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B 17G 42-31972 belly landed on Fliegerhorst Odense 13/5
1944.
The aircraft belonged to USAAF, 8 Air Force, 379 Bomb Group, 527 Bomb Squadron.
T/O Kimbolton. OP: Stettin.
12 minutes after having dropped the bombs Pilot 1st Lt John E. Wilds Jr. left
the formation with his # one engine feathered after being on fire.
When over the island of Fyn it was found necessary to land the aircraft which was
coded FO-F. At 16:35 42-31972 was belly landed in a field near Beldringe north
of the city of Odense.
The crew of nine were unhurt and left the aircraft to become POW`s instantly.
The field Wilds had selected for landing lay right in the centre of the location
where the Germans half a year earlier had started building Fliegerhorst Odense.
The next day Pilot 1st Lt John E. Wilds Jr., Co-pilot 2nd Lt Samuel L. McDaniel,
Navigator 2nd Lt James R. Schaeffer, Bombardier 1st Lt Virgil J. Garth, Radio
operator T/Sgt Gordon Tucker, Engineer T/Sgt Warren D. Claypool, Ball turret
gunner S/Sgt Charles J. Baldwin, Waist gunner S/Sgt John Corey and Tail gunner
S/Sgt Joseph Carl were sent by train to Dulag Luft at Oberursel for
interrogation.
It is not known where they were sent from Oberursel.
All 3 pictures showing 42-31972 being shipped
out of Odense.
Sources: MACR, LBUK, Erik Jensen.
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