42-5070 Invasion II
Roger Freeman Collection
Delivered Cheyenne 17/9/42; New Castle 11/10/42; Assigned 401BS/91BG [LL-A] Bassingbourn 14/12/42; Missing in Action 18m Bremen 17/4/43 with Capt Oscar O'Neill, Co-pilot: Bob Friehofer, Navigator: Capt Edwin Carmichael, Bombardier: Capt Edwin Bush, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Harry Goldstein, Radio Operator: Bill King, Ball turret gunner: Benedict Borostowski, Waist gunner: Aaron Yuell, Waist gunner: Chas Melchiondo, Tail gunner: Eldon Lapp (10 Prisoner of War); flak set cockpit and wings alight, crashed Nikolausdorf, near Oldenburg, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 15519. INVASION II (2nd).
17 April 1943, Target: Bremen, Aircraft Plant
While over the target “Invasion 2nd” took flak hits and was attacked by German fighters. Three fighters came in head-on at 1200 O’clock level and shot off the front of the No. 2 engine. Cpt. O’Neill rang the bail-out bell and called out over the intercom for the crew to leave the aircraft.
The ball turret gunner, T/Sgt Benedict B. Borostowski, came up into the fuselage and went to the partly open waist door. The door was jammed and would not open further. The waist gunners, S/Sgts William B. King, left waist, and Eldon R. Lapp, right waist, were sitting in front of the door, unable to squeeze out. Sgt Borostowski stepped up and one at a time put a foot between their shoulders, and in turn, pushed both gunners through the narrow opening. The others in the rear of the aircraft had already left. The tail gunner, S/Sgt Aaron S. Youell, dropped through the tail escape hatch. The radio operator, S/Sgt Charles J. Melchiondo, and the flight engineer, T/Sgt Harry Goldstein, went out through the bomb bay. There was no one left to push Sgt Borostowski out. So, he went to the tail escape hatch and dropped out. The rest of the crew, including Cpt O’Neill and the copilot, 1Lt Robert W. Freihofer, bailed out through the nose hatch. The bombardier, Cpt Edwin R. Bush, detached the Norden bombsight and tossed it out the escape hatch before following the navigator, Cpt Edwin M. Carmichael, through the opening. All crewmen survived to become POWs.
“Invasion 2nd” crashed landed itself in an almost perfect landing on the ground near Oldenburg. (The First Of Many: First Crews of the 8th Air Force by Lowell L. Getz)
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39167239
- Highest Rank: Master Sergeant
- Role/Job: Crew chief
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32183032
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner / Flight engineer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18015887
- Highest Rank: Master Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15084326
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 11032122
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio
Places
Missions
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Delivered |
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Francis E. Warren AFB, WY 82005, USA | 17 September 1942 | Delivered to Cheyenne AFB 17-Sep-42. |
Assigned |
Bassingbourn, Royston SG8 5LP, UK | 14 December 1942 | Assigned to 401BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. |
Crashed Failed to Return (FTR) |
Oldenburg, Germany | 17 April 1943 | Failed to Return (FTR) mission to Bremen 17-Apr-43. Flak set cockpit and wings alight, crashed Nikolausdorf, near Oldenburg, Germany. 10 x POW. MACR 15519. |
Manufactured |
Seattle, WA, USA | Built at Boeing. |
Revisions
Added a space in front of the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity.
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 15519 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database