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Date:: 2/18/2025
Time:: 11:41 PM

Good afternoon, i am reaching out to find any information on these gentlemen, Thank you for your time Boone, Francis A. Wolf, Edgar B. McMillan, Claude C. West, Jim E. Dyke, Glen L.
Hi Geoff,

The names you mentioned were all part of the crew of a B-26 Marauder, serial 42-96025 of the 319th BG / 438th BS which was abandoned off the coast of Corsica on 19th August 1944. The aircraft flown by Lt. Wolf was returning from a combat mission to attack coastal gun positions at Toulon, France when they ran dangerously low on fuel. It was reported that the aircraft was experiencing excessive gasoline consumption. The pilot ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft after the gas was just about exhausted. All the crew bailed out safely, coming down in the water and were rescued by Catalina flying boats. The aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed very shortly after the last crew member jumped. The crew were: 1Lt. Edgar B Wolf (pilot) 2Lt. Claude C McMillan (co-pilot) 1Lt. Francis A Boone (bombardier) S/Sgt. Glen A Dyke (engineer/gunner) S/Sgt. Harold R Deyoe (radio operator/gunner) S/Sgt. Jim E West (tail gunner) Best wishes, Paul Clouting (B-26 historian)
Date:: 2/23/2025
Time:: 3:16 PM

WWII Deceased 320th Bomb Group Buried in Europe & North Africa Index of Names for Accident Reports and Missing Air Crew Reports (MACR) Compiled by Dave Kuhl

New material has been added to the site, created and compiled by Mr. Dave Kuhl. A big thank you to Dave for your valuable help!
Date:: 2/23/2025
Time:: 3:16 PM

I am seeking information on 2Lt. Lawrence T. Scates. I have come into possession of his flight jacket showing 12 bomb stencils along with other memorabilia. I am trying to gather as much information as possible with the intent of getting this to our local Military Museum. I have read a 2008 Guest Book entry to "Mr. Allen" from a Thomas Hammerberg dated 2/24/08 referencing "Larry Scates" in a photo of "Wounded Marauder", B-26 42-107751. I have not been able to find this photo on the B-26 website. If this the same "Scates", I would like to get a copy of the photo for the museum. Lt Col Scates retired from the USAF August 1967. His retirement announcement indicates that he completed 43 missions from July 1943 to September 1944 and was wounded twice.

Thank you in advance. Gene Wobbe
Date:: 2/21/2025
Time:: 7:13 PM

I would like to post a dedication page to my uncle Michael J. Weiss.

Thanks, Jf Weiss
Date:: 2/15/2025
Time:: 6:20 AM

From my initial search, S/Sgt. Dawson U Kershaw (Army serial 32457359) was a tail gunner/armourer with the 1st Pathfinder SQN. It looks like he was assigned to 1Lt, later Capt. Charles Glenn Aldous crew and was most probably transferred on detached service with the same crew from the 391st BG/574th BS in Feb 1944. Best wishes, Paul Clouting
Date:: 2/12/2025
Time:: 2:59 PM

