Francis Xavier Schwarzenbek
Military ROLL OF HONOURCropped from image media-19758.jpeg (media id 21260)
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On 14 August 1942, a fire in B-17E #41-9115 forced crew to bail out during a training flight. All Returned to Duty (RTD)
Shot down 21 October 1942 B-17 #41-24441 'Francis X' while serving as the Pilot, Killed in Action (KIA).
According to a condensed Missing Air Crew Report (MACR), Schwarzenbek was a member of the 97th Bomb Group's 342nd Bomb Squadron. Because of his German ancestry and surname, he acquired the nickname “the Baron.” He had survived three near crash landings, two as a result of Fortress forays over France. One of these incidents became well publicized and was dramatized on Gene Autry’s radio show, “Melody Ranch.” It was also depicted in a Sunday “True Comics.”
The 97th Bomb Group history Venit Hora contains the following extract from the 342nd Bomb Squadron War Diary:
Mission #16 Lorient Submarine Base, France, 21 Oct.1942
The last we saw of the Baron’s A/C and crew, it was blazing and only 500 ft. off the ground, and nobody had bailed out. It wasn’t the Baron’s regular crew. There was something wrong with a supercharger on his A/C that morning, and the regular pilot of the Dinah Mite had a severe cold and the co-pilot was green, so the Baron volunteered to replace the sick pilot. We don’t know whether flak or enemy aircraft got the Baron’s plane, but just as it made the turn after bombing, smoke and flames began pouring out of it and it began losing altitude.
Four of the crew did get out, and they survived the war as prisoners. One of them, Kenneth Laud, died only recently (2014).
Schwarzenbek had been anxious to volunteer to replace the sick pilot, trying to acquire enough missions to qualify for home leave in time to be home for the birth of his first child (who turned out to be a boy).
MIA -1st Lt. Francis X. Schwarzenbek, pilot; 1st lt. William L. Tingle, co-pilot; Capt. Joe E. Gray, navigator; 1st Lt.Harry R. Erickson, Bombardier;Sgt. George Whitham, tail gunner;Sgt. Kenneth
K. Laud, radio operator;Sgt. Mitchell Small, ball turret gunner;Sgt. Ned R. Herzstam, waist gunner;Sgt.Kenneth V. Maeran, waist gunner; Sgt. William T. Lynch, engineer.
The following is taken from the book "B-17 Flying Fortress Units Of The Eighth Air Force" (Part 1) by Martin Bowman.
"Altogether, 66 B-17s of the 97th, 301st and 306th Bomb Groups (along with 24 B-24s) were dispatched, the bombers being split into two groups, led by the 97th BG commander, Col. Joseph H. Atkinson. Following the losses of the previous raids, mission planners had drawn up a route which kept the bombers over the Bay of Biscay until the last possible moment to hopefully avoid the German fighters. As it turned out, thick cloud over Lorient at the prescribed bomb release altitude of 22,000 feet caused two thirds of the force to abort the mission short of the target.
Only the 97th BG now remained on course, and once in the target area, Maj. Joseph A. Thomas, as lead pilot, guided the group through the undercast, breaking clear over Lorient at 17,500 feet. The German defenders were caught napping, and before the alarm could be sounded 2000-lb bombs were exploding in the target area, 21 falling within 1000 feet of the designated Mean Point of Impact (MPI).
Five bombs hit the central block of submarine pens, yet did not penetrate more than five feet into the structure. U-Boat pens were poor targets for heavy bombers, being small in area and protected by reinforced concrete 16 feet thick! Indeed, a 1600-lb armor-piercing bomb dropped from 16,000 feet achieved sufficient impact velocity (about 860 feet per second) to penetrate just eight inches of armour. However, three general workshops and a pair of floating docks were destroyed, whilst two U-Boats caught in the open received blast damage.
Having enjoyed the element of surprise over the target, the 97th BG headed for home. Just after re-crossing the French coast and heading north-east into the Bay of Biscay, the formation of 15 Fortresses was bounced by a swarm of FW 190s. The German pilots (almost certainly from III./JG2, which was based at Brest-Guipavas, and tasked with protecting the U-Boats and their French bases) pressed home their attacks in such a manner that the high tails of the bombers actually shielded the fighters from firing positions in the radio hatch and top turret.
A series of ferocious passes was made on the rear of the formation, and three Fortresses succumbed to the incessant attacks. First to go down was "Francis X" (Dinah Mite?) piloted by Lt Francis X. Schwarzenbek. Although he and his crew could have bailed out of their stricken bomber, they chose to remain at their posts when they saw that they were flying headlong into another formation of German fighters. Guns blazing, "Francis X" managed to destroy two FW 190s on its way down. Johnny Reb [#41-24443], flown by Lt Milton M. Stenstrom, and another unnamed Fortress [#41-24344] piloted by Capt John M. Bennett were lost just minutes after "Francis X", and six more shot-up bombers landed at bases on England's south coast.
....the 97th BG had by now suffered the highest losses of any unit to date. This mission proved to be the last flown from England by the group, for on 9 November it commenced a theatre move to North Africa.
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
- 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: 97th Bomb Group 342nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17017977 / O-440334
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 97th Bomb Group 342nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14012196 / O-419578
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 97th Bomb Group 342nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39165066
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 97th Bomb Group 342nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 20744087
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 97th Bomb Group 342nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14073155
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Francis X
- Unit: 97th Bomb Group 342nd Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 21 October 1942
- Official Description:
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Enlisted |
9 July 1941 | as an Aviation Cadet in the Air Corps, in Newark, New Jersey | |
Other Killed In Action (KIA) |
21 October 1942 | Killed in action as pilot of the B-17 Flying Fortress “Francis X” October 21, 1942 against a U-Boat base in Lorient, France. | |
Born |
Nutley, New Jersey | ||
Essex County, New Jersey | |||
Other Memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing |
at the Cambridge American Cemetery. Still listed as Missing In Action (MIA) |
Revisions
Added a "#" to the A/C serial numbers in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
NARA WWII Enlistment records
Corrected typos in names in the Biography section
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- 379th Bombardment Group (H) Anthology, 1942-45; p. 157;
- the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia
Sources were the 97th Bomb Group history Venit Hora and the book "B-17 Flying Fortress Units Of The Eighth Air Force" (Part 1) by Martin Bowman.
Lee Cunningham 17-Nov-2014. Added KIA event and description; edited biography for format.
Lee Cunningham 27-Oct-2014 "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A Hey MBE.
Lee Cunningham 27-Oct-2014. Service number from 97BG historian, other details from "Losses of the 8th & 9th AIr Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th and 9th AF by Bishop and Hey pp. 26, 38