. Later I would learn that the
MIA and MACR reports did not in fact include us. What a relief for our families!
Thankfully, our time in hiding was safe and restful to the point of being tedious. We could
neither go outside nor could we communicate with the villagers in any serious manner, since none
of us could speak French or Walloon. We had no money. Frequently, I cautioned the crew to go
sparingly on the villagers’ wine and cognac.
The next morning around 9:00 am we heard noises in the street and I peeked out the
window. Outside were four or five American soldiers in front of a Jeep walking up the main road in
the village. I ran out into the middle of the road to flag them down. As they approached, I said
“Where in the hell have you been? We’ve been waiting for you”. The three men did not enjoy my
greeting and responded with numerous four-letter words. The Captain in the jeep stopped and came
up to me. I quietly pointed to the downed B-17 off in the field resting low in the mud with the bent
and twisted propellers. The grumpy Americans seemed mollified by my concise and visual
account. There was little they could do, and they needed to push on with the march. The Captain
wasn’t able to supply us with food, but promised to get on the radio and have a suitable truck come
back for us when possible. Now that we knew we were safe, it was possible to come out of the
homes, walk around, and thank the people. I learned the Priest was key in getting the villagers to
cooperate and take us in. We decided to go back to the plane and see what else could be salvaged.
We located the life-raft unscathed in the plane and blissfully floated around the small lake for a
5
while. Given that I felt we were safe, I took the flare pistol and shot off the whole carton of red and
green flares for the local inhabitants. Everyone had reason to celebrate for they were now behind
friendly lines.
The next morning after the Americans passed through Rienne a large green military truck
with benches along the sides and a canvas cover came to recover us. We said our adieus and
thanked the Belgian families and Doctor Vandeveld for all their help and sacrifice. Doctor
Vandeveld came over when he heard we would be leaving. He gave me his card and wished us
luck. It was a long cold ride northward through Givent and Namur to the outskirts of Brussels
about 140km away. We finally stopped in front of a large two-story building surrounded by a high
stone wall. It was a convent. Here is where we were to stay until we departed Brussels.
The Mother Superior, as she would be called in the United States, greeted us in a grim
fashion reminding us of where we were. After a meager meal of soup, bread, and tea, each airman
was assigned a small sparse room with a narrow bed and little more. We were told to stay in our
room until breakfast the next morning. After breakfast of tea and bread, another large truck with
English markings picked us up. The truck was driven by a senior British sergeant who took us to an
office at a large airfield occupied by the Royal Air Force. Undoubtedly it had had been a Luftwaffe
fighter base. I told them we were in a hurry to get back to our own base in England and that we had
been wearing the same clothes for the last 5-6 days. The British officers were not impressed and
refused to put us on a transport plane headed for England. Several American C-47s with British
markings were sitting there with the engines turning over. I reminded them that they were
American planes and I knew they were going to England. As you might expect, they seemed to
take umbrage at my remarks and I was reminded of how little respect and influence is awarded to
20 year old lieutenants! We were given some Occupation Script to spend, told to have a good day,
not to get into trouble, be back to the convent before 9:00 pm or we would sleep on the street, and
were sent on our way.
On the second morning in Brussels the truck picked us up again and we repeated the same
events as the day before. We spent two days walking around the city and visiting two museums
which had just reopened. After another frugal day we decided to go to a good restaurant for a
change. A policeman pointed out a very fine restaurant, but we were hardly dressed suitably in our
flying clothes. He reckoned we might not be served. Nonetheless, head strong and feeling due, we
went ahead anyway. The three others decided to eat at a small bistro close by. A rather formal
maître d’ looked pained when we requested a table for six. I explained that we would have worn
better clothing but we left our best suits in England. Reluctantly, he took us to a table in the corner
of the room. The wine was superb! The food was fair, but well prepared, and violin music was
excellent. He took all our money.
The most remarkable sight was several tables of well-fed, prosperous-looking, middle-aged
couples enjoying the evening with a number of waiters scurrying around and serving them. It
seemed odd after four years of war, under German and then British occupations, that some people
could escape the hardships of war. I asked our waiter if these people came in frequently during the
6
German occupation and he assured me that they had. I realized that for the privileged few, a worldwide war was only a minor annoyance and life went on as usual.
