Crew
picture of the Man-O-War. From left to
right: S/sgt Hermon D. Poling, Tail
Gunner; S/Sgt. Harold R. Sparks,
Waist Gunner; S/Sgt. George R. Krueger,
Waist Gunner; 2nd Lt. John P. Bruce,
Co-pilot; 2nd. Lt. Keene C. McCammon,
Pilot; 2nd Lt. Daniel V. Ohman,
Bombardier; S/Sgt. Mike A. Perrota,
Ball Turret Gunner; T/Sgt. Douglas V.
Blackwood, Radio Operator; T/Sgt.
Americo Cianfichi, Engineer. Not
pictured, 1st Lt. Robert U. Duggan,
Navigator. (Picture courtesy of Mr. John
Bruce)
On the way
back to Bassingbourn, their luck turned.
They were intercepted and attacked by FW190
fighters of JG26. A fierce fight ensued
during which the ‘MAN-O-WAR’ and a second
B17 (‘Yankee Dandy’, commanded by 1Lt.
Robert M. Miles) were forced to leave the
relatively protective realm of the bomber
formation. The ‘Man-O-War’ was last seen
leaving the formation, burning from under
the wings with both inboard (no. 2 & 3)
engines out and going into a dive. The
German fighters pressed home their attacks
on the ‘straggler’. After fierce fighting
from both sides, Lt. Johannes Neumann, a
leading fighter pilot with JG26, finally
claimed the ‘MAN-O-WAR’ 5 kilometers south
of Est, close to Opijnen.
Lt. John Bruce, co-pilot of the ‘Man-O-War’
wrote: ‘Our mission to Kassel, as with all
missions, started with a very early wakeup
call, around 3:30 in the morning for
breakfast and briefing. Takeoff was in
daylight and eventually the group had
gathered into formation for crossing the
channel. I don't recall any action of any
consequences going in to the target but
there was intense flak around and over the
target. At some point after leaving the
target we encountered flak again but not as
intense as before. We lost #2, inboard,
engine and encountered a good many fighter
aircraft very shortly as we began losing
airspeed and beginning to drop back from the
formation. I noticed a hole in the nacelle
of #3, inboard, engine and lost it as well.
By this time we had dropped back further and
were essentially alone insofar as any
protection from the aircraft of our group.
We were having enemy attacks which caused
the roaring fire in the empty bomb bay. I
looked back to the walkthru opening into the
bomb bay and flames were shooting into the
forward section of the aircraft. A fuel line
had apparently been hit by a fighter 20mm
cannon exploding ammo to ignite the fire.
McCammon switched on the bailout switch
which operated several bells at locations in
the plane. The interphones were out with no
way of communicating with crewmembers. I
looked behind my seat at the engineer/topgunner,
Cianfichi, and he had a small fire
extinguisher in his hands trying to activate
it and I motioned for him to come on and
leave it. We had no idea of the condition of
the crewmembers when we left the aircraft
through the nose hatch. As it turned out,
McCammon and I were the only survivors.’
From the missing Air Crew Report that was
made up after the crash: ‘"Plane 399 slid
out of the formation at 0956 and was never
identified thereafter, that is as to number.
One A/C was seen at 1015 at an altitude of
23,000 feet with inboard engines out,
steadily dropping back with 3 enemy A/C on
it. At 1020 there was a huge ball of fire
from under wings followed by a thick black
burst like flak. A/C started down in dive
and observing A/C lost sight of it. This
aircraft was last by Lt. Hubert H. Davis at
1020 hours.’
The crash
was witnessed by 13 year old schoolboy Jan
van Arkel. ‘It was a very hot day. It was
around 10.30 and already it was about 25
degrees Celsius.’ He remembers, ‘It was
summer holiday and I was helping in my
father’s fruit yard. Then I heard a rambling
sound. I looked up and saw a burning bomber
coming over. It made a turn and several of
the crew bailed out just before the plane
blew up in the air.’ Mr. van Arkel observed
how one of the crew fell through the roof of
a nearby barn. He rushed to site to find the
airman badly wounded, lying on top of a
haystack. He had some kind of chair still
attached to him. ‘What stuck in my mind is
how small he was’, Mr. van Arkel continues.
‘He asked for a cigarette and was given one.
By that time the local doctor had arrived
and tried to make him as comfortable as
possible. It was obvious that he was not
going to make it. He forbade the Germans,
who had also arrived by this time, to move
him. The airman spoke little, finished his
cigarette and quietly passed away’. It took
about 20 minutes for the Germans to arrive
on the scene, as Opijnen did not have a
garrison at that time. The two surviving
crew-members, Pilot Keene McCammon and
Co-pilot John Bruce were quickly captured.
Their descend under their parachutes hadn’t
gone unnoticed and it was impossible to let
them ‘slip away’. At the time the Germans
gave permission to bury the eight airmen in
the churchyard of Opijnen. The Germans did
not want the local population present at the
burial and scheduled it after dark, when the
population was not allowed on the streets.
Many townspeople paid their last respects to
these brave men anyway, ignoring the curfew.
After the war the US government and the
families of the airmen gave special
permission to let the graves remain in
Opijnen, instead of having them interred in
Margraten American Cemetery. The graves have
since been tended by by mr. de Kock, also a
witness of the events of July 30, 1943. In
2001 he was honored for his services by
Secretary of State William Cohen.
The graves
of the eight airmen have been 'adopted' by
the American Women's Club of Amsterdam (AWCA).
Together with Mr. de Vries, who organizes
the annual memorial service, they have been
instrumental in keeping the remembrance to
these men alive.
Both Mr. Bruce and Mr. McCammon attended the
memorial services in Opijnen in 1983. The
town of Opijnen continue to honor the airmen
and cementing their names with the town by
naming eight streets after the airmen in a
new building project. The names will
officially be revealed on May 4, 2004,
during a remembrance service.
Acknowledgements:
Mr. John Bruce for kindly allowing
the use of his crew picture for this site
and providing me with his story about the
events of July 30, 1943. He also supplied
me with the information contained in the
Missing Air Crew Report.
Mr. Jan van Arkel
who kindly allowed
me to interview him about the events on July
30, 1943
Sources:
Mr. John Bruce, co-pilot 'MAN-O-WAR'
Mr. Jan van Arkel, eyewitness
Mr. Mike Banta, moderator of the 91
BG e-maillist
AWCA website
91st Bomb Group Memorial Association
