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B-24 Liberator
"Belle Ringer" - B-24 Serial # 42-51195
Kenneth S. Kingsland (photo courtesy of the Kingsland family)
The Robert E. Heichel crew - England 28 April 1945. Back row, from left to right : Radio Operator Anthony P. Turco; the unidentified Navigator who replaced Seymour Eisenstat, severely wounded in the 14 March 1945 crash of B-24 # 42-51195; Co-Pilot Thomas J. Alexander; Pilot Robert E. Heichel, Gunner Philip E. Trimmer Jr. Front row : Gunner Glen C. LeBleu; Gunner Rheudolph W. Cain; Gunner Lacy C. Gilliam and an unidentified man who replaced Engineer Kenneth S. Kingsland, who was killed in the crash of 42-51195 on 14 March 1945. (Photo courtesy of the Anthony Turco family)
Robert Heichel as an Aviation Cadet ( photo courtesy of the Heichel family - http://www.inexpensiveflighttraining.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8801344 )
Crash of B-24 "Belle Ringer" # 42-51195 near Florée, Belgium - 14 March 1945. Three members of the Robert Heichel crew who were not wounded in the crash. Top : Sgt Lacy C. Gilliam; bottom left : S/Sgt Rheudolph W. Cain; bottom right : Sgt Glen C. LeBleu. (Photo courtesy of the Heichel family - http://www.inexpensiveflighttraining.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8801344 )
Crash of B-24 "Belle Ringer" # 42-51195 near Florée, Belgium - 14 March 1945 - Débris of the crashed Liberator. The ambulance is ready to drive the wounded to a nearby hospital. The chapel in the background is where a plaque will be placed on 12 March 2016 in memory of the incident where Engineer Kenneth Kingsland lost his life. (Photo courtesy of the Heichel family - http://www.inexpensiveflighttraining.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8801344 )
Crash of B-24 "Belle Ringer" # 42-51195 near Florée, Belgium - 14 March 1945 (photo courtesy of the Heichel family - http://www.inexpensiveflighttraining.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8801344 )
Crash of B-24 "Belle Ringer" # 42-51195 near Florée, Belgium - 14 March 1945 (photo courtesy of the Heichel family - http://www.inexpensiveflighttraining.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8801344 )
Crash of B-24 "Belle Ringer" # 42-51195 near Florée, Belgium - 14 March 1945. Showing the farm hit by the Liberator's left wing as it banked to crash-land in the field (photo courtesy of the Heichel family - http://www.inexpensiveflighttraining.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8801344 )
The plaque to the memory of Sgt Kenneth Kingsland. It reads : TO THE MEMORY OF KENNETH KINGSLAND Here on 14 March 1945, on return from a mission to Germany, the "BELLE RINGER", a B-24 Liberator bomber from the 854th Squadron of the 491st Bomber Group, made a forced landing. Its left wing hit the isolated house with the orange roof you can notice behind you. The aircraft ended its course in the field facing this chapel. Sergent Kenneth Kingsland, from Connecticut and aged 27, lost his life. He is buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neuville-en-Condroz. * Ayez une pensée pour Kenneth qui est mort pour notre liberté * Have a thought for Kenneth who died for our freedom. (The captions of the photos in the left-hand column) : The débris of the plane facing the chapel (in the background on the photo). An engine from the left wing in front of the small isolated house at the edge of the Chaussée de Dinant (chapel in the background) (The captions of the photos in the right-hand column) : Sergent Kenneth Kingsland (engineer). He had three sisters and he was married. On the left, the insignia of the 8th Air Force to which the aircraft belonged. To the right, that of the 491st Bombardment Group. "Belle Ringer" was the name given to the plane by its crew. (At bottom) The crew of the "Belle Ringer" (photo montage) [ NOTE : this is a composite photo, where the faces of two new members of the Heichel crew in the May 1945 photo have been replaced by those of Kenneth Kingsland and Navigator Seymour Eisenstat ] Standing from left to right : Sergent Anthony Turco, Radio; Lieutenant Seymour Eisenstat, Navigator; Lieutenant Thomas Alexander, Co-Pilot; Lieutenant Robert Heichel, Pilot; Sergent Philip Trimmer, Gunner. Kneeling, from left to right : Sergent Glen Lebleu, Gunner; Sergent Rheudolph Cain, Gunner; Sergent Lacy Gilliam, Gunner; Sergent Kenneth Kingsland, Engineer/Gunner. (At the bottom of the plaque, in blue, a short text in English summarizing the events and Sgt Kingsland's fate)
B-24 # 42-51195 "Belle Ringer" is listed as having been first in the 493rd Bomb Group at Debach. Transferred to the 491st Bomb Group / 852nd Bomb Squadron, it was hit by Flak on the way to the target, the Gütersloh marshalling yards in Germany on 14 March 1945 with a 854th Squadron crew. Despite one engine out, the crew decided to go on with the mission and dropped their bomb load. On the return flight, another engine quit and Belle Ringer was rapidly losing altitude. It seemed impossible to fly back to England and the crew agreed with Pilot Robert Heichel's decision to try to land the plane on an airfield in liberated Belgium. Navigator Seymour Eisenstat located one near the city of Namur, but as another engine had quit also, probably due to lack of fuel, the pilot finally had to aim for a field and began a wheels-down approach. On the downturn, the B-24 hit the roof of a combo-farm with its left wing. The wing and engines 1 and 2 were found in the remains of the farm, while the rest of the plane crashed in an adjacent field in Florée, about 10km NW of Ciney (SE of Namur), Belgium. No Missing Air Crew Report (MACR). Engineer Sgt Kenneth S. Kingsland died after the crash; the 8 other crew members safe, some wounded : Pilot Robert E. Heichel; Co-Pilot Thomas J. Alexander; Navigator Seymour Eisenstat; Radio Operator Anthony P. Turco; Gunner Rheudolph W. Cain; Gunner Lacy C. Gilliam; Gunner Glen C. LeBleu and Gunner Philip E. Trimmer Jr. No civilian victims. Salvaged 23 March 1945, 42-51195 never flew again.