The next morning, we went again to the RAF airfield in Brussels and were finally told
there would be room for us on one of the military transports. We were elated at the prospect of
getting back to our base. Since this was Friday, it was interesting to note how many highly-ranked
and well dressed British officers were headed to London carrying only a briefcase. Many frowned
when they noted nine unimpressive, disheveled-looking men in the back who were not wearing
proper uniforms.
It was dark, cold and snowing, when we landed at some field near London. The people in
front filed out, and I lead the group to the door and down the metal steps. At the base of the stairs
two sergeants and a captain yelled at us to get back in the plane and sit down. The three men
followed us into the plane with their weapons drawn and ready. This situation had not been covered
in our Flight Training! I didn’t like the way they held their guns at us. I asked what the hell was
going on and that we were anxious to get back to our base. The captain, who was not the most
impressive officer I had ever met, informed me that he was S-2 Intelligence, and that we were not
going anywhere until he was convinced that we were not Germans trying to sneak into England. It
had happened in the past.
After the usual questions of name, rank, serial number, bomb group, and location, he began
to question me about baseball. Since I had very little interest and knowledge of professional
baseball, I was not able to answer his questions. I told him that I was not fascinated by baseball and
did not know which teams were in which leagues. He seemed to get disturbed by this and kept
repeating the questions louder and louder. At a pause, another officer asked where I was born. I
responded, “Philadelphia.” He asked if I had grown up in the area. When I said, “Yes,” he asked a
number of questions about the city: stores, addresses and schools, which I could answer. This
seemed to finally satisfy them. The manner in which I responded as well as the language I used
certainly would not have been used by Germans looking to be accepted. We were led to another
large canvas-covered truck and made the two-hour trip back to our airfield. In Lavenham, I
persuaded the driver to go to the mess hall where he could warm up and have a hamburger and
french fries with us before he drove back. After eating, the nine of us made the short walk back to
our Neissen-huts and our friends. Fortunately, the radio call I made from Belgium had been
reported to our group. Our clothing and equipment was still as we left it and we weren’t listed as
missing-in-action. Going to headquarters to report back that night could wait. Instead a shower and
sleep was in order.
After breakfast that morning I headed over to headquarters and reported in. I reported the
final details of our experience when I saw the Commanding Officer of the 487th BG, Col. William
K. Martin. He said he was glad to see us back, appreciated the message so that we would not be
MIA. If I had already flown six or more missions, we would have been grounded and sent back to
the States. Since he was so short on crews we would have to fulfill the entire thirty-five mission
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quota. And so our first mission and evasive adventure was over. Welcome back to the war, boys.
Another day in Lavenham started again..
Little did we know or expect that fate would step in again during our tour of duty and we
would never complete the required 35 bombing-missions to Germany. This was the first of five
emergency landings we made in the next two months. Sixty-one years later, I found that we were
eligible and I became a member of the Air Force Escape and Evasion Society. Dr. Edgar
Vandeveld was our Helper.
B-24 Original Crew #69 NOV-44 in Topeka, KS
McQueen – Wentz – Boyer
Barczy – Carson – Johansson – Jewell – Hanford - Robbins
NAME
Barczy, Zoltan J.
Boyer, Robert M.
Carson, Jerome H.
Hanford, Edwin H.
Jewell, Robert C.
Johansson, Harold C.
McQueen, Donald S.
Robbins, John A.
Sawicki, John
Wentz, William B.
