418th Sqdn. . Crew, as above, joined the 100th BG 22 Sep 1944

Crew flew a new B-17G from Lincoln Nebraska to Wales to Scotland. Arrived England on September 16, 1944

Once at Thorpe Abbotts, Crew trained (practice missions and familiarization flights) for about 2 weeks before they flew their first mission.

Lt. Strom Rhode flew last part of his tour with this crew.

Lt. DePlanque flew crew home via Dakar/ Natal/ Palm Beach

Sgt King Weldon probably removed at crew reduction (nine), was transferred to 390th Bomb Group spare gunners pool. Daniel L. McKeen (CP) from the Appleton crew flew some missions with this crew, perhaps to replace C. S. Bayha.

2nd Lt Stanley Rabinowitz sn# 0-776-796 was wounded by flak on his 8th mission. After many weeks in the hospital, he returned to flight duty. He flew 9 additional missions, each with a different crew, usually as a deputy lead. In all, he flew 17 missions. On his 17th mission his leg was re-injured and he was sent to a convalescent hospital in N. Y. He spent 3 months there for treatment and was discharged. (Stanley Rabinowitz 2000 mpf)

Letter from Harold Smith to Cindy Goodman, June 9, 2008

I entered the service July 8, 1940 and was discharged August 8th, 1945. After working in the supply department attached to the air force, I tried out being a glider pilot. That program was disbanded so the next stop was to try to become a liaison pilot. I completed that but on a check ride a Lt. Black decided I wasn’t good enough to move on. My instructor was upset and tried to change his mind, but he failed. I found out later they didn’t need all the class so some of us had to go. I was hurt because I really wanted to fly.

I decided to go to gunner school and then get on a bomber so I could still fly. I completed school and then was assigned to a B-17 crew. As it all turned out, our crew finished our training and was sent to England. We ended up with the 100th Bomb Group.

I flew 28 missions over Germany. Our crew did not stay the same because we became a lead crew and we had different people flying with us. Our only member that we lost was Raymond C. Kowalski who was flying with another crew that was shot down over Hamburg. I remember the whole crew that was lost. I enjoy reading Splasher Six because it helps us to remember that old friends are still around and God has blessed us with a wonderful family. I am glad that I was a part of WWII, and I pray for those who are in service now so that we can keep our nation free. God bless America. Harold Smith

Letter to Michael P. Faley:

Hello,
My name is Louis Hensgens, I’m from The Netherlands. I did adopt the grave of a fallen American airman at the American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten, The Netherlands. His name is Staff Sergeant Louis S Prangl, waist gunner. He was a member of crew # 30 Gaik (569th Bomb Squadron, 390th BG, Heavy). I do a large research for all the men who flew with this crew on their 21 missions from September 1944 till the fatal day February 14, 1945. In the last 2 years I did find many families of fallen crew members and also several still living veterans. These veterans flew with crew # 30 Gaik for 1 or 2 missions. 1 person was at first member of the 100th BG (418th BS) before he became a part of crew # 30 Gaik of the 390th BG. His name is King M Weldon of Corpus Christi, Texas. His ASN is 18233225; he flew with crew # 30 Gaik on their last 3 missions and before these 3 missions he did 1 mission with another crew of the 390th BG. (January 20, 1945 till February 14, 1945). King M Weldon was 1 of the 2 survivors of the crash near Wiesbaden, Germany. He became POW and was liberated at the end of the war. He died in 1967 in his hometown Corpus Christi. After the war King M did visit all the families of his 7 fallen crewmembers; he told their families what happened on that fatal day in February 1945. I know that the families did appreciate this very much!! What a great man!

The MACR is # 12350.
Date of crash: February 14, 1945 on way home from a mission to Cheb, Czechoslavakia
Crew # 30 of pilot 1LT Leonard J Gaik
569th BS, 390th BG, Heavy
6 KIA, 1 MIA (the Ball Turret, position of hit by flak) and 2 survivors/POW (King M Weldon and Harold C Flanigan)

CHOWHOUND MISSION

Letter from Charles S. Bayha:

Charles S. Bayha wants to set the record straight about his last mission before becoming a POW. Flying formation control officer in the tail of JACK DEPLANQUE's crew, he counted eight Fortresses that went down in flames, although the combat report said twelve. He witnessed the "pancaking" of two B-17's, "a very spectacular sight." After that mission, Chuck returned to the base and "the biggest glass of whiskey and grapefruit juice I had ever had." He then flew 17 more missions with Deplanque's crew. (Hamburg mission critique Dec 31, 1944, pancake was McNab and Rojohn-mpf)

It was when he was asked to substitute for a sick co-pilot on JACK THRASHER's crew, destined to be first over the target, that he went down. "My logic was to get an extra mission and then wave to my crew on their last mission," he explains. When Thrasher's crew was forced to bail out, Chuck was trapped and passed out. When he was blown free by the plane's explosion, his chute was pulled. Chuck was still unconscious. Either he acted from force of habit in drills, or "you could say God's invisible hand entered into it. I believe It," Chuck concludes.


