Memorial

More information

The mission took place on 5 September 1944

Capt Donald D. Palmblad:
A/C 42-50511 was flying the group deputy lead position on my right. This aircraft left the formation between the initial point and the target with the #3 engine smoking. After peeling off to the right I saw him jettison his bombs. I then tried to contact him by radio but could not reach him. When I saw him last he was losing altitude but was under control. The plane crashed between the villages of Surbourg and Soultz, France. All crew members bailed out.

Capt Edward W. Appel:
By going back to this area in May of 1945, I found out that Sgts Hodges and Latten had been in hiding with a French civilian by the name of Braining in the village of Wilwisheim, Alsace, until 23 September 1944. Then they put on civilian clothes and were taken by a Mr. Lux to Saverne where a Charles Gerber took them north to a Clergyman or Pasteur in the village of Volksburg. This Pasteur was later arrested by the Germans. A Monsieur le Pasteur Fricker of Tiefenbach, a little village near Volksburg said they were caught by the S.S. and put in the concentration camp of Chelmek. Where he died on 25 November 1944.

He is remembered in the chapel of Notre-Dame des Tilleurs, France.