RANK
S/Sgt
2/Lt
T/Sgt
SERIAL#
#36467241
#02069928
#36727881
S/Sgt
T/Sgt
2/Lt
S/Sgt
F/O
2/Lt
#36895035
#32984845
#0834463
#13137804
#T-132732
#0828854
POSITION
Waist Gunner
Navigator
Radio Operator & Waist Gunner
Nose Gunner & Toggleer
Tail Gunner
Flight Engineer
Co-Pilot
Armorer (Ball Turret/Belly) Gunner
Bombardier
Pilot
HOME
Detroit, MI
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL
MI
Fairlawn, NJ
Gross Point, MI
MD or DE
Philadelphia, PA
8
Pictures
FIGURE 1 QUEEN ELIZABETH, MARCH 1943 ................................................................................................................. 1
FIGURE 2 PHOTOGRAPH OF NEISEN HUTS – 487TH BOMB GROUP................................................................................... 2
FIGURE 3 LAVENHAM VILLAGE, UK ............................................................................................................................. 2
FIGURE 4 8TH AIR FORCE BOMB GROUPS IN ENGLAND ................................................................................................. 3
FIGURE 5 487TH B-17 MARKINGS ................................................................................................................................. 3
FIGURE 6 MAP OF STATION #137 LAVENHAM, UK ....................................................................................................... 5
FIGURE 7 487TH CONTROL TRAILER ............................................................................................................................. 6
FIGURE 8 TAKE OFF EAST-WEST FROM STATION 137.................................................................................................... 6
FIGURE 9 DROPPING BOMBS – 487TH BG B-17 .............................................................................................................. 7
FIGURE 10 B-17 PILOT'S MANUAL: BAIL OUT CREW ORDER AND EXITS...................................................................... 8
FIGURE 11 MAP OF LOCATIONS OF 1ST MISSION ........................................................................................................... 8
FIGURE 12 AERIAL PHOTO OF EMERGENCY LANDING SITE NEAR RIENNE ..................................................................... 9
FIGURE 13 LAKE BOIRON ............................................................................................................................................ 10
FIGURE 14 RIENNE MAQUIS FROM JEAN NICOLAS, 1945............................................................................................. 10
FIGURE 15 EDISE DE RIENNE AU DEBUT DI XXE SIECLE .............................................................................................. 11
FIGURE 16 MODERN RIENNE (EST. 2003) .................................................................................................................... 12
FIGURE 17 DOCTEUR EDGAR VANDEVELD FIGURE 18 AF ESCAPE & EVASION SOCIETY ....................................... 12
FIGURE 19 WILLIAM B. WENTZ ID CARD (1953)........................................................................................................ 12
Figure 1 Queen Elizabeth, March 1943
1
Figure 2 Photograph of Neisen Huts – 487th Bomb Group
Figure 3 Lavenham Village, UK
2
Figure 4 8th Air Force Bomb Groups in England
Figure 5 487th B-17 Markings
3
4
Figure 6 Map of Station #137 Lavenham, UK
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Stone Cottages
Alpheton Cottages
Park Farm site
Elms Farm site
Technical Site on Mansers Farm
Lodge Farm
Ammunition Storage
Bomb Storage
Sick Quarters
Administrative Site
Communal Site
Farm
Mess
Site 12
15 Mess
16 1685th Ordinance Detachment
17 836th Bomb Squadron
669th Aero. Eng. Sq., 1238th
18
Quartermaster Co.
837th Bomb Squadron, 85th
19
Station Complement
20 838th Bomb Squadron
21 839th Bomb Squadron
803rd Chemical Co., 471st Sub22
Depot
23 Sewage Disposal
A An enlisted men's ablution hut
B Shower block
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
Track to Sites 5, 6 & 7
Track to Sites 5, 6 & 7
Road to North of Site 5
Pumphouse, Site 5
Burma Road, towards Lavenham
Burma Road, towards Airfield
Gymnasium, Site 2
Squadron Offices, Technical Site
North side of Bomb Stores
Runway 2, looking NE
Runway 3
South, from SE end of Runway 3
The Control Tower
5
Figure 7 487th Control Trailer
Figure 8 Take off East-West from Station 137
6
Figure 9 Dropping Bombs – 487th BG B-17
7
Figure 10 B-17 Pilot's Manual: Bail Out Crew Order and Exits.
