July | 2022 | Aviation Trails

Lt Raymond Harney (Photo courtesy of Tsymond Harney JR.)*¹

A few years ago a story came to light that not only brought home the brutality of war but also the compassion found in war. It was of two American airmen whose World War II story finally come to a close 70 years after their death.

The two airmen, U.S. Army Air Corps 1st Lt. Raymond Harney (s/n O-523208) and U.S. Army Air Corps 2nd Lt. Warren French, (s/n O-2056584) of the 349th BS, 100th BG, were in a B17G (44-6306) over Germany on September 28th 1944, when they were hit by flak whilst on a mission to Merseberg. This would be their eighth and final mission.

Mission 652 involved a total of 342 B-17s which were sent to bomb the Merseburg/Leuna oil refinery and any additional targets of opportunity. During the operation, 10 B-17s were lost, 4 were damaged beyond repair and 251 damaged but repairable. Escort for the mission was provided by 212 P-51s of the USAAF.

B-17 ‘#44-6306’, was delivered to Kearney airbase on 28th June 1944, then moved to Grenier airbase, New Hampshire on 9th July 1944, for onward transport to the United Kingdom. It was assigned to the 349th Bomb Squadron, of the 100th Bomb Group, given the code ‘XR-G’, and based at RAF Thorpe Abbotts from the 12th July 1944.

The crew of #44-6306, assigned on the 28th August 1944, was: (Pilot) 1st Lt. Raymond E.Harney (Co-pilot); 2nd Lt. William R.Kimball (Navigator); 2nd Lt. Charles M.Hamrick (Bombardier); 2nd Lt. Warren.M.French (Top Turret/Engineer); Cpl. Thadeus L.Gotz (Radio Operator/Gunner); Cpl. Hubert J.Burleigh,Jr. (Ball Turret); Cpl. Melvin F.Cordray (Waist Gunner); Cpl. Robert C.Minear (Waist Gunner); Cpl James J.Sorenson, and (tail Gunner) Cpl. John H. Bundner. However, for reasons unknown at this time, for this particular mission, Gotz was not aboard, and instead S/Sgt. Jack D.Francisco flew as tail gunner and Cpl. Robert C.Minear flew as the Flight Engineer.

At 12:10, whilst over the target, the B-17 was hit in the number 2 engine by anti-aircraft flak. As a result, the engine caught fire, the aircraft withdrew from the protection of the formation, joining another formation further back, but began to fall back again when the number 4 engine was also feathered. Harney continued to fly the crippled B-17 for two hours after being hit, before finally deciding enough was enough and he ordered the crew to bail out. Being determined to save his friend and the aircraft, he also decided that he and the injured French, would remain and try to land the aircraft.

Outside of the village of Schwickershausen, to the north of another major target, Schweinfurt, Germany, they attempted a belly landing bringing the aircraft down in a turnip field. The B-17 slid across the ground, ripping off the port wing, causing a tremendous fire. Neither Harney nor French sadly survived the subsequent fireball.

Although he managed to get the crew to leave the aircraft, their safety was not guaranteed and sadly, three were killed by local police in the following days. An event not uncommon in Nazi Germany. Only two of the gunners, Cpl. Melvin F.Cordray, and Cpl. Robert C.Minear, survived as POWs.

What makes this story more significant than usual, is what followed after the crash.

The local people made a wooden cross in remembrance of the crew and they kept it hidden away in the local church for over 70 years.

The cross kept secret for so many years.*²

The large wooden cross, had the words “Hier ruhen in Gott! 2 amer. Flieger,” or “Here rests in God 2 American flyers,” engraved on it, along with details of the aircraft crash. On the 70th anniversary of the crash, 28th September 2014, a memorial service was held in the village of Schwickershausen. Following this, on 5th October, the cross was flown over to England in an American KC-135 Stratotanker from RAF Mildenhall, with two Luftwaffe Tornadoes escorting them over Germany. The cross was donated to the ‘Bloody 100th’ museum at Thorpe Abbots for safe keeping. A certificate was also handed over along with the cross signifying not only the now peaceful and co-operative alliance between the two nations, but the final closing of a chapter of the history of two crew members of the “Bloody Hundredth.”

The cross being transported in the Boom pod of a KC-135 Stratotanker. October 2014.*⁴

This is a remarkable story, and one that certainly stands out amongst the horrors and heroism of the Second World War.

Warren French’s memorial stone in Belgium*³

Lt. Raymond E. Harney’s Gravestone is at Ft. Snelling Cemetery in Minnesota, his remains are in the graveyard at Gemeindefriedhof Schwickershausen. Warren French’s headstone is in the Ardennes, Neuville-en-Cond, in Belgium.

Thorpe Abbotts airfield and museum is featured in Trail 12

Sources:

*¹ photo the Bloody 100th Foundation.

*² Photo from RAF Mildenhall news

*³ Photo from ‘Find a Grave‘

*⁴ Photo from RAF Mildenhall News

This story first appeared in the RAF Mildenhall News report October 20th 2014.

As the war drew to a close, encircled German troops, took to flooding the fields of western Holland, forcing the local Dutch people down to starvation levels. In an attempt to help them, Allied operational bombing missions turned to mercy missions. Operations ‘Manna‘ and ‘Chow Hound’ involved Allied bombers flying low-level to drop supplies of food and other provisions to these people. They would fly aircraft along mutually agreed routes to dropping points at the Hague and other sites around Rotterdam.

The first of these RAF operations occurred at the end of April into the early days of May, followed by the USAAF between the 1st and 8th of May 1945. On this first operation, 396 B-17s flew from their bases in East Anglia to unload some 700 tons of provisions over the affected area. Over the next few days similar flights would also take place, which would in total provide some 11,000 tons of food to the starving population. During one of these missions on May 7th, B-17G #44- 8640 of the 95th BG, 334th BS, was believed to have been hit by ground fire over Ijmuiden, The aircraft, engine ablaze, ditched in the North Sea. Rescue efforts were mounted to recover the crewmen and observers, but only two survived – eleven were lost. It is believed to be last combat casualty of 8th Air Force in World War 2.

Also during this time, ‘Trolley runs‘ began in which around 10,000 ground crew and other personnel, were given the opportunity to see first hand, the destruction caused by the relentless allied bombing campaign of the previous years. Many were shocked to see the extent of the damage having lived in the relative safety of their airfields back home.

Whilst some crews enjoyed the ‘sight seeing tours’ others were involved in ‘Revival‘ flights, bringing home the many thousands of Allied prisoners of war and displaced persons interned in camps as far away as Austria.

Gradually even these missions began to slow. Squadrons and airfields were wound down, and eyes began to turn to the Pacific. An American force consisting of three P-51 and nine B-17 groups would remain in Europe, the rest of the Eighth Air force would return home for rest or training and eventual posting to the Pacific.

In the third week of May 1945, the huge operation began, the first B-24 left the U.K. for American shores, a flight that would begin seven weeks of flights across the Atlantic routes. In total some 41,500 men and 2,118 aircraft would depart the U.K. for home, most through either Prestwick in Scotland, or Valley in Wales.

Valley airfield became known as “Happy Valley”, and would see about 90% of the returning aircraft leave from here. Each of the aircraft leaving would carry its crew and 10 passengers, along with sacks of mail for home.

On July 11th 1945, 1st Lt. Gean (or Gene) Williams climbed aboard his B-24, started its engines and pulled off the runway at Valley; the last B-24 the leave the U.K, and with it began the slow demise of Britain’s wartime airfields.