Two B17s Collide near RAF Snetterton Heath (Station 138)

/ Aviationtrails

With the number of aircraft in the skies over Britain during the Second World War, it was inevitable that some would collide, often fatally. Carrying full bombs loads and full fuel tanks, these aircraft were literally ‘flying bombs’ and a collision would often have disastrous consequences.

One such incident happened on 29th January 1945 just months before the cessation of war. Two B-17s from the 96th Bomb Group collided over the small village of North Lopham near to RAF Snetterton Heath with the loss of all eighteen crew members.

The first aircraft, B-17G-DL*1 ’44-6137′, of the 337th Bomb Squadron was delivered from the factory to Tulsa Air Base on 12th May 1944; travelling on via Kearney Training base to Dow Field, Maine, on the 1st June 1944. It was initially assigned to the 452nd Bomb Group, where upon it was flown to RAF Deopham Green in Norfolk, England. After arriving at Deopham, it was immediately transferred to the 337th BS, 96th BG, and given the coding ‘AW – J’. The aircraft was subsequently flown on to RAF Snetterton Heath and operational status.

The second aircraft, B-17G -BO*1 ’43-38746′, was initially delivered to Lincoln Air Base on 16th September 1944. It was also flown on to Dow Field but later in the September of that same year. Here the aircraft was assigned to the 338th BS, 96th BG, transported to Snetterton Heath, and given the coding ‘BX – J’. The aircraft arrived for active duty in the October of 1944.

The 96th BG, consisted of four squadrons: the 337th, 338th, 339th and 413thBSs,  operating both B-17-F and B 17-G models. At the time of the accident they were part of the 3rd Air Division, 45th Combat Wing, Eighth Air Force.

The 96th BG like their crews, were relatively young. Activated on 15th July 1942 at Salt Lake City, Utah, the group wasn’t allocated any operational personnel until reaching Gallon Field in Idaho, in August that same year. They moved through a number of airfields and training camps, until setting sail for the European Theatre of Operation on the Queen Elizabeth, on 5th May 1943, arriving in Greenock, Scotland, six days later. After moving from Grafton Underwood to Andrews Field, in Essex, they finally arrived at their base RAF Snetterton Heath,  on 12th June 1943 where they would remain until December 1945.

By the end of the war the 96th BG would have completed 321 missions in total dropping in excess of 19,200 tons of ordinance, a figure that included around 130 tons of supplies. They would lose 189 aircraft in operations over Europe and would receive two Distinguish Unit Citations for their operations over both Regensburg and Poznan.

On the day in question, January 29th 1945, two years into their war, the two aircraft took off from their base at Snetterton Heath (Station 138) to attack the Bielefield Marshalling yards at Kassel as part of Mission 811.  As they were forming up to find their position in the flight, the disaster struck. The first aircraft flown by Second Lt. Alex Philipovitch,  flew across the path of the second aircraft flown by Second Lt. George Peretti. As a result Peretti’s port wing struck the B17 causing it to explode whilst his own was split in half. As a result of the collision, both aircraft plummeted helplessly to the ground killing all eighteen men on board.

Regrettably, this collision was one of many that occurred both within the USAAF and RAF during the Second World War, a sad loss of many a young life. Thankfully however, neither this tragedy, nor the sacrifice of the crews will be forgotten as the people of North Lopham have laid a commemorative memorial stone in the village centre on their combined war memorial, just a few miles away from Snetterton Heath airfield, now Snetterton race park.

The names of the crew members, many of whom were only 19 or 20 years of age, appear in the St Paul’s Cathedral Roll of Honour, London.

Aug 2015 found in North Lopham

The memorial stone at North Lopham

In honour of the crews:*2

B-17 ’44-6137′

2nd Lt. George .J. Peretti: Buried – St. John Cemetery, Illinois (age 22)
2nd Lt. Ernest .S. Throne: Buried – Fountain Grove Cemetery, Ohio (age 29)
2nd Lt. Gerald. S. Stambaugh: Buried – Keokuk National Cemetery, Iowa (age 23)
Sgt. Robert. I. Good: Buried – Greenville Union Cemetery, Ohio (age 24)
Sgt. Maynard. A. Faux: Purple Heart and Air Medal, Buried – Cambridge American Cemetery, UK (age 19)
Sgt. Gordon. C. Shaul: Buried – Ford City Cemetery, Pennsylvania (age 20)
Sgt. Noble. E. Ellington: Buried – Gwin Memorial Cemetery, Louisiana (age 25)
Sgt. Clarence. C Hagler: ETO Ribbon with 1 Battle Star, AD Ribbon, Air Medal, Buried – Gilmer City Cemetery, Texas (19 years old)
Sgt. Robert. R.Stone: Purple Heart, Air Medal, Buried – Forest Lawn Cemetery, North Carolina (age 22)

