418th Sqdn. Crew joined the 100th on 24 Dec 44
On the 18 Mar 44 (Berlin) mission Capt Roger L. Swain was flying as
Command Pilot and became a POW. F/O Sumner H. Woodrow, a Radar Navigator,
flew instead of Norbert Dougherty and became a POW. Bill E. Thompson, the
regular CP flew in the TG position for this mission. See Thompson Memo for
a description of the attack, his bail out and POW experiences..pw
According to statements in the MACR, T/Sgt Morris O. Kolling had flown
a tour in the CBI (China - Burma - India) theatre and had a total of forty
(40) to fifty (50) missions. After Capt. Swain bailed out, Kolling took
over his seat - DeWeerdt thought Kolling to be in dazed condition and
would not bail out. Aircraft was probably hit again and went into a spin
and DeWeerdt got out some way. (May have been blown out in an explosion)
DeWeerdt was later shown Kolling's wallet by the Germans and told that a
body was found in the co-pilot's seat.
BILL THOMPSON BELIEVES MORRIS KOLLING WOULD NOT LEAVE THE AIRCRAFT AND
PAUL DeWEERDT WOULD NOT BAIL OUT WITH KOLLING STILL ABOARD AND ONLY
SURVIVED BECAUSE HE WAS BLOWN CLEAR OF THE AIRCRAFT WHEN IT EXPLODED
SEVERAL MINUTES AFTER THE BAIL OUT ORDER WAS ISSUED.
Notes about the mission from Lt Bill Thompson
As I recall at briefing we were told it was Max Effort - and we were
served fried eggs for breakfast.
When hit (Me 262 fighters) we were in the clear except for contrails.
The low clouds were estimated at 2000 ft. Thats were I opened my chute.
It is assumed that Kolling (Morris O. Kolling - Engineer) stayed with
the aircraft.
We have written and verbal knowledge that Dougherty (Norbert J.
Dougherty - the crew's regular BTG) flying with another crew saw us hit
and chutes deploying.
I am going to drop a line to William Howard and T. Gilbert to say
hello. I am sure they identified the wrong plane as having broken into or
to flip over. According to Paul (Lt Paul E. DeWeerdt - crew pilot) he and
Swain (Capt Roger L. Swain - Com Pilot on the mission) maintained control
for some time before exploding.
(This refers to the Missing Aircrew Report filed either the 19th or
20th of Dec 1945 for 44-8717. This report erroneously states that the
aircraft was hit in the tail section, which subsequently broke away
resulting in the 44-8717 assuming a severe nose down attitude.) pw 4 Feb
1993
LT BILL E. THOMPSON
EXCERPTS FROM A LETTER TO P.WEST 27 JAN 1993. When we were designated
to lead the low box, I (Lt Thompson) went to the TG. Maj Roger L. Swain
was command pilot.1st Lt Paul E. DeWeerdt was pilot, F/O James M. Carden
was Nav, 2nd Lt Bernard F. Kozik was Bom, F/O Sumner H. Woodrow was
"Mickey" or radar opr, T\Sgt Morris O. Kolling was E, Cpl Howard R.
Whittaker WG, Cpl Pete J. Fischer was WG and Cpl Robert A. Sam was RO. Our
regular crew Ball Turret Opr was Cpl Norbert J. Dougherty. On this mission
(18 Mar 45) he flew in another plane named "Ginger". On the mission he saw
us being shot down and noted the chutes as people bailed out. He finished
his tour with a pilot named Michael P. Mashyna. Dougherty does not
remember where he was in the formation. He is the person that wrote my
wife from England saying that he thought I was OK. Hausam (Radio Opr)
followed Woodrow (Mickey Opr) out of the aircraft and at that time the
ship was still stable but fire at the # 2 engine. Today I just called Paul
(DeWeerdt, pilot) and he said that after the first hit, he made a
180-degree turn and was heading home and dropped from about 30,000 to
20,000. He had flown about 50 miles when he was hit again or just
exploded. He did not see any aircraft and only remembers being outside
with his chute open and hearing kids yelling and dogs barking on the
ground. He escaped and walked 20 to 30 miles before being caught. He had
an infected foot and that explains the cast I saw on him in Hamburg. He
really doesn't know about Kolling (Engineer), but Hausam told me that
Kolling once said he would never bail out of an aircraft. I forgot to ask
Paul (Weerdt) what happened to Swain. It seems like he told me that Swain
bailed out while he and Kolling were fighting with the controls, in an
attempt to stay stable. F/O Woodrow was on board as the ball "radar"
operator in place of Dougherty (regular BTG) and since I was in Fischer's
place (TG), Fischer acted as WG with Whittaker. This was the crew make-up
on a brand new unnamed B-17G (44- 8717) on 18 Mar 45. It was still in
natural aluminum.
Col Thompson relates an interesting and amusing look at the old adage,
being in the right place at the right time in a note to this writer (pw)
in August 1993.
"I just noticed a sort of injustice in promotions. A J.P. Gibbons
joined the 100th 24 Feb 44 as a 2nd Lt and checked out on the 24 Dec 44 as
a Major.10 months. I checked in as a 2nd Lt in the summer of 1944 and it
was sometime in 1958 that I made Major. That's about fourteen years. I'm
not saying I was dumb, just a fact of life."
