Charles Samuel Dondes

Military
media-17466.jpeg UPL 17466 Crew #784
Charles A. Felts Crew
466th BG - 787th BS

Standing Left to Right: Charles Dondes (N), Edmond Cody Hall (CP), Charles A. Felts (P), Edwin N. Kimmel (B)

Kneeling Left to Right: Edward J. Weidner (WG), Martin Tarlosky (NG), Merritt W. McLaughlin (FE), Clinton E. Swanson (TG), Harry J. Bender (WG), Marvin Allard (R/O)

The man peering out from behind the nose wheel is not identified.

This crew completed 17 combat missions before hostilities ended. The tour included being shot down and bailing out over Allied held Valkenburg, Netherlands on 12 March 1945. All the crew safely parachuted and returned to combat. 466th Bomb Group collection

466th BG Historian

Object Number - UPL 17466 - Crew #784 Charles A. Felts Crew 466th BG - 787th BS Standing Left to Right: Charles Dondes (N), Edmond Cody Hall (CP), Charles A. Felts (P),...

March 12, 1945. Entire crew bailed out of B=24 Liberator #4440357 over Valkenburg, Holland after returning from raid on Friedberg, Ger. Returned 50 year later for a reunion. , Was member of Charlie Felts crew. The pilot's window in its metal frame was donated to the 8th AF Museum in a ceremony at the museum. Charles Dondes-Crew 784 Navigator tells of the plight of the Felts crew:'At 1105 hours, while on a Mag. heading of 094 degrees our #1 engine leaked oil. The oil piled up and froze and the engine was feathered at 1202. Were then at 51-52N and 08-12E. We had to strain the remaining engines to keep up and at some point we lost a second engine-perhaps from flak, perhaps from strain. At 1239 our bombs were 'away' on target at 50-20N and 80-46E. At this time we were at 20,100 feet with an indicated airspeed of 155 knots. ''From then until we bailed out, a third engine started to give trouble. At 1350, some 71 minutes later, the whole crew bailed out. We were at 13,500 feet at 1320 and on a Mag. heading of 290 degrees. I have no record of the altitude or the heading for the last 30 minutes. The pilot and I were operating very verbally and he had extreme difficulty in holding the plane on any heading for any duration. ''When the pilot gave the bail out command, all crew members except the pilot and the copilot went to the bomb bay. I left first. All was business-like at the time, as it had been all along. ''We all parachuted within sight of each other over Valkenburg, Holland and were escorted by American burial personnel to a headquarters, for we had landed near a cemetery (probably Margraten). The a/c went into a flat spin and had a pancake landing (at Sibbe). ''Either that day or the next we were put up a rest and relaxation center used by U. S. ground troops. I do not remember its distance from our landing spot or its designation. ''We were there for five or so days without any apparent awareness by our home base. No one, it seems, initiated any action. I hitchhiked to Liege and negotiated our return to home base. ''I think we left Liege for our base some two days later. After our arrival at Attlebridge we were sent to an AAF rest center in South West Central England for some seven days-circa 21 March 1945. It was a mansion. It had spacious grounds. '



Air Medal

Connections

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Units served with

Three little girls hold up a balloon celebrating the 100th mission of the 466th Bomb Group in front of a B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-95592) nicknamed "Black Cat". Handwritten caption on reverse: 'On our 100 Mission party Day- 18 Aug 1944, Attlebridge, 466th- wouldn't it be something if we could identify these girls? How could I do it?'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 466th Bomb Group 787th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-2058141
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Huckle de Buck
  • Unit: 466th Bomb Group 493rd Bomb Group 787th Bomb Squadron 863rd Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Hard Luck
  • Unit: 466th Bomb Group 493rd Bomb Group 787th Bomb Squadron 862nd Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Unit: 466th Bomb Group 787th Bomb Squadron

Places

Aerial photograph of Attlebridge airfield, looking north, the fuel store and a T2 hangar are in the upper centre, 31 January 1946. Photograph taken by No. 90 Squadron, sortie number RAF/3G/TUD/UK/51. English Heritage (RAF Photography).
  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Attlebridge Arsenal, Station 120

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

New York City, New York 25 August 1919

Enlisted

Fort Dix, NJ, USA 12 February 1942

Died

Annapolis, MD, USA 18 July 2002

Buried

Falls Church, VA, USA 21 July 2002 King David Memorial Gardens Falls Church Fairfax County Virginia, USA

Revisions

Date
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources

466th BG Historian

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Son: richard Dondes

Charles Samuel Dondes: Gallery (1 items)