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Article Title: Or Go Down in Flame: A Navigator’s Death over .

For more articles from this special World War II issue, see the index to full text articles currently available.

Full Citation: W Raymond Wood, “Or Go Down in Flame: A Navigator’s Death over Schweinfurt,” Nebraska History 76 (1995): 84-99

Notes: During World War II the Army’s lost nearly 26,000 airmen. This is the story of 2d Lt Elbert S Wood, Jr., one of those who did not survive to become a veteran.

URL of Article: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/1995_War_05_Death_Schweinfurt.pdf

Photos: Elbert S Wood, Jr as an air cadet, 1942; Vera Hiatt Wood and Elbert Stanley Wood, Sr in 1965; the Catholic cemetery in Michelbach where Lieutenant Wood was buried; a German fighter pilot’s view in a head-on attack against a B- 17 squadron; Route of the First Air Division and of the 306th Bomb Group; twin-engined Bf-110 in 1943 or 1944; sketch by George W Soell “And there we were” from a of Donald E Williams at Stalag 17; WAAC, skipping across a plowed field before crashing; Lieutenant Wood’s landing site on the of the River; Route of the two bomber streams on their way to Schweinfurt; Andres Noll, burgermeister of Michelbach; a Missing Air Crew Report No 821 Or GoDown in Flame ANavigator's Death Over Schweinfurr't

By W Raymond Wood

A Lost Airman hardest duty he ever had to perform. During World War II the United States Standing in the doorway with a tele­ Army's Eighth Air Force lost nearly gram, he could never fully conceal his 26,000 airmen, killed in the effort to de­ emotions from a family that rarely mis­ stroy the war potential of the German understood the reason for his hat-in­ Third Reich. The Eighth Air Force, sta­ hand visit. tioned in , was composed of When the keys began tapping on the more than 200,000 men-the flesh-and­ telegraph in Wood's office on the morn­ blood components of the greatest air ing of October 26, 1943, he began re­ force in history. The mission of that cording a message announcing that 2d force: to destroy the military potential of Lt. Elbert S. Wood, Jr., was "reported the Nazi war machine by the surgical missing in action since fourteen Octo­ destruction of those essential industrial ber over Schweinfurt ." It was a elements needed to conduct modem discouraging (but not hopeless) com­ war. The story of their efforts to carry munication, and one that left the family out their often impossible orders has in helpless anticipation for two and one­ been told by many veterans of that long half months. What had happened? and bitter campaign.! Yet these stories, When the lines began transmitting written by tile living, illuminate only Elbert Wood's name again on January 1, part of the countless human tragedies 1944, the elder Wood's hopes momen­ that accompanied the air war over tarily rose that the message would re­ . This is the story of 2d Lt. Elbert port his son was a prisoner of war. The second message, however, permitted S. Wood, Jr., one of those 26,000 airmen Elbert S. Wood, Jr., as an air cadet in the who did not survive to become a only the feeble hope that the "report re­ summer of 1942. All illustrations fumished veteran. ceived from the German government by the author unless otherwise noted His father, Elbert S. Wood, Sr., was through the International Red Cross" the station agent for the and that his son was killed in action was, Elbert Stanley Wood, Jr., was born in North Western Railroad in Cody, a small perhaps, some terrible mistake. The Gordon, Nebraska, on 4, 1921, in the Sand Hills of northwestern message "killed in action" should be a son of Vera Gladys Hiatt and Elbert Nebraska. As the station agent, Elbert, termination of hopes and the realization Stanley Wood. Young Elbert eBert" to Sr., was the medium by which telegrams that someone is gone forever, but when his friends, but "Elbert" or "Junior" to from the secretary of war were delivered death happens so far away under un­ his family) was an exemplary student in to the next of kin announcing casualties known circumstances it is not hard to high school-categorized as "The Stu­ of war. He was to decipher, record, and fantasize otherwise. dent" in his 1939 high school yearbook. personally deliver to his neighbors The end of the war would bring new A high school buddy, Robert throughout the war many such mes­ communications from the army. These Waterman, remembers that "science sages announcing that a son or husband dismal messages would concem the dis­ and math were almost a part of him. He was missing or had been killed in ac­ covery of Lieutenant Wood's body, his was intensely curious: thinking, testing, tion. Delivering these telegrams was the identification, and queries as to the family's wishes about the disposition ------..-­ w. Raymond Wood is a professor ofanthro­ of his remains. What, indeed, had *Condensed from the book of the same name, pology at the University ofMissouri in Columbia, published in 1993 by Sarpedon, 166 Fifth Missouri. happened? Street, New , New York 10010.

84 Navigator's Death measuring, reading, talking, and under­ waS reassigned and sent to the naviga­ fact that a mass of documents exists standing." Social and political sciences tion school at San Marcos, Texas. even for modest historical events-par­ also attracted him, and classmate Eu­ Graduating as a second lieutenant on ticularly for military ones. This realiza­ gene Bower recalls that he was con­ June 26, 1943, Wood was furloughed tion led me, in 1983, to delve into my cerned about the Nazi movement and home and then sent to England to serve brother's army record to see what I its seizure of power in Germany when it with the Eighth Air Force as a member could recapture of his military career was hardly known or understood by of the 306th Bomb Group. He flew five and final combat mission. many people, particularly high school combat missions, one aborted mission, Given the immensity of the American students? and a final mission that ended just short effort during World War II, tracing the Mter high school graduation Wood of the target at Schweinfurt, Germany. fortunes of one man seemed impos­ sible. However, the activities of the common soldier during that conflict are better known than one might suspect. The endless paperwork generated by military clerks during World WarlI is, to an astonishing degree, still preserved. These records provide a ·paper trail" that permits reconstruction in remark­ able detail of the militarily significant events in the lives of soldiers of the time. The records of the Eighth Air Force, preserved in the National Ar­ chives, supplied the framework for his story.3 The narrative was fleshed out by statements of the surviving members of Wood's Flying Fortress crew, and by the testimony of German eyewitnesses to the crash of his aircraft and his funeral in the little community of Michelbach, in , Germany. An extraordinarily detailed story eventually emerged al­ though more than forty years had passed since the downing of his aircraft.4 I made several trips to Washington, Vera HiaH Wood and Elbert Stanley Wood, Sr., in 1965. Elbert Wood, born in Missouri, was the Chicago and North Western station agent in Gordon, Nebraska, for many D.C. to visit the National Archives. An years. He moved to Cody, Nebraska, in 1941, where he worked until reHring in 1950. unexpected by-product of one of these visits was the discoverY of the "293 File, n attended the University of Missouri and, His air force career lasted almost ex­ or the Individual Deceased Personnel later, the University of Nebraska. Enlist­ actly one year, and his active service File. These files were compiled only for ing in the on Decem­ ended at the end of a parachute after servicemen who died or who remained ber 8, 1941, he was assigned to the only thirty days. missing in action overseas. These files Medical Corps and, in early 1942, Pri­ Lieutenant Wood was killed in action are now held by the Mortuary Affairs vate Wood was giving inoculation shots on the October 14, 1943, mission to de­ and Casualty Division, U.S. Army Mili­ to inductees at Fort Knox, Kentucky. stroy the ball bearing factories at tary Personnel Center, Alexandria, Vir­ Longing for a more active role, he vol­ Schweinfurt. For years I was satisfied ginia. My brother's 293 file, nearly an unteered for the Army Air Corps. It was with the unembellished statement pro­ inch thick, contained the records of the an understandable choice for a young vided by the army that he had died dur­ postwar discovery of his body, his iden­ man nurtured for a decade on aerial ing that operation. The telegram simply tification, and his eventual return to the barnstormers, reinforced by heroic im­ said, with the terseness born of wartime United States for permanent burial. ages of the RAF pilots who turned back security, that he was "killed in action on Without this record the latter part of this the in the 1940 Battle of Brit­ fourteenth October in the European narrative could not have been written. ain. For whatever reason, his hopes of area.n It was not until years later that my Additional help came from the becoming a pilot were dashed, and he work raised my consciousness to the brother of another Eighth Air Force ca-

