Crashed E of Envereu, FR due to mechanical problems on a mission to V-sites in the Pa-de-Calais, FR area on 28 Feb 1944 in B-17G #42-31058 'Liberty Run'. Prisoner of War (POW).



Austin Rinne

546th Sqdn, 384th Bomb Group, Grafton Underwood, England



Austin flew his first mission as a B-17 Pilot on Dec. 11, 1943. He flew fifteen missions including tough targets like Frankfort, Wilhelmshaven, Bremen, and Ludwigshaven. On Feb.28, 1944, at the end of “The Big Week”, his plane was shot down on a mission to Preusseville.



One of his crew was killed, one managed to evaded capture. Austin and the rest of the crew were captured and became POWs for the next 14 month. They were imprisoned at Stalag Luft I at Barth, Germany until the war’s end.