B-26 site in Allumthen, Belgium

Transcription

WWII B-26 Crash Site Research [43-34430]
Allmuthen, Belgium
History Flight Team Allmuthen
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APRIL 2012
History Flight, B-26 Research Project, Allmuthen, Belgium
April 2012
Introduction
Archaeological test excavations were conducted between April 10th and the 19th, at a WWII B26 bomber crash site believed to be associated with MACR #11985 in Allmuthen, Belgium.
Controlled test units revealed the presence of numerous uniform parts of a US Army Air Forces
flight crew and human remains within the primary impact crater and its immediate surroundings.
This report was prepared to document the procedures and findings of the research and test
excavations.
Site Background
On December 23, 1944, the 397th Bomb Group lost ten B-26 aircraft while attacking the Eller
railroad bridge in Germany. It was the first day of good flying weather during the Battle of the
Bulge. Two of these aircraft, serial numbers 43- ³+XQFRQVFLRXV´ DQd 42- ³%DQN
1LWH %HWW\´ ZHUH GRZQHG E\ IODN RYHU %HOJLXP EHIRUH WKH ERPE JURXS UHDFKHG LWV REMHFWLYH
Group records state that the attack formation executed a circling maneuver to tighten up their
formation in the vicinity of Malmédy and then turned toward the target in Germany. The
formation immediately received antiaircraft fire just beyond Malmédy. The time was 10:20, and
WKHIRUPDWLRQZDV³-VHFRQGVIURPWKH,3>,QLWLDO3RLQW@´DW/LVVHQGRUI
Hunconscious was the first aircraft to fall. It flew at the very rear of the formation in the #6
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WKHJURXQG´&UHZPHQDERDUGDQRWKHUDLUFUDIWUHSRUWHGVHHLQJSDUWRIWKHULJKWZLQJEUHDNDZD\
after the motor exploded.
Bank Nite Betty was the second aircraft lost. It flew in the #3 position of Flight A, Box II. The
GHSXW\ER[OHDGHUDQGKLVFUHZKDGFOHDUYLHZRILWVGHVWUXFWLRQ³7KUHHPLQXWHVDIWHU0DOPHG\
aircraft 144 hit at about top turret DQGVSOLWLQKDOI1RFKXWHVVHHQ´'LFN*DQWKHU¶VFUHZVDZ
WKH VDPH WKLQJ 7KH ER[ OHDGHU¶V QDYLJDWRU GLG WRR ³ KLW DIW ERPE ED\ EURNH LQ
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The 397th continued with its mission and struck the target, destroying the bridge. Afterward, flak
and enemy fighters claimed eight more bombers. Forty-five members of the 397th died that day.
After the war, The American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) accounted for thirty-nine
of the dead. The six men aboard Hunconscious were the only ones missing.
Page 1 of 21
April 2012

Cook, William P., 1st Lt, Pilot, O-749470
Lefavre, Arthur J., F/O, Co-Pilot, T-125780
Honeyman, Eric M., Sgt, Toggler, 39037489
Swalwell Jr., Ward C., S/Sgt, Radio Operator/Waist Gunner, 16137958
Lane Jr., Frank G. S/Sgt, Engineer/Top-Turret Gunner, 15354581
Fevold, Maurice J., S/Sgt, Armorer/Tail Gunner, 36656924
During the 1990s, Germans Horst Weber and Manfred Klein started researching Hunconscious
and the other aircraft lost by the 397th. After years of work, Klein and Weber pinpointed nine of
the ten 397th crash sites. Only one was in Belgium or anywhere near it. This was the crash site of
Bank Nite Betty. The plane had split in two pieces while at altitude. The forward fuselage and
wings landed southeast of Allmuthen, Belgium. The empennage landed about 3.5 kilometers
northwest near Losheim. Klein and Weber knew that flak had claimed two 397th aircraft over
Belgium. The researchers also knew that Bank Nite Betty was one of them. There was only one
possibility for the other aircraft²Hunconscious. But where exactly did it crash?
