Military
S/Sgt Wallace E Kasch 600BS, 398BG, 8AF.
The damaged tail of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 44-8811) of the 398th Bomb Group. Official caption printed on image: '(GPD)-144-1-398)(8-4-45)(Tail shot away- a/c 44-8811).'
An airman of the 398th Bomb Group inspects the damaged tail of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 44-8811).
Two airmen of the 398th Bomb Group examine the damaged tail of a B-17 Flying Fortress. Damaged received while on the April 8,1945 mission to Derben, Germany. Just after bombs-away a direct hit by flak completely tore the tail gunner position away and disabled the rudder controls. The tail gunner, S/Sgt. Wallace E. Kasch, was carried away without his chute, his remains were never found. It took the skill of the two pilots, Lt. Col. Edwin B. Daily and 1st Lt. John L. Hahn, to get the aircraft back to base using the engines for directional control. MACR 13869
Assigned to 600BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) mission to Derben Germany. A/C B-17G 44-8811 hit by flak over target, carrying most of the tail and the tail gunner (minus chute) away. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 13869.
Awards: AM (3OLC), PH.
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Pilot, Squadron Commander, Group Operations Officer | 398th Bomb Group
Group commander 9 Feb 1945 for Altenbeken mission. Group commander on 27 Feb, 1945 Leipzig, Germany mission and 4 March, 1945 on Ulm, Germany mission. Group Commander on 14 March 1945 on Vlotho, and Osnabruk, Germany mission and 21 March 1945 on Rheine...
Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945.
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Group
The 398th Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Nuthampstead, Hertfordshire on strategic bombing raids over Germany. The Group switched focus in the days before D-Day, when they targeted enemy positions on the Cherbourg peninsula. When the Allied...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 3/1/45; Hunter 16/1/45; Grenier 28/1/45; Assigned 600BS/398BG H2X [N8-C] Nuthampstead 30/3/45; battle damaged Halberstadt 8/4/45, tail shot away with tail gunner S/Sgt Wallace E Kasch, with Lts Dailey & Hahn and crash landed back at...
Military site : airfield
Built during 1942-43, Nuthampstead was the nearest Eighth Air Force heavy bomber base to London. It had three concrete runways, 50 loop hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. It was first occupied from September 1943 to April 1944 by the 55th...
| Event | Location | Date |
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| Born | Lake County, IN, USA | 3 August 1925 |
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Son of Edward Lewis and Hulda M Kasch. |
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| Lived in | Crown Point, Indiana | 1942 |
| Enlisted | Indianapolis, IN, USA | 30 September 1943 |
| Based | Nuthampstead | 1944 – 8 April 1945 |
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Assigned to 600BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. |
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| Died | Derben, 39317 Elbe-Parey, Germany | 8 April 1945 |
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Failed to Return (FTR) mission to Derben Germany. A/C B-17G 44-8811 hit by flak over target, carrying most of the tail and the tail gunner (minus chute) away. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 13869. |
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| Buried | 1946 | |
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Tablets of the missing |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 27 April 2017 14:35:53 | Al_Skiff | Changes to service number, highest rank, biography, awards, events, person associations, unit associations, place associations, aircraft associations and media associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/29432567 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:26:43 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Mention in Hell from Heaven: Memoirs of a WW II B-17 Bombardier by Leonard Streitfeld p.160, picture of plane p. 164. Book says killed 4/8/1945 |
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