Operation: Noyen-sur-Sarthe (Mission #418), France

Date: 17th June 1944 (Saturday)

Unit No: 367th Bombardment Squadron (H), 306 Bombardment Group (H), 1st Air Division, 8th Air Force

Type: B-17G

Serial No: 42-38163

Code: GY:N

Location: l’Oisellerie 2¼ km (1½ mls) north of Torcé-Viviers-en-Charnie, France

Base: Thurleigh (Station #111), Bedfordshire, England

Pilot: 2nd Lt. Joseph Warren Pederson O-809865 AAF Age 23. Id No. 78351 *, PoW No. 8149 ** (1)

Co-Pilot: 2nd Lt. Leon James ‘Jim’ Blood O-813519 AAF Age 23. Evader (2)

Navigator: 1st Lt. Ragnar Eugene Gustafson O-811635 AAF Age 23. Evader (3)

Bombardier: 1st Lt. William Andrew Smith O-725095 AAF Age 28. Evader (4)

Engineer: T/Sgt. Barney Flynn Arnold 18061280 AAF Age 23. Killed

Radio Operator: T/Sgt. John Edward Wonning 35691651 AAF Age 23. PoW ***

Ball Turret Gunner: S/Sgt. Jack Eugene ‘John’ Blackwell 39698014 AAF Age 24. Evader (2)

Waist Gunner: S/Sgt. Warren Edwin Kerr 37002808 AAF Age 28. PoW **** (5)

Tail Turret Gunner: S/Sgt. Herman Philip Ehrhard Jr. 17081672 AAF Age 21. Evader (6)

* 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).

*** Unknown PoW Camp.

**** Frontstalag 221W, also called Rennes Military Hospital, located on the Rue Jean Mac’ in Rennes. It was an Annex (Austelle) of Frontstalag 221 located in Bordeaux.

REASON FOR LOSS:

The mission to Noyen-sur-Sarthe in France on the 17th June 1944 was a last minute target change. Due to adverse weather conditions the 367th never completed its formation and seven aircraft that could not find the squadron returned. The primary target was obscured by cloud and a bridge at Noyen-sur-Sarthe was bombed through a break in the clouds.

The only Flak encountered was on crossing the French coast. 2nd Lt. Pederson’s aircraft was struck by Flak at 11:08 hrs but stayed in formation. It was hit again by Flak at 12:45 hrs when on its bomb run which started a very bad fire in the left wing. The aircraft peeled out of formation and entered into a short spin. Nine parachutes were counted by several crews to come out at about 20,000 ft and the aircraft dived into the clouds still spinning.

The aircraft crashed at L’Oisellerie 2¼ km (1½ mls) north of Torcé-Viviers-en-Charnie which is 35½ km (22 mls) WNW of Le Mans.

T/Sgt. Wonning was wounded in the right arm by Flak and was aided to bale out of the aircraft. It was last reported to be treated in a German hospital.

T/Sgt. Arnold suffered a broken leg on landing. He was taken to a German field hospital together with the other injured members of the crew. He was well enough to be moved when the US Forces were approaching. The train that he was being transported to the city of Tours was strafed by P-47s and he was shot in the chest and killed.

(1) 2nd Lt. Pederson avoided capture with the assistance of some French civilians who provided him with civilian cloths, food and shelter. However, his luck ran out when he was captured by Luftwaffe personnel on the 25th July 1944. He was turned over to the Gestapo in Le Mans and was held in solitary confinement for 14 days.

He was then taken to the Fresnes prison located to the south of Paris, arriving there on the 8th August. 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.

2nd Lt. Pederson 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.

(2) After baling out 2nd Lt. Blood landed in a field about 1 km (¾ ml) south of Saint-Pierre-des-Bois, some 13 km (8 mls) due north of where the aircraft crashed, and was immediately joined S/Sgt. Blackwell who had landed nearby in some woods.

They walked in a southerly direction and on the 20th June they stopped at a farmhouse near Vion, some 15 km (9¼ mls) as the crow flies SSW of Saint-Pierre-des-Bois on the road leading from Vion to Sablé-sur-Sarthe to the west. Here they were given civilian clothing and shelter for the day.

They next day they continued travelling in a southerly direction for the next 4 days reaching Saint-Mathurin-sur-Loire, some 46 km (29 mls) due south as the crow flies from Vion, midday on the 24th June.

A boatman ferried them across the Loire river to Saint-Rémy-la-Varenne and then took them to a schoolhouse from where a teacher took them to Chemellier, 7 km (4½ mls) to the south and handed them over to another school teacher who was also the town clerk. They were sheltered in the schoolhouse for that night, for a second at a hotel and were provide with a change of shoes.

On the 26th June they were taken to Alligny, some 4½ km (2¾ mls) to the SSE where they stayed for 5 days with an elderly couple.

On the 1st July the two teachers arrive and they were taken to Doué-la-Fontaine, some 4½ km (2¾ mls) to the SE. From here the head of the local Resistance took them to a farm at Forges where they remained until the 24th August.