85 Nebraska History - Summer/Fall 1995 sualty who had spent many years seek­ war that had consumed fifty million Third Reich on an almost daily basis. ing the same type of information I was lives. The RAP continued to bomb Germany after. His advice: "Write a letter to the lo­ Following World War If, the United during the night, and the United States cal German newspaper asking for infor­ States Army made a monumental effort Eighth Air Force, later joined by the Fif­ mation from eyewitnesses to the de­ to find the graves or the remains of all teenth Air Force, returned to pound struction of his bomber." The German U.S. military personnel who fell in battle other targets during the day. Their goals in Chicago provided me the worldwide, and to place them in mili­ were to destroy German military, eco­ name of the appropriate newspaper, in tary cemeteries overseas. Ameri­ nomic, and industrial systems, and un­ . My letter asking for help cans who lost family members during dermine the morale of the German resulted, several weeks later, in a short the conflict had contact, in one way or people. In the early years of the war, feature article. another, with the War Graves Registra­ unescorted American daylight bombers For the next several weeks, letters tion Command, the unit responsible for suffered staggering losses trying to de­ from Germany appeared regularly in my this operation. Yet it is difficult today for prive Gemmny of these essentials. Until mailbox from witnesses to the attacks anyone other than a historian to dis­ long-range P-51 fighters were available on the Schweinfurt bombers and the cover how the remains of these men to escort the bombers over enemy terri­ crash of my brother's B-17. One was were found and identified. Many of tory, the Luftwaffe exacted a terrible toll from the daughter of one of the soldiers them lie in overseas cemeteries but, at from American bomber fleets. who had attended his funeral. Corre­ the request of their families, the remains On August 17, 1943, the Eighth Air spondence with these people over the of more than 171,000 of them were re­ Force penetrated the heart of Germany, next two years led to a full account of turned after the war to the United States reaching Schweinfurt and .5 the events that took place on the for burial-as were those of 2d Lt. Elbert Schweinfurt was the home of important ground as the Schweinfurt air battle S. Wood. factories ball bearings, swept over northern Bavaria and his B­ essential to mechanized equipment, 17 fell out of formation east of . Air War Over Germany and Regensburg was the locale for a In October 1988 I accepted invita­ The Combined Air Offensive by the Brit­ Messerschmitt factory. Both targets were tions by several of my German corre­ ish and American airmen, established heavily damaged during the two­ spondents to visit the area and see the by the Allied leaders at the Casablanca pronged raid, but the cost in American locale where the bomber crashed, and Conference in January 1943, became men and machines was high: Sixty the locations where the crewmen operational by June, and guaranteed bombers and six hundred men did not landed in their parachutes. I first flew to "around the " bombing of the return. Although the two targets were of England to visit my brother's former air base at Thurleigh, near Cambridge, north of . I th~n flew to Frank­ furt, rented a car, and drove east to visit Michelbach. Over the next several days I visited the crash and parachute land­ ing sites, accompanied by eyewitnesses. These visits permitted me to check the accounts by different witnesses and gain confidence in the accuracy of the story I was developing. Standing before what had been his grave site in the cemetery in Michel­ bach, I was astonished-and disturbed, if not ashamed-to find I felt no sad­ ness, no sense of loss, no nostalgia. Rather, I was numbed by the realization that my obsessive quest for information was over, and warmed by the knowl­ edge that at last I had laid to rest the un­ certainties of my brother's combat expe­ rience and death. He was no longer a The Catholic cemetery in Mlchelbach. Ueutenant Wood was buried to the right of the statistic, an anonymous combatant in a stone cross in the far right background.

86 Navigator's Death

A German fighter pilot's view in a head-on aHack against a 8-t 7 squadron over Europe. Courtesy of Gerald R. Massie nearly equal importance, this mission washed "Jackal" pub, and several of the the future of an individual in the com­ became known as "First Schweinfurt: thatched cottages that characterize the bat crew of a heavy bomber was a prog­ Over time, the Combined Air Offen­ countryside. The air base lay on an im­ nostic equivalent of a victim of deep sive accomplished two major ends. mense plain northwest of town. seated cancer."! Every group, of course, First, the Luftwaffe was destroyed as an The 306th became operational on had its own statistics. The 306th, for in­ effective offensive weapon, in part by September 28, 1942, and its first target stance, lost not a single aircraft on First destroying its planes and pilots in the was a steel works and locomotive and Schweinfurt, but was to lose ten of the air, and in part by obliterating the facto­ freight car factory at Lille, . The fifteen Fortresses that penetrated Ger­ ries and the oil industry that produced first attack on German soil, however, man airspace on Second Schweinfurt. and fueled them. The greatest success did not take place until January 27, Simple arithmetic yielded a 10 percent of , however, was de­ 1943, with a raid on Wilhelmshaven. loss per mission, so with the twenty-five nying Germany the fuel for its war ma­ The mission was led by Col. Frank mission limit of the time, the last fifteen chine-particularly for the Luftwaffe, Armstrong of the 306th, the oldest op­ missions would be flown on borrowed giving Allied forces total control of the erational group in the Eighth Air Force. time. skies in the last months of the conflict. The Wilhelmshaven raid led to the Elbert S. Wood, Jr., was in the first proud claim that the 306th, of the graduating class of the Army Air Forces First Missions: Five Milk Runs American bomb groups in England, was Navigation School at San Marcos, Texas, The 306th Bomb Group was based near "First Over Germany:6 on June 26, 1943. He arrived there for an Thurleigh, sixty airline miles northwest The prospects were dismal for an air­ intensive, twenty-week course in which. of the heart of downtown London. This man to survive the horrendous losses he spent 782 hours in ground school small rural community consisted then, being suffered at the hands of the classes and 104 hours in the air in navi­ as now, of a few hundred people. The Luftwaffe at this time. Col. Budd J. gation training. It was rigorous training road to town passes the ruins of an an­ Peaslee said, "[In] the months preced­ and, in April, he wrote his sister, cient stone windmill, then the white­ ing the second mission to Schweinfurt ... "School is about half over now, and is