The picture became clearer in November 2006 when a Belgian forester found two long bone
fragments near a large crater about 500 meters from the spot where the nose of Bank Nite Betty
landed. The discovery led to the involvement of another group of Germans, the Airwar History
Working Group Rhine-Moselle. American researcher Danny Keay joined them, and they
searched the site. The team discovered pieces of USAAF gear, including a leather fragment from
the collar of a B-3 winter flying jacket. It bore a laundry mark, H-7489. The bomb toggler aboard
Hunconscious, Sergeant Eric Honeyman, used that mark.
Klein and Weber had known about the crater but had always associated it with the Bank Nite
Betty crash. The new discoveries changed their thinking. In December 2006, two representatives
from the U.S. Army Memorial Affairs Activity-Europe (USAMAA-E) arrived on site, conducted
an investigation and took possession of the bone fragments and other artifacts. USAMAA-E
deferred the case to the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) for action. Two JPAC
historians visited the site in early 2007. One member of the Airwar History Working Group acted
as their guide.
In June of 2011, a History Flight search team found the debris field. The primary impact crater
was located in October of that year. History Flight subsequently planned test excavations for
April 2012 to take advantage of the lowest level of vegetation growth during the year.
Page 2 of 21
April 2012
Figure 1. July 1945 aerial photo showing impact crater location.
Combat Losses
397th Bombardment Group (M )
December 23, 1944
Serial #
Type
Sqdn
Dead
MACR
Crash site
43-34185
B-26-G-1-MA
598
1
11898
Hosingen, Luxembourg
43-34430
B-26-G-10-MA
599
6
11985
Allmuthen, Belgium
43-34159
B-26-G-1-MA
599
3
11897
Steinberger Ley, Germany
43-34136
B-26-G-1-MA
599
3
13039
Manderscheid, Germany
42-96144
B-26-B-55-MA
596
7
11483
Allmuthen, Belgium *
42-96280
B-26-F-1-MA
597
0
11349
Kinzenburg, Germany
43-34139
B-26-G-1-MA
599
3
11986
Ammeldingen, Germany
42-96182
B-26-B-55-MA
599
5
11487
Üdersdorf, Germany
43-34221
B-26-G-5-MA
598
8
11549
Auderath, Germany
43-34434
B-26-G-10-MA
599
9
11490
Demerath, Germany
Page 3 of 21
April 2012
* crash site divided between Allmuthen and Belgian territory near Losheim, Germany. The
distance between the two sites (3.5 kilometers) equals the altitude at which the aircraft was flying
when it broke apart. Crewmember bodies were recovered at both sites.
Project Objectives
The objectives of the 2012 test excavations were to corroborate the artifactual evidence on the
site with the historical research, determine if human remains from the crew of 43-34430 were
present in and around the primary impact crater previously located by History Flight in
Allmuthen Belgium, and to notify officials in the DOD's accounting community if human
remains were found.
The site
The site is on a small hill, within a larger valley with drainage to the northwest. The primary
impact crater associated with the crash of 43-34430 is in a recently clear cut, privately owned,
spruce forest plantation. Part of the debris field where human remains were previously found in
2006 is located in a spruce plantation owned by a different landowner than the primary impact
crater location, and is slated for clear cutting with the purpose to convert the land into a nature
preserve.
Figure 2. Crash site prior to any 2012 fieldwork.
The primary impact crater was filled with approximately 15 feet of discarded logging cuttings
and trees not suitable for sale and contained five feet of standing water at its base. The ground of
the clear cut plantation was similarly covered with years of discarded logging slash and had two
Page 4 of 21
April 2012
large piles of throw away timber directly south and uphill from the crater.
A local resident, Paul Scholzen, was interviewed by the team and said that he salvaged brass
from the belts of .50-caliber ammunition that were strewn across the site after the war. He also
stated that the impact crater was full of water at that time (ca. 1946) and that the majority of the
aircraft wreck had been removed by salvagers of a nationality unknown to him. He also stated
that there was a small caliber German AA unit set up on the hill opposite the crash site within
sight of the crash (less than a kilometer away) and that he saw no human remains of the flight
crew immediately after the war.
Although, no captured German records pertaining to this crash have been found, it is highly
likely that members of that AA unit visited the site immediately after the crash. Today, the site
shows evidence of extensive salvage of the plane and a post-impact explosion of at least one of
the four 1,000 pound bombs the plane was loaded with when it was shot down.
