Delivered Tulsa 18/3/44; Kearney 29/9/44; Grenier 6/4/44; Assigned 600BS/398BG [N8-K] AAF-131 Nuthampstead 9/4/44; while on practice mission 4/5/44 with Lt K. Elwood collided in mid-air with 42-102467, but ret to base, vertical fin was damaged.

42-107191 was damaged again on 8 May 1944 at 17:30 hrs when piloted by Cpt William Markey, the right wing tip hit the top of a parked truck and then the lower right wing of parked B-17 42-97394.

Aircraft was lost during assembly for mission to Versailles (Buc) and crashed Lude Farm, Loudwater, Bucks. on 12 August 1944; with Charles Searl, Co-pilot: Albert Dion, Navigator: Saul Kempner, Bombardier: Leo Walsh, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Jim Beaty, Radio Operator: Cecil Kennedy, Ball turret gunner: Alf Bueffel, Waist gunner: Orville Wilson, Tail gunner: Albt Knight (9 Killed in Action); Salvaged 14/8/44.

Note: to date no photograph of this aircraft has been found so far, although at least one may possibly exist.

Further information about the events of 12 August 1944:

Crashed with the loss of all crew at Lude Farm, Penn, Buckinghamshire, England.
Coordinates of crash site are 51°37'4" N 0°40'43"W

B-17 42-107191 took off at 0618 from AAF Nuthampstead, south of Royston, Hertfordshire and was to head to "Splasher" #6 a radio beacon, but this was changed during thr Mission-76, to “Splasher” #11 radio beacon. This was situated at Haben Farm one mile South of Rogate in Hampshire.

One post mission interrogation report from Lt E.L.Ford ( who was flying to the left and forward of “7191” states that he saw " a large explosion above clouds- may have been Searl or Doodle-bug, left one splotch of smoke, but no trail.Believed it was a buzz-bomb"
This almost certainly accounts for later reports suggesting an in flight explosion.

Whatever the cause may have been, the aircraft crashed at Lude Farm, Gatemoor Lane, with no survivors, at a time estimated between 07:10 to 07:25am,- Lt Charles J Searl, the pilot, may have been searching for AAF Bovingdon Air Field, Station 112 Lat 51°43'35" N Long 0°32'41" W.in an attempt to make an emergency landing.

(Note that tail gunner and tenth crew member, Frank.A. Snyder, did not fly on the day of the crash and survived the war, passing away on 5 June 2015, aged 90 years).

All aircraft flew with only 9 crew members at this time. This was due to aft centre of gravity problems at high combat weights. Thus the tenth crew member along with the radio room gun, and all anti-icing equipment were removed to reduce weight and bring the centre of gravity back within limits.

Reports of severe icing on the morning of 12th August , including the abort and return to base of another B-17 from the 398th BG, indicate that the weather conditions and removal of de-icing equipment must have played some part in the chain of events.

Note, as of January 2017, two witnesses to the crash are still alive. Mr Len Howard, and Mr David Huntley. Mr Howard states he saw the aircraft pitch down and then spin three times before impact.

David E. Huntley as the only living witness to the immediate crash scene has offered the following description of the event that fateful day;

"B-17 Crash August 12, 1944
This is the story of the Tomahawk Warrior crash that this author witnessed!

A NOTE TO MY CHILDREN & GRAND - CHILDREN
It would probably surprise you if I said that a 40 second sliver of time and distance separates you all from what you are today, to nothing at all, to a non-existence, to not even be a thought in someone’s mind. A little dramatic perhaps but nevertheless, true.
Let me explain;
I have in the past mentioned to you that as a small boy I had just been through the blitz in London and later the V1 and finally the V2's were starting to come in when we left the city and came to live temporarily at an aunt's cottage in Loudwater near High Wycombe Buckinghamshire. Early one morning just as it was getting light, a plane roared overhead flying extremely low with its engines spluttering and in less than a minute a massive explosion rocked the building and the whole area. My brother Bob and step brother Tom said there was a plane crash, and we should all get up out of bed, and go to investigate.
We ran up the hill of Derehams Lane toward where the crash occurred and it was there I saw the remains of a plane virtually unrecognizable as a plane at all! There were people running around with galvanized metal tubs picking up bloody body parts, and I re-call parachute silk being used to cover bodies or remains . As an almost nine year old it made a deep impression upon me. My brothers were trying to shield me from the gruesome scene although I had seen plenty of wartime in London. I was asking how could the airmen have been using parachutes? Obviously the plane had been too low for the crew to bail out. I now have the answer to that question. The chutes were now shrouds!
It was an amazing coincidence that exactly on the 12th of August 2016 I came across the written history of that crash that had occurred on the 12th of August, 1944 while researching for a different story of WWII. Although it’s 72 years later, it validates everything I saw that fateful morning. A B-17 bomber of the USAAF 398th Bomb Group nicknamed “Tomahawk Warrior” took off from Nuthamstead for their 25th bombing mission when 2 of the four engines caught fire.
This caused them to crash at Lude Farm in Penn just above Loudwater.
When you read the official account of the flight that I have attached below, you will learn that the pilot Lt. Charles Searl, was making every effort to avoid crashing his plane in a populated area. He could not crash land in the large meadows nearby to our cottages because like many other large open spaces, they were covered in massive concrete pillars to prevent German invaders from using gliders to land troops.
Lt. Searl saw the farmland and flew right over our cottage to get to it. Lude Farm is 1.5 miles from where we were staying and at the speed he was flying, probably around 150 miles per hour, it must have been approximately 40 seconds later he hit the ground. The effect of this plane load of bombs exploding on impact was of course far greater than any single bomb I had experienced in London. The noise and blast was felt for miles around. Had that plane not made it to the open farmland and had dropped on us in Loudwater, many people would have been killed, including ourselves.
So we should all be thankful that America came to the rescue of Europe in WWII and for our family in particular, we must remember Lt. Charles Searl and his crew who bravely diverted his plane that morning so that we could enjoy the fruits of freedom from an oppressive government had the Nazi’s prevailed.
I had written my book (see below)and dedicated it to WWII veterans long before I came across the record about this plane. Maybe it's part of my quest to thank those who served in helping to save Europe from tyranny.
David E. Huntley
Author - Death Watch Beetle, A Historical Post WWII Spy Thriller.
August 15, 2016
David now resides in McKinney Texas and is 82 years old.

Service

Events

Event	Location	Date
Crashed	Lude Farm	12 August 1944
Crash site of B-17 G. 42-107191