97th BG 342 BS in Tunesia crash 1943

From Dick Drain's 5th Wing History of Aircraft Assigned :
 
42-30121    414    Hit oil drum on takeoff. 6 Juyl 1943 Crashed and burned.
 
Paul Slaten crew, Lowe,Studek,Johnson, Gold, Wall, Wopodian, Gallant, Morris,Showers. All KIA.
 
From 97th Bomb Group History Book "Venit Hora-The Hour Has Come" :
 
Mission # 133. Satellite Landing Ground, Gerbini, Italy.  6 July 1943.
 
Sirrocco causes tragedy, from the diary of Joe Kyfes.

There was a mission scheduled when the "African Sorocco", which is a strong wind tht blows south to north about 50-70 MPH came up.Our runway is laid east to west. The third aircraft taking off in this crosswind hit some empty gas drums that were off to the side. The plane went  stright up and then straight down and exploded killling all 10 crewmen, and Carl Essigman, a fine mechanic.
 
* Accidental Death.
Prislusky,Stephen M.     6 Jul 1943
 
Note :  Prislusky is not listed as a crewmember of the  Paul Slaten crew, however, also note that the spelling of your relative does not match your posting either...This may be  due to the almost unreadable microfilm that Drain had to attempt to decipher, along with possible clerical errors in editing the book Venit Hora
  
 
Jim :-)
 
 
 
 
 

Strange that it would list his name as accidental death but not even mention him on the crew list. I have a picture of his gravestone and its definitely spelled Prislupsky.  I do know he was stationed in the UK for a while and was wounded on a mission there. My family was in contact with the woman he rented a room from off base for a long time. She had fond memories of him. Described him as looking like an American Movie Star.

Thank you Jim for your response and the information you posted. I appreciate it.

Thanks Guy for your response. Strange that his name does not appear. I know for a fact that he was a bombardier with the 97th BG. His brother, my great uncle had paperwork etc. According to him he was originally stationed in the UK the eventually transferred to North Africa. Ive got a picture of his gravestone in NY, http://www.findagrave.com...884153&df=all&
I'd love to hear what info you have on that particular plane etc.
Thanks again

There is an explanation for some of the confusion.....the nose art/name has to be visible in any nose art/name photo to be positively ID'd....along with the information stenciled UNDER the  LEFT pilot's sliding window, ...OR the tail number has to be visible in any nose art/name photo.

About 75% of the nose art/names are taken of the RIGHT side of the nose....and the required ID info is on the LEFT side of the aircraft.....therefore the photo cannot be tied to a particular aircraft.
 
In addition....SOME aircaft had one name/nose art on one side of the aircraft nose and a DIFFERENT nose art/name on the other side....which goes a long way toward the confusion as to names/nose art...and also if an aircraft is transferred from one BG to another,...the original name MAY be changed as well.
 
Now to add to all this...NOT all aircraft were named.....most original aircraft that were in a bomb group that moved to an oversea location enmasse were named and or had nose art.......also, sometimes a newly assigned aircraft was sent on a mission almost as soon as it was assigned to a bomb group...and was lost, prior to the art work being painted.
 
So there many explanations as to why some aircraft never had a nose art or name.
 
I hope this helps to explain why there is so much confusion....as to nose art and names.

If the only nose art/name was on the RIGHT side of the nose....then there is NO positive ID that can be made at this late date.
 
Jim :-)

Great info, Ive also heard the name The Virgin. So strange his name doesnt appear on the list. I do know that after he was killed he was buried in North Africa until after the war and at the request of family his body was brought back to NY.
 

Well I have found more info. My cousin John Bailey collected all this info over the years and passd it down to me. I have a copy of the 97th BG history book. It describes the crash of 6 July 43 and gives the name of the ground crew mechanic killed as Carl Essingman. There were also at least three other ground crew injured but no names given.
In the back of the book is a list of all 97th personel killed during the war. My cousin has underlined 12 names...10 of these are listed as air crew on the accident report...one is the mechanic killed on the ground...the other is Cpl Stephen M. Prislusky. As I said all 12 names are underlined and all the air crewmen have an asteric after their name except SSgt John W. Showers (tail gunner). Also there is no asteric after the names of you relative and the ground mechanic either.
So the mystery thickens. The date of death  for 11 of these guys is given as 7-06-43 except for your relative Stephen who is listed as 6-07-43 (could be a transposed mistake).
Evidently there is a reason Stephen's name was underlined by my cousin but he does not remember and I can find no other records.
The grave marker at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis shows six of the crewmen one of which is John Showers. So I don't think it was a case of Prislusky standing in for Showers on that day. 
So, some good info here but no answer as yet as to what happened to Stephen. Do you have any records that might help.

Yes, I see this one and earlier today I saw the one where the body had been returned from Africa. I went back through the 97th history book and searched missions around the 7 June 43 date and found nothing on Stephan. He was definately a member of the 97th, a Corpral and listed ad killed 6-07-43. Perhaps someone else will read this and have more info....till then best of luck..GW York

I will include this second link which was the announcement of the return of the body.
It is interesting in that this is happening in February, 1949.  Nine bodies are being returned to this region of New York, six of them from the local area. 
Old Fulton NY Post Cards By Tom Tryniski