Figure 11 Map of Locations of 1st Mission
8
Figure 12 Aerial Photo of Emergency Landing Site near Rienne
Figure 13 7km to French Border
9
Figure 14 Lake Boiron
Figure 15 Rienne Maquis from Jean Nicolas, 1945
10
Figure 16 Edise de Rienne au debut di XXe siecle
11
Figure 17 Modern Rienne (est. 2003)
Figure 18 Docteur Edgar Vandeveld
Figure 19 AF Escape & Evasion Society
Figure 20 William B. Wentz ID Card (1953)
12
Appendix
487th Bomb Group(H)
Activated 20 September 1943 at Bruning AAFd, Neb., and moved to Alamogordc AAFd, NM. on the 15 of
December 1944 to complete training. Ground unit left Alamogordo on the 10 March 1944 for Camp
Kilmer, NJ. and sailed on Duchess of Bedford on the 23 March 1944, arriving in Gourock on the 3rd April
1944. The aircraft flew overseas on the 23 March 1944, taking southern ferry route to the UK arriving Nuts
Corner, Valley and Prestwick in early April 1945. Assigned 8th AAF on April 1944.
487th Bomb Group(H) - Station 137
Lavenham Airfield was developed around Lodge Farm in 1943. The 487th Bomb Group (Heavy) aircrew
arrived in April 1944 flying B-24 Liberator bombers. The 487th left Lavenham in October 1945 after a total
of 185 missions. The 487th flew 46 missions in B-24s until 21 July 1944 when the group converted to the
B-17 Flying Fortresses. The Group led 3AD in bombing accuracy from January 1945 to end of war with
strikes within 1,000 ft of MPI.
Mission #1 ETO
SATURDAY, 3 FEBRUARY 1945
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 817: 1,437 bombers and 948 fighters are
dispatched in a major strike on Berlin by B-17s while B-24s hit the synthetic oil industry at Magdeburg;
they claim 38-1-18 Luftwaffe aircraft; 25 bombers and 8 fighters are lost:
1. 1,003 B-17s are sent to hit the Tempelhof marshalling yard in Berlin (937); targets of opportunity are
Bad Zwischenahn (1), Bromsche (1), Gatow (13), Luneburg (2), Sogel (1) and other (1); 23 B-17s are lost,
6 damaged beyond repair and 339 damaged; 18 airmen are KIA, 11 WIA and 189 MIA. Escort is provided
by 575 of 613 P-51s; they claim 12-1-0 aircraft in the air and 17-0-11 on the ground; 7 P-51s are lost (pilots
MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair.
2. 434 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Rothensee oil plant at Magdeburg (116); 246 hit a target of last
resort, the marshalling yard at Magdeburg; targets of opportunity are Wesermunde (17), Mockern (12),
Cuxhaven (9), Yechta Airfield (2) and other (3); 2 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 58
damaged; 19 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 210 of 232 P-51s without loss.
3. 41 of 44 P-47s fly a sweep over Friedersdorf Airfield; they claim 9-0-6 aircraft in the air; 1 P-47 is lost
(pilot MIA).
4. 35 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
5. 24 P-51s escort 9 F-5s and 7 Spitfires on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany.
Mission #2 ETO
FRIDAY, 9 FEBRUARY 1945
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission #824: 1,296 bombers and 871 fighters in 6
forces hit oil targets in Germany. except where noted, attacks were made with PFF (Path Finder Fix B-17s
with radar domes); 311 B-17s attack the secondary target, the munitions industry at Weimar; targets of
opportunity are the marshalling yards at Giessen (25) and Gottingen (15), the munitions industry at
Eisenach (11), Jena (11) and Fulda (24); attacks are made using H2X and visually; The escort 274 P-51s.