87 Nebraska History - Summer/Fall 1995 getting a little easier. From now on there peered through the bombsight which, at a shot of whiskey for the crews followed will be more flying and less classroom this time, was controlling the flight of the interrogation. This raid qualified work. These 14-hour school days are be­ the bomber. The ship trembled as the Wood for the Air . This impressive ginning to get pretty oldl:' bombs dropped from the ship and, pass­ bronze decoration depicts an eagle div­ The newly minted lieutenants were ing over the target, they turned to return ing earthward with two lightning bolts sent to stations throughout the world. to England. The Fortresses reached the clasped in its talons, suspended by a rib­ Lieutenant Wood wasto go to the Euro­ English coast without incident. bon of royal blue and gold. The medal pean theater. On his furlough in , he Lieutenant Wood flew his remaining was awarded after five combat mis­ missions with his assigned pilot, 1st Lt. sions-a decoration that announced the visited his family in Nebraska. After a n brief visit, his orders carried him to New George "Brute Bettinger, in Wicked simple fact that one had survived five York, where he visited his sister, WAAC, with Lt. Abraham Block the copi­ missions over occupied Europe. Marjorie, and took in the sights. What­ lot. On his second and third missions, Between October 5 and 12, lieuten­ ever rumors he'd received of his future the 306th bombed targets at , ant Wood went to an Eighth Air Force duty station made him fatalistic about France. A fourth mission to Nantes was rest home southwest of London. Why he his chances of survival, for he told her, aborted. There was heavy cloud cover was chosen to go is uncertain, since "I won't be coming back." over France, and the force was recalled he'd been on only five easy combat mis­ By August 2 he was in England, before they crossed the English Chan­ sions, and on a sixth that was aborted. where his training continued at a Com­ nel. It was disappointing; the excite­ While he was away, three deep penetra­ bat Crew Replacement Center. Three ment and energy expended in an tions of German airspace had taken weeks later he was sent to his base at aborted mission was never appreciated, place and the Eighth Air Force had suf­ Thurleigh, and assigned to the crew of for it did not count as one of the twenty­ fered badly at the hands of enemy fight­ 1st Lt. George C. Bettinger. Bettinger's five missions one had to make to return ers. October 13 was to be Lieutenant new crew needed further training, so to the United States-and reassignment Wood's last "freenday before becoming they flew locally for the first two weeks to other and less hazardous duty. a participant in one of the most memo­ of September. weather over Europe during the rable air battles of all time. Lieutenant Wood's active combat ca­ fall of 1943 made it impossible to bomb reer began on September 15 with a raid in the clear most of the time. For this Second Schweinfurf on Romilly. Because the target posed no reason, special radar was developed to The Second Schweinfurt raid on Octo­ difficulties for a novice navigator, he permit bombing through the clouds. Al­ ber 14 was a mission so bitterly fought was assigned to fly with an experienced though was not an especially and ending with such devastating losses pilot, Lt. Emmanuel J. "Mannyn KIette. strategic target, its coastal location to the attacking force that the engage­ KIette's B-17 Flying Fortress was an F made it an ideal one for air crews to pol­ ment has become known as "Black model, Serial Number 42-30199. The ish their training in action, because wa­ Thursday. n Although there were other plane, built at a cost of $316,426, rolled ter appeared clearly in the radar image. Allied missions over Europe using off the assembly line in April 1943. It was also a good target simply because greater numbers of aircraft, and sustain­ Sometime after its arrival in England, Emden was a German port. Although it ing greater losses, this engagement is the plane was informally christened was near the German border, the Eighth generally acknowledged as the most Wicked WAAC (for the Women's Army Air Force could claim it was striking tar­ savagely fought air battle in history.s Auxiliary Corps), and a woman's figure, gets within Germany. The task of the mission was to eliminate clad in briefs, astride a falling bomb, On September 27 and again on Octo­ one of the major sources of ball bear­ was painted on side of the ber 2 Wicked WAAC and crew partici­ ings, essential to German war industry. plane's nose. pated in blind bombing missions on Forty-two percent of these bearings Eighteen 306th Fortresses took off on Emden, and Lieutenant Wood's fifth were made in Schweinfurt. A successful the Romilly mission, crossed the English and sixth miSSions were relatively un­ mission clearly would have shortened Channel at 22,000 feet and continued eventful. Escorting P-47 fighters again the war. This was a heady incentive, in­ into France, passing east of . A few accompanied the bombers to the target deed, for the men of the Eighth Air miles from Romilly a red flare fired from and managed to keep most of the Force. "An ordinary young man is not the combat wing leader indicated the bombers fTee from German fighters. often told that what he and a few others Initial Point, and the 8-17s turned into Landing at Thurleigh, Lieutenant may do between and dinner the bomb run. Time seemed to drag on Wood scooped his log, charts, and will change the course of world history.n g the bomb run, for they had to fly equipment into a duffel bag and ex­ It was a big operation. The First Air through bursts of flak without deviating plained his notes to the intelligence of­ Division, to consist of Fortresses, was to from their course. The bombardier ficer at the debriefing table. Coffee and lead the mission, which was to reach

88 Navigators Death

Flak ,. Combats • 8-17 casualty ...;..

GERMANY

BRUSSElS @ W/e G't '-?~ELGIUM

FRANCE t.J7 rC , \ 1~"

Metz <:)

Route of the First Air Division and of the 306th Bomb Group on Second Schweinfurt. the continent ten minutes before the Third Division. The Second Division, with sixty B-24 Liberators, was to reach the target after the Third Division. Crews were briefed at 7:00 A.M., and a few hours later a British reconnais­ sance plane radioed home, U All of cen­ tral Germany is in the clear." The weather in England, however, was ter­ rible, and a heavy fog lay on the land. The call to "Board up!" came neverthe­ less, and men clambered into the . planes. Takeoff was scheduled to begin at 10:15. Visibility was down to one­ fourth of a mile and the Fortresses took off at one-minute intervals on full instru­ ments. At 6,500 feet the formations broke into bright sunlight above the clouds. It took two hours to assemble A fwin-engined MesserschmiH Bf-ll 0 in 1943 or 1944, armed with eight-Inch rocket the wing. launchers of the sort that downed Wicked WAAC. Herbert Kist and his radio operator, 'rhe First Division was commanded who participated in Second Schweinfurt. are perched on their aircraft. Courtesy of Herbert Kist by Col. Budd J. Peaslee, who flew with the 92nd Bomb Group's operations of-

