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Mission impossible?

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Loesje
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Mission impossible?

First, to all of those men known as the Greatest Generation: thank you forever, for your services in WorldWar II that was won at great costs, and by whose sacrifices we live in freedom ever since. We are eternally indebted. You won't be forgotten.
 
My quest is about two things.
First, to find a picture of a crew of the 570th sq. based at Framlingham station.
So far, all efforts to find a picture of either the crew or the ac they flew on their last mission are fruitless. Of one of the crewmembers I adopted the name on the Wall of the Missing at the American Cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands, hence the interest. Here are the specs.
The crew I'm talking of was crew 44, and their ship of that day, "Devil's Aces" was shot down by German fighters on mission 113, 28th of May 1944 near Magdeburg. I know about their combat records and all of the happenings during the bomb run, not much blanks left in there thanks to great help of people in the UK and USA as well.
Their combat record:
Crewman   Role     Crew No.                Date           A/c Serial                           A/c Codes           A/c Name Target  Crew Msn           
Ingram, John H         Pilot      44               9-5-1944      42-107199                           DI-J                      Powerful Katrinka   Laon-Athies FR - airfield    1         
Ingram, John H         Pilot      44               11-5-1944    42-31275                             DI-A                     GI Wonder Liege BE  - Marshalling yard       2         
Ingram, John H         Pilot      44               12-5-1944    42-31275                             DI-A                     GI Wonder Brux CZ  - oil refinery        3         
Ingram, John H         Pilot      44               13-5-1944    42-31275                             DI-A                     GI Wonder Osnabruck GE - Marshalling Yard    4         
Ingram, John H         Pilot      44               23-5-1944    42-31275                             DI-A                     GI Wonder Melun FR - airfield         5         
Ingram, John H         Pilot      44               25-5-1944    42-31275                             DI-A                     GI Wonder Liege BE  - Marshalling Yard      6         
Ingram, John H         Pilot      44               27-5-1944    42-31275                             DI-A                     GI Wonder Strasbourg FR - aircraft factory        7         
Ingram, John H         Pilot      44               28-5-1944    42-31985                             DI-P                     Devil's Aces                  Magdeburg GE - oil plant      8                KIA
 
(Sorry for the mix up of the columns, couldn't get it pasted better than this.)
Lt.Ingram & crew arrived at Framlingham airfield (AAF Stn 153) on 28/04/1944 from the replacement crew facility at Bovingdon airfield (AAF Stn 112) to become Crew44 assigned to the 570th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy). I have no information of their previous whereabouts.
Their usual ship apparantly was GI Wonder, of which I've found pictures but none with "my" crew.
Find underneath the crewmembers names and their fate. Sgt. Lewis is my adoptee. On all their missions, the crew's makeup was the same.
Name                                               Position                             Status
2nd Lt     Ingram, John H                   Pilot                                   KIA identified
Lt.         Banks, Douglas C                 copilot                                KIA identified
SSgt     Cosgrove, Daniel J B             navigator                            POW
SSgt     Tabeling, Robert G                bombardier                         KIA identified
SSgt     Buntin, William jr C               engineer/ttg                        POW
SSgt     Czerpak, Henry                     radio op.                             KIA identified
SSgt     Lewis, James J                                
            (he is my adoptee)                 ball turret gunner                KIA unidentified
SSgt     Czyz, Edward J                     left waist gunner                 POW
SSgt     McKee, Arnold                       right Waist Gunner              KIA unidentified
(I filed for adoption of this man too)    
SSgt     Salmons, Kenneth A              tailgunner                             KIA identified
 
The second question is about my adoptee. There aren't many stones left unturned, but none yielded any information about the guy who came to our rescue at the age of 21. If needed I have ofcourse the usual data about him, but this post is getting already long enough.
At the moment the research is widened to the whole crew, by lack of succes in the search for Sgt. Lewis' relatives. I'm in touch with relatives of the men who survived, but so far nothing emerged that is helpful to put a face on him. We're still working on the other crewmembers.
 
There's an awesome book about the 8AF battleplan and the ensuing course of events of that single day in May, titled "Mission 376, Battle over the Reich: 28 May 1944."
The author, Ivo de Jong, told me that at the end of all his research he had managed to get pictures of all crews that went down on that mission (think of it!), apart from two – one of them being the Ingram crew 44. He stated that till the very end, it was one of his greatest challenges. He finally used the ID of Lt.Ingram that carried his picture as a means to have the crew represented anyway.
That doesn't sound hopeful, does it.
But – miracles do happen, they say.
 
Thanks for reading this,
Loesje

To you from failing hands we throw
the torch; be yours to hold it high.

5 Replies Related Threads

    Mohawk12
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    Re:Mission impossible? (permalink)
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    Greetings Loesje,
    I am related to Robert Tabeling.  I wish I was able to help you with a crew picture.  I hope to contact several other family members and explore whether or not they have any such images.  I am hopeful to track down any pictures of Robert, his crew, or any of the planes they flew in.  I would also like to get any and all information I can regarding this event. 
    Have you had any success with any pictures as yet?  Do you have any more information beyond what you posted here in your message?
     
    Any help and assistance would be greatly appreciated.  I will certainly make efforts to contact you in the event that I uncover a picture along the lines of what you are looking for!
     
    Regards,
    JPeter
    Ivo de Jong
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    Re:Mission impossible? (permalink)
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    Hello JPeter,
    "Loesje" is on a US-trip at the moment and I don't know if she is able to access her e-mail regularly. She will definitely be interested in what you are able to find and will share what she has gathered as well, I am sure!
    Kind regards
    Ivo de Jong
    Loesje
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    Re:Mission impossible? (permalink)
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    Thank you Ivo for your reply "by proxy", and for drawing attention to the forum. Contact is established with Justin Peters already, I'm currently squeezing all possible sources at James J(asper) Lewis'birthplace; on the road I've met relatives of other crewmembers but still have nothing to look at.
    But it was possible to pay a tribute to crew #44 on their own turf, which was a more or less comforting moment, see picture.
    Welcome to the party Justin! 
     
    Lili.

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    To you from failing hands we throw
    the torch; be yours to hold it high.
    Ocelot
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    Re:Mission impossible? (permalink)
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    Hi Loesje
     
    I hope you are enjoying your trip. I found a lot of information about James Jasper Lewis, but it might not be very helpful. He was the youngest child. He had an older brother and sister, so you'll be trying to track down their children/grandchildren to find any closely related family. The only good news is that both of his parents are from very small towns in the same area, so you should be able to find some distant relatives. I don't want to post it all here, so email me and I'll send it to you: honeysocelot@gmail.com
     
    Trelaine
     
    Loesje
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    Re:Mission impossible? (permalink)
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    The title of the post now can be changed into "Mission (almost) completed" - with great help  of the local newspaper, I found relatives of my adoptee.
    Meet James Jasper Lewis, better known as Jack.
     

     
    I was happy to provide the family with as much details as I had gathered about Jack and the happenings on 28th May 1944, as they had litlle knowledge next to none about what their relative had befallen.
    The addition "almost" refers to the fact that I still am looking for a photo of the crew, and same of the a/c "Devil's Aces" as well - so the quest has ended, but the search goes on!

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    To you from failing hands we throw
    the torch; be yours to hold it high.
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