James was
accepted into flight training and was trained as an
pilot on a B-17 Flying Fortress. In the meantime
he had married his high school sweetheart, Nina
Ruth Oram. They had a son together, James Jr.
Lt. Haddox's grandson, Rich, writes: " My
grandmother once said that he dropped a letter
out of the plane, somewhere between Pennsylvania
and New York for her. A farmer found it in his
field and sent it to her."
As a First Lieutenant,
James became the captain of his own crew. This crew joined the 351st Bomber
Squadron, 100th Bomb Group in early September 1943 and they
flew most of their missions on B-17 42-37715,
nicknamed "Sugar Foot". The crew
consisted of:
1st Lt James R.
Haddox, Pilot
1st Lt John L. Wagner, Co-Pilot
2nd Lt Albert C. Warford, Navigator
2nd Lt Ellsworth C. Power, Bombardier
T/Sgt Casimier J. Kobis, Radio Operator
T/Sgt Nicholas A. Tenaglia, Top Turret Gunner /
Engineer
S/Sgt Gonzalo C. Orta Ball, Turret Gunner
S/Sgt James L Grosskopf, Waist Gunner
S/Sgt Kendall L. Morrow, Waist Gunner
Sgt Lyle S. Jones, Tail Gunner
standing left to
right: 1Lt. James Haddox, 1Lt John Wagner, 2Lt
Albert Warford, 2Lt Ellsworth Power
kneeling left to right: T/Sgt Nicholas Tenaglia,
S/Sgt James Grosskopf, T/Sgt Casimier Kobis,
S/Sgt Gonzalo Orta, S/Sgt Kendall Morrow, Sgt
Robert Abney. Sgt Abney was replaced by Sgt Lyle
Jones on the 11 December 1943 mission
(picture courtesy 100th BG assoc.)
The crew was
lost on a mission to Emden, on 11 December 1943.
Mr. Frank McDermott, nephew of Radio Operator
T/Sgt Casimier Kobis, writes:
"It was 2:30AM on the morning of Dec 11, 1943 at
Station 139, Thorpe Abbotts Air Base, East
Anglia, England. Ground crews were busy getting
the B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 100th Air
Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, ready for the
Mission to Germany later that morning. Each B-17
sat on the airfield in it’s own parking space
called a "hardstand". Sugarfoot, the big Boeing
four engine bomber at hardstand #2, was being
readied for her 6th trip to enemy territory,
having previously been to Wilhelmshaven, Germany
on Nov. 3rd; Bremen, Germany on Nov. 13th,
Rjukan, Norway, on Nov. 16th; Gelsenkirchen,
Germany on Nov. 19th and Bordeaux, France on Dec
5th.
As the ground crews toiled to get Sugarfoot and
the other B-17’s ready for the long trip to
enemy territory, the flight crews were being
awakened in the Nissan huts located at Site #1,
about one mile due South of Sugarfoots location.
Sugarfoot would be manned by ten (10) men from
the 351st Squadron of the 100th Bomb Group. It
was a typically cold morning in December as the
officers and enlisted men dressed and headed to
the Combat Mess for breakfast. After breakfast,
which usually consisted of eggs and plenty of
hot coffee, the men quickly moved to the
briefing area where they learned that today they
would bomb the submarine pens located in the
port city of Emden, Germany. This promised to be
a fairly easy mission as Emden would be within
the range of American P-47 fighter planes, which
would protect the big bombers from enemy fighter
attack while in the target area. After the
briefings the men quickly moved to an adjoining
area where flying suits were donned and flight
equipment checked. Then they hopped aboard
trucks for the ride to the hardstands where the
B-17’s were parked.
At hardstand #2 Lt Jim Haddox, Pilot, performed
the necessary pre-flight engine and instrument
control checks, ably assisted by 1st Lt. John
Wagner, Co-pilot. Other crew members went about
their duties, including Lt. Albert C. Warford,
Navigator, Lt. Ellsworth C. Power, Bombardier/Nosegunner
and S/Sgt Nicholas Tenaglia, Engineer. T/Sgt C.J. (Charlie) Kobis, Radio Operator, checked
communications ensuring that the intercom and
radios functioned properly while Sgt. Kendall
Morrow and S/Sgt James Grosskopf, waist
gunners, checked their guns and loaded 50
caliber ammunition aboard Sugarfoot. Sgt.
Gonzalo Orta, normally the ball turret gunner,
would fly as left waist gunner on this flight,
trading places with Sgt. Morrow who was "the old
man" on the crew at age 35. Sgt Lyle S. Jones
would occupy the tail gunners position in place
of Sgt. Robert D. Abney, whose hands and legs
were frozen when his electrical flying suit
failed during the Bordeaux flight. The crew
members knew each other pretty well by now,
having become good friends since coming together
as an Air Crew at Walla Walla, Washington,
earlier in the year.