89 Nebraska History - SummerJFall1995

ficer. He was to lead the 383 bombers over Schweinfurt. As rewarding as the Donald E. Williams. was a twenty-two­ assembling over England. The Second sight might have been to the embattled year-old from Illinois who was part Division, made up of 8-24 Liberators, men, it was canceled by the view out Comanche Indian. encountered so much difficulty in as­ their right windows: As far as they could The ball turret gunner was Sgt. Elmer sembling that it was forced to cancel its see were dozens of columns of black, W. "Pete~ Mills, on his twenty-fifth mis­ participation in the mission, and twenty­ turgid smoke blooming upward from sion. He volunteered for the October 14 four of its planes were diverted to a sec­ the pyres of downed 8-17s. The 306th mission before he knew what the target ondary target off the coast of Holland. lost two more planes after the attack, was to be. Although he desperately Save for the 8-24s, the raid began but the remaining five 306th bombers wanted to back out when he learned of auspiciously. The eighteen 306th aircraft returned to England, although one their destination, he couldn't: "My pride were led by Captain Schoolfield, an ex­ crashed on landing and the other four just wouldn't let me." Mills had no illu­ perienced pilot. The Fortresses reached suffered varyin'g degrees of battle dam­ sions about the difficulties they faced. the and left the English coast age. The net loss or damage to the Sgt. Linden K. Voight, thirty-five years at 12:30. German fighter units by now group: one hundred percent. Alto­ old, was the tail gunner and the "old were on alert, and soon fighters along gether, sixty American bombers were man" on the crew, being ten years older the coast from Antwerp to Calais took shot down and their crews lost; another than the rest of the men. off to intercept them. They were aloft five were abandoned or crash landed Wicked WMC and its crew lifted off waiting for the bombers when the first when they returned to England; and oth­ at 10:24. They climbed through the Fortresses entered the continent about ers were so badly damaged they were clouds to join their formation without 1:00 P.M. suitable only for salvage. difficulty. All the 306th Fortresses re­ Fifty P47 Thunderbolt fighter escorts But the loss suffered on Black Thurs­ mained in tight formation until they en­ met the bombers over the North Sea day went much deeper than the loss of tered the continent. Shortly after cross­ and accompanied them to the limit of , the bombers and their crews-air supe­ ing into Holland, however, supercharger the fighters' range, near the German bor­ riority was temporarily lost to the malfunctions forced two planes to tum der at . The American fighter de­ Luftwaffe, and it was the death of back for England. A few minutes later, fense did not prevent two 8-17s from unescorted daylight bombing over Ger­ as they passed into Belgian airspace, an­ falling in flames on Belgium as the many. German newspapers properly other 8-17 turned back toward the North Thunderbolts, low on fuel, turned back claimed the battle a Luftwaffe victory. Sea. Fifteen minutes later, one of their and left for England at 1:33. They had The Americans would not return to Fortresses intercepted a rocket and be­ done what they could. bomb central Germany until the new p­ came the first 306th plane to be shot "We had no trouble until the P47's SI Mustang fighter was available to ac­ down. It crashed in eastern Belgium. left," Schoolfield later recounted. company and protect them-as they Another plane went down on the out­ Then all hell broke loose. Between the would begin doing within a month and skirts of Aachen. The remaining thirteen and the target our fonnations were a half. 306th planes pulled together to close up attacked by at least three hundred enemy the gaps in their formation as they ap­ aircraft. Rockets mounted under the Last Mission of the Wicked WAAC proached Aachen. wings of enemy aircraft fired into our tight defensive fonnation caused the highest Second Schweinfurt was Bettinger's One of the pilots of the twin-engined rate of casualties, The crews described the eighteenth mission. Abraham Block, Messerschmitt Bf-2IO "Destroyers~ was scene as similar to a parachute invasion, from Chicago, was the copilot. Wood, Oberleutnant (lst Lt.) Herbert Schob. He there were so many crews bailing out.to Donald E. Williams, and Linden K. was a Luftwaffe ace with a long and suc­ The First Division came under attack Voight were the only regular crewmen cessful combat record, having regis­ by perhaps 250 to 300 German fighters, that day. Alternates filled the remaining tered more than ten aerial kills. He had principally Focke-Wulf 190s and positions. first flown in for Germany's Con­ Messerschmitt Bf-109s, in one continu­ Second Lt. Leland A. Dowden was dor Legion, Hitler's contribution to Gen­ ous air battle across central Germany. assigned to be bombardier: It was his eral Franco's revolutionary forces in the Messerschmitt Bf-ll 0 Destroyers joined second mission. Sgt. Samuel Gerking, a Spanish Civil War. them, but they kept beyond the range of native of Oregon, was the top turret gun­ Three months after his return from the bombers' machine guns and fired ner: Second Schweinfurt was his first Spain Schab claimed a victory on the rockets into the formations. and last mission. Sgt. Gordon F. Lewis first day of the German invasion of Po­ Seven 306th planes nevertheless was the radioman, and Sgt. James F. land. In the Scandinavian campaign, he reached Schweinfurt and released their Montana was the right waist gunner: shot down a British Royal Navy dive bombs. As the fliers left the target, they Second Schweinfurt was his sixteenth bomber. He later served in the cam­ could see billows of black smoke rising mission. The left waist gunner, Sgt. paign in , then was transferred to

90 Navigator's Death

to the right of the cockpit and it became a runaway, streaming a trail of smoke. It threatened to tear the engine from the wing, so it was feathered. Airspeed was reduced with the loss of the engine, and Wicked WMCbegan to drop back in formation. Stragglers were easy victims for German fighters, and the pilot shoved the throttles of the remaining en­ gines to full acceleration in an effort to catch up with the rest of the group. Shortly after passing Frankfurt, lieu­ tenant Wood was struck in the stomach by shrapnel. He fell to the floor behind the bombardier. Dowden crawled back to him and opened his chest parachute harness and his clothing. He gave Wood what help was possible from the first aid kit. The bombardier replaced Wood's parachute harness and locked it in posi­ tion. He turned back to his guns while Wood reattached the parachute. A mo­ ment later Wood tapped the bombar­ "And There We Were." The ficticious destruction of Wicked WAACas sketched by dier on the back and touched his para­ George W. Soell in the prisoner of war book kept by waist gunner Donald E. Williams chute, and Dowden helped him to the at Stalag 17. Courtesy of Donald E. Williams forward emergency exit in the floor of their compartment, released it, and the Russian front, where he claimed his ter with enemy aircraft On his previous clamped Wood's hand around the para­ tenth aerial victory. By the fall of 1943 combat missions, the weather and chute release ring. They exchanged a he was back in Germany, flying a friendly fighter escorts had kept the Ger­ few words, then Dowden pushed him Messerschmitt Bf-11O. 1I man fighters well away from Wicked out of the escape hatch head first. Oberleutnant Schab, with the remain­ WMC, but October 14 was a deadly ini­ Someone in the back of the plane said der of his group, scrambled from the tiation into the fraternity of air combat. his chute opened. alert hut at 1:00 P.M. By the time he was There were simply too many enemy air­ Wicked WMCwas beginning to airborne the first elements of the Ameri­ craft to count. The Fortress shuddered catch up with the planes ahead when a can bomber stream were approaching with the recoil of .5O-caliber machine rocket struck the left wing and set the the German border. Streaking westward, guns, firing from all positions. Over the wing tip fuel and the engine on Schab passed high over the south part Rhine River, three 306th 8-17s were shot . Bettinger immediately dived to the of the -a hilly, wooded area of down. One of them, flying just behind left and dropped out of formation to Germany resembling the Ozarks of Wicked WMC, fell flaming to the avoid blowing up other Fortresses if his southern Missouri. North of Frankfurt, ground. North and east of Frankfurt aircraft exploded. He also applied fire Schab's group spotted the 8-17s and be­ three more 8-17s of the group were shot extinguishers and put the plane in a gan their attack. Ten minutes later down within little more than five minutes. steep dive, a strategy sometimes suc­ Schab registered a victory. Pulling up Wicked WM C had already suffered cessful in efforts to blowout such . the nose of his plane, he launched his damage, but the first crippling blow About this time Dowden, the bom­ rockets into the bomber stream. He came when a rocket burst destroyed bardier, was struck in the left leg by can­ claimed a Flying Fortress at 2: 10, some­ much of the vertical stabilizer. The For­ non shrapnel. By now it was clear that where east of Frankfurt, making it pos­ tress was also so badly damaged by can­ Wicked WMCwould not reach the tar­ sible-despite the confusion that after­ non shells from incoming fighters that, get, so he tried to release the bombs. noon-that he was the pilot responsible as waist gunner Donald Williams said, When this didn't work, he called the en­ for downing Wicked WMC or one of its "You could have fallen out of some of gineer and told him to salvo the bombs sister ships.12 the holes in the plane: from the bomb bay. When the bombs This was Wood's first close encoun­ Another attack damaged the engine fell, Dowden destroyed the bombsight