Figure 3. Aerial view after site cleared.
Page 5 of 21
April 2012
Permits and Authorities
In consonance with Belgian permits and authorization procedures, permission for the test
excavations was granted by all of the private land owners whose property is adjacent to or
contains the primary impact crater and debris field. The National Forest Service (with
jurisdiction over the specific area) officer Erich Hönen and the law enforcement authority for the
area (Büllingen Forest District) granted permission prior to History Flight detailing volunteers
onto the site. These regulatory authorities and landowners came out daily to monitor the project.
Several local police officers also volunteered their off-duty time to assist with the testing.
History Flight Team Members
US Team M embers
Belgian Team M embers
Buster
Daniel Rienland
Local Police Officer.
WWII historian.
Jean Louis Seel
Expert in use of EM equipment.
Battle of the Ardennes historian.
Founder of the 99th Division MIA
Project.
Jean Pillippe Speder
Expert in use of EM equipment.
Battle of the Ardennes historian.
Founder of the 99th Division MIA
Project.
Cadaver dog.
Paul Dotsi
Retired Police Detective.
Cadaver dog trainer and handler.
Mark Noah
Team Leader and founder of History
Flight.
WWII aircraft structures expert,
restorer and historian.
Agamemnon Pantel, Ph.D.
Team Archaeologist.
International Heritage Manager.
Kent Schneider, Ph.D.
Team Archaeologist.
Former U.S.D.A. Forest Service
Regional Archaeologist.
Remote sensing expert.
Paul Schwimmer
TeamSurveyor.
Certified land surveyor.
Owner
of
Aborland
Land
Consultants.
Bill Warnock
Allmuthen Team Historian.
WWII historian.
Founding member of the 99th
Division MIA Project
Page 6 of 21
April 2012
Methodology and Implementation
A. Before commencing the project, a thorough sweep of the entire area was conducted with a
metal detector and expert operator to initially determine the potential for the presence of
unexploded ordnance within the area.
B. A thorough sweep of the entire area was conducted with a trained and tested cadaver dog to
detect the potential presence of human decompositional chemicals. This was also done, to create
a cleared pathway for the introduction of equipment and a low PSI rubber tracked backhoe into
the site, further reducing the potential for damage to in-situ surface human remains and historical
artifacts.
Figure 4. Cadaver dog at work in front of pre-existing
piles of logging cuttings.
C.
A survey-grade grid was created over the site by a professional land surveyor using a
Trimble Epoch GLONASS Dual Frequency survey quality GPS Base and Rover (WGS 84)
together with an Earthmate PN_40 DeLorme GPS (WGS-84 UTM, Zone 32N). All test units
and diagnostic artifacts were x/y/z recorded using a Nikon Nivo 5.M Laser Total Station.
Page 7 of 21
April 2012
D. The entire site was covered with decades of logging cuttings and the clear cut area with 5
foot high vines and nettles. The primary impact crater was filled with 10-12 feet of discarded
timber slash and five feet of water.
Once the cleared pathway was established into the site by controlled manual grubbing, the low
PSI backhoe with a flat edge bucket was used to clear the vegetation from the clear cut area as
well as the discarded timber in the primary impact crater. All vegetation and logs removed from
the crater were deposited onto a pre-existing spoil pile of logging cuttings located directly south
of the crater. This was done to avoid covering up additional areas within the debris field itself.
A Ph.D. field archaeologist supervised this entire operation and controlled the conditions to
ensure there was no damage to human remains or artifacts, and to ensure that the integrity of the
subsurface was sustained.
Figure 5. Timber cuttings filled the primary impact crater.
E. In those locations where flight crew uniform parts, personal equipment and/or crew station
artifacts were found, controlled standardized test units were excavated by arbitrary 25cm. levels
to determine if human remains were present. Standardized unit recording was done and all
diagnostic finds were recorded using the electronic survey equipment.
F. Unit1, located at the upper portion of the crater, and Unit 3, located within the forest to the
south, were done in response to surface evidence. Unit 2, located directly adjacent to the
primary impact crater, was excavated to determine the presence or absence of surface and
subsurface evidence prior to the introduction of the mechanical equipment for the cutting of the
crater drainage ditch.