Hello Trevor,

My father is Lt. William H. Carls and I have been researching my father's service in WW II for the past couple of months. He trained as a navigator, and was originally assigned to flying C-47s from completion of Navigation School through July 1944. His unit was434th Troop Carrier Group. In July, 1944 he was assigned to a bomber group, (9th Air force, 98th Wing, 387th Group, 557th/1st Pathfinder Squadron. A few months later he was assigned to the 386th Group. From July '44 through Feb '45 he navigated B-26s, and was a Pathfinder. I contacted NARA for his records, and his were destroyed in the 1973 fire. I have the sheets with his missions and some assignments, several photos and his journal. I would like to understand who he flew with on the C-47s, how he transferred to a Bombing Group, and how he became a Pathfinder. I am also interested in learning more about the individual missions he was on, especially what planes he flew on and who the crews were for both the C-47s and B-26s. Thank you for any help you might have for those interests. Thank you for your website, it is the first place I landed when starting my research and has been very helpful!! Just yesterday evening I found his name on the 557th Bombardment Squadron (M) Roster, William H. Carls! That was exciting to see. Thank you, Nancy Rynowecer
Dear Mrs. Rynowecer, I created the 1st Pathfinder Squadron website (co-hosted with the 391st Bombardment Group website that I relaunched in 2018) in 2021, and I have done my best to add as much information from the official squadron records to the website. I have also been fortunate to have been contacted by family members of those who served with the 1PFS, and I have been able to add further information, documents, and photos to the website. Your father appears in 57 crew loading lists between August 1944 and February 1945, initially with the Ostlind crew and, later, the Bartels crew. Are any of the names in the crew listings familiar to you? He flew in 21 different aircraft, but, most commonly, 42-96223 IH-O "Chere Amie". This aircraft was shot down on December 23, 1944 when being flown by a different crew. Your father appears in 2 Medal Award documents that I have copies of. The documents state that he was assigned to the 387th Bombardment Group, but on "Detached Service" (DS) to the 1PFS. It was not unusual for replacement crews and personnel to be sent to the 1PFS first rather than their assigned group, but, as I do not have records for the 387BG, I cannot tell you if this was the case. There is an account in the Squadron War Diary of your father's and his crew's last mission: "Feb 16: The 16th of the month gave an inkling of the kind of stuff of which crews are made. Lt. Bartels with F/O Sikora, Lt. Carls, Lt. Hoenshel, Sgt. LaBahn, Sgt. Mayer and Sgt.Morris were leading the 416th Group to Unna Ordnance Depot. Just before "bombs away" the PFF a/c was hit by flak. A rudder cable was severed, gas and hydraulic tanks and lines were punctured and the co-pilot wounded. With the ship almost completely out of control it was impossible to bomb the primary. Picking out a casual at Kamen, Lt.Bartels and Lt. Hoenshel bombed visually - with good results - and then turning, led the formation back toward the bombline. All this time it was losing gas and the ship finally crash-landed at Helmond in Holland. The crew has now returned to base and are "sweating out" their next mission. Other targets were Solingen Engineering Works (323 & 394), Rees Comm. Center (322 & 387) and the Mayen RR Bridge. Results were Superior to unobserved and flak meager to intense." Details of the aircraft flown on February 16, 1945; 41-31916 IH-M "The New San Antonio Rose". If you have any documents and/or photos that you'd be willing to share with me and the B26 site, they would be most gratefully received. As we say, by sharing information online, we hope to connect descendants so they can help each other. I can only add that it's a great feeling when it happens! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Regards, Steve Sharp
Date:: 2/12/2025
Time:: 12:54 PM

Subject: Seeking Information about Joseph D. Weaver (XXXX0971) - Ackerman, MS I am seeking information about my father, Joseph D. Weaver of Ackerman, MS (XXXX0971), and would appreciate any assistance or guidance you can offer. Below are the details I have gathered and the specific information I am hoping to find. I have the following information: - MACR reports: 7875 - Details of his 52nd mission: His plane, 42-96184, was hit by flak, and the crew bailed out near Trouville Sur Mer, Normandy. - Missions for the 386th Bombardment Group in May 1944. - My father was injured by flak during May 1944 and was hospitalized for 38 days, causing him to miss the D-Day mission. What I am trying to find is as follows: First, I am looking for more missions that my father flew on. I do not have a photo of him with any crew. He seemed to be a substitute, but was he in this position for all 52 missions? Second, I am trying to understand where my father was taken after he was shot down. The MACR states that he met up with the pilots in Chalon, France. I also have a German record stating that he was in Stalag 11A in Limburg, Germany, and later sent to Stalag Luft IV. However, I need more details about where he was immediately after he landed following his bailout. Was he in any other POW camps, or did he go directly from Chalon to Dulag Luft for interrogation, then to 11A? When was he transferred to Stalag Luft IV? Lastly, I am looking for health records. I believe my father was injured by flak twice. He, along with 6,000 other airmen, was forced to march 500 miles over 86 days from February 6 to May 2, 1945, without provisions for food, water, or shelter. He was 90 pounds when he returned home. He also broke his ankle during the march, and a buddy from Louisiana carried him until he was able to walk again. Are there records regarding his second flak injury and the broken ankle? I have already contacted the VA with no results. If you do not have access to these records, could you kindly advise me on where I might look for them? Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your time and consideration. Please see the blog post link below and the link to the documentary. Attached are two photos: John G Latiloais from Louisiana, Vernon Hedges and Joe Weave, my father. Second photo is after a training accident with Capt. Robert Fry. Joe Weaver is back row to the right. Five of us Kriegie Kids planned a trip in May of 2024 to follow in our fathers' footsteps as POWs at Stalag Luft IV in Poland and to retrace our fathers' routes on the Death March - 500 miles over 86 days from Feb. 6 to May 2, 1945, with no provisions for food, water, or shelter. It is an atrocity of WWII that most history books nor museums showcase. More than 6,000 airmen were on this march. ARTE TV, a major network similar to CNN, asked if they could go with us, extending the trip by 20 days, set up meetings with mayors, historians, archivists and even eyewitnesses who prepared presentations for us, recognized us at media events and thanked us for liberating Germany from Nazi control. Everywhere we went, media did advance and onsite stories about our fathers and our trip. The biggest surprise of the trip was when eyewitnesses took us to a garage in a small German town where Rich's Dad's engine is housed. Below is the link to the documentary produced by ARTE TV and a blog post of our trip day by day following the route of the Death March. https://thearrowheadclub.com/2024/11/27/kriegie-kids-journey-to-discover-and-document-the-trail-of-their-pow-fathers-in-wwii https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXe2f6kMBJ4 Sincerely, EW Hartman
Hello Ellen In response to your request I have come up with the following information to help with your search: I have identified crew listings that show him flying on 45 completed missions with two further aborts plus one occasion when they did not take-off, These are listed on the attached document showing the date, target attacked, pilot in command and the aircraft flown including the fuselage code and a nickname if known. His regular crew seems to have been led by 1Lt. William M Stout with copilot Lt George W Klenk, who sometimes occupied the pilot's seat with whom he flew 35 of the missions I have identified. I also attach a photo's of the two aircraft that he flew the most, 41-31877 and 42-107605, but if you search the internet with the serial number details of the others you will find other photographs online that show some of these aircraft. I hope that this helps you piece together more information about your father's service life. Regards Alan F. Crouchman, Historian, Author B-26 "Flak-Bait": The Only American Aircraft to Survive 200 Bombing Missions during the Second
Date:: 2/4/2025
Time:: 10:43 AM

