Info request on Chelveston accident Feb 1945

Mark -
Narrative and Crash Photos in Book
The Brotherhood of Courage by Walter Thom.
Have one at the Sand Dollar for me !
Mike

Hi Mark... This crash has been touched upon on other post threads I think?
One of the two crews involved was;-
 
422nd Sqn Crew - ship 43-37922.
Pilot - H.H. Nolan, Copilot - Elmer L. Bauder, Navigator - Arthur H. Koslow, Bombardier - Paul R. Mantz,
Flight Eng - Harold H. Poland, Radio Op - Ernest W. Dunker, Ball T - Paul J. McClellan, Right Waist - Edmund
M. Carll, Tail Gunner - James F. O'Brian.
 
My understanding is in rapidly deteriotating weather, Nolan and his crew failed to get airborne. Their B-17 ran off end of runway, continued across the Chelveston-Newton Bromswold road, and through into several site barrack huts at the 366th Sqn communal site.
 
Attaching some pictures, from the National Archives, which cam from our friend Chris Coffman. Some tragic shots of the huts and the result of a 55,000lb heavy bomber slicing its way through the feeble construction of tar and paper....
 
A second ship, a Pathfinder PFF H2x equipped also crashed. It and the crew limped over the hedgerows until finally striking ground about 2 miles away from the base, beside what is still known as 'High Hayden Farm'. I'll get to this crew a little later.
 
I have started reading some of the diary reports of this event, will post seperately.
 
Ian W

Hi all.. OK to start and add to this thread topic, and the events of February 15^th 1945.
 
I read over the available archive notes, records, and operations diary entries for this day at the 305^th BG. I thank Chris Coffman for supplying most of these for use in this posting. The group recorded firstly reveal as follows:
 
Taking off on the 15^th, two 305^th planes crashed and the aircraft still on the ground were scrubbed when visibility got steadily worse. The ships already airborne tacked onto another formation and made a H2x attack on Dresden, which was considered good by the Mickey Operators. There was no fighter opposition and the ground defences of Dresden offered no resistance to our group.
 
Unquote.
As can be read, the whole group did not actually make this mission, because of the crash of the already mentioned two 17’s, and also noted as a result of poor weather.
 
The 422^nd Squadron diary entry made the following comment, I quote:
 
Again today the target was Dresden Germany. The Lead crew consisted of Lt’s Plumley, Ricks, Friedman and McEvoy and bombing was done by instruments. A/C 43-37922 crashed on T/O killing Lt Arthur H. Koslow, Navigator, Sgt Harold H. Poland, Engineer, Sgt Ernest W. Dunker, Radio Op, and Sgt Paul H. Mantz, Gunner. Sgt Edmund M. Carll died of injuries received in the crash. 1^st Lt Nolan the Pilot, and 1^st Lt Bauder, CoPilot, were seriously injured. Sgt McClellan and Sgt O’Brien were slightly injured.
 
Only 19 Officers and 26 EM’s flying five A/C participated in this mission.
 
Unquote.
 
Its apparent from the comments that the 305^th were unable to launch all aircraft that morning. The 422^nd itself only fielded five aircraft, although I cant confirm whether this was a planned event, or whether this was due to remaining 422^nd aircraft being log jammed on the ground, unable to take off.
 
The 366^th Squadron made the following comments within their diary, I quote:
 
37 Officers and 53 EM’s and six A/C flew ‘Lead’ squadron on a mission to Dresden Germany. Due to cloud the secondary which was Dresden was bombed by PFF methods. Good results were believed to have been obtained.
 
One of our A/C crashed on takeoff. One F/O and one Sgt killed in action. One Sgt accidently killed.
 
Another A/C of the 422^nd Sqn also crashed on takeoff, one EM killed and 10 injured.
 
Unquote.
 
The 366^th make mention of the casualty figures at the 366^th communal site, one killed and ten injured.
 
More to come.
Ian W

Hi all... again ...
The conclusion to the reported story of February 15^th 1945, as produced within the group newsletter ‘Station Life’, it was written up with the title DOUBLE TROUBLE.
 
As Sgt McClellan walked away from the scene, confident that all he could have done had been, The search continued by others. I Quote:
 
Keck and Carpenter stayed behind. They wanted to make certain that all the crew had been removed from the area. They checked various parts of the plane, and Carpenter made three large circles around the shattered ship looking for any injured they might have overlooked.
 
Then Keck, pausing in his search to cast a knowing eye on the fires, which were growing warmer and getting closer to the bomb bay all the time, figured it was time to ‘Get the hell out of there!’ Together with Carpenter he withdrew to the road. A few minutes later the first explosion came, followed quickly by another, and finally a third, final blast.
 