During their stay, on or about the 1st August they spoke with a French officer who had been dropped behind the lines by parachute. He told them that Lt. Oliphant, a P-38 pilot, had been snatched from the German occupied hospital at La Flèche and flown to safety in a Lysander together with 3 Frenchmen.

This was 1st Lt. John H. Oliphant, DFC (2 OLC), Silver Star, Bronze Star, Air Medal (8 OLC), Purple Heart, O-674390, USAAF. He was from the 369th Fighter Sqn, 359th Fighter Group. He failed to return from a strafing mission due to mechanical failure of his P-51B 42-106679. Loss of coolant resulted in a forced landing, during which the aircraft struck a tree stump with the port wing and nosed over. He was trapped in the cockpit being soaked in aviation gas. 8 hours later he was freed unconscious by enemy troops. He was sent to the garrison hospital at Le Flèche for treatment for a broken arm inflicted by his captors.

They became impatient and left the farm on 24th August. The next day they met a Belgian who fed them and a change of shoes. They were also given instructions on where to cross the river Loire. They left and on the 26th August they reached Sainte-Christine where we met a man who with a friend took us on cycles which he had borrowed, into La Chapelle-Saint-Florent. Here they were stopped by Germans and, having no papers, were arrested.

On the 8th September the German troop train on which they were travelling reached Belfort it was strafed by a P-47 Thunderbolt and they ran for shelter. They slipped away from their guards and were helped by a railway worker to hide in the railway yards. Them remained in hiding here until the 29th September helped by friendly French family. A former teacher in Belfort then took them to his home in Boron, 15 km (9½ mls) SE of Belfort, on the 29th September. Here they met Lt. George Hebbel, who was shot down on the 9th September.

This was 2nd Lt. George T. Hebbel O-824489 USAAF. He was from 523rd Fighter Sqn, 27th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force. His P-47D 42-27941 was hit by Flak and successfully belly landed on a road.

On the 30th September they and a group of 12 French citizens crossed the Swiss frontier behind Delle, 5¼ km (3¼ mls) south of Belfort, and entered the village of Boncourt. Here the group were arrested by the Military Police but were released 2 hrs later through the intervention of one of the Frenchmen who was a friend of a young Swiss Lieutenant.

They were taken by train to Porrentruy, 10 km (6 mls) south of Boncourt, where they stayed in a hotel overnight. The next morning they left in a taxi with two Frenchmen and the Swiss Lieutenant, crossed the French frontier for Villars-lès-Blamont where they were let through by customs officials.

Later that day a French Army Captain drove them to Maîche, some 14½ km (9 mls) as the crow flies SSW of Villars-lès-Blamont. 2 days later a Frenchman drove them to Besançon, some 58 km (36 mls) as the crows flies to the west of Villars-lès-Blamont, where they reported to US forces where their evacuation to England was arranged. They were interviewed on the 12th October 1944.

(3) After baling out 1st Lt. Gustafson landed in a field NW of Loué, approximately 16 km (10 mls) SE of the crash site and almost immediately was met by two French farmers who directed him to a nearby wood and told him to stay there until help came. He stayed there for the next 2 nights and 3 days while the French provided him with food.

He was then taken to Château de Martigne, about 3¼ km (2 mls) SSW of Brûlon, which was some 7 km (4¼ mls) WSW of Loué, where his helpers provided civilian clothes and hid him in the home of a local woman who was a member of the Maquis. He remained there for the next month but was moved when units of German mountain troops began passing steadily through the village, often stopping at the Château.

From there he cycled the 9¼ mls (5¾ mls) south to Juigné-Sur-Sarthe with another woman leader of a resistance group. Here he was sheltered by a storekeeper for the next 4 days. During this time a German Panzer Division arrived and remained in the village for 3 weeks.

During this time he remained securely hidden and all the necessities were provided by the storekeeper. When the American’s advance threatened the village the German’s moved out and soon afterward Juigné-Sur-Sarthe was taken over by reconnaissance units of what is believed to the 5th US Armoured Division and he was liberated. He was interviewed on the 19th August 1944.

(4) 1st Lt. Smith landed in a tree near a crossroads about 4¾ km (3 mls) SE of Loué. He left his parachute in the tree and he saw a farmer in the distance next to a farmhouse. He did not look good to him so he left and hid in an abandoned house. Whilst in hiding he saw 3 Germans soldiers arrive appearing to look for him or his crew but left the area empty handed.

After about 4 hours he left and made his way to the top of a nearby hill and saw another farm house. He watched the farmer for a while and then decided to approach him and ask him for help. That night a doctor from Loué came to treat his ankle, which he had twisted after having been entangled aboard the aircraft. He was told that if he could walk he would be taken to a comrade.

The doctor also told him that a wounded comrade had been captured and from the description he believed that this might have been T/Sgt. Wonning. He also named S/Sgt. Blackwell as being captured, although this turned out to be incorrect as he successfully evaded (See Ser 2). He also informed him that a third comrade who had a broken leg had also been captured. From the description he thought that this was the waist gunner, S/Sgt. Kerr (See Ser 5).

The next day the farmer and another man took him by cart to the Forêt de la Charnie, near Sainte-Suzanne, and enroute collected S/Sgt. Ehrhard. They were taken to a Maquis encampment in the forest.

