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B 24H 42-52432 crashed Venslev 9/4 1944.
The aircraft belonged to USAAF, 8 Air Force, 458 Bomb Group, 755 Bomb
Squadron.
T/O Horsham St. Faiths. OP: Tutow.
42-52432 took off from Horsham St. Faiths at approximately 09:00 and headed
north east over the North Sea with the 458 Group. When they reached Denmark they
saw a high bank of clouds running north-south at 26,000 ft. The order was given
to spread out and fly thru the clouds on a 90 degree course. When they came out
on the other side, the German fighters immediately attacked the bombers before
they could get back in formation. 42-52432 was attacked head on by two Bf 109
and the two inboard engines as well as the electrical system were destroyed.
(Via Finn Buch)
The crew
Navigator F/O Bernard A. Jacobsen was hit by shrapnel in the artery in the
neck and was bleeding badly.
Pilot 2nd Lt Byron E. Logie told Flight Engineer T/Sgt Walter E. Scott to jump
out with Jacobsen and get him to a doctor fast.
Logie next told Co pilot 2nd Lt George R. Reed to check on the crew in the tail
of the bomber but he was not able to get there due to two bombs blocking the
door. It was decided to try to make it to Sweden but soon after they were again
attacked by a Bf 109 fighter which shot out the third engine.
After Reed turned on the alarm bell as the intercom had been destroyed during
the attacks Bombardier F/O Walter J. Kita jumped out.
Radio operator S/Sgt Thomas R. Murphy had got into his parachute harness wrongly
and Reed had to help him turn it around before both of them jumped out.
Logie jumped just before the B 24 hit the ground and landed safely in his
parachute.
(Via Finn Buch)
The aircraft crashed in the village of Venslev at 11:29 hours
setting a farm and a house on fire.
Rear Gunner S/Sgt Sidney Sheren, Left Waist Gunner Sgt Edward W. Cisek and Right
Waist Gunner Sgt Fred E. Stiles all died and were laid to rest in Svinø cemetery
on 11/4 1944. One of them had managed to get out of the aircraft but at too low
an altitude for the parachute to deploy properly and he had fallen to his death.
The body of Ball Turret Gunner Sgt John H. Schramm was found on 28/4 when the
crash site was cleared and he was laid to rest in Svinø cemetery on 30/4 1944.
On 27/4 1944 a few human remains were buried at Venslev cemetery by the Parish
Priest Ove Højland.
The remains of the deceased were disinterred on 4/5 1948 and were evacuated to
the American cemetery at Neuville en Condroz in Belgium by the US military.
Today Stiles and Cisek rest in Arlington Nat. Cemetery and Sheren rest in New
Montefiore cemetery, Pinelaw, Long Island USA while Schram still rest in
Neuville.
Scott and Jacobsen were caught near Halkevad and Bombardier F/O Walter J. Kita
was caught by the Germans at Hyllested Præstemark.
They were sent to Dulag Luft at Oberursel near Frankfurt for interrogation. Kita
and Jacobsen were later sent to Stalag Luft I Barth North compound while Scott
was sent to Stalag 17B Braunau, Gneikendorf, near Krems in Austria.
Murphy and Reed landed close together in a field between Venslevej road and the
road going south from Hyllested. Young Ejvind Friis saw them land and showed
them out of the village to a wood near his home. Ejvind then walked home to wait
for the Germans to stop searching before he would come back to them. When he
came back they had left with Busdriver Bernhard Hansen and Sven Anker Brøns who
had spotted them in the woods. When they had delivered the last passengers they
had turned the bus around and picked the flyers up and taken them to the
Haarslev-Tingjellinge school where the flyers were hidden in the basement.
In the evening they were picked up by Doctor Thorsteinson and driven to the home of Falck employee Svend Aage Nielsen in Slagelse.
Logie landed north of the village and hid in Bjerge å (River). He was spotted by
Agnethe Jensen and Farmhand Aksel Larsen from Brobjerg who helped him to hide in
a haystack. In the evening Logie was taken to the farm kitchen and feed. Later
on the same evening he was picked up by Bent O. Jacobsen, Svend E. Petersen and
Head of Falck in Slagelse Bruno de Neergaard in a tow truck and taken to
Fuglebjerg where he was put in an ambulance and driven to Slagelse. Here he
spent the night at de Neergaards home. The next morning Logie was walked over to
Doctor Christensens flat where he spent some time.
After a couple of days Logie was taken by train to København by Bruno de
Neergaard. In København Logie stayed in different apartments while waiting to
continue his journey.
On 10/4 Head of Falck in Roskilde Einar Arboe-Rasmussen drove to Slagelse in an
ambulance to pick up Reed and Murphy. One was dressed in the uniform of a Falck
employee while the other was “dressed in bandages” and placed on a stretcher in
the ambulance. They were taken to Roskilde where they spent the night in the
home of Police constable Ole Lykkebo. The next day they were taken by taxi to
Voldgaarden 2 in København where they stayed with two students.
On 17/4 Logie was shipped over to Sweden by “Danish-Swedish Refugee Service” and
a few days later Reed and Murphy followed via Nykøbing Sjælland.
After the war a memorial stone was erected in Venslev cemetery to commemorate
those who lost their lives.
See also:
458th Bombardment Group H - Crew68Logie
Sources: FB, LBUK, MACR, Ejvind Friis Jensen, Kvislemark, Logie via FB.
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