TWELVE O'CLOCK LOW or WHERE DID ALL THE EXTRA MAPS COME FROM - Lt. Charlie Benyunes

This is no heroic war story and though it was very serious business at the time, the event took place long enough ago to laugh about now. The facts are a little fuzzy now, but as best I recall, it all came about like this with a little fiction here and there for color.

It was a rather routine briefing for a mission that stretched our fuel supply to the limit. Weather was marginal and it was one of those on-again off-again missions that had us lugging our gear back and forth from the tent to the plane several times before we finally received the "go" signal. As navigator, I went over my personal check list as we taxied out for takeoff and, much to my surprise, discovered that I had left my brief case with all - and I do mean all - of the mission maps in the tent. I promptly advised the pilot who, in turn, contacted the tower requesting permission to return to the hard stand to pick up the brief case or to have someone bring it to the plane. By this time we were number three in line for takeoff. Permission was denied and we were ordered to take off "mapless" ... I presumed to preserve the integrity of the takeoff schedule ... and, at the time, I assumed that we would takeoff, return to base after everyone else was airborne, pick up the maps, and rejoin the group. Big Laugh! Little did I know that you just don't do that - land with a full load of fuel and bombs, that is. So off we go into the wild blue yonder with no serious concern since, as element lead, we simply had to follow the lead of the squadron leader. All went well until just after "bombs away" when, as fate would have it, head winds were greater than briefed, we lost power in one engine, and had to drop out of the formation deep in the heart of the Third Reich.

So there I sat, fat, dumb, and mapless, waiting for the inevitable, "what is our course to base?" I had to come up with something. Reasoning that if we had, in fact, bombed Germany (I had no way of knowing - we had been over clouds all the way), England had to be somewhere to the west - this, I believe, is referred to a "dead-reckoning" - or is it? So, when the request did come, I responded meekly with what we in the trade call a "temporary heading" in the general northwesterly direction of the bomber stream that was now beginning to fade into the horizon as we slowly dropped back.

It was then that the cheese got binding. Almost 100% cloud cover, no radar, losing altitude, insufficient fuel to reach England, no maps and only Ol' Charlie and his little E6B to save the day. Then, recalling a previous experience, I remembered that there was a map of sorts in my escape kit. It was designed for escape and evasion on the ground, but it did, however, depict some topography and was better than no map at all.

As we continued westward, losing altitude and depleting our fuel supply along the way, there appeared to be a few breaks in the clouds up ahead. Again, recalling a previous experience; when in doubt, forget the little stuff - it will only confuse you look for something really significant - a river, a lake, Mt Kilimanjaro, any major topographical feature that you could positively identify. Looking ahead at 12 o'clock low, there it was ... a beautiful blue lake nestled in the hills just like the one located about 30 miles WNW of Koblenz on my escape map. Though I couldn't see Koblenz because of the cloud cover, everything else on the map indicated that this just had to be that lake - a beautiful sight I will forever remember.

Confident now of our position and nearing friendly territory, I gave the pilot a more precise heading only to learn that our situation had worsened and that we would be forced to land somewhere on the continent. Under these circumstances, the pilot radioed ahead in the clear, outlining our situation and requesting a heading for an emergency landing. Almost instantly and in a perfect British accent, there came a response with a heading that by my reckoning, would most surely take us over the valley of the Ruhr and ultimately to a welcome mat at some Stalag Luft for the duration.

Drawing on the confidence of at last knowing our position, I mustered the courage to express my suspicion that the vector given was most probably from the Hun and suggested that we ignore it, continue on our present heading for another ten minutes, and then repeat the request when we were closer to friendly territory. This we did and to our delight, the second heading was genuine, took us to a P-47 base in Belgium (I think) where we landed safely, drank champagne with the fighter pilots, enjoyed a good meal, had a brief visit to a nearby village for a little sport, and got a good night's sleep before repairing the aircraft, refueling and heading for home the next day. But there was no big band to welcome 01' Charlie - the one and only navigator to successfully complete a High Altitude Deep Penetration Long Range Heavy Bombardment Mission to the very heart of The Fatherland entirely from memory and without navigation maps. Never mind that it took two days with a stopover in Belgium for a champagne party along the way. I could envision at least a DFC - maybe even a Distinguished Navigation Cross. But it was not to be.

As it turned out, the Wing Commander or someone in the chain of command above our Group Commander was monitoring our frequency during the entire "takeoff with no maps" episode and when the directive from higher Headquarters arrived, it was crystal clear that, from that day on, there would always be an extra set of maps (or charts - I can never remember exactly what it was that I left in that tent) in every Eighth Air Force aircraft. And, to this day, I still don't know why my CO spared me the trip behind the woodshed. Maybe it had something to do with why I was a first lieutenant for eleven years? But I somehow survived to retire a full colonel and so ends the saga of how the extra set of maps just happened to be in every plane.

01' Charlie the Navigator ( BENYUNES)

 MISSIONS FROM T/SGT RAYMOND KOWALSKI: ROG AND T/SGT KENNETH CRISPIN-TG (mpf 2001 & 2010) (NOTES FROM T/SGT KEN CRISPIN, LENGTH OF MISSION FROM KOWALSKI)

Capt. DePlanque flew the Lead to Swinemunde 12 March 1945 with Major Harry Cruver (351st Commanding Officer) as Command Pilot:

Mission list continued: