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Gelderingen

Crash site

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    Bob Harrington describes the attack on his substitute aircraft, "Ramblin' Wreck," on August 15, 1944, following a successful bombing attack on a Luftwaffe airstrip in Vechta, Germany. Interview from 2004.

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  • Bob Harrington describes bailing out of his crippled B-24, "Ramblin' Wreck," and evading capture in occupied Holland with the assistance of Dutch helpers, August 15, 1944. Interviewed August 2004.

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Detailed history

Crash site of B-24 Ramblin' Wreck from the 466th Bomb Group, flown by Robert Harrington on August 15, 1944. Harrington and three other B-24s, including True Love flown by Jack Archer, were shot down by Me-109s around 1pm after bombing the Vechta Luftwaffe base. Three crew members of Ramblin' Wreck were killed in the attack - Chester Zyb, William Julian and Tice Jones. Pilot Harrington and Bombadier Bob Borst successfully evaded, and the remainder of the crew were captured by German soldiers.

Connections

People

  • Robert Borst

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 466th Bomb Group
    Shot down on 8/15/44 in B-24 'Ramblin Wreck' #41-28932. Crashed at Gelderingen, Evaded (EVD).

  • Robert Harrington

    Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 466th Bomb Group
    Bob Harrington piloted the B-24 "Troublemaker" (#42-95067), stationed at Attlebridge in the summer of 1944. After nine missions with Troublemaker, on August 15, 1944 he was called up to fly an unfamiliar aircraft, Ramblin' Wreck (#41-28932), with a...

Aircraft

  • 41-28932 Ramblin' Wreck

    B-24 Liberator
    This aircraft's last mission was on August 15, 1944, when it was flown by a makeshift crew led by pilot Robert W. Harrington from Attlebridge air base. The target was a Luftwaffe airfield in Vechta, near Bremen, Germany. The target was successfully...

Missions

  • 8th Air Force 554

    15 August 1944
    Airfields in NW Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium are the primary targets for this mission. 8th Air Force despatches a total of 932 aircraft. The raid is coordinated with 1,000 Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers and Mosquitos attacking 9 airfields...

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
23 May 2017 11:41:43 Clark B Changes to history
Sources

Clark Beyer
Date Contributor Update
23 May 2017 11:39:58 Clark B Changes to history and person associations
Sources

Clark Beyer from interview with Bob Harrington, August 2004. Film excerpts from "Troublemaker - A Pilot's Story of WWII" by Clark Beyer, copyright 2005.
Date Contributor Update
10 October 2015 23:37:53 466thHistorian Created entry with name, latitude, longitude, person associations, aircraft associations and mission associations
Sources

466th BG Historian

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