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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. A 20 mm had gone through the cone
in the front of the propeller and gallons of hot oil came out looking like a
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. Engineer T/Sgt Warren D. Claypool dropped the landing
gear ½ down untill impact. At the time of impact he brought the wheels back up
because the field was short. The wheels acted like a shock absorber. As the crew
left the bomber Germans soldiers came over a berm and ran towards the crew with
guns. The crew were made POW`s. The Germans told the crew to strip off their
cloths and was left standing naked for a long time while the Germans searched
for weapons.
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.
Claypool and Gordon Tucker was sent directly to Stalag Luft IV from Oberursel.
Claypool was made a room leader in Compound B. On 6th of February he and Tucker,
along with the POW`s of Compound C, were send on a forced march of about 600
miles which lasted untill they were liberated by 104th Infantery (Timberwolfes)
at the Mulde river near Bitterfeld on April 26th 1945. It is not clear where the
rest of the crew was sent to or when they were liberated.
All 3 pictures showing 42-31972 being shipped
out of Odense.
(David
D. Claypool)
Bridge across the Mulde river near Bitterfeld
(David D. Claypool)
Engineer T/Sgt Warren D. Claypool
(David D. Claypool)
Radio operator T/Sgt Gordon Tucker
Sources: MACR, LBUK, Erik Jensen, David Claypool.
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