June 11, 1943, 10th victory

Crew Boeing B-17 B-17F-65-BO "Lonesome Polecat" Serial 42-29693

of the 95 BG / 412 BS piloted by 1st Lt. MacKinnon

Source : message of James Lewis associate member of the 95thBG 10 Feb 00 Wilhelmshaven Raid

Hello!
I saw your listing on the 95thBG website in regard to loss of 95th B-17 on above mentioned raid.
According to "Operational Record of the 95th Bomb Group ( H ) by Mr. Paul M. Andrews, it shows that B-17, Ser# 229693, call letter O, of the 412th Bomb Sqdn, on 11 June 43, on return over North sea, and under fighter attack, left formation out of control, exploded and crashed into the sea.
MACR 2807. All crew members were killed.
This record does not show aircraft having a "Nickname".

Nickname must be confirmed but " Lonesome Polecat " is very probably B-17 having burst under guns of Heinz KNOKE. details on return way over North sea sit well with KNOKE account.
Need to be verified with the contents of the MACR 2807 the hour, and find the claims of other German pilots in the sector.

progress of the search

4

Last update

September 5 , 2002

Evaluation quality of information

4

The mission of the USAAF

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COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES

FRIDAY, 11 JUNE 1943
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)

Mission Number 62 :

252 B-17's are dispatched against the U-boat yard at Wilhelmshaven, Germany and the port area at Cuxhaven, Germany;
218 hit the targets; we claim 85-20-24 Luftwaffe aircraft ; we lose 8 and 62 are damaged.
Casualties are 3 KIA, 20 WIA and 80 MIA.

The raid on Wilhelmshaven demonstrates the difficulty of operating beyond range of fighters escort as enemy fighters attacks prevent accurate bombing of the target.

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Hello, I saw your message posted on the 95th Bomb Group website. You were looking for information on the B-17 #42-29693, shot down on June 11, 1943 over the North Sea... ... I found at a antique shop a "In Grateful Memory" certificate for John F Davoren. He was the left Waist gunner on this B-17. [photo courtesy from Jerry Warstler ] clic on photo to enlarge it
...and I found also this 8x10 framed photo who was sealed on the back with a paper backing. I cut along the edge and pulled the photo out of the frame. I was hoping the crew was identified, I was very happy to see it was. This photo was taken at Rapid City AirBase Feb.27, 1943. (Standing Left to Right) 1st Lt. Mackinnon, F/O Wood, 2nd Lt. Powell, 2nd Lt. Jenkins, (Kneeling Left to Right) T/sgt Mareck, T/sgt Vail, S/sgt Davoren, S/sgt Babick, (Front ) S/sgt Bennett, S/sgt Blackridge Seven of them were on the B-17 when it was shot down
... and also a wooden plaque from John Davorens high school for the memory of the kids that were killed in WWII. It has a picture of John Davoren on it. I hope you like the photo. If you have any questions fell free to let me know. Jerry Warstler [photo courtesy from Jerry Warstler ] clic on photo to enlarge it

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What I still look for:

Photo(s) of Boeing B-17 B-17F-65-BO "Lonesome Polecat" Serial 42-29693 of the 95 BG / 412 BS
The plan of painting of Boeing B-17 B-17F-65-BO "Lonesome Polecat" Serial 42-29693 of the 95 BG / 412 BS
The completeand official list of the crew on June 11, 1943
The original and complete contents of the MACR 2807

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Description of this victory by Heinz Knoke and different information :

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Warning ! To facilitate the reading, lines of Heinz Knoke's flightbook, appearing above, were modified with small computing assembly. If the disposal is not in accordance with the original, the main thing of the information, namely the mission 199 of June 6, has no change.

	Heinz Knoke Informations	Personal comments
Source	I flew for the f... page 101
Date	June 11, 1943
Type of claimed plane	Fortress
Place of the interception	Far out above North Sea, formation heading for home
Crash Location	Far out in North Sea	Probably no survivor
Presumed mission USAAF
Presumed route USAAF	Heading for home
Schedule	On evening. Twice Knoke take off to intercept (from Jever). Victory on the second mission	Probably first time for bombers coming, and second time on way for home return...
Weather report
Knoke's Unit	5./JG11
Description of the fight	KNOKE noted in his book : "One of the Fortresses finaly goes down after my fourth run at it."

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