Hometown: Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio



David Thimmes was a gunner on 'Funny Face' piloted by 1st Lieut. Wilfred Potis, B-24 with 706th Sqdn. 446th BG operating from Bungay in Norfolk. On their 22nd mission - an attack on a German airfield - hit by flak they lost an engine and another was failing so Potis decided to divert to Brussels. The crew were flown back to base by a C-47 and operated a different Liberator for their next dozen missions. The crew however remained nostalgic for 'Funny Face' and still hoped to fly her for their 35th and final trip. On that very day they discovered the plane was back at Bungay but not yet cleared to take to the air. Their original mission that day had been scrubbed due to bad weather and they were all jubilant when the skies cleared sufficiently for 'Funny Face' to be test flown that same afternoon. For a test flight only the two pilots, navigator, radio-operator and engineer are required so the gunners were not on board but they were carrying one of the ground crew. The plane was to visit North Pickering - home of the 491st BG - and see a friend of the flight engineer. Conditions meantime had deteriorated once again and on the return journey 'Funny Face' was diverted to an RAF field near Cambridge. What followed is unclear but witnesses said the B-24 appeared to dive straight in at top speed. The six men on board were killed instantly, all found to be at their normal stations, the cause of the crash 'undetermined'. The six men were buried at the American Military Cemetery at Madingley.