Hello B26ers!

Thank you again for your kind help with research into the B-26. My new book for Osprey Publishing in their 'Duel' series, B-26 Marauder versus the Me 262, is due out in early March in the US. The book covers the story of what happened in the air battles when these two aircraft encountered each other - and for the B-26 crews of groups such as the 17th and 323rd Bomb Groups - the jet came as a shock, due in a large part, to failed intelligence. The book covers the development of each aircraft, as well as training, technical descriptions and combat. Available through Amazon at as well as other usual retail outlets.

Robert Forsyth

Date:: 2/4/2025
Time:: 10:43 AM

42-96158 397BG 598BS "LITTLE PEEDOFF" 6 Feb 45 damaged, to service group Lt. Robert D. Kriehl 1st.PFF 30 Mar 45 to 4 Apr 45 engine failure on landing, plane demolished, four dead, two injured, salvaged 5 Apr 45 Lt. William A. Enneking
Date:: 1/23/2025
Time:: 9:43 AM

Good morning, As part of our memorial work, we would like to offer an article on Commander Francis QUERETTE, who died for France on February 26, 1945 in Biskra, Algeria. This officer is buried in the cemetery of Sauvebonne, a hamlet attached to the city of Hyeres. This officer was a B 26 pilot. Killed in air service at Ourlal in the commune of Biska in Algeria following the collision of B-26 Marauder x050 and x135. The 15 crew members under the command of the commander did not survive: Captains LACOSTE, MORDACQ, Lieutenants PARISOT, POINCLOUX, EAR LAVAL, Sergeants-major MAGAUD, PEROIS, Sergeants BRANET, BRIDIER, PEROIS, PLUMET, TRELLU, VOLLEZ, Corporal TROGNO and Private PICOUT. Do you have any information to share with us? The article will be published in October in the special issue of Souvenir Francais. Dans l'attente

Cordialement

Marc BUREL President of the Committee of the French Remembrance of Luc-en-Provence Coordinator of the Census of the Graves of the Dead for France in the cemeteries of Var

Date:: 1/4/2025
Time:: 9:18 AM

Hello,

In your guestbook on 5/25/2020 there is a post regarding Corporal Francis J. Rizzi, who was my great uncle.

The post is asking for pictures of him, so I've attached what I have. If you have their contact information, can you please forward the pictures to Joseph & Nancy Rizzi, who must be distant cousins of mine.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Deanna S.

Date:: 1/1/2025
Time:: 12:01 AM

Happy New Year!

Marauder Men, family and friends are invited to add content to the web site. Send scanned pictures 300dpi or mail pictures via post. Tell a story about your Marauderman and include as much information as you can.

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