Lavenham to Weimar 460 miles
1
487th
Mission
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
01
03
06
09
14
15
16
17
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
28
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
01
02
03
07
08
09
10
11
12
14
15
17
18
19
21
22
23
24
28
30
31
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
03
04
05
07
08
09
10
11
14
16
17
19
20
21
1945
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
1945
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
1945
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Destination
Wesel
Berlin
Chemnitz
Weimar
Dulmen
Cotbus
Hamm
Frankfurt
Nurenburg
Nurenburg
Ansbach
Neumarkt
Bremen
Neuburg
Berlin
Kassell
My
Mission#
Events
1st
As Second Pilot
2nd
X
X
X
X
Yes
Emergency Landed in Rienne
Yes
Yes
Ulm
Dresden
Brunswick
Castrop-Rauxel
Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Dortmund
Hamburg
Marburg
Hannover
Oranienburg
Ruhland
Berlin
Zwickau
Wittmundhaven
Kupferdreh
Holzwickede
Varrelbusch
Hannover
Hamburg
Brandenburg
Kiel Docks
Kiel Docks
Furth
Parchim
Hof
Neuburg
Brandenburg
Ingolstadt
Royan
Royan
Dresden
Pirna Bridge
Neuruppin
Ingolstadt
28th
Emergency Landed in Wernershohe
2
Diary of Events
Sunday
Monday
4-FEB
5-FEB
Tuesday
6-FEB
Wednesday
7-FEB
Thursday
8-FEB
Friday
9-FEB
Day 1
Saturday
10-FEB
Day 2
Rienne
Radio
Hide
17-FEB
11-FEB
Day 3
12-FEB
Day 4
13-FEB
Day 5
14-FEB
Day 6
15-FEB
Day 7
Lavenham
Crash Land
Hide
16-FEB
Day 8
Rienne
Americans
Arrive
Raft-Flares
Go to
Brussels
140km
Brussels
Brussels
Museums
Brussels
Restaurant
Leave
Brussels
Lavenham
British Aircrew Died Near Rienne
On 25 August 1942, a 4-engine Wellington bomber (Plane N°X34414) from the RAF 150th Squadron
crashed 3km west of Rienne in the nearby Ardennes woods killing 3 airmen. Two of the crew survived the
crash, but were immediately captured by the Germans. One later died on the way to prison hospital in
Brussels, while the other spent the rest of the war in a German prison camp. The villagers of Rienne sought
permission from the Germans to bury the three RAF airman in Rienne’s Communal Cemetery and provided
a military style send off. Original photograph by Andre Lallemand Burial of the English aviators The horse
is lead by Alfred Flament (invisible on the photograph) The carriage is accompanied by Mr. Joseph
Thiteux, guard-pastoral (at the back of the carriage).
3
RAF Operation Beagle
Albert Toussaint - Thérèse Brichet - Jean Aerts - Fernand Montreuil - Emile Montreuil - Robert Brichet
On 23 August 1942, five radios were secretly parachuted into the Rienne area to transmit meteorological
reports to the RAF. The name of the operation was BEAGLE and the operational centers included: Rienne,
Berneau, Cluysen and Nederover-Heembeck. This clandestine service functioned without interruption from
1942 to the Liberation and broadcasted no less than 1,297 messages. Mrs. Edmond Brichet ran the
operation from her house in Rienne. Other radios were hidden by Emile Montreuil in Berneau and AnneMarie Brouwers. The operators were:
Albert Toussaint
alias “Beagle” and “Arsène” Born 1909
Thérèse Brichet
alias “Zézette” Born 1926
Robert Brichet
alias “Roland”
Jean Aerts
alias “Honoré”
Fernand Montreuil
alias “Franz”
Emile Montreuil
alias “Etienne”
Lt Col Beirne Lay, Jr
The first Commanding Officer of the 487th was Lt Col Beirne Lay Jr, from 28
February 1944 to 11 May 1944 MIA. He had been a Hollywood script-writer. One of
his scripts was to become the film “Twelve O'Clock High”.
8th AF 487 BG group commander; shot down in Europe, but evaded capture and made
it back to England. In 1942 Capt. Beirne Lay Jr. (retired as Col.) was one of the
officers who helped to form the bombing arm of the USAAF – the 8th Air Force, and
in 1944 he alluded capture after his B-24 was shot down in Nazi-occupied France.
Escape & Evasion #939. Lt Col Beirne Lay Jr. Pilot. 487th BG/838th BS. FTR
11/05/44. (^) France. nfd. Evaded with Walt Duer. Died 1982. Age 72.
Col. William K. Martin
487th Commanding Officer. Born on 28 August 1915 and graduated from USMA in 1939 (No.11663).
