42-63978 Lonesome Polecat
On 11 February 1944, B-24 42-63978 'Lonesome Polecat', was hit by flak and crashed in Rouxmesnil Bouteilles, France. All 10 US airmen on board were killed.
Each year a ceremony of remembrance takes place in Rouxmesnil Bouteilles for the crew of the Lonesome Polecat.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 6923409
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32551821
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15103517
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14005640
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Crashed Failed to Return (FTR) |
Rouxmesnil-Bouteilles,France | 11 February 1944 - 11 February 1944 | At 9:54 am on Thursday, February 11th, 1944, while returning from a bombing raid on the uncompleted V1 launch site at Siracourt in the Pas de Calais region north of Dieppe, the Lonesome Polecat executed a wide arc turning towards the English Channel and home to its base at Hardwick, when it was hit by flak and lost the tail section of the plane. This crashed on a house killing two civilans: Jeanine and Raymond Leconte but narrowly missed killing all the village children assembled in the school just yards away. Ruel K Boone: the waist gunner was ejected from the direct hit to the rear side porthole. His body struck the wing of companion B24 #41-24109C, but he was thought be already be dead at the time. The Germans didn't identify him but his body was identified later by the American services during the body's transfer to the American cemetery in Collevile-sur-mer, Normandy. |
Revisions
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources
MACR 2558 / MACR 2858 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database