B-17, ’43-38746′

2nd Lt. Alex. Philipovitch: Purple Heart, Buried – Gettysburg National Cemetery, (age 23)
2nd Lt. John. C. Hubbard: Buried – McCall Cemetery, South Carolina, (age 30)
Flt. Off. Slatten. H. Gooden: Buried – Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, (age 27)
Flt. Off. Martin. P. Schmidt: Buried – Saint Mary Cemetery, Omaha, (age 19)
T/Sgt. Richard. J. Zander: Buried – Mount Sinai Cemetery, Pennsylvania, (age 20)
T/Sgt. Charles. H. Tibbatts:  Purple Heart, Buried – Cambridge American Cemetery, UK
Sgt. Robert. K. Smith: Buried – Stones River National Cemetery, Tennessee, (age 19)
Sgt. James. E. Flora: Buried – Musselman Cemetery, Indiana, (age 20)
Sgt. William. F. Brauner: Buried – Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum, Missouri, (age 19)

Sources:

RAF Snetterton Heath appears in Trail 27.
*1 – “The B-17 Flying Fortress Story”, Roger A Freeman with David Osborne, 1998, Arms and Armour
*2 – Find a Grave, accessed 14/11/15

21 thoughts on “Two B17s Collide near RAF Snetterton Heath (Station 138)”

  1. I just came across this.  Bob Strawser, I am in the same position as you.  My mother’s older brother, who would have been my uncle, was the radioman on 43-38746.  He was T/Sgt. Richard. J. Zander Jr. from Philadelphia, PA  and he died 4 days short of what would have been his 21st birthday on February 22nd.  The comments and memorial by the people from North Lotham have been very kind.

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  2. My mother’s brother, my would-be uncle was the radioman/gunner on the B-17G (44-6137) that collided with the other B-17 that day. He was only 19 at the time! His name was Maynard A. Faux from Indiana, and left a wife and infant son. Maynard Faux is buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery in England. I have visited his grave and also spent time in the village of North Lopham where the two planes came down. I have seen the stone that this village generously placed to remember these airmen and also visited another time when a DVD was produced and unveiled to the villagers about the collision. Met with some villagers whom were children when this collision happened and got their eye-witness reports of aircraft debris, bombs and bodies falling inside of the village there. Pieces of the B-17s were on display as well. Many of these villagers are no doubt passed away now, but it was my great pleasure to meet and talk about this “common bond” that brought us together.

    As I understand the stories told me from various air force sources on my visits, the B-17 (43-38746) that flew across the path of my uncle’s plane, had taken off late due to a mechanical failure. In the haste to get into formation for the trip into the war zone, this plane crossed my uncle’s flight path and the collision happened. This is my recollection of the incident as told to me from the USAF representative in England.

    If anyone sees this note, and has more information, I would be appreciative if you would contact me.

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    • Hi. Bob, thank you so much for adding that and sharing your own experiences with us. Have your tried the missing air crew reports? that may have clues? Failing that, I hope that someone reading this is able to help you and pass on some small clue that may help you. Fingers crossed!

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    • Bob, only just seen this note . My Uncle farmed the land around North Lopham . He witnessed the collision and found one of the crewman . As a child in the 1960s I would walk around the fields and find pieces of wreckage ( on one occasion an unexplored cannon shell) . As a child I saw it as an adventure. I now have a very different perspective. Many people in the village remember the event , although much fewer now. I have a copy of the video that was made .
      May you Uncle rest peacefully

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    • Bob Strawser, I just came across this. I am in the same position as you.  My mother’s older brother, who would have been my uncle, was the radioman on 43-38746.  He was T/Sgt. Richard. J. Zander Jr. from Philadelphia, PA  and he died 4 days short of what would have been his 21st birthday on February 22nd.  The comments and memorial by the people from North Lotham have been very kind.

      Liked by 1 person

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  4. Yes, these incidents were only too common. In some of them, it is pilot error, but a lot of them, the people on the ground were ambitious about how many aircraft could occupy a certain small box of airspace at one given moment. A really good blog post, thank you very much.

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  7. A wonderful write up on the chance of war. It highlights the danger of just being in a theater of combat with death caused not by enemy hostilities. I also see a few were along in their years before they met the deaths. I cannot imagine the horror coursing through them, even knowing but a split second their lives were ending.

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