91 Nebraska History - SllIDIDerjFall1995 with his .45-caliber automatic, and para­ chuted from the plane. IS Michelbach is a small community about twenty miles east of Frankfurt, one of the many small sprinkled across the rolling hills in northwestern Bavaria. The town lay on the bank of the Kahl River, a small tributary of the River. There was no industry in or near Michelbach to invite a direct air strike, and its inhabitants had little rea­ son to fear the formations of Fortresses and Liberators. in western Germany were, however, being repeatedly attacked, and Frankfurt had been the target of a round-the-clock air raid on October 4 and 5. In July 1943 had been leveled by a created by the thousands of incendiary bombs dropped into the wreckage left by high explosive bombs. News of its demolition Wicked WAAC. now devoid of Its crew, skips across a plowed field before crashing Into and cremation spread to even the most a tree-lined road and exploding. The town of Is In the background. From a remote parts of rural Germany, fanning watercolor by James C. Fisher the hatred that was building among the people for the Allied airmen they called terrorfliegers. 14 At Kalberau, a small community west of Michelbach, townspeople heard the distant drone of the First Air Division as it approached. People crowded the streets to watch and, as the sound grew, the individual bombers became visible as small dots against the sky. Otto Staab saw one of them catch fire directly over­ head. It banked to the north and began a steep dive, parachutes streaming from it as it disappeared over the horizon. The Luftwaffe air base at Langendiebach, eight miles northwest of Michelbach, had been on alert since the bomber stream was detected ap­ proaching the continent. The alert in­ cluded mobilizing teams of men in trucks and touring cars to search for and capture airmen from downed planes. By 2:15 they could already see the trails of smoke from disabled 13-17s to the north and east, and vehicles be­ gan moving toward points on the hori­ zon where smoke trails and parachutes Ueutenant Wood's landing site on the bank of the Kohl River. Father Walter Zimowski were visible. and fourteen-year-old Alfred Sticker watched his descent from the church In KCilberau.

92 Navigator's Death

Lieutenant Wood had already left the smoke that rose in a widening cone. bank of the Kahl River, midway be­ aircraft when the pilot ordered the rest The explosion was witnessed by sev­ tween the towns of Michelbach and of the crew to bail out, but by this time eral farmers and their families who were Kalberau. Fourteen-year-old Alfred the intercom and the bell signaling such working their fields. Heinrich Sticker was near the church in Kalberau an order was shot out, and the message Rienecker, a farmer who lived in and, with Father Walter Zimowski, the did not reach the crew members. The Geiselbach, was plowing near the road assistant priest, they watched the men pilot trimmed the plane so it was flying using two cows. He and his son parachute from the stricken bomber. nearly , set the auto-pilot. attached watched the plane's descent. Transfixed "One of the parachutes was swinging his parachute to his harness, and by the event, or uncertain where to back and forth in the air, and fell head dropped through the bomb bay. Block move to avoid it, Rienecker was only a first for part of the jump," Sticker wrote. was badly hurt before he left the co­ few yards distant when the plane ex­ Sticker and Zimowski ran down the hill pilot's seat, and he broke his collar ploded. He died instantly of a brain con­ and across the railroad tracks when the bone as he dived out of the bomb bay. cussion and other injuries. Both cows parachute touched down just east of the Fortunately, considering his broken also perished. church. They unbuttoned the airman's leg, Dowden's parachute dropped into a Young Thekla Peter and a French jacket, saw that his entire face was blue, tree south of Kalberau. He was taken work prisoner had just arrived in the and noticed his pulse was "very slow: into town and placed in a bam. Later field and were working only a few yards Zimowski spoke to the flier in several that evening he was carried out of the from Rienecker. The explosion blew Pe­ different languages, but the airman did bam and placed in a large truck. Sev­ ter flat on her face. Burning gasoline not respond. IS eral airmen were in it, and Wood's splashed on her back, and she rolled in People from Kalberau were begin­ body, his parachute wrapped around the grass along the road to put out the ning to arrive, and soon a large crowd him, lay next to Dowden on the drive to flames, but they were not extinguished surrounded the flier. Sticker and other Michelbach, where the navigator's body until one of the farmers wrapped her in witnesses said the flier's oxygen mask was left on the sidewalk of the main a blanket taken from one of the dead was not properly attached, but others street. The truck drove on to take the in­ cows. In shock, she was taken home in believed his asphyxiation was because jured men to a hospitaL her cart. "I looked," she said, "like a of his parachute cords, some of which The plane flew in a semicircle during smoked ham." The local doctor had no were wrapped around his neck. If his its descent. Erich Henkel of Geiselbach medication for her bums, but was able oxygen mask was not properly attached, said that "folks ran like rabbits" as it to give her morphine. The family boiled he may have rapidly lost consciousness circled over Omersbach and oil, butter, and beeswax to make a balm in the thin air above 10,000 feet. Ifso, Geiselbach, since people had no idea for the bums. She still carries terrible there is good reason to believe his death where it would crash. It touched down scars from the event. was painless. Despite attempts to resus­ in the broad valley southeast of The ten-man crew of Wicked WMC citate him, Sticker said that "the young Geiselbach and skipped across an open landed at widely scattered locations. American flier was beyond rescue." One field. The propellers churned the soil in Most of them floated above the valley of of the men in the crowd that assembled the field as they dug into the earth and the Kahl River and past the vineyards on in the field that afternoon took a photo­ were bent back flush with the engine the hills east of Michelbach, then over graph of the young airman as he lay in cowlings. The bomber headed directly the town itself, to touch down in open the field. toward the road between Omersbach country. They were soon captured and Bomber crews were landing at and Geiselbach, a shaded lane lined by sent to German prisoner of war camps. widely separated places across central trees. Only the engineer, Gerking, escaped Germany. Some of the men were taken The mission ended abruptly when without a scratch. Everyone else was prisoner without incident; some were Wicked WMC smashed into the trees. wounded, but only the navigator did abused by civilians; and still others The wings disintegrated as the plane not survive the day. Wood's parachute fared even worse. A Fortress of another rammed into their trunks, and when 'the opened much higher than those of the group returning from Schweinfurt made fuel tanks ruptured the gasoline ex­ others, since he was the first of the crew a forced landing twenty-four miles east ploded in a ball of white flame. Finger­ to leave the plane, at an altitude of of the crash site of Wicked WMC. The like plumes of flame erupted from the about 23,600 feet. took four of the crew into cus­ fireball and catapulted forward in gentle Witnesses on the ground say Wood's . tody and shot them a few minutes later. arcs. The burning fuselage and engines parachute descended more quickly When United States troops arrived in plunged through the trees as the bomber than those of the others, and that it was April 1945 they were told of the execu­ was tom apart. The fireball quickly ex­ swinging wildly from side to side. He tion and in 1946, an American military panded into a tower of black, roiling struck the ground a few yards from the court reviewed the murder of the air­

