Operation: Cambrai (Mission #407), France

Date: 12th June 1944 (Monday)

Unit No: 360th Bombardment Squadron (H), 303rd Bombardment Group (H), 1st Air Division, 8th Air Force

Type: B-17G

Serial No: 42-107048

Code: PU:M

Location: Eswars, 6½ kms (4 mls) north of Cambrai, France

Base: Molesworth (Station #107), Huntingdonshire, England

Pilot: 1st Lt. Roy Eisele Sr. DFC, O-745655 AAF Age 21. KiA

Co Pilot: 2nd Lt. Louis Frank Girard Jr. DFC, O-682848 AAF Age 21. KiA

Navigator: 2nd Lt. Murray Schenker DFC, O-694734 AAF Age 22. KiA

Bombardier: 2nd Lt. Melvin Gladstone DFC, O-746877 AAF Age 22. KiA

Engineer: T/Sgt. Louis Morton Cowley DFC, 16038217 AAF Age 23. KiA

Radio Operator: T/Sgt. Ralph Millard DFC, 35521469 AAF Age 22. KiA

Ball Turret Gnr: S/Sgt. Efrain Longoria DFC, 38365009 AAF Age 20. KiA

Left Waist Gnr: S/Sgt. Szymon Alter Friedman DFC, 32228384 AAF Age 38. KiA

Right Waist Gnr: S/Sgt. Richard Lee Bell 15054420 AAF Age 21. KiA

Tail Gnr: S/Sgt Edward Joseph Vallee DFC, 31165663 AAF Age 23. Id No: 78293 *, PoW No. 8195 ** (1)

* Buchenwald concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany in July 1937.

** Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland. (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser, Bavaria).

Above: The crew of B-17G 42-107048:

Standing left to right: 1st Lt. Roy Eisele, 2nd Lt. Louis F. Girard, 2nd Lt. Murray Schenker, 2nd Lt. Melvin Gladstone.

Front left to right: T/Sgt. Louis M. Cowley, Sgt. Efrain Longoria, S/Sgt. Richard L. Bell, T/Sgt. Joseph A. Czerwonka, S/Sgt Edward J. Vallee, S/Sgt. Ralph Millard.

T/Sgt. Joseph A. Czerwonka was the Left Waist Gunner and not on this mission. He survived the war and returned to the United States.

Above: 1st Lt. Hershel R. Dewall’s crew on which S/Sgt. Szymon A. Friedman was initially a member. The rest of the crew survived the war and returned to the United States.

Rear left to right: Tail Gunner: S/Sgt. Paul J. Davis, Radio Operator: Sgt. Charles J. Bonn 12092994 - PoW, Stalag 17B ***, Co-Pilot: 2nd Lt. John M. Chapman Jr. O-678165 - PoW, Stalag Luft 1 ***, Pilot: 1st Lt. Hershel R. Dewall, Navigator 1st Lt. Sylvester J. Becker;

Front left to right: Left Waist Gunner: S/Sgt. Szymon A. Friedman, Ball Turret: S/Sgt. Arthur Bowen Ayes, Togglier: S/Sgt. Lawrence Carl Pierson, Right Waist Gunner: S/Sgt. Harry V. Hosso 15323137 - PoW, Stalag Luft 4 ***, Engineer: T/Sgt. Alphonse B. Serwa.

*** B-17G 42-31471 PU:E 'Doolittle’s Destroyers’ (215 BS, 303 BG). Shot down by flak on the 8th March 1944. (10 PoWs)

REASON FOR LOSS:

Nearly 1500 bombers were despatched on the 12th June 1944 to sixteen airfields in NW France and six railroad bridges in the Rennes and St. Nazaire area. The 360th Bombardment Sqn target was the Marshalling yards at Cambrai, France. B-17G 42-107048 was one of eight aircraft that failed to return with two lost in accidents.

The aircraft exploded in mid-air after a Flak burst struck the nose sending it out of control and it crashed at 09:18 hrs near Eswars, 6½ kms (4 mls) NNE of Cambrai just 1 min before bombing the target.

(1) S/Sgt. Vallee was the only member of the crew that baled out. He evaded capture but was betrayed on the 3rd August 1944. The details of his evasion and subsequent betrayal are unknown.

He was then taken to the Fresnes prison located to the south of Paris. This was where French political prisoners were held and ordinarily Allied airmen, after questioning, were moved to a PoW Camp. In the summer of 1944, with the Allies having liberated Paris and closing in, the Gestapo guards started reducing the prison population by execution, and then relocating surviving prisoners to various concentration camps east of France. On the 15th August 1944 he was amongst 169 Allied PoWs and hundreds of French men and women who were packed into a freight train and transported to Buchenwald concentration camp on a journey lasting five days. Buchenwald was located 8 km (5 mls) north of Weimar, in the German province of Thüringen. It was established and administered by the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Fg Off. Joel Mathews ‘Tex’ Stevenson C27788 RCAF, the pilot of 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF Lancaster X KB727 VR:H escaped from the train and successfully evaded.

Sqn Ldr. Lamason and Fg Off. Chapman succeeded in getting all but two of the Allied PoWs transferred to Stalag Luft 3. Two airmen, 1st Lt. Levitt Clinton Beck Jr. O-736945, US AAF and Fg Off. Philip Derek Hemmens, 152583, RAFVR died in the sick barrack.

S/Sgt. Vallee was transferred to Stalag Luft 3 over the period 15th to 20th August 1944. In early April 1945 he joined the forced march to Stalag 7a, Moosburg in Southern Bavaria. The camp was liberated on the 29th April 1945 by units of the 14th Armoured Division from Patton’s 3rd Army.

