Albert Lewis Rolnick was born March 29, 1921 in Baltimore, Maryland to Mitchell and Irene Abel Rolnick. His parents were born in Virginia and Maryland respectively to Russian Immigrants. Mr. Rolnick served in WWI and worked as a Merchant in the rubber goods industry. He died in 1939 and Irene remarried. Albert was their only child.

Albert enlisted in the Air Corps as a Private on 11 Mar 1942 in Baltimore, Maryland. He had completed 4 years of high school and he was a graduate of Baltimore City College and employed by Monroe Upholstery Company. He was single without dependents. Height: 68" Weight: 141.

He served with 482nd Bomber Group, Pathfinder, 813th Bomber Squadron.

served as a Bombardier. Service number O-732663. Prior to that he served as Bombardier with the 91st Bomb Group on the "Chief Sly III". That aircraft went missing in action weeks before his assignment with the "Stinky" crew. He missed flying with that crew because of an injury that prevented him from flying.

Rolnick lost his life on November 10, 1943. He was onboard B-17F #42-5793 "Stinky" when it crashed at Brome, Suffolk, shortly after takeoff from Thorpe Abbotts in Norfolk. Heading home to RAF Alconbury, Cambridgeshire, after the mission they were to lead for the 100th Bomb Group was scrubbed (cancelled). This experienced crew from the 813th Bomb Squadron, was part of the only dedicated Pathfinder Bomb Group in the 8th AAF, the 482nd (P) BG. Their Flying Fortress that day was the first American aircraft to be fitted with airborne radar. The British H2S system, used for bombing through overcast.

Soon after takeoff, there was a fire in the cockpit and according to witnesses who saw the plane go down, it had already spread. Being too low to parachute they were heading for the nearby (under construction) Eye airfield. Their plane (probably hitting trees) suddenly nose-dived, crashing into road workers clearing ditches, killing two (Charles Burridge and Walter Clarke) and a workhorse instantly. The other two workmen (William Dixon and Ernest Barker) died later in hospital. On impact, the fire spread to the specialist target marking bomb load causing a chain reaction. This fierce fire combined with explosive ammunition and incendiaries, not only made escape impossible but also rescue of the 13 crew members.

13 military casualties related to the #42-5793 incident on November 10, 1943.

Find A Grave Memorials of crew below:

Pilot: Lt. Arthur J Reynolds, WA

Co-Pilot: Lt. John E Russell, NY

Navigator: Lt. Sheldon V McCormick, FL

Bombardier: Lt. Albert L Rolnick, MD

Radio Operator: Sgt. John D May, VA

Radio Operator: T/Sgt. Robert B Holmes, UT

Eng/Top Turret Gunner: T/Sgt. Amos H Behl, MN

Waist Gunner: Sgt. Laurie C Evans, FL

Waist Gunner: Sgt. William H Landers, AL

Tail Gunner: Sgt. Andrew J Allison, CA

Ball Turret Gunner: Sgt. Leslie N Boling, OH

Radar Mechanic/Passenger: Corp Herman J Kolousek, CA

Radar Mechanic/Passenger: Sgt. Robert G Levi, NC

Four British civilians died:

Walter Clarke of Stradbroke

William “Charles” Burridge of Langton Green, Eye

Bill Dixon, of Finningham, whose horse was also killed, died of injuries en route to the hospital in Eye or upon admission. Death index gives Brome.

Ernest Barker, of Wetheringsett, died at Hartismere Emergency Hospital two days later in Eye.

The 80th anniversary of this tragic crash is on November 10th, 2023, at 10:35 a.m. A small team of dedicated volunteers in the United Kingdom and the United States are planning a very special memorial to honor and remember the 17 men killed in this B-17 crash. All are welcome to attend and support this project. Family of the fallen are warmly invited to contact us to share stories, research or photographs. For more details on this B-17 memorial project and travel recommendations, please click on added by marykake47286 FOLD3 profile below to send a message asking to get in contact with the team via Steve Andrews in the UK and Wendy Rust in the US.

Please use this link for the B-17 Crash Memorial Project. https://www.gofundme.com/f/brome-b17f-crash-memorial-fundraiser

Sources:

www.ancestry.com

www.findagrave.com

www.americanairmuseum.com

www.newspapers.com

www.familysearch.org

Bomber Stories by Ian MacLachlan

Eye Police Report

Overseas Crash Report

Commonwealth War Graves

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.