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On September 17,
1944 large groups of transport aircraft departed Langar Airfield in England,
destination - Groesbeck, Holland. Their cargo - paratroopers of the 82nd
Airborne along with externally mounted Para-racks containing equipment and
explosives.
As the serials of
C47's approached the drop zone designated as DZ-T 2,000 yards north of Grosbeek, Holland many
of them flew through a hail of small-arms and anti-aircraft fire. One
aircraft flown by men of the USAAF 441st/100 Squadron sustained mortal hits
and went down near Wyler.
On board that aircraft was a stick of 15 men of the 508th [see next
page for a list of these men] who
jumped in the aircraft's final, fiery agony as it passed through an altitude
of less than 300 feet. Although each of them landed safely, their
fates differed greatly from that moment forward.
According to an eyewitness statement, "Five miles short of DZ. ship
#43-15102, Serial 17A, 1st Lt. Connelly, Billy J., 100th T. C. Squadron,
caught fire, continued on for approximately one mile in formation, then went
out of control into a spin exploding upon contact between Maas Waal Canal
and Highway to East of same, just west of wooded area. No chutes were
seen to come out."
Navigator SSgt Lockwood stated, "The plane was shot down and as far
as I know, I was the only one of the crew to bail out. I left the
plane at approximately 300 feet altitude and [the rest of the crew] was
still with it. I was with the paratroopers in the vicinity in which
the plane crashed for about a week and could not in that time find any
information of any of the rest of the crew escaping."
Sgt Lockwood made a second statement: "On 17 September 1944 I
served as Aerial engineer on the aircraft number 43-15102, piloted by 1st
Lt. Billy J. Connelly. All of the paratroopers had been dropped and I
noticed flames enveloping the bolero tank valves and around the front of the
cockpit. The plane was starting into a dive when I bailed out of the
plane at approximately 250 to 300 feet. I did not see the plane crash
nor did I see any members of the crew thereafter." |