Recognition:

For decades the International Red Cross (IRC) had stated that there were no military personnel in Buchenwald despite the overwhelming documentary and anecdotal evidence. It was not until 1988 that the IRC eventually confirmed the airmen were illegally held at Buchenwald.

The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian governments also consistently denied that any of their service personnel were ever held in concentration camps and refused to investigate the claims made by a 'mere’ handful of men.

Reparations were made to the British airmen who had been illegally held at Buchenwald in 1965. Eventually in 1988 the Australian, New Zealand and it is believed the Canadian governments acknowledged that their airmen had been illegally held in concentration camps.

American airmen were among those receiving compensation and the US Air force have acknowledged the Buchenwald airmen with an exhibit at the Air Force Museum, albeit the airmen are shown in uniform rather than in civilian attire. Furthermore, there is no mention of decades-long denial of their experiences by other branches of the government.

Burial Details:

2nd Lt. Schenker and T/Sgt. Cowley were reported to have been buried in the British Cemetery at Tilloy-lez-Cambrai. Six others including 1st Lt. Eisele were buried in a British War Cemetery in Cambrai. Another record has entries for seven buried in Cambrai Cemetery and 2nd Lt. Schenker was in the British War Cemetery in Cambrai.

1st Lt. Roy Eisele. DFC, Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters). Recovered and interred at the US Military Cemetery St André at Evreux in Plot K, Row 6, Grave 104.Relocated to the Normandy American Cemetery in Plot B, Row 2, Grave 24. Born on the 10th April 1923 in Los Angeles County, California. Son of John Matthew and Elsie (née Knorr) Eisele. Husband to Beatrice May (née Cramer) Eisele of Los Angeles County, California, USA.

Above: Grave marker for 2nd Lt. Louis Frank Girard Jr. (Courtesy of Woose - FindAGrave)

2nd Lt. Louis Frank Girard Jr. DFC, Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters). Recovered and interred at the US Military Cemetery St André at Evreux in Plot K, Row 6, Grave 103. Relocated to the Normandy American Cemetery in Plot A, Row 18, Grave 38. Born on the 23rd May 1923 in Richie, West Virginia. Son of Louis Frank and Gertrude Lucille (née Moats) Girard of Harrisville, Richie, West Virginia, USA.

Above: Grave marker for 2nd Lt. Murray Schenker (Courtesy of audiennie - FindAGrave)

2nd Lt. Murray Schenker. DFC, Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters). Recovered and interred at the US Military Cemetery St André at Evreux in Plot K, Row 6, Grave 105.Relocated to the Normandy American Cemetery in Plot A, Row 19, Grave 44. Born on the 22nd December 1921 in Romania. Son of Benjamin Schenker of the Bronx, New York, USA.

Above: Grave marker for 2nd Lt. Melvin Gladstone (Courtesy of Woose - FindAGrave)

2nd Lt. Melvin Gladstone. DFC, Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters). Recovered and interred at the US Military Cemetery St André at Evreux in Plot K, Row 4, Grave 78. Relocated to the Normandy American Cemetery in Plot B, Row 15, Grave 36. Born on the 21st June 1921 in Waterloo, Iowa. Son of Maurice and Sadie T. (née Siegel) Gladstone of McHenry, Illinois, USA.

Above: Grave marker for T/Sgt. Louis M. Cowley (Courtesy of DaveH - FindAGrave)

T/Sgt. Louis Morton Cowley. DFC, Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters). Recovered and interred at the US Military Cemetery St André at Evreux in Plot K, Row 3, Grave 61. Repatriated and laid to rest in the Forest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, Cook, Illinois. Born on the 8th June 1921 in Chicago, Illinois. Son of Louis Bertram and Buelah June (née Morton) Cowley. Husband to Faye (née Noakes) Cowley of Chicago, Illinois, USA.

T/Sgt. Ralph Millard. DFC, Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters). Recovered and interred at the US Military Cemetery St André at Evreux in Plot K, Row 6, Grave 102. Relocated to the. Normandy American Cemetery in Plot B, Row 9, Grave 24. Born on the 24th April 1922 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Husband to Geraldine Millard of Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Above: Grave marker for S/Sgt. Efrain Longoria (Courtesy of the 303rd Bomb Group (H) Historian- FindAGrave)

S/Sgt. Efrain Longoria. DFC, Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters). Recovered and interred at the US Military Cemetery St André at Evreux in Row K, Row 6, Grave 101.Repatriated and laid to rest on the 15th June 1949 in Plot R, Grave 212 at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas.Born on the 12th March 1924 in Del Rio, Texas. Son of Jesus Maria and Matalia Longoria of Del Rio, Texas, USA.

S/Sgt. Szymon Alter Friedman. DFC, Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart. Relocated to the Normandy American Cemetery in Plot B, Row 12, Grave 40.Born on the 28th June 1906 in Przedzel, Poland.Son of Volf and Chana Rivka (née Bram) Friedman. Next of Kin listed as Saul Friedman of Jamacia, Long Island, New York, USA.

S/Sgt. Richard Lee Bell. Air Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart. Recovered and interred at the US Military Cemetery St André at Evreux in Plot K, Row 4, Grave 79. Relocated to the Normandy American Cemetery in Plot D, Row 16, Grave 41. Born on the 12th July 1922 in Shelby County, Ohio. Son of Herbert C. and Martha J. (née Murphy) Bell of Pemberton, Ohio, USA.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew

Other sources listed below:

Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them. Franklin Delano Roosevelt