G. Following the establishment of these initial three test units, a N-S trench was excavated in
order to drain the five feet of standing water from inside the crater. The upper strata of the trench
Page 8 of 21
April 2012
were hand excavated down to culturally sterile soil and screened using standardized 1cm.wire
mesh screens. Once sterile strata were exposed, the remainder of the trench excavation was done
using the flat-blade backhoe to below the water level. Wet screening stations were established
within the drainage trench for the purposes of processing all the hand and mechanically
excavated soil from the trench itself.
H.
The base of the primary impact crater, clearly delineated by the water line and soil
GLIIHUHQWLDWLRQZDVGHVLJQDWHGDV8QLW7KH³QDWXUDO´FLUFXODUIRUPRIWKHXQLWZDVPDLQWDLQHG
without attempting to square off the unit. This was done both for logistical reasons given the
condition of the soil as well as to retain the integrity of the primary crater cone as such. The unit
was, however, quartered into Sections A, B, C and D, to provide a better degree of provenience
control albeit the highly questionable primary nature of any finds within this matrix. Numerous
USAAF boots and boot fragments were immediately exposed on the surface of Unit 4 when the
water was drained.
All material from Unit 4 was manually excavated and water-screened through 1cm. standardized
metal mesh over fine-screening mesh. The initial excavaton of Section A of Unit 4 yielded
human bone within the upper 25cm. of muck. The bone was field identified by a Team
Osteologist as a right human tibia fragment showing apparent fragmentation from the impact of
the original crash.
Once human remains had been discovered in the field, all excavations were suspended, the site
stabilized and protected. Local law enforcement, USAMAA-E, JPAC and DPMO were
immediately notified by telephone from the field.
Figures 6a/b. Water screening stations adjacent to primary impact crater.
Page 9 of 21
April 2012
Field Results
Refer to the survey map below for exact locations of test units and other features.
Figure 7. Site map plotting features and artifacts.
Page 10 of 21
April 2012
Unit 1: The artifact inventory is as follows:
UNIT #
CATALOG #
DEPTH
1
1-001
Surface find
1
1-002
0-25 cms.b.s
1
1-003
0-25 cms.b.s
1
1-004
ms.b.s
1
1-Lot 005
0-25 cms.b.s
1
1-Lot 006
0-25 cms.b.s
1
1-007
0-25 cms.b.s
1
1-Lot 008
0-25 cms.b.s
1
1-009
0-25 cms.b.s
1
1-010
0-25 cms.b.s
1
1-Lot 011
0-25 cms.b.s
DESCRIPTION
Left USAF flying
boot
Leather jacket
fragment
Main wheel fragment
Main landing gear
brake fragment
Electrical bus
fragments
Sheet metal
fragments
Hydraulic line
fragment with Gmodel specific AN
fittings
Steel landing gear
parts
Flack jacket armor
plate
Nose cone plexiglass
fragment
.50-caliber
ammunition
Page 11 of 21
April 2012
Unit 2. The artifacts collected in the water screening of this unit were as follows:
UNIT #
2
CATALOG #
2-001
DEPTH
0-25 cms.b.s
2
2-002
0-25 cms.b.s
2
2-003
0-25 cms.b.s
2
2-004
2
2-005
0-25 cms.b.s
2
2
2
2-006
2-007
2-008
0-25 cms.b.s
0-25 cms.b.s
0-25 cms.b.s
2
2-Lot 009
0-25 cms.b.s
2
2-Lot 010
0-25 cms.b.s
2
2-Lot 011
0-25 cms.b.s
2
2-Lot 012
0-25 cms.b.s
2
2-Lot 013
0-25 cms.b.s
0-25 cms.b.s
DESCRIPTION
Turret ring fragment
Glenn L. Martin Co.