They stayed there in a tent occupied by a British Lt Col. who spoke fluent French. He had been there 3 weeks to organise resistance. With him were an English Lt. and an English girl dropped in by parachute two days previously, an English radio man and Frenchmen of all types totalling about 25. Every other night an aeroplane dropped ammunition and guns into the forest. On the third night of their arrival the camp was attacked by the Germans and the camp was destroyed.

Note: Research has found that the Lt Col. was probably Maj. Sydney ‘Soapy’ Hudson and the English girl was probably Sonia d’Artois. Both were members of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The location of the Maquis camp was given away by a Maquis fighter under torture by the Gestapo and they lost a number of men and supplies but they and the majority of the Maquis escaped.

1st Lt. Smith, S/Sgt. Ehrhard and a F/Sgt. Franck [sic] Redford, an Australian shot down at Jublains, some 10 km (6 mls) NE from Mayenne, hid in the woods until dark and then crawled away.

Note: This was F/Sgt. Frank Herbert Redford 427743 RAAF, the Mid Upper Gunner from 463 Sqn, Lancaster III, DV229 shot down on the 10th June 1944 on a mission to Orleans. (1 KiA, 4 PoW, 2 Evd).

As they were leaving the area they met a Frenchman named Jacques who was member of the Maquis who had also escaped from the camp who took them to his house in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, some 28 km (17 ½ mls) south of Sainte-Suzanne.

Jacques tried to take them on foot towards Spain but the contacts he had along the way did not work so on the 24th June 1944 1st Lt. Smith and S/Sgt. Ehrhard were hidden in a house and F/Sgt. Redford was taken to a farmhouse.

On the morning of the 7th July 1944, a Frenchman and F/Sgt. Redford arrived at the house and took the three to Saint-Denis-d’Orques which is some 21 km (13 mls) NNE of Sablé-sur-Sarthe. Here another Frenchman took them by tramway to Le Mans, some 35½ km (21¼ mls) to the east.

They stayed a few hours at his house and then took them by bus to Lavaré some 33 km (20½ mls) to the east. They left the buss and walked the 4 km (2½ mls) north to Sainte-Maixent where they were hidden in the attic of the Château de Saint-Maixent, to the north of the town, where they remained until the 18th July. On this day they were collected and after walking all night they arrived at a small village called Cherré-Au to the south of la Ferté-Bernard. They stayed there with a group of men from the Resistance who were engaged in sabotage missions.

On the 21st July a man questioned them to confirm their identities who then took them to Bois de la Croix, some 40 km (25 mls) to the NW where they stayed in his house until the 9th August. That day they were taken to a doctor’s house in Connerré, some 22 km (13 ¾ mls) east of Le Mans and where American forces were expected to arrive that day.

That evening they were picked up by a reconnaissance unit of the 79th Infantry Division and continued with them on their reconnaissance before being debriefed on the 10th August. They eventually were sent to the USAAF 9th Air Force Headquarters where their return to England was arranged. 1st Lt. Smith was interviewed on the 14th August 1944

(5) S/Sgt. Kerr also suffered serious injuries to his back and spine upon landing. He was taken to the Rennes Military Hospital aka Frontstalag 221W for treatment. It appears that he was not evacuated on the approach of American forces and was liberated from this hospital. After further treatment in England he was repatriated to the United States in October 1944 aboard an Allied Hospital Ship and admitted to a hospital in Augusta, Georgia before being transferred to the Winter General Hospital in Topeka, Kansas.

Above:Courtesy of The Wyandotte County Record, dated 13th October 1944.

(6) After he baled out S/Sgt. Ehrhard landed in field north of Loué, approximately 16 km (10 mls) SE of the crash site. Frenchmen immediately found him and was hidden in the brush. After a while, a middle aged Frenchman arrived with two little girls and took and hid him in the cellar of a house in Loué where he remained for about for 2 hours.

From there he was taken to the house where he met a man who spoke good English and who told him that he would be hidden in some nearby woods. He also told him that three of his crew had been captured and became PoWs.

That night he was taken to another house in Loué and spent the night there. The next morning he was taken by cart and collected 1st Lt. Smith and hidden in the nearby woods. From there their journeys were the same (See Ser 4). S/Sgt. Ehrhard was interviewed on the 14th August 1944.

Burial details:

Sgt. Arnold was buried by French people of Langeais, a town about 19¼ km (12 mls) west of Tours. Reinterred in US Military Cemetery, St André, Plot D-5-89 on the 27th January 1945.

T/Sgt. Barney Flynn Arnold. Air Medal (Oak Leaf Cluster). Repatriated and laid to rest in the Union Springs Cemetery, Lufkin, Texas. Born on the 6th November 1920 in Diboll, Angelina, Texas. Son of James Maxey and Hazel (née Jones) Arnold of Diboll, Texas. Husband to Mary Lavonia (née Free) Arnold of Angelina, Texas, USA.

He had three brothers, two of whom also served:

M/Sgt. James M. Arnold, Jr. of the US Army in Waco, Texas;

Sgt. Billy Gene Arnold of the US Army in the Canal Zone.

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