93 Nebraska History - Summer/Fall 1995

~ QJ ~ ) -<:::­ N 'IT 3km. :z:: I i i I I 2 mi.

Route of the two bomber streams on their way to Schweinfurt. The path of Wicked WAAC, its crash site, and the parachute landing sites of nine of her crew are based on German eyewitness accounts. men. The leader of the execution squad ingots and recycled to become part of Because there was no morgue in was sentenced to death and hanged.16 the arsenal of the Luftwaffe.17 Michelbach, Lieutenant Wood's body Soldiers came later that day, cor­ was laid out in the fire station. Noll con­ doned off the wreckage of Wicked A Funeral in Germany tacted the Luftwaffe and asked them to WMC, and placed a guard on it to pre­ Andreas Noll had been the blirger­ evacuate the navigator's body, but he vent pilfering. A few days later, local meister of Michelbach since 1912. was told the remains should be taken farmers helped collect the debris. The Sometime before he'd care of by local authorities. The day af­ older school children in Geiselbach come to Michelbach and opened a ter Second Schweinfurt, a medical were assigned to pick up the .5O-caliber bakery, and became the blirgermeister corpsman from the Luftwaffe appeared ammunition that was scattered around a little later. Although it was customary at the hall to interview Noll. He and the crash site. The debris from the For­ for the blirgermeister to be a member of Noll examined the body and removed tress was carried away by trucks. The fi­ the during the Third Reich, Wood's identification tags. One tag was nal destination oIthe bomber was a sal­ Noll remained in office throughout sent to , and the other to the Inter­ vage yard, where the last recognizable World War II despite his lack of party national Red Cross. When Noll asked parts of Wicked WMCwere reduced to membership. the corpsman what to do with the body,

94 Navigator's Death he was told, "That's your business." Noll Michelbach was bombarded by as­ therefore ordered a local carpenter to sault guns about 10:30; the barrage dev­ build a wood coffin and make a wood astated the railroad station and yards cross for the airman Con which the and damaged many nearby houses. middle initial was wrongly shown as The town was captured after a brief but Elbert C. Wood). bitter battle. The American troops con­ Although he had never been a sol­ tinued up the Kahl valley, and the dier, Noll felt that a military casualty sound of fighting soon passed beyond should be buried with military honors, earshot. IS so he ordered all German soldiers who A few days later, American officers were home on furlough in Michelbach arrived in to establish a local to attend the funeral. Seven members of headquarters of the Office of Military the Wehrmacht appeared in uniform on Government. In 1945 they dismissed Sunday, October 17, including Peter Andreas Noll from his post as burger­ Hofmann. Other witnesses included the meister. He had been seen in a photo­ leader in Michelbach. a graph with some uniformed local Nazis, representative of the Wehrmacht. and so he was considered by the Americans several civilians and children. The to be politically unreliable. Noll had group carried the coffin up the cobble­ also been as high-handed with officials stone street to the Catholic cemetery on of the new military government as he the north side of Michelbach. The grave earlier had been with his own. His long had been dug before the small proces­ reign as biirgermeister of Michelbach sion arrived. ended, but he is still remembered by Andreas Noll and Karl Hermann. as having remained in that po­ cemetery caretaker, performed the sition longer than any other municipal burial at the cemetery, which had a "se­ office holder. He should also be remem­ rious and official" character. Noll made bered as a humane official who went a speech in which he pointed out that out of his way to bury an American air­ the airman had fought and died for his man with dignity and honor. country and that the soldiers were present in his honor. He also com­ Homecoming mented that the soldiers at the funeral For nearly a century, Americans have might be "confronted with the same been committed to the recovery, identi­ fate." The soldiers saluted while the cof­ fication, and proper burial of the war fin was covered with earth. dead, but only with the experience Biirgenneister Noll jeopardized him­ gained through involvement in several self by his handling of Lieutenant conflicts was it possible to accomplish Wood's funeral, for local Nazis believed in practice what had been supported in he'd been "too considerate" of an en­ theory. During World War I the War De­ emy of the Reich. The grave was, how­ partment directed the military to keep ever, well tended by local citizens. Peter mortuary records and to soldiers' Hofmann's wife, Elisabeth, often deco­ graves with registered headboards. rated the grave of the "handsome young After the return of World War I dead to American" when she visited the adjoin­ the United States for reburial only 3.5 ing one of her father. percent of the more than 79,000 Ameri­ In Allied armies stormed can fatalities in that conflict remained across the Rhine, and Allied troops unidentified. stood poised to invade central Ger­ In World War II, Graves Registration many. American troops quickly cap­ Service CGRS) units of the Quartermas­ tured Alzenau and then directed their Andreas Noll (1876-1970), burgermelster ter Corps were charged with coordinat­ attention toward Michelbach. The 106th of Michelbach, 1912-45. He solemnly ing the collection, identification, and Cavalry Group began their drive up the conducted Ueutenant Wood's funeral burial of the dead. They made every ef­ two days after the raid. Courtesy of Rudi fort to establish the identity of the de­ Kahl valley on March 30-Good Friday. Kress

