Hello,

  I recently got copies of some documents about the plane and accident that my great uncle was killed in during WWII.  He was the radio control man on the 493rd's B-17 #43-38568.  The crew is listed as follows on the REPORT OF AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT form:

P        STINDT, Frederick E.      0-824981       1LT
CP      ROTH, Irwin F.               0-830960       2LT
N        JOHNSON, Axel I.           0-780360       2LT
TOG   HATALSKY, Paul               16042097      S/SGT
E        HAYNES, Jewel K.            39402660      T/SGT
R        DEUTSCH, Walter B.       37566186       T/SGT
BG      BARANIAK, Anthony J.     36897484      S/SGT
WG     GODFREY, Francis J.         11139819     SGT
TG       DENISTON, Leonard L.     36784457      S/SGT
RCM    RECK, Norman W.            19077231      SGT

Here's a description of the accident from the Accident Report Form:

    "Lieutenant STINDT and crew were scheduled for a combat mission 20 February 1945.  Soon after take-off, a fire was noticed in the number three engine.  Pilot immediately feathered engine which momentarily appeared to stop burning.  A few seconds later, however, the engine again burst into flames and at this time, the pilot decided to crash land.  Bombs were not jettisoned and decision was made to ditch in the Deben River.  Pilot ordered crew to their ditching positions.  Aircraft hit the water and immediately submerged.  Pilot and engineer escaped through the pilot's window, and the Co-pilot was seen by both pilot and engineer immediately after they came to the surface.  Co-pilot is presumed to have been washed away by the current, before rescue was possible, and drowned.

    The bodies of all other crewmen, except the radio operator, were scattered throughout the plane, when the aircraft was raised.  The radio operator was found entangled by his parachute harness to the horizontal stabilizer of the aircraft.

    The mechanical failure of number three engine was 100% responsible for this accident."

I've got a few other reports as well, including statements from the pilot and engineer, and an "UNSATISFACTORY REPORT" that describes the engine that burned and what went wrong with it.  I've ordered a copy of the "Helton's Hellcats" book, but am still waiting to receive it.

I have a few questions I was wondering if someone here might know:

1.  What was the plane's nickname?   Anyone have any pictures of it and/or its crew or know where I might find some?

2.  Is there any way to find out if either of the two survivors (STINDT and/or HAYNES) of this accident are still alive?

3.  Is there any way to find out how many missions my great uncle (RECK) flew before he died?

Thanks,
sulaco

43-38568:  Del Cheyenne 18/8/44;  Hunter 27/8/44;  Grenier 8/9/44;  ass 860BS/493BG Debach 11/9/44;  c/t/o for Nurnber 20/2/45 w/Stindt;  cr River Deben at Ramsholt, UK;  8KIA 2RTD;  sal.  LITTLE DAVEY II.
 
493d BG homepage is at:  http://www.493bgdebach.co.uk/  you may want to contact them concerning joing the association and inquiring about surviving crew members and Unit Load Lists.  The Unit Load List would contain the information on number of missions your Great Uncle flew, A/C serial number, etc. . .

Howard Keller (LTC, USA, Ret)

Martin Bowman's book "Helton's Hellcats - A Pictorial History Of The 493rd Bomb Group" there are two photos of Little Davey II (one in the water and the other after it was brought to shore) on page 117.  I have embeded a scan of the page in this posting.
 
Hope this helps.
 
 
 
 

[image]local://upfiles/1570/C55FE609BCB243B594697F6CE1AEBC61.jpg[/image]

Attached Image(s)

David Schmitt
d.schmitt@prodigy.net
son of 1st LT Donald J. Schmitt, USAAF, co-pilot
assigned to 493rd BG/863rd BS at Debach, England
from Nov 1944 thru May 1945

Hi....this is Craig Jones - the son of Lt Richard W Jones who flew with 493rd.  I have recently been scanning my dad's WWII pictures and have found an UNBELIEVABLE picture of the B-17 you spoke about.  It appears to be a picture taken from my dad's B-17 of #43-38568 releasing its bomb load.  As a matter a fact, I have TWO pictures of 43-38568.  It seems that my dad was on a mission THE DAY PRIOR to the loss of 43-38568.  The mission he was on was to Rheine.  #43-38568 was lost on the mission to Nuremberg.  The second picture shows FLAK!!!!!!!!  (Obviously, on the Rheine mission, there could have been a different crew.  BUT.......it was sooo "wierd" of my dad's crew to have taken a picture of a B-17 that was lost ON THE VERY NEXT DAY.
 
Unfortunately, BOTH pictures are over 300  KB and I can NOT upload them to this site.  HOWEVER, feel free to email me at b78eemer@aol.com and I will reply twice with pictures attached to both.
 
Good luck on obtaining the other info your requested.    CO Jones

Gents,

Thank you very much for the info!  I'll contact the 493rd association to see if they know if either of the two crash survivors are still alive. 

I had assumed that RCM meant that my great uncle was the radio operator.  I didn't know that the B-17 had radio countermeasures.   Do you know where in the plane the RCM operator usually sat when on a mission?

Thanks again for the great info.

Jeff Kelso