Meanwhile Capt Parks had turned his attentions to the barracks in the site which had been damaged. When he arrived, one of the first on the scene, he found no one in charge and little organisation to get the injured and dead out of the buildings.
 
Quickly, he organised the men in the area, ordering them to search the buildings. He sent others to help with the fire fighting equipment. The fires were soon extinguished, and the medics began to take the injured off to the station hospital.
 
Checking as carefully as possible to make sure nobody was forgotten, Capt Parks directed the process of finding and removing the men who were hurt. It was often necessary to dig under debris of the shattered buildings to locate and get the men out.
 
And thanks to these efforts, everyone was accounted for in the barracks. One man had been killed and ten injured. Of the crew of the crashed B-17, four men were hurt and five killed.
 
The last remaining sentences cover the other crash, of the Charles V. Bush crew, who’s B-17 came down a couple of miles further on at High Hayden Farm, on the outskirts of the Town of Rushden.
 
I’ll post a further thread to continue on this story.
Ian W

OK, so to round off the posting, the second B-17G which came down and crashed on the morning of February 15^th 1945.
 
Belonging to the 366^th Sqn, this was a PFF Lead plane, a Pathfinder, carrying a Lead Crew with H2x Radar. A/C number 43-38291 KY-N. The crew of Charles V. Bush; a total of eleven on board.
 
The comments from ‘Station Life’ report this second crash, I quote:
 
The other crash took place in an open field between Rushden and Site One. There was little property damage beyond a hole in a fence and the long plough marks left behind in the track of the skidding plane.

The majority of the crew escaped, but three were killed. Of the rest, three men hit the ground running as they jumped out of the plane, and didnt stop until they reached the town of Rushden, where the Police found them. They phoned back to the base and were taken to the station hospital for shock treatment.

For the rest of that day and through the days following, the two crashes were the main topic of conversation all over the field.

I hope the above helps in a small way in explaining the events of 15th February 1945.

Ian W

Hi all.. a further update on this incident, photos as taken by Bob Lister 365th Sqn, via my friend and fellow 305th BGMA associate Kevin Brower. Two wide angle pictures of the 366th Sqn Communal site, showing the destroyed barrack huts and the attempts to clean up during the days after 15th February 1945.
 
Ian W

Recollections of the incident by George C. Kuhl 364^th Sqn.
 
George has in a past CANDO notes issue, remembered his many missions during the tour he completed, which included the 15^th of February 1945 event. To set up the scene, he confirms that the group as a whole had been subjected to really horrendous weather conditions for an extended period of time, with the result of many missions being scrubbed and the crews stood down. As an example of the severity of weather conditions here are the events leading up to the two plane take-off crash incident;
 
January 16^th to Leipzig scrubbed just before take-off as planes stood ready to go, 21^st through to 26^th, stood down due to poor weather,  then the 27^th to Bremen scrubbed due to visibility on ground before take-off down to 50 yards, 30^th no mission, due to heavy snow, 31^st to Berlin scrubbed before take-off.
 
February started no better; 2^nd had no mission possible due to poor weather, again on the 4^th there was no briefing due to weather, on the 7^th they actually launched the group to the target of Duren (oil storage facility) however the group were recalled due to cirrus clouds higher than 27,000ft just 40 minutes from target. February  8^th and a mission to Boland (oil refinery) again scrubbed due to weather. Again, the 11^th a mission this time to Hamm Germany, scrubbed, then on the 12^th there is no let up on poor weather, there is no briefing.
 
On the 15^th of February, George Kuhl recalls the following as he saw it, I quote
 
We were on the runway for take-off when the ceiling and visibility dropped to zero-zero. The first 15 ships did get off. The next 2 crashed on take-off. One of them hit several barracks killing some personnel who were sleeping. After the two crashes, we were ordered back to our revetments. The fog was so thick we had difficulty seeing the blinking aldis lamp of the tail gunner in the ship in front of us.
 
This comment, of zero visibility goes some way to explain the conditions experienced and perhaps a reason why both crews involved ultimately crashed. With no fixed point to identify ahead for the Pilots to focus upon through teh windsheilds, and to visually confirm their exact position, there might have been disorientation involved, if it weas the case that the Pilots involved had not been relying purely on instruments.
 
** George Kuhl.Pilot in the 364th Sqn - 305th Bomb Group is the same acclaimed author, who some years back wrote the definitive ‘warts and all’ account of Black Thursday WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME; the 2^nd mission to Schweinfurt Germany, October 14^th 1943. His recording of the facts of this mission, its many errors and short comings included, help tell the story in direct terms, and show the reader just how it really was.
 
Ian W