Named Unit Commander of the 42nd Bombardment Wing (Heavy) at Maxwell-Gunter AFB on 18 January
1958 and later promoted to LTG.
Liberation of Belgium
On December 16th, the German offensive Herbstnebel would mean a second occupation for some villages
in the Ardennes... and a second liberation. The Belgian territory would only be regarded as completely
liberated on 15 February 1945.
4
References
“Gentlemen from Hell Men of the 487th Bomb Group Leaders of the Largest Eighth Air Force Mission of World
War II”, 159652197XN, http://www.ecampus.com/book/159652197X,
http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/visit/warbases-commassoc.cfm
1943 USAAF Serial Numbers (43-5109 to 43-52437), http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/1943_2.html
487th BG, http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1393/
487th Bomb Group (H) Association, http://www.487thbg.org/
487th Combat Missions, http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1393/missions.html ,
http://487thbg.org/missions.shtml
60th anniversary of the liberation of Belgium, http://www.60ans.be/en/liberation/history/history5.html
Air Force Link – Photos, http://www.af.mil/photos/
Bernie Lay, 100th BG, http://www.100thbg.com/mainpages/crews/crews6/lay_bernie.htm
Boeing Production List, http://home.hccnet.nl/p.w.riool/, c/n 9011, http://www.xs4all.nl/~rioolpw/main.html,
http://www.xs4all.nl/~rioolpw/boeing_seattle_01.html
Gellermann, Günther W., “Moskau ruft Heeresgruppe Mitte” (Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe, 1988), pp42–60.
Généalogie-Passion, Histoires et Familles_Rienne, http://www.genealogie-passion.be/Rienne.html
Histoire locale Rienne & RIENNE Communal Cemetery (Namur Belgium),
http://groups.msn.com/histoirelocale/lenterrementdesanglais.msnw,
http://www.inmemories.com/Cemeteries/rienne.htm ,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/80/a3342980.shtml
http://b17bomber.de/english/index.php?id=hard_to_get.htm
http://www.486th.org/Photos/Strike/parchim180.htm
http://www.warbird-central.com
Jong, Ivo de , “Ramkommando Elbe”
Kitchens III, James, Archivist, Contr AFHRA/RSA james.kitchens.ctr@maxwell.af.mil
Lavenham Airfield, http://lavenham.co.uk/airfield/
Lavenham Airfield, LV (137), http://mighty8thaf.preller.us/php/1Loc.php?Base=Lavenham
Lavenham Airfield, RAF Control Towers, http://www.controltowers.co.uk/L/Lavenham.htm
Lavenham, Mighty 8th Air Force Gallery, http://mighty8thaf.preller.us/gallery/Lavenham
Lavenham, UK, http://www.lavenham.co.uk/
Marktscheffel, Fritz, Dr., opapi@nexgo.de, Nachtigallenweg 8, D-61479 Glashütten/Ts.
Operation Thunderclap, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II
Radikaler Luftkampf (Die Geschichte deutscher Rammjäger), by Arno Rose, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart,
Germany, 1979, ISBN 3-87943-541-3.
RAF Lavenham - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Lavenham
Rammjäger (Das letzte Aufgebot), by Walther Dahl, Orion-Heimreiter-Verlag, Heusenstamm, Germany, 1961/1973,
ISBN 3-87588-072-2.
5
Rammjäger (Neuzeit-Archäologie - Auf den Spuren des "Elbe-Kommandos"), by Dietrich Alsdorf, Podzun-PallasVerlag GmbH, Wölfersheim/Berstadt, Germany, 2001, ISBN 3-7909-0746-4.
Rose, Arno, onraesor@web.de
The Wartime Memories Project - USAAF Lavenham, http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/airfields/lavenham.html
USAAF COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES,
http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/index.html, Jack McKillop, USAF (Airways and Air
Communications Service), 1955-59
Weir, Adrian, adrian.weir@nts.atmel.com, “The Last Flight of the Luftwaffe: The Fate of Schulungslehrgang Elbe,
7 April 1945”, pgs168–71.
6