95 Nebraska History - SummerJFall1995 ceased by consulting members of their mains, which were removed to cemeter­ evidence of the skill and persistence of units. This accomplished, the bodies ies in France, Belgium, The , the CIP technicians. were transferred to one of the ­ or Luxembourg. No war dead were to In time, the remains of more than rary interment sites in Europe. At the be permanently buried in countries with 171,000 of those who died overseas dur­ close of hostilities in Europe 117,000 which America had been at war. ing World War II were returned to U.S. casualties were interred in fifty-four Under the "Return of the Dead Pro­ American soil. Although there was de­ cemeteries. gram,n more commonly known as "repa­ bate about the pros and cons of the Re­ After V-E day the GRS was replaced triation,n next of kin were given the op­ turn of the Dead program, next of kin of by the American Graves Registration tion of having the remains interred in a more than half the recovered dead pre­ Command (AGRC).19 This organization, permanent United States military cem­ ferred they be returned to the United established in , no longer col­ etery overseas, or having them returned States for burial. lected and removed bodies from the to the United States for burial in a na­ On the morning of March 13, 1947, battlefield. Instead, the AGRC concen­ tional or private cemetery. Maj. Gustave H. Weimann, of the 466th trated its energies on the recovery of The AGRC sought expert advice to Quartermaster Battalion, American isolated and unrecorded burials and help identify unknown remains, includ­ Graves Registration Command (AGRC), unburied remains. ing that from detectives and from spe­ United States Army, received a tele­ In 1945 the AGRC was assigned to cialists in physical anthropology. Early phone call from the British Missing Re­ carry out the postwar Casualty Clear­ in 1946 Dr. Harry L. Shapiro, curator of search and Enquiry Service CMRES) at ance Plan. The plan was designed to physical anthropology at the American Butzbach.21 The MRES was an RAF or­ confirm or alter the casualty status (pre­ of Natural History in New York, ganization dedicated to the recovery of sumed Dead, Missing in Action, Missing, was asked by the quartermaster RAF personnel who had died in the air Prisoner of War, or Captured) provision­ in Washington, D.C., if he could be of war over Europe and the Far East. ally assigned during the war to thou­ help in the identification of the war The MRES and the AGRC cooperated· sands of American soldiers. Because dead. He assured the quartermaster gen­ in their search for missing personnel the families of these men anxiously eral that "current knowledge of skeletal and, when the MRES found American awaited word on the status of their sol­ variation and its correlations with age, casualties, the information was transmit­ dier kin, casualty clearance was given sex and race would be helpful."20 ted to the nearest AGRC field unit high priority. Techniques recommended by When the MRES unit at Butzbach tele­ The search and recovery mission was Shapiro were put into practice at the phoned to notify the AGRC of its discov­ accomplished by a series of area Central Identification Point (CIP) in ery of an American casualty, the incom­ sweeps, each of which was carried out , France. From August 1946 ing message was recorded and filed by in three phases. In the first phase a until the spring of 1947, all recovered Major Weimann: "American aircraft three-man team systematically visited remains were first sent directly to the crashed 14 -at 16:00 communities in a given area, distribut­ CIP for examination. A second CIP was hours-attack on Schweinfurt-1 ing posters describing the operation and later established at Neuville-en-Condroz, American buried [at] Michelbach­ urging local people to volunteer any in­ Belgium. Kreis Alzenau L 511M-96." The grave, formation they might have regarding Processing of remains was a complex that of 2d Lt. Elbert S.Wood, Jr., had burials of American dead. task done by a team of technicians us­ been missed in earlier searches for The data-gathering phase was fol­ ing a variety of specialized techniques. American war dead in Germany. lowed by the investigative phase, when The men possessed a variety of skills: On the afternoon of the same day, a special team followed every lead con­ They knew how to reconstruct the skel­ . Major Weimann sent Gaston Wolf (yVar cerning the whereabouts of grave sites. eton, make an accurate dental chart, Dead Civilian Investigator) to investi­ The investigating team contacted com­ and take fingerprints 'under difficult gate the case of the American flier bur­ munity leaders and other residents re­ conditions. ied at Michelbach. Wolf's first visit was ported to have information on burial After compiling their files the body to the biirgermeister of Michelbach, places. They were obliged to continue was interred in one of the American Oskar Grunzfelder, who had assumed their investigations until they had in­ cemeteries in Europe. The information office after Andreas Noll's dismissal. quired into every rumor and bit of gos­ was then forwarded to headquarters, Grunzfelder took Wolf for the short walk sip about the disposition of American AGRC, for assessment and identifica­ from the city hall to Lieutenant Wood's remains. tion. Of more than 148,000 remains re­ grave. The disinterring team, under the The final phase was accomplished by covered in the European Theater, only direction of Wolf's assistant, Pte. Peter the disinterring team. This team went to about one percent were still unidenti­ N. Zervos, with the help of four German the grave site and exhumed the re­ fied at the close of the program in 1951, laborers, began opening the grave.

96 Navigator's Death

~,==""...... ;'.;...'•...:.,...,.~ That evening Wolf interviewed t5~;,·":'· ~.(!!\};:. Andreas Noll and obtained his version 1-:7.=:!..:>:o;:-::-:-~ ""#~ r~ !,.:"~ . r.;:::;;':';:.-.:::i~~:I,.J\t7~~;-J ~{~~ of Wood's death and burial. The disin~ terring team reached the coffin the next " morning. No dog tags were found. since of'· it was customary for the Germans to re­ move all such effects. The body was to· _ f'l-I mPOllTAlIT. 'fhll re~ort 1<111 be """pihd in. trlplicl\te by oBoh ATm;/ ,\ r • fully clothed save for footwear. Lieuten­ ForGu or!>""1ze.l:io,,·with1n <.a how-a 0: tlIo l:100 nn airor&.Ct V ant Wood's A-6 fleece-lined flight boots oftlGlo.l1;y ....j>o.-l:o!i llIi..1o~. . '. . 1. OlIGAlIIZAt!Olh 1.oo..t1on ill Shtio" 111 J Co"'.... ."d or Air Forco...... at.h,.....___ had been removed and. until they were or"up 30Gth SOiIIb (;P(R) I Squodi":l 3611th BOB Sq.l eM w" pl6 given to me in 1991. remained in the ... SFncIFY. pom 01', ~frmt1e'ch- I tlour.,,_ a' Pr..cribiOCl , . Intendod Do.U.....Uol1 ot' l!!...~on lJ. llruah.. '::..­ possession of the man who dug his ~. m:;,'rltm CO!llllTIOliS J"llD Q:\ 'n2!1 L\S7ruJPdIit'Jol grave in 1943. 4. !lIVE. (il)Oa.E.14Zg;13 IfiEiOU~'!: .-....;r'tQO'.:rrOD_ lJDknO)f!l -­ ot' l ...t 1ai.1In'if",roabo"t. o. ""'•••11/1 ..ircrlltl:. The remains were placed in a burial (b) S,ooUy..inethor ( )'Lan S1r;h'oodl ( ) Lt.at oontaoted by Radj,ol , _ box together with the wood cross, and ( ) Forood Dcmnl ( ) Seen to Cra.ah; or ~} In!'o:r=tiol1 110t ,AvaUable. S. AIRCRAFT n.\3 LOS';, Oil. IS Di:LIKVJ;D to !:I,V''; JJi3!! LO::?, 11.1 A P~~:;ilLO: OF. (Cl,Gok only sent to the crp at Neuville-en-Condroz. one (x)t:ne"Y I.iroraft, ( ) tM,'\I l.llti-I.irc:-o..ft, ( ) othor Clrc""",tlUlcea ... There were two discrepancies in his :011""" " identification that called for investiga­ tion at Neuville. Not only were there in­ consistencies in his middle initial, but the number "7934" marked on some of the clothing did not agree with Wood's army serial number. For this reason the remains were classified as "Unknown X­ 5423." An "Identification Check List" noted the remains were clothed in an officers' pink shirt and green trousers, tie, yellow web belt. cotton socks. jockey shorts, and size 40 gabardine flying coveralls. Leather bars denoting the rank of sec­ ond lieutenant were on the coverall shoulders and the name "E.S. Wood" '.~ was printed on the left chest. There were no shoes. A careful comparison C~tnctod • '" also was made of the tooth charts pre­ l/...".e 1<> FUll 3or$.al a:r r....t (Lall: JlnmtI l'ir.l:) ~ ~ Sii\ht"d pared for X-5423 and Wood's dental 1. Hone 2. records made in June of 1943. The two 3. records corresponded in all essential 12.-,.,lP...... l'llR""·""SO"'ID"'l"'/lLrTiJmim'"""Ilt"'L"Tr::"'\Ii"'ltt)"'""1I'Flp'S;'!"."'VIl.....,S"'IJ':>I'J.'l"'rn:."lt·""D,--;:;,"l';lS••t:t ::'§; :;:0 01:£ OF 'tllE f'owUIIG s:r;.:mur:lmlJ(a) part.Chutu nor6 u."d J (b}i'ElroolUl 'Wete lOb.. W'Illldni:; """Y t'r­ particulars. "'" .... ellS or "r...h 101'(0) l-.ny O~t.".ol1(sP"Q;\.!'y) U.clalown lS. J":-:J.CiI AZRL".L PHO~!.u:.P.C1L.:t:,0~.:;liET~!I.S!lO!1Il;G ,'J'l'llAttlii;'!1! LOitl'lOl1 1.1iElIlr Laboratory examination began to AIOOR."n 1';;.s t.:.st SEL'l!. help resolve the discrepancy between U. ATTi.CiI EllmIt:IESS DESCRIPl'IOH Of' CRiI!lH.;'Or.::-~::l I.:.:mI!lG.OR 0l.1u:R CIRCll)!:lTIJICCS '. l''J,IlIII!G TO J.lIs~nlQ I,IReR;n. " the name and the numbers written on 15. !Jl'i.Cl! .~ DE!i~IPrIOJl OF 'l11E EX:lE1l! OP·Si~:.RCrr, IF JJlf, iJ'D"GIV:-: :L'JIS, R."J\X ;.I!D the clothing. The chemical laboratory SSlUi.L IllllmJ:n Of' Oi'FlCE!! IN CIUJli;& l:E.".E None results were reported on May 9, 1947. A technician found the numeral "7934" stenciled eight times on the waist band of the pair of jockey-type cotton shorts worn by X-5423. This number, found on A Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) was filed for each American aircraft missing in two other items of clothing, corre­ action. MACR No. 821 records the then-unknown fate of Wicked WAAC. National sponded to the last four digits of Wood's Archives and Records Administration enlisted serial number (bu.t not to the new serial number assigned him when

