Bombardier with the U.S. 8th Air Force during WW II.

Shot down on Flag Day, June 14, 1944.

POW in Poland and Germany

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Crash Reports – 750 Bomb Squadron, 457 Bomb Grp.

Point of Departure: England, Station 130. Intended destination: Le Bourget, France on bombing mission.

Aircraft B-17-G [Serial No. 42-102464] was shot down 9:05 AM on 14 June 1944 near Gournay, France / 30 KM southeast of Rouen / 1-1/2 KM west of Fleury-la-Foret, Eure

Plane was hit by flak. #4 engine went first. #3 was badly leaking gas. #1 & 2 were badly damaged and throwing oil. No one saw any engines on fire in the air.

Crew

Pilot –Service numbers 17071717 / O-747374 - 1st Lt. Charles R Blackwell (son of Roscoe B Blackwell of Bonne Terre, Missouri) - https://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/28960

Co-Pilot - Service numbers 19092168 / O-755624 - 2nd Lt. Theodore R Baskette (husband of Mary Baskette from Tracy, Calif.) - https://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/209244

Navigator – #0-694581 - 2nd Lt. Irving H Meyers (son of Samuel J. Meyers of Atlantic City, NJ) - https://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/99739

Bombardier – Service Number 19104394 / O-755071 - 2nd Lt. Verne M Boon (husband of Helen C Boon of Oakland, Calif.) - https://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/214704

Radio Operator - #12055450 - T/Sgt. Edward Nabozny (returned by 8 Aug. 1944 (husband of Aurelia Nabozny of Buffalo, NY) - https://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/50953

TOP Turret Gunner - #17045077 - T/Sgt. Thomas W Howard (brother of William R. Howard of Holden, Missouri) -- https://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/212937

BALL Turret Gunner – #12180963 - S/Sgt. Thomas G Leahy (son of Eleanor Leahy of Brooklyn, NY) -- https://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/211015

WAIST Gunner - #16096957 - S/Sgt. Francis W McCall (returned by 6 Sep 1944) – (husband of Sabina I McCall of Chicago, Illinois) - https://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/65914

TAIL Gunner - #32672266 - S/Sgt. Sylvester C Kuraszkiewicz (son of Mrs. Lehiet Kuraszkiewicz of Sloan, NY) - https://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/207765

Nabozny bailed out at approximately 6000 ft.; McCall at 3000 ft.; Baskette & Blackwell at 2500 ft.

Sgt. Nabozny did not see anyone injured before the crash. Sgt. McCall thought the navigator may have been slightly wounded. Baskette reported that the navigator had flak through one arm. Baskette also reported seeing 2 of the crew alive on the ground. Blackwell noted that everyone got out and that all chutes opened.

Rifle fire and machine gun fire were heard by various crew members as they parachuted to the ground.

Neither Blackwell nor Nabozny saw any of the crew after their parachutes landed. McCall believed he saw the co-pilot walking towards the plane. McCall did not think the plane exploded. A Frenchman told McCall that five of the crew had been taken prisoner, but he didn’t have names. According to McCall, there was an ammunition depot nearby and the Germans got to the crash site quickly.

Nabozny, McCall, & Baskette did not think the plane ever exploded, but Baskette reported that it did burn from nose to and including the bomb bay.

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On 8 Aug. 1944, all were listed as MIA except Nabozny who was returned through channels of the FFI.

Note: FFI: The French Forces of the Interior are French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II.

By 25 Aug. 1944, Lt. Blackwell & Sgt. Nabozny were returned through channels of the FFI. The rest were listed as MIA.

By 2 Sep. 1944, Blackwell, Baskette, McCall, & Nabozny were known to be returned through channels of the FFI. Boon, Howard, Kuraszkiewicz, & Leahy were thought to be prisoners of war. Meyers was listed as MIA.

By 6 Sep 1944, Blackwell, Baskette, McCall, & Nabozny were known to be returned. Circumstances not known. Meyers, Boon, Howard, Kuraszkiewicz, & Leahy were thought to be prisoners of war.

A post-war report listed all crew members, including POWs, as repatriated.

Note: Lt. Blackwell was told (by the FFI???) that a Thunderbolt pilot named 2nd Lt. Heckle H Brown #0-816747 died from injuries. Brown was with the 373 Fighter Group and listed as MIA on 6 July 1944. HOWEVER, Lt. Brown did not die. He was taken prisoner and survived the war. He was killed in an aircraft crash at Nellis AFB, Nevada in 1950.

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Lt. Verne McKimens Boon (1918)