Shortly before 0800 hours the ground crews
started cranking the massive 4800 horsepower
Wright Cyclone engines on the 26 B-17 flying
fortresses that would participate in this raid.
Sugarfoot was designated as one of five "spares"
that would be used to replace other aircraft
should any of those aircraft be required to
"abort" for any reason. The 100th Bomb Group
would fly in the "high" position, above and to
the rear of the 390th Bomb Group, which would be
the "lead" Group for this raid. A total of 583
B-17’s and B-24’s of the 8th Air Force would
participate in this attack, the largest group of
aircraft ever assembled for a raid on Germany to
this date.
At 08:15 hours the first 100th Bomb Group B-17
climbed off the Thorpe Abbotts runway and into
the thick overcast that reached to 12,000 feet.
Within 30 minutes all 26 bombers were airborne.
Everywhere, as far as the eye could see,
straining B-17’s and B-24’s were emerging from
the billowing mass into the most beautiful
sunlight imaginable, climbing to their assigned
assembly altitude and joining their respective
Groups. The 100th Bomb Group assembled over
their radio beacon, Splasher #6, at 0920, with
the five (5) spare aircraft above the Group. At
0932 the 100th Group joined with the 95th and
390th Bomb Groups, the other two elements of the
13th Combat Wing. They were now flying at 12,500
feet. Shortly thereafter, at 0950 and 13,000 ft
altitude, the 13th Combat Wing, led by the 390th
Bomb Group, met with other elements of the 2nd
and 3rd Air Division and proceeded in a
Northeasterly direction across the North Sea
toward Helgoland. The 13th Combat Wing, led by
the 390th Bomb Group, would lead the attack into
Emden.
Shortly after forming up at the rendezvous area,
a call came over the radio to replace an "abort"
from the 390th Bomb Group. Normally, an abort
would be replaced by a "spare" from it’s own
Bomb Group. However, Lt. Jim Haddox opened the
intercom and said to the crew " Should we go
guys?" and the crew all responded "Lets go."
Haddox throttled up the engines and, upon
overtaking the 390th Bomb Group, tucked itself
into the #3 position in one of the lead
elements.
The trip over the North Sea was uneventful. The
weather was perfect but a bit cold at -50
degrees. Flying altitude was 26,000 feet. Crews
kept warm in heavy flight clothes and electrical
flying suits. Fifty caliber machine guns were
checked in short bursts. Between 1024 hours and
1033 hours three of the 100th Bomb Group spares
turned back. At the front of the formation,
Major Ralph V. Hansel, Strike Leader, sat in the
Co-pilots seat in the B-17 called "Six Nights In
Telergma." Capt Donald Warren, 390th Group
Navigator, and Capt Irving Lifson, 390th
Squadron Navigator, sat in the nose of Telergma,
giving the lead plane of the 390th Bomb Group
two Navigators. Field Order #108, outlining the
Mission, directed the bombers to feint, flying
east almost to Helgoland, before suddenly
turning southwest to cut back to Emden, making
straight for the target. The object was to fake
any German fighters coming up through the clouds
into defending the Bremen-Hamburg area further
to the East. Escort in the target area would be
provided by P-47 Thunderbolts of seven different
Fighter Groups, and P-51 Mustangs of the 354th
Fighter Group, flying their third mission.
As they flew over the great expanse of the North
Sea, Capt Lifson, sitting in the nose of
Telergma, realized that the headwinds from the
East were stronger than estimated and that the
bomber formation, which had a set time to
rendezvous with the fighters in the target area,
might not make it if they went all the way to
the planned turning point. He communicated this
to Major Hansel who decided that the fighters
might have better winds aloft data than the
bombers and might be into the target area on a
timely basis. Because of this, Major Hansel
turned the bomber formation southwest to Emden
earlier than planned. Unfortunately, the
fighters were not there when the bomber
formation came up on the target area.
As the bombers approached the North Frisian
Islands, near the coast of Holland, the German
flak batteries began to fire. Within five
minutes Sugarfoot took a direct hit on the right
side, between the #3 and #4 engines. The hole
was " big enough to drive a jeep through". High
octane aviation fuel poured across the wing
toward the radio operators compartment,
gravitating along the fuselage into the waist
gun opening, on the right side of Sugarfoot,
where Sgt. Jim Grosskopf was manning his 50
caliber machine gun. Grosskopf found himself
being soaked in high octane aviation fuel!