97 Navigator's Death

Flame: A Navigator's Death Over Schweinfurt Spanish Civil War, Contributions in MilitalY His­ 11 Hans Heinri Stapfer, Strangers in a Strange (New York: Sarpedon, 1993). tory, No. 35 (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, Land (Carrollton, Tex.: Squadron/Signal Publica­ 1983); and Holger Nauroth and Werner Held, tions, Inc., 1988), 17-19,49-54. S Martin Middlebrook, The Schweinfurt­Messerschmilt BfllO: ZerslOrer an allen Fronten, 18 Leo V. , Frank J. Glasgow, and George Regensburg Mission (New York: Charles Scribner's 1939-1945 (: Motorbuch Verlag, 1978), Sons, 1983). A. Fisher, The Fighting Forty-Fifth (Baton Rouge: passim. Army and Navy Publishing Company, 1945); and lIfhere are two unit histories for the 306th Bomb 12 Details 01 the victory are based on Schob's Thomas J. Howard, The 106th Cavalry Group in Eu­ Group: Arthur P. Bove, First Over Germany: 306th flight log, a photocopy of which was provided me rope, 1944-1945 (, Germany: J. P. Bombardment Group in World War II (San Angelo, by Werner Girbig, Hatterscheim, Germany, on HimmerKG,1945). Tex.: Newsfoto Publishing Co., 1946); and Russell Mar. 7, 1988. Schob was one 01 the rare German 19 Basic sources on the AGRC are today hard to A. Strong, First Over Germany: A History ofthe pilots to fight throughout World War 11 and sur­ find. Edward Steere, "The Graves Registration Ser­ 306th Bombardment Group (Winston-Salem, vive. By Mar. 1945 Schob was serving with a unit vice in World War [I: Historical Studies, No. 21, Of­ N.Car.: Hunter Publishing, 1982). Because it was flying Focke-WuIl190s. His unit was dissolved un­ the oldest operational Eighth Air Force unit in En­ fice of the Quartermaster General (Washington, ceremoniously when news arrived that American D.C.: GPO, 1951); and Edward Steere and Thayer gland, it is mentioned prominently in virtually ev­ forces were advancing toward them. The men be­ M. Boardman, "Final Disposition of World War II ery general history. gan melting into the countryside, slowly making Dead: 1945-51: Historical Studies, Series II, No.4 7 their way home. Schob was by this time a captain Budd J. Peaslee, Heritage of Valor: The Eighth (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Quartermaster with five hundred combat missions, and credited Air Force in World War II (philadelphia: J. B. General, 1957). There is a recent summary of this with twenly-eight air victories, induding ten four­ Lippincott, 1964), lSI. information for the European theater, W. engined Allied bombers. He died in Frankfurt in 8 The Schweinlurt missions have attracted the at­ Raymond Wood and Lori Ann Stanley, "Recovery tention of numerous scholars. Prominent general 1981. and Identification of World War II Dead: American accounts include Thomas M. Coffey, Decisian 13 Leland A. Dowden, One and One Half Missions Graves Registration Activities in Europe: loumal Over Schweinfurt (New York; David McKay, 1977); (San Mateo, Calif.: Westem Book/Journal Press, ofForensic Sciences 34 (1989):1365-73. Middlebrook, Schweinfurt-Regensburg; and John 1989), 45-46. 20 Personal communication from Harry L. Sweetman, Schweinfurt: Disaster in the Skies (New 14 Martin Caiden, The Night Hamburg Died (New Shapiro to author, Nov. 4, 1987. York: Ballantine , 1971). York: Ballantine, 1960). 21 The narrative of the discovery and identifica­ , 9 Elmer Bendiner, The Fall ofFortresses (New IS Aschaffenburg, Germany, Main-Echo, July 18, tion of Lieutenant Wood is abstracted from his 293 York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1980),9. 1987,23. file. For data on the MRES, see Evelyn Boyd and 10 Martin Caidin, Black Thursday (New York: E. P. Eric Munday, "The Missing Research and Enquiry 16 Alois Stadtmuller, Maingebiet und Spessart im Dutton, 1960), 165. Service: Air Clues 40 (1986): 187-90. Zweiten Weltkrieg (Aschaffenburg: Geschichts-und II Raymond L. Proctor, Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Kunstverein Aschaffenburg e.V., 1982), 177-78.

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