Following is the entire report of “Fourth Mission of the 92nd Bomb Group” which includes

the first-hand account of the Mid-Air Collision of which Joseph Struski was included flying

with Lt Wiley (Note that his surname was spelled incorrectly as…..

FOURTH MISSION OF THE 92ND BOMB GROUP

9 OCTOBER 1942

LILLE..ST. OMER

Fifteen A/C took off to bomb the marshalling yards at Lille, France. The airdrome at St. Omer was the target of

last resort. Seven A/C were forced to turn back because of mechanical failures. Six attacked St. Omer with

24,000 lbs. of GP bombs. One bombed Lille with 4000 lbs. of GP bombs, and one failed to return. It is not

known whether this A/C bombed. Spitfires and P-38s escorted the formation as far as Lille. At the French

Coast on the way out other fighter cover appeared. Weather over the primary target was 9/10-10/10 cloud.

Over St. Omer it was clear. Eight bomb bursts were observed on the St. Omer it was clear. Eight bomb bursts

were observed on the St. Omer airdrome buildings.

Twenty-five FWs were encountered over St. Omer, forty FWs near the coast, and 20 ME 109s between Lille

and Courtrai. The group was followed by E/A from the time of crossing the coast in, but no attacks were made

until after the bombs were away. These attacks were from 6 o’clock level and below. Claims are 9-5-4.

Light flak was encountered over the coast, none over Lille and Courtrai. From St. Omer to the coast flak was

continuous, accurate for both attitude and deflection.

The ship which failed to return was piloted by 1st Lt. F. H. Chorak. The other members of the crew were 2nd

Lt. J. J. Fraccia Co-pilot, 2nd Lt. G. W. Roper Navigator, 2nd Lt. C. I. Kolodzinski Bombardier, S/Sgt. P. G. Gordon

Top-turret, M/Sgt. J. E. Lane Ball-turret, S/Sgt. J. J. Dolan Radio-operator, S/Sgt. D. E. Buckland Waist-gunner,

S/Sgt. M. Culpepper Tail-gunner.

It has since been determined that all but Lts. Fracchia, Lt. Kolodzinski, Lt. Roper and S/Sgt. Gordon were killed

in action. These four were taken prisoners of war. Lt. Roper escaped and returned to England. Later he

returned to the United States.

In Captain Griffith’s ship five were wounded, one seriously, including col. S. M. Porter, who went as waist

gunner. In Lt. Schaffer’s ship the tail gunner Sgt. G. E. Williams was wounded. In Col. Keck’s plane, the waist

gunner Sgt. Archie Cothren was wounded in the face and bailed out near Gravelines. The ball turret gunner

Cpl. Billings received a flak wound in the left leg.

The planes piloted by Lt. J. C. Dempsey and Lt. E. M. Wylie collided over the channel on the return trip. Both

succeeded in the remarkable feat of bringing their damaged planes back safely.

Col. Keck’s plane was very badly damaged by flak. The left elevator was burned away, a large hole was burned

out behind No. 2 engine nacelle, and a wing strut was blasted. There were many flak holes through the

fuselage.

Lt. Shaffers right wing was damaged by flak burst, the tail by a 20 mm. shell, and the fuselage was riddled with

small flak holes.

Lt. Griffith’s ship had a hole through the right flap a foot wide, a four inch hole right behind the tail gunner,

and a ten inch hole near a waist gunner.

(This is an appendix to the Fourth Mission of 9 Oct. 1942. A photograph to accompany this can be found on

the back cover of “Impact” Vol. I No. 1 April 1943. Other photographs are being obtained from the

Photographic Officer of AAF Sta. 112.)

MID-AIR COLLISION

Here is a first-hand account of the collision between Lt. Dempsey’s ship and that of Lt. Wiley, as told by the

Base Intelligence Officer Major Joseph R. Harmon of 327 S. La Salle St., Chicago, who was riding as an observer

with Lt. Wiley. This is one of the very few cases of mid-air collisions on record where there were no casualties.