The exact location of the crash could be determined in 2013 with the help of Belgians Amand Collard and Denis Abel (who found the place). During a ceremony at the edge of the field where the Liberator crashed, a ceremony took place on 12 March 2016 to inaugurate a plaque
dedicated to Sgt Kenneth S. Kingsland and the crew of "Belle Ringer". See details and photos on Sgt Kingsland's page at http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/140382
Group
The 491st Bomb Group flew B-24 Liberators in bombing missions over northern France and Germany from June 1944 until April 1945. Missions over Germany included bombing the headquarters of the German General Staff at Zossen. The Group was awarded a DUC...
Group
The 493rd Bomb Group was the last Eighth Air Force Group to become operational, flying their first combat mission from Debach, Suffolk, on D-Day, 6 June 1944. The Group was known as "the Fighting 493rd", named by their Commanding Officer Colonel Elbert...
Squadron
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 491st Bomb Group
Thomas Alexander’s older brother, Marston Alexander Jr, born in 1917, died in October 1929. Thomas enlisted in the Air Corps and was trained as a pilot. Sent overseas, he was assigned to the 491st Bomb Group / 854th Bomb Squadron in England. He was on...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Gunner | 491st Bomb Group
Rheudolph Cain was the youngest of Anna S. Cain's three sons (the others : Walter and Hubert). He enlisted at the end of 1943 in the Air Corps after two years at Parkersburgh High School in West Virginia. Trained as a gunner, he was sent overseas and...
Military | Flight Officer | Navigator | 491st Bomb Group
Seymour Eisenstat grew up in Brooklyn and attended Brooklyn Technical High School before entering the service in 1943. He followed initial training at a mechanics school in Biloxi, Mississippi then, having had an opportunity to be an Aviation Cadet, he...
Military | Sergeant | Gunner | 491st Bomb Group
Enlisting in the Air Corps in August 1943, Lacy Gilliam trained as a gunner and was sent overseas and assigned to the 491st Bomb Group / 854th Bomb Squadron in England. He was on board B-24 "Belle Ringer" # 42-51195 when it crash-landed in Belgium on...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 491st Bomb Group
Robert Heichel attended the Windber High School during four years (his description in the Class of 1942 Yearbook : “He hath a stern look, but a merry heart.”) Before his enlistment in the Air Corps in 1942, he helped to build B-24 Liberators at the...
Military | Sergeant | Flight Engineer / Top Turret Gunner | 491st Bomb Group
After finishing his studies, Kenneth Kingsland was employed as an assembler at the Pratt & Whitney United Aircraft Corporation's engine factory in East Hartford, Connecticut. Married to Dorothy, he decided to volunteer like younger men and enlisted in...
Military | Sergeant | Gunner | 491st Bomb Group
Barely 18, Glen LeBleu enlisted in the Air Corps in July 1943. Trained as a gunner, he was sent overseas and assigned to the 491st Bomb Group / 854th Bomb Squadron in England. He was on board B-24 "Belle Ringer" # 42-51195 when it crash-landed in...
Military | Sergeant | Gunner | 491st Bomb Group
Barely 18, Phil Trimmer enlisted in the Air Corps in April 1944. Trained as a gunner, he was sent overseas and assigned to the 491st Bomb Group / 854th Bomb Squadron in England. He was on board B-24 "Belle Ringer" # 42-51195 when it crash-landed in...
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 491st Bomb Group
Enlisting in the Air Corps in January 1944, Anthony Turco trained as a Radio Operator / gunner. He was sent overseas and assigned to the 491st Bomb Group / 854th Bomb Squadron in England. He was on board B-24 "Belle Ringer" # 42-51195 when it crash...
14 March 1945
"1,250 Heavies Strike Tanks, Gun Factories Near Hanover"
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Military site : airfield
Debach was one of the last Eighth Air Force heavy bomber bases to be completed. It was built by the 820th Engineer Battalion (Aviation) between late '43 and early '44. Pronounced locally as 'Deb-idge', the base was built to a class A standard with...
Military site : airfield
Built comparatively late during 1943-44 as an Eighth Air Force bomber base, North Pickenham was rather cramped as an airfield site so the main runway was shorter than typical. It had three concrete runways, 50 loop hardstandings and two dispersed T2...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Crashed | Florée, Belgium | 14 March 1945 |
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Hit by Flak, low on fuel on the flight back from the mission to the Gütersloh marshalling yards, Germany; crash-landed in a field in Florée, between the Chaussée de Dinant and the Rue de Wagnée. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 18 March 2016 13:57:04 | ED-BB | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added details about the 12 March 2016 ceremony at the crash location in Florée, |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 30 January 2016 14:11:00 | ED-BB | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added photos from http://www.inexpensiveflighttraining.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8801344 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 26 January 2016 15:05:49 | ED-BB | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added names of crew and photo of nose art |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 30 December 2015 15:16:26 | ED-BB | Created entry with serial number, aircraft type, production block number, manufacturer, nicknames, markings, description, events, unit associations, person associations, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Photos of crashed plane at http://www.inexpensiveflighttraining.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8801344 (website of Pilot Robert Heichel's nephew Jay Heichel) |
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