Back in late 2016, I created three posts (first, second, and third) about a series of stunning WW II Army Air Force photographs showing the loss of B-24H Liberator Marty the Rubble Maker (42-52096), an aircraft of the 722nd Bomb Squadron, 450th Bomb Group (the Cottontails), of the 15th Air Force, on May 12, 1944 – seventy-six years ago this month.
Recently, I received the following communication from aviation historian Brian Lindner:
Your story on Lt. J.C. Wood’s crew and their fate is truly excellent. I have been researching their story at NARA and other sources and found your article completely accurate.
I am writing a book that will center around the fates of the crewmen from about 25 famous aviation photos at NARA. My hope is to complete the research phase in late 2020 or early 2021.
Would it be possible to obtain permission to quote from your article? If yes, how should it be credited?
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
PS: The link to the photo showing Hodge and Platt doesn’t work.
I want to thank Brian for his very nice compliments about my post(s).
By all means, they certainly can be quoted from!
As far as crediting my work goes, hmmm, that’s a good question…
…perhaps the bibliographical reference should be in the format:
“Far Away, So Close: The Fall of a B-24 Liberator Off the Coast of Italy” (Parts I, II, and III), at ThePastPresented.com, December 29, 2016, accessed on such-and-such-calendar-dates(s)
(Thanks for the tip about the hyperlink: It’s repaired!)
On a related note, Brian has a story – Unwraveling the Mystery of the ‘Little Warrior’ – at the July, 2009 issue of Wicked.local, concerning Lt. Sidney Benson, a co-pilot in the 862nd Bomb Squadron, 493rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. Lt. Benson’s plane, B-24H Liberator 42-94812 (“Little Warrior” – “8M * X”), piloted by 2 Lt. John H. Hansen, was shot down by flak on June 29, 1944. The plane’s loss is covered in MACR 6721 and German Luftgaukommando Report KU 2389.
Brian’s article is based on an official Army Air Force photo which I’m sure is very well known to those familiar with WW II aviation history, and just as much – WW II history – “in general”, for the photo has appeared in books and magazines over the past several decades. For a time in the 1990s (?) the image (sans any explanatory information) was even used as a header illustration for advertisements for some sort of military book club, which appeared in the magazine section of some Sunday newspapers.
Akin to the image of Marty the Rubble Maker, I similarly first saw this photo in Steve Birdsall’s Log of the Liberators. In 2012, I was able to scan (at 600 dpi) the official USAAF photo (53708AC) at the National Archives. The picture is shown below.
The perspective of the image is deceptive, for the USAAF photographic print is actually a cropped view from the original image, the latter revealing that the bomber is actually making an abrupt bank to the right rather than being in level flight. A clue: The dark object in the upper left is actually the leading edge of the port fin of the B-24 from which the photo was taken.
Of greater importance than the plane is her crew.
None returned.
So, here are the men of the “Little Warrior”…
Rear, L-R:
2 Lt. Jerome Levy, 0-703639, Navigator, Camden, N.J.
2 Lt. Sidney A. Benson, 0-818558, Co-Pilot, Marblehead, Ma.
2 Lt. John W. Hansen, 0-693976, Pilot, New York, N.Y.
2 Lt. Malcolm M. Stich, 0-697746, Bombardier, Brooklyn, N.Y.
T/Sgt. Vernon J. Polzin, 38367667, Flight Engineer, Taylor, Tx.
Front, L-R:
S/Sgt. Cyrus R. Aidala, 32707915, Ball Turret Gunner, Brooklyn, N.Y.
“Sandy Saunders, Top Turret Gunner”
(Same as S/Sgt. John E. Sanders?, 18191467, “Flexible Gunner”, Goose Creek, Tx.?)
S/Sgt. Walter A. Boykowski, 13171280, Tail Gunner, Pittock, Pa.
“Sgt. Ramos, Radio Operator” (not in crew during mission of June 29)
S/Sgt. Sylvanus G. Haksell, 39297646, Nose Gunner, El Centro, Ca.
Not in photograph:
S/Sgt. Billy B. Gomillion, 38424702, Radio Operator, Wichita Falls, Tx.
From my reading of the MACR, I realized that Lt. Benson escaped from the plane (how?) but didn’t survive. I always had my “suspicions” but didn’t know – until reading Brian’s Wicked Local story – what actually happened to him after he safely parachuted to earth.
Alas, the story is sad; appalling; infuriating.
Yet, well told: Brian has done fine research, and relates the tale in a compelling manner. You can also read about his research at the Boston Globe.
His forthcoming book should be interesting…!