Searches concerning this victory :
progress of the search | 4 | Last update | March 25, 2003 | Evaluation quality of information | 2 |
The mission of the USAAF
COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCESSATURDAY, 17 APRIL 1943
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)
VIII Bomber Command
Mission 52:
115 B-17's are dispatched against the Focke-Wulf factory at Bremen, Germany the Eighth Air Force's largest mission to date.
A mass of fighters attacks during bomb run, shooting down 15 while flak claims another.
We claim 63-15-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 39 B-17's are damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 4 WIA and 159 MIA.
4 B-17 over 16 declared lost on April 17, 1943 (short list containing probably Knoke's B-17) :
Source : book "The B-17 Flying Fortress Story"
serial number
plane type / name
squadron
code
reason
mission lost on
pilot
42-5171
Boeing B-17F-BO
306 BG 368 BS
?
fighter
Bremen
Crash location
?Gillogly,
10POW,
MACR 15524 42-5172Boeing B-17F-40-BO
"Thunderbird"91 BG 401 BS
LL-Z
flak
Bremen
Crash location
Bruchhausen
Bruchhausen-Vilsen is 18kms far East from BassumBeasley,
2KIA, 8POW,
MACR 1552142-29625
Boeing B-17F-BO
306 BG 369 BS
WW-B
flak ?
Bremen
Crash location
Bremen
? or near Bremen ?Harwood,
3KIA, 7POW,
MACR 1551742-29643
Boeing B-17F-BO
306 BG 367 BS
?
flak ?
Bremen
Crash location
Bremen
? or near Bremen ?Miller,
10POW,
MACR 15523The planes which are a part of this short list are those that answer the following criteria :
near (or susceptible to be) of Bassum,
crew having survivors (Knoke saw 4 parachutes)
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The exact crash location of the plane | |
German documents concerning Knoke's victory or falling point | ||
The contents of the MACR 15524 | ||
Testimonies of the crew | ||
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German documents concerning Knoke's victory or falling point | |
The contents of the MACR 15521 | ||
Testimonies of the crew | ||
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Is the exact crash location of the plane to Bremen or around of Bremen (in the South for example, towards Bassum) ? | |
The contents of the MACR 15517 | ||
The confirmation that the plane was well shot down by Flak | ||
Testimonies of the crew | ||
42-29643 | Is the exact crash location of the plane to Bremen or around of Bremen (in the South for example, towards Bassum) ? | |
The contents of the MACR 15523 | ||
The confirmation that the plane was well shot down by Flak | ||
Testimonies of the crew |
Photo of the Lead crew of the 360th BS during the mission #31 on April 17, 1943, on Bremen.
Yardbird #42-5260 (360BS) PU-A
102nd PBCW #2 (360BS) - Pilot Maj L.E. Lyle / CoPilot Capt J.W. Farrar(Back L-R) S/Sgt J.R. Sunderlin (BT), Capt A.W. Dieffenbach (B),
Capt J.W. Farrar (CP), Maj L.E. Lyle (P),
Lt R.N. Auman (N), Lt S.H. Anderson (N)(Front L-R) S/Sgt L.T. O'Connell (TG), T/Sgt E.K. Lindewall (R),
T/Sgt K.G. Hassler (E), S/Sgt M.A. Semonick (WG), Sgt G.A. Murray (WG)[photo from the 303rdBGA Archives]
Description of this victory by Heinz Knoke and different information : Crash Location : South West of BREMEN in a field near BASSUM
Heinz Knoke Informations
Personal comments
Source I flew for the f... page 97
Date April 17, 1943
Type of claimed plane B-17 Flying Fortress
Place of the interception Over Bremen
Crash Location South-West of Bremen near Bassum
SQUARE ES-5/7
No crash location in the sea.
Presumed Mission USAAF Bomb Bremen
Schedule No datas
Weather report
Knoke's Unit 5./JG11
All Bf 109G are slung with a 500-lb. high-explosive bomb equiped with a fifteen-second time fuse.
Description of the fight "...We take off with our bombs, which we have a chance to drop when the Flight is in close formation over the heart of Bremen. Not a single bomb registers.
We immediatly go in to attack with our guns. I make three runs at a Fortress, and it finally catches fire. South-west of Bremen, in a field near Bassum, it crashes. Four members of the crew parachute to safety."Crash location is very accurate.
Detail 1 One salvo bombs with fuse was drop.
The explosion of these bombs, seen from B-17s can be likened to the flak. It's necessary so to be careful with B-17 lost for flak reason and which could have been claimed by the German flak. The American report of mission gives moreover only a single device lost because flak for 15 shot down by the fighters.
Detail 2 Knoke mention 4 parachutes. There is probably 4 men alive. Crew with no survivor are not from KNOKE's B-17.
Detail 3 Knoke say that his Flight is credited with three more victories.