Posted By Anne T. Johnson Mesmer on November 28, 2007 at 15:24:22:
Thanks Vic for the follow up and I think I had the plane number wrong. The B-17 was 43-38298 call sign Pillar and went down on Sept. 19,1944, 1600 hrs. somewhere near Koblenz Germany. Pilot was W.C. Holman, co-pilot Lt.Chamberlain, navigator J.S.Stimek, bombardier R.A. Lee, radio op. A.N.Nenna,top turret gunner E.A.Schulz,ball turret ginner McPaternoster, waist gunner B.T.Johnson and tail gunner J.W.Moffat.
According to my dad B.T.Johnson the pilot got the plane back and returned to England along with the navigator. All the rest of the crew bailed out as ordered to by the pilot. Dad recalls being shot at by German soldiers while comming down in the para chute, he landed in a field, left the para chute and headed for the woods. I have a copy of the E&E intell. report I.S.9(wea)/6/351 which is now declassfield. This E&E report is slightly different than his story to me about his actual escape-evasion and return to the American lines. You see he had not eaten in 6 to 7 days so he figured the best story to relay to the intell people would be the shortest one with minimun information that way he could get out of there and get some food and hot coffee faster. Intell required the intell report the minute you got back from a Escape and Evasion before you could eat or even get a cup of coffee, guess they were afraid you might forget something. Might post the true E&E story someday. It makes some very interisting reading.Thanks
Anne T Johnson