The crew of The
Wild Hare with British RAF cadets, taken on 31
October 1943, probably at Great Ashfield.
Kneeling from left, pilot John P. McGowan,
co-pilot James C. Bufkin, navigator Ellis Shorb,
Unknown, Sgt William A. Mcmahan, T/Sgt Neilo
Malavasi, T/Sgt James J. French. (picture
courtesy of Mr. John P. McGowan via Leatha
Cooskey)
Crew picture taken
on 10 August 1943. Kneeling from left: Pilot 1st
Lt. John P. McGowan, of Santa Barbara,
California, Co-Pilot 2nd Lt. James C. Bufkin of
Luedale, Mississippi, Navigator 2nd Lt. Ellis
Shorb, Bombardier 2nd Lt. Thomas B. Applewhite
Jr. of Memphis, Tenn.
Standing from left: Top Turret Gunner/Engineer -
T/Sgt Neilo Malavasi of Hamden, Conn, Left Waist
Gunner S/Sgt. William J. Bloeser of Dearborn,
Mich., Radio Operator - T/Sgt. James J. French,
Waist gunner S/Sgt William A. McMahan of
Chattanooga, Tenn., Ball Turret Gunner Sgt. John
H. Decker of Elizabeth, New Jersey, Tail Gunner
S/Sgt. Robert Defost Johnson. (picture courtesy
of Mr. John P. McGowan via Leatha Cooskey)
On 11 November 1943 the
crew, flying B 17 named "The Wild Hare" was
scheduled to fly on a mission to the German city
of Munster. On thismission the Ball Turret
Gunner, John Decker and the Right Waist Gunner
William A. McMahan were replaced by S/Sgt.
Vernon L. Mulvaney (Ball Turret) and S/Sgt.
Anthony T. Barckett .
The 385th sent out 20
planes. One plane aborted. While over the
target, The Wild Hare was hit by Flak in the
no.3 engine and six minutes after leaving the
target, the B17 had to leave the relative safety
of the formation. Not long after, it was
attacked by German fighter planes which rakes
the lone bomber.
pilot John McGowan tells
the story: " We had received four direct hits of
flak, but it was 30 minutes before we finally
bailed out." The 10 men bailed out over the
Dutch town of Heusden. The B17 would fly on to
crash near the town of Dussen. All reached the
ground safely, except for S/Sgt James French,
who was wounded. He died withinin 20 minutes of
landing. Dutch members of the underground had
come to his aid, but were helpless. T/Sgt French
was later taken to a local hospital were he was
seen by a crew member.
Lt McGowan continues: " Lt
Hoban (a pilot from another group that flew
close to the 385th and was also shot down) said
that the side of th eradio compartment
waspartically blown open as seen from the air,
and as we were under his group before the attack
by the fighters, alone, we assumed that it was
our ship that was in this condition."
It is unknown how S/Sgt
French was hit. He could have been hit by the
German planes, as they shot their 20 mm shells
through the tail and fuselage of the plane.
However, the crew wondered if S/Sgt French could
have been able to bail out with a stomach wound
caused by a 20 mm shell. He might have been shot
by German fighters while hanging from his
parachute, but this cannot be verified. He did
not seem to have been wounded when he bailed out
and sped past the two waist gunners, trying to
open the escape hatch.
S/Sgt French was the only
one of the crew to die. Sgt Johnson was also
wounded. All were taken prisoner except for 2Lt
Applewhite, who managed to escape with th ehelp
of the Dutch underground He finally made it back
to England, was prohibited from flying combat
missions and went on to train Chinese
Bombardiers for service in the Pacific.
S/Sgt James French was
first buried at Margraten Military Cemetery. In
the late 1940's he was reburied at Beverly
National Cemetery in New Jersey, Plot P, grave
53.