electric motor turret
GULYHPDQXIDFWXUHU¶V
tag
Cockpit gear handle
Control quadrant
pulleys
Flight control bell
crank
Sheet metal
Extrusion angles
Cockpit glass
Rubber fuel bladder
fragments
G-model specific
SLORW¶VFRQWUROZKHHO
fragments
Flak jacket armor
plates
Chart plotter
fragments
Cockpit placards and
switch plates
Page 12 of 21
April 2012
Drainage Trench [DT] adjacent to Unit 2: The following artifacts were recovered from the upper
25cm strata of the drainage ditch:
UNIT #
DT
CATALOG #
DT-Lot 001
DEPTH
0-25 cms.b.s
DT
DT-002
0-25 cms.b.s
DT
DT-Lot 003
0-25 cms.b.s
DT
DT
DT-004
DT-Lot 005
0-25 cms.b.s
0-25 cms.b.s
DT
DT-006
0-25 cms.b.s
DT
DT-007
0-25 cms.b.s
DESCRIPTION
Cockpit armor plates
Handheld E6B
navigational slide rule
between plates
50 caliber
ammunition
Turret ring fragment
Cowling clamps
Cockpit window post
with rubber seal and
window glass
Cockpit control arm
Page 13 of 21
April 2012
Unit 3: The artifacts recovered from this unit were as follows:
UNIT #
3
3
CATALOG #
3-Lot 001
3-Lot 002
DEPTH
0-25 cms.b.s
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3-Lot 003
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3-004
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3-005
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3-006
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3-007
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3-Lot 008
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3-Lot 009
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3-010
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3-Lot 011
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3-Lot 012
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3
3
2-Lot 013
3-014
3-Lot 015
0-25 cms.b.s
0-25 cms.b.s
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3-Lot 016
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3
3-017
3-Lot 018
0-25 cms.b.s
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3
3-Lot 019
3-020
0-25 cms.b.s
0-25 cms.b.s
3
3-Lot 021
0-25 cms.b.s
DESCRIPTION
Uid rubber fragments
Uid cloth fragments
Flack jacket armor
plates
Flight crew flying
helmet fragment with
chin strap
.45 caliber pistol
holster with ammo
pouch fragment
Possible life raft bag
fragment
Leather flight jacket
fragments and straps
Sheet metal
fragments
Webbed material
remnants
Cockpit glass
.50 caliber
ammunition
Phenolic flight
control pulleys
Fuel hoses
Extrusion angles
Fuel bladder
fragments
Hydraulic line
fragments with Gmodel specific AN
fittings
Rubber window seal
Sheet metal
fragments
Cellulite film
Aircraft radio
adjacent to this unit
G-model specific
vertical card cockpit
compass
Page 14 of 21
April 2012
Unit 4: The only one of four sections excavated (A) yielded the following artifacts:
UNIT #
CATALOG #
DEPTH
4
4-Lot 001
0-25 cms.b.s
4
4-002
0-25 cms.b.s
4
4-003
0-25 cms.b.s
4
4-Lot 004
0-25 cms.b.s
4
4-005
0-25 cms.b.s
4
4-Lot 006
0-25 cms.b.s
4
4-Lot 007
0-25 cms.b.s
4
4-008
0-25 cms.b.s.
DESCRIPTION
Fuel bladder
fragments
Fuel hose
Crew station
laminated glass
7.92 bullets (2)
Right human tibia
and smaller bone
fragments
Numerous Boot part
fragments
Uid. Leather
fragments
Flight control surface
fragment
Related Artifactual Evidence
Many pieces of aircraft wreckage of non diagnostic value were found scattered as far as 300
meters from the center of the impact crater. These were either left where they were found or
brought to the local forest ranger. An aircraft flare pistol, for example, was found in the adjacent
valley 300 meters away. A local farmer, Johann Fösges, told the team that while hunting in the
1950s he found a flying boot with a human foot in it 200 meters up the hill from the crash site.
Important finds such as the possible human pelvic bone next to a piece of the aircraft's armor
plate and small arms ammunition for the crew's side arms were plotted with the total station and
are indicated on the survey map of the site.
Page 15 of 21
April 2012
Cadaver Dog Evidence
A well proven cadaver dog was used systematically on this site and the alerts he made for
decompositional chemical events normally associated with human decay, were plotted on the
survey map (Figure 5). It is important to note that the dog alerted numerous times on the center
of the crater where the human remains were found as well as on the items of personal equipment
worn by the crew where no human remains were found. A chemical soil sample was taken from
the center of the impact crater to be tested for the presence of human decompositional products
and the results of that test are pending.