“Thundering along at 200 miles an hour, two Flying Fortresses collided 24,000 feet above the coast of France

while on a bombing mission—but all 19 men aboard them lived to tell it. Not a man was scratched. The B-17s

were going in the same direction, but that was small comfort because even a slight collision can knock out of

kilter some of the many intricate devices which keep the big bombers running. Almost invariably both planes

are lost in such a case. The lucky ships were piloted by Lt. Eugene M. Wiley, 5815 Forest St., Kansas City, Mo.,

reported missing in action on a subsequent raid, and Lt. James C. Dempsey Jr., of Wilson, N.C. Heading east

over the English Channel, they were jockeying for position in their formation when the mishap occurred. All of

a sudden there was a terrific crash. It sounded as though our plane had been torn apart. The other Fortress

had crashed into us from underneath. It peeled off to the right without any fin or rudder. It looked as though

it were going down into the sea. Our first feeling was that our number was up. I looked for my parachute, but

never did find it. Since then I have never flown without making sure where my parachute was. The pilot tried

to release the bombs, but they stuck. He finally released them with the emergency release. All this time there

was a gaping hole in our fuselage, and the two starboard engines were vibrating terrifically, as though they

would tear off the wing, which was dripping gasoline. While we were worrying about the fire, the pilot made a

bee-line for the English Coast. With only two good engines he made a perfect landing on a small British

landing field. Then we took our first deep breath in 15 minutes. At the field they put in a quick request for an

Air-Sea Rescue craft to go after Lt. Dempsey’s crew, thinking they had gone into the sea. Later they learned

that this “Fort,” despite its damage, had landed safely at its home base. This ship had the vertical stabilizer

almost completely cut off, the horizontal stabilizers partially wrecked, and the rear gunner’s hatch and part of

the fuselage damaged.

Lt Wiley’s crew, looking over their own plane, wondered how they ever made it. The two flailing propellers

which were bent in the collision had deeply gashed the fuselage. Besides the hole in the underside, an escape

door near the nose was torn off, the ball turret was broken, and gasoline was streaming from the right wing.

All’s well that ends well but sometimes in the interim one has a few bad moments.”

Others on Lt. Wiley’s ship included Lt. Donald L. Treu of Ville Park Ill., co-pilot; Lt. Thomas H. Waldon,

Brunswick Ga., navigator; Lt. Joseph F. Thornton, Watsonville Cal., bombardier; S/Sgt. Lawrence V. McDaniel,

Arbyrd Mo., top turret gunner; Cpl. Joseph J. Struski, Sayre Pa., waist gunner; Cpl. Donald E. Hutton, West Los

Angeles Cal., waist gunner; Sgt. Everett K. Teaford, Purdum Neb., ball turret gunner; and Pfc. Forrest D. Irwin,

Hill City Kansas, tail gunner. Sgt. Teaford and Cpl. Hutton have subsequently been taken prisoner of war.

Lt. Dempsey’s crewmen included: Lt. James B. Foster, New Castle Pa., co-pilot; Lt. W. D. Toole, Lanhan Md.,

navigator; Lt. R. W. Grove, Deer Park Wash., bombardier; Sgt. Sidney T. Hardaway, Kansas City Mo., top turret;

Pfc. Stanley W. Brooks, Herkimer N.Y., gunner; T/Sgt. John Paulick, Cloverdale Pa., gunner; s/Sgt. James M.

Kirk, Gary Ind., tail gunner.

This is excerpt from the 92nd BG – Turner history book regarding mid-air collision and

additional information concerning the missions flown during the early months in which

there was no credit given and included since Joseph Struski served during that time:

"During the war, there were hundreds of midair collisions of various degrees. Another first for the 92nd was

that of 1st Lt Eugene m Wiley and 2nd Lt James C Dempsey, both of the 407th Squadron. About 20 miles west

of Dunkirk, on the way in, Dempsey was maneuvering for position when his tail struck the right wing and

engines of Wiley's aircraft. The prop of Wiley's aircraft chewed the entire rudder from Dempsey's and slashed

through to tail gunner's compartment, where miraculously Sergeant Kirk escaped injury. Both aircraft fell away

and the pilots regained control. Dempsey was able to return to Bovingdon, while Wiley jettisoned his bombs

at sea, then made an emergency landing at Detling."

Group flew many missions for which no credit has been received. Captain Thomas M Hulings and crew were

detailed to fly VIPs from England to North Africa. On arrival, they were essentially under the control of General

Spaatz's headquarters. A number of missions as VIP carriers were flown prior to the disastrous one resulting in

a crash at Athenry, Ireland, with General Devers and staff on board. No credits. Lt Wiley made several trips to

North Africa and Gibralter of the same nature, except they were round trips. Lt Hermance was on one such

flight when he had engine trouble forcing a return to the Lands End area, where in o/o weather he crashed,

ripping the tail off the B-17E. Lt Bill Martin and crew made a run from Portreath to Algiers, via Gibralter,

arriving while there were German planes still burning on the field. Captain Foster and Lt Brooks also made

several cargo flights to the African area. And there were many more -- still no credit. So ended 1942, with 4

combat missions under our belt as well as 3 diversions that didn't count."