Simultaneously, the 390th Bomb Group was
attacked by six twin engine ME-110 fighter
planes that dived out of the sun firing rockets
and cannons, knocking out the lead ship and
three other B-17’s. Sugarfoot took a HARD hit in
the nose that knocked out communications and
caused an oxygen fire, impairing the oxygen
supply to some of the crew. The noise was
horrendous. Machine guns blasted away at the
fighters. Flak burst around the ship. The big
Pratt and Whitney engines roared incessantly.
Suddenly, before the formation could re-assemble
behind the deputy lead fortress, 30 more single
engine FW-190 and ME-109 enemy fighters attacked
the formation and shot down four more
Fortresses.
Grosskopf sensed a possible explosion of the
leaking aviation fuel and beckoned to the crew
to get out. He threw live 50 caliber ammunition
on the ball turret in an attempt to get Sgt.
Morrows attention, and at Sgt. Lyle Jones in the
tail of Sugarfoot in an attempt to get his
attention. He noted C.J. Kobis tapping away
messages in the radio room, with his back to the
waist section, but with all the noise could not
get his attention. He beckoned to Sgt. Orta,
left waist gunner, to "c’mon, c’mon, lets go."
Sgt. Orta looked at Grosskopf, seemingly ready
to go. Time was of the essence. Delaying another
moment could cost him his life. Sugarfoot was
beginning to lose control. Believing that at
least some of his comrades were behind him, he
jumped out the excape hatch, counted to ten,
then pulled his ripcord.
As he descended slowly toward the North Sea,
Sgt. Grosskopf noticed two (2) or maybe three
(3) B-17’s going down. He also counted about
twelve (12) other parachutes and he assumed some
of them were his crewmates. He watched with
sorrow as Sugarfoot, with it’s right wing torn
away, spiraled in a flat spin into the North Sea
between Langeoog and Baltrum, two islands off
the coast of Holland. As he descended toward
what appeared to be another small island, Sgt.
Grosskopf threw his 45 caliber sidearm and
survival gear into the North Sea. Miraculously,
he landed at the northern tip of Norderney
island where he was taken prisoner by a young
German soldier who pointed a rifle at him in a
menacing way. Grosskopf ended up in a building
with two other Americans, Captains Warren and
Lifson, both of whom were Navigators aboard "Six
Nights In Telergma." He was hopeful that some of
his crewmates would show up as prisoners of the
Germans, but, as fate would have it all nine (9)
brave men perished in Sugarfoot, as well as most
of the other airmen who parachuted into the
North Sea. He remained in German custody for the
remainder of the War, being held in an
interrogation camp at Stalag Luft 1A then later
at Stalag Luft 17B near Krems, Austria. He was
liberated in May of 1945 after a march across
Austria and part of Germany during the last
month or so of the War.
Sgt. Gonzalo Orta and Major Ralph Hansels bodies
were recovered from the North Sea the same day
by the German rescue ship Hamburg at around 1400
hrs. Sgt. Orta was buried as an unknown in the
cemetery at Langeoog, a small island off the
Holland coast. He was identified after the war
and reinterred in Ardennes Plot L-1-22. He was
later returned to his native Texas at the
request of his family and is buried there. Lt.
Albert Warfords body washed ashore on or about
17 March 1944 and was buried in Langeoog
Cemetery. He was later reinterred in Ardennes
Plot 0-4-97. No other bodies were ever
recovered.
The 8th Air Force lost seventeen (17) Flying
Fortresses on that December day in 1943. Of that
number, the 390th Bomb Group, the "Lead" Group
in the attack, lost five (5) B-17’s with eight
(8) others damaged. The 100th Bomb Group,
otherwise known as "the bloody 100th" because of
it’s unusually high losses in the air war over
Germany, lost one B-17, Sugarfoot, with no other
planes damaged. The various P47 Fighter Groups,
arriving in the target area later than expected,
accounted for 21 enemy aircraft shot down with a
loss of 4 of it’s own planes. The 354th Fighter
Group (P51’s) registered no kills of enemy
aircraft on that day. Official records state
that "The fighter cover was late and
ineffective."
(picture courtesy
of Mr. Frank McDermott)
On March 31
2003, Frank McDermott, nephew of T/Sgt Casimier
Kobis, surviving crew member S/Sgt James
Grosskopf and their families dedicated a plaque
to the crew of 'Sugarfoot' at the 8th Air Force
Museum in Savannah, Georgia.
1Lt James R.
Haddox is
mentioned on the Margraten Wall of the Missing.
1st
Lieutenant