The cadaver dog also alerted on the hill across the valley from the crash site where the farmer
found the flight boot with the foot in it as well as near the stream where the long bones were
recovered in 2006. Based upon the previous finds by the farmer, together with the results of the
limited site testing, it is likely that a significantly larger area is scattered with fragments of the
flight crew.
Post-Crash Salvage
This crash site has been extensively salvaged. Less than 200 pounds of what was once a fully
loaded 36,000 pound aircraft were found in this study. Interviews with local residents indicate
that by the end of the war the majority of the aircraft wreck had been removed and the primary
impact crater was full of water. German and Allied units likely salvaged the wreck site as did
the local population. Interviews with post-war Army veterans detailed to clean up the Ardennes
in the 1950s document how the removal of human remains from the field was often done in a
haphazard fashion and remains were sometimes cremated and sometimes handed over to the UN.
It is likely that the only undisturbed archeological part of this site in the bottom of the impact
crater because it was filled with water shortly after the crash until today.
Synthesis of Site Evidence
This highly salvaged wreck site is that of a G model WWII Martin B-26 bomber that crashed in
Allmuthen Belgium before many or all in the flight crew could parachute to safety. That there
are so many footware fragments and human remains in the wreck 68 years later reinforces that
fact. Because the typical means to identify an aircraft wreck of the era (serial numbers from
machine guns, engines, radio call signs and painted serial numbers on the vertical stabilizer) have
been salvaged, the G model specific characteristics as well as the laundry mark of 43-34430's
bomb toggler Sgt Eric Honeyman on the collar of his flight jacket recovered near unit three serve
to differentiate this wreck from any other B-26 known to be lost in the area. Parts found in this
wreck with the 38 parts prefix clearly show it to be a B-26 as does the Glenn L Martin Co turret
tag, but only the G model specifics and Sgt Honeyman's collar clearly prove that this aircraft is
B-26G-10 SN 43-34430. The only other B-26 to crash in this area was SN 42-96144 a B model
with Vickers Hydraulic pumps that were designed without AN fittings. This wreck has the G
Page 16 of 21
April 2012
model AN type hydraulic fittings. Additionally, SN 42-96144, broke in half and the tail with
three crew were found several kilometers from the nose where its other three crew were
recovered. The tail section of 42-96144 had the gun turret and tail gun turret several km from
the nose of the crash. This B-26 wreck has parts of the gun turret and the tail gunner's turret in
the impact crater and immediately adjacent to it, this wreck could not possibly be 42-96144. It
also has the G model semi circular captain's control yoke with a push to talk switch whereas the
B model has a figure eight control yoke without the Push-to-Talk switch. This wreck also has the
distinctive G model specific rotating compass card ADF indicator found in unit three and the B
model had a standing whiskey compass.
It is highly likely that this B-26 wreck is 43-34430 whose crew of six is still missing today.
References
1943, November
B-26 Structural Repair Manual
Commanding General, U.S. Army Air Forces. Washington, D.C.
1943, November
B-26 Erection and Maintenance Manual
1943, November
B-26 Parts Catalog
1943, December
B-26 Pilot's Operating Handbook
1944, December 23
397th Bomb Group Friendly Aircraft in Distress reports
Forward base A 72. France 7.
397th Bomb Group Mission Report
397th Bomb Group Air Battle Narrative
1944, December
397th Bomb Group History
Page 17 of 21
April 2012
1949, October 12
Individual Personnel Deceased Files for the flight crews of 43-34430 and 42-96144
2004
Rehr, Lte. Louis
Marauder, A Memoir of a B26 pilot in Europe in WWII
2012, April
Photographic walkthrough of the B-26G at the National Museum of the Air Force
Mark Noah. Dayton, Ohio.
2012, February
Photographic walkthrough of a B-26 at the Weeks Air Museum
Mark Noah. Polk City, Florida.
Page 18 of 21
April 2012
APPENDIX I
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH APRIL 2012
[Figure 3(WNNRJQVQŒZŒ?
[1 page]
Page 19 of 21
April 2012
APPENDIX II
SITE MAP
[Figure 7ŒZŒ?
[1 page]
Page 20 of 21
April 2012
Appendix III
Representative Sample of Artifacts Recovered at Allmuthen Crash Site
Compared to Original Items
[24 pages]
Page 21 of 21
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