James Theiss served as a ball turret gunner with the 331st Bomb Squadron of the 94th Bomb Group, flying missions out of Bury St Edmunds, England. On 6 August 1944, his B-17 #42107185 was hit by flak and crashed into the North Sea.



An excerpt from www.jamesetheiss.com describes what happened next:

'None of the crew members bailed out of the ill-fated B-17. All followed the procedure of ditching a B-17 and met in the radio area. The crewmembers waiting for the aircraft to be ditched and S/Sgt Frank Tilling still was wearing his parachute that Charles Brown suggest he take off.'



'The pilot Spenst and co-pilot Metzroth did a fine job and ditched the aircraft into the North Sea. The B-17 split on impact. The crewmembers threw their two life rafts into the sea and exited. Oil, fuel and smoke surrounded the aircraft. Lt. Pacek recovered one raft drifting away after he used his pants for a floatation device around his neck and returned to the floating crewmembers.'



'With his parachute still on the tail gunner S/Sgt Frank Tilling who had every thing to live for a beautiful wife and girl child was holding onto the barrel of one of his fifty caliber guns when he let go he went under the water came up and then went under again never to be seen again. The rest of the crew unable to locate Tilling got into the rafts. Hours passed and the crew heard the sound of a planes engine.'



'On 7 August 1944 at 1827 hours the crew in the rafts again heard planes engines and fired several flares. They observed a lone B-17 flying towards Germany, which was unusual thinking it, might be a captured one by the Germans. A short time later another plane was heading towards the crew from the coast it was a German JU-88.'



'The plane circled and the crew could tell that the pilot was calling someone on his radio. In a matter of minutes another German plane a BV-138, a three engine flying boat (Sea patrol # 4) dropped a smoke flare and landed in eight foot waves. As the plane taxied towards the crew in the rafts they could see a German airman holding a machine gun, the crew realizing their fate.'



'As the crew went aboard the seaplane the German aircrew for weapons searched them. When the crew of the ill-fated mission was aboard the German airmen slashed the rafts with bayonets to have them sink.'



'The BV-138 took off from the rough sea and flew to the Frisian Islands and landed on the water near a dock where a dolly was placed under the plane and the plane was pulled to the land. The crew was off loaded and was met by German soldiers and airmen who were saying to them in broken English “ For you the war is over”.'



James was held as a Prisoner of War (POW) at Stalag Luft IV.



After the war, James went back to Woodhaven Queens, New York and married his sweetheart Hectorine Hendrickx. His wife passed away in 1970 and he passed away in 1990. Four children and thirteen grand children survive them.