42-7554 Tail End Charlie
~ crashed into the cemetery in Mirns, Netherlands 22 DEC 1943
The story behind this ‘tea spoon holder’ is remarkable.
In 2011 Alexander Tuinhout & Douwe Drijver of the Stichting Missing Airmen Memorial Foundation (S.M.A.M.F.) traveled to New Zealand. They visited some Dutch Frisian emigrants who had moved to New Zealand in the 1950s.
In New Zealand, 20.000 km. (12, 430 miles) from their home (the Netherlands/Holland), they visited an elderly lady from Friesland.
She told them that she came from the village of Mirns. She was asked her if she remembered the crash of an American bomber in her childhood and she said yes she did.
She went into another room and took this little spoon-holder out of a closet. She told them that it is made from the aluminum of the American B-24 that crashed into the cemetery in Mirns.
A. L. DESTRO II
Object Number - UPL 13471 - Remains of American B-24 ~ #42-7554 “Tail End Charlie” ~ crashed into the cemetery in Mirns, Netherlands 22 DEC 1943 The story behind this...
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 2nd Combat Bomb Wing 445th Bomb Group 702nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-465407
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 2nd Combat Bomb Wing 445th Bomb Group 702nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-807665 / # 12035086
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 445th Bomb Group 702nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14061673 / O-732613
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 2nd Combat Bomb Wing 445th Bomb Group 702nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38188018
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Engineer / Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 2nd Combat Bomb Wing 445th Bomb Group 702nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-674179 / 129-07-0548
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Tivetshall
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Assigned |
Tibenham, Norwich, Norfolk NR16, UK | 4 November 1943 | Assigned to Tibenham in Norfolk County, England |
|
Crashed Failed to Return (FTR) |
8573 Mirns, Netherlands | 22 December 1943 - 22 December 1943 | B-24 , #42-7554 , "Tail End Charlie" crashed into a cemetery in Mirns, Netherlands. Of 10 total crew: 7 KIA, 2 POW's, 1 Evader. |
Revisions
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources
MACR 15597 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
