Liberator 41-28853 lost Munich November 20th 1944.

Updated 10:02 PM July 7th 2014

Probably two of the most shocking, impressive and awe inspiring photos to come out of the air war in WW2.
Source: http://www.b24bestweb.com/

It says a mouthful about the USAAF's commitment to the destruction of the Luftwaffe as a functional fighter force that their aircraft's Flight Engineers doubled duties as the Top Turret Gunner.

Does anyone have mission details for that day? I would love to get more information about the day and that raid.





Looking closely, I think we can see two bombs falling out and at least two survivors bailing out. Yikers stuff!

Liberator 41-28853 http://www.lostaircraft.com/database.php?mode=viewentry&e=25052
15th Air Force, 465th Bombardment Group 781st Bombardment Squadron
Start Airport: Pantanella Airfield, Italy
Destination: Blechhammer Germany

Shot Down: Kedzierzyn-Kozle - near Munich November 20th 1944. EDIT. This information from the MAAC is wrong.
- The correct loss locaton is Heydebreck district Cosel in the province Oberschlesien - now renamed to Kedzierzyn, which is now part of the Polish town Kedzierzyn-Kozle - See below.
Target: Blechhammer chemical plants http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blechhammer
(and / or possibly its synthetic oil production facilities - which the 15th AF had bombed earlier - in July and again in September 1944.)
- See the Oil Campaign chronology of World War II at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_Campaign_chronology_of_World_War_II

781st Bombardment Squadron was Activated as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron in mid-1943, it trained under the Second Air Force.
It was deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) in March 1944, where it was assigned to the Fifteenth Air Force.
It flew strategic bombardment combat missions over France, Germany, Italy, Austria and the Balkans until the German capitulation in May 1945.

Downed 20 Nov 44 (MACR 9889) on mission to Blechhammer, 783rd Sqdn crew, with Lt. Col. Clarence "Jack" Lokker, CO of the 781st Sqdn as Command Pilot, Flying Lead position for the mission.

From MACR 9889: The plane was hit by AAA between the #2 engine and the fuselage while over the target and the wing started to come apart as the crew bailed out.
One more hit (the main hit?) was directly near the pilots seat.
Five of the crew managed to parachute safely but 6 were trapped and killed. ===> Note that our info below has that reversed. <===

Lt Col. Clarence J. Lokker - Pilot (KIA)
Capt. Milton H. Duckworth - Co-Pilot Parachute Deployment then POW
1stLt. Joseph P. Kutger - Navigator Parachute Deployment then POW
1stLt. Robert M. Hockman - Bombardier Parachute Deployment then POW
1stLt. Grosvenor W. Rice - Bombardier (KIA)
2ndLt. Joseph S. Whalen - Radar Bombardier Parachute Deployment then POW
T/Sgt. Lee R. Billings - Eng/Top Turret - Blown out of the aircraft, then Parachute Deployment, then POW
S/Sgt. Edmund J. Miosky - Radio Operator (KIA)
Sgt. James A. Bourne - Gunner - Blown out of the aircraft, then Parachute Deployment, then POW
Sgt. Jack Rabkin - Gunner (KIA)
Sgt. Paul H. Flynn, Jr. - Gunner (KIA)

 

Five is most impressive, you'd expect those in the front only. I suppose the others bailed out seconds before the fuselage became a mere torch.

 

One of the gunners (James A. Bourne) likely abandoned ship right through that gawd forsaken mess. Must be quite a story somewhere.
I'm looking. Here's hoping others might know of it or will be able to find it and chip in sometime in the future. Fingers crossed.

Edit: Tnx to TD-Tommy
- Blown out of the aircraft rhrough that conflagration, then Parachute Deployment, then POW, Holy Xmas...

- and S/Sgt. Edmund J. Miosky was standing over an OPEN bomb bay thowing out Window, yet even so had no time to bail out and went down with the aircraft. Man oh man oh man...

Chilanko Bye.

 

Sadly, Mr. Bourne passed away in 1993.

I found the MACR file on Fold3.com. I'm not sure this will provide any info you don't already have, but I thought it was interesting.

The MACR #9889 and an eyewitness statement:

View attachment 21020 View attachment 21021

 

Individual Casualty Questionnaires on the pilot, LtCol Lokker:

View attachment 21022 View attachment 21023

 

Individual Casualty Questionnaires on Rabkin and Miosky:

View attachment 21024 View attachment 21025

 

Casualty Questionnaire for Billings:

 

Gruesome. Absolutely horrendous story. Thanks TD_Tommy... although I think I will now lose sleep over this one...

PS: Leo71 (one of our BIG contributors there) at http://www.lostaircraft.com/database.php
just added this:

Verlustort: Heydebreck, Oberschlesien, Deutsches Reich, today Kedzierzyn-Kozle, Poland

I've asked him: "What does this mean?"
Where they were buried initially? Newspaper accounts? If so, it would be wonderful to get jpg's of the articles! Tnx!

 

> Fred asked: What does this mean?

Update from Leo71 at http://www.lostaircraft.com/

The loss location of the 41-28853 was Heydebreck district Cosel in the province Oberschlesien, in 1944 territory of the German Reich (Deutsches Reich).
- Extract from the German loss report ME 2451: 20 Nov 1944 1230 Liberator near Heydebreck, Langenlieben Upper Silesia.

This area was conquered by the Red Army in 1945 and after the war parts of Oberschlesien came to the government of Poland.
So Heydebreck was renamed Kedzierzyn, now part of the Polish town Kedzierzyn-Kozle.

The loss location Munich in Bavaria is not correct. The Statement "Shot down: Kedzierzyn-Kozle near Munich" is wrong.

LtCol Lokker was found dead and buried on 22 November 1944.
The grave was in the cemetery of Langlieben, a town not far from Heydebreck.

 

The eyewitness statement said the plane took a "direct flak hit in the bomb bay by flak". S/Sgt Miosky may not have had a chance if that was the case. The poor fellow may not have known what hit him.