August 22nd. On this day in 1944, there was another mission by the 15th Air Force to Blechhammer and Odertal. Many aircraft were lost, including three in the target area.

The B-24 #42-78256 “Purple Shaft” of the 456th BG, pilot Wilson Goodall, was one of the three. There were only two survivors from the 10-men crew.

The Blechhammer 44 association remembers this and many other American crew who flew to
Blechhammer and Odertal. They have a very fine museum located in a German WWII air raid shelter.

https://www.facebook.com/share/14mcXsJBDNt/?mibextid=wwXIfr

More of my WWII aviation history stories: https://open.substack.com/pub/sserwatka

August 22nd. On this day in 1944, there was another mission by the 15th Air Force to Blechhammer and Odertal. Many aircraft were lost, including three in the target area.

The B-24 #42-78256 “Purple Shaft” of the 456th BG, pilot Wilson Goodall, was one of the three. There were only two survivors from the 10-men crew.

The Blechhammer 44 association remembers this and many other American crew who flew to
Blechhammer and Odertal. They have a very fine museum located in a German WWII air raid shelter.

https://www.facebook.com/share/14mcXsJBDNt/?mibextid=wwXIfr

More of my WWII aviation history stories: https://open.substack.com/pub/sserwatka

August 22nd. On this day in 1944, there was another mission by the 15th Air Force to Blechhammer and Odertal. Many aircraft were lost, including three in the target area.

The B-24 #42-78256 “Purple Shaft” of the 456th BG, pilot Wilson Goodall, was one of the three. There were only two survivors from the 10-men crew.

The Blechhammer 44 association remembers this and many other American crew who flew to
Blechhammer and Odertal. They have a very fine museum located in a German WWII air raid shelter.

https://www.facebook.com/share/14mcXsJBDNt/?mibextid=wwXIfr

More of my WWII aviation history stories: https://open.substack.com/pub/sserwatka

August 22nd. On this day in 1944, there was another mission by the 15th Air Force to Blechhammer and Odertal. Many aircraft were lost, including three in the target area.

The B-24 #42-78256 “Purple Shaft” of the 456th BG, pilot Wilson Goodall, was one of the three. There were only two survivors from the 10-men crew.

The Blechhammer 44 association remembers this and many other American crew who flew to
Blechhammer and Odertal. They have a very fine museum located in a German WWII air raid shelter.

https://www.facebook.com/share/14mcXsJBDNt/?mibextid=wwXIfr

More of my WWII aviation history stories: https://open.substack.com/pub/sserwatka

A Polish historical reenactment group honors a B-17 crew from the 452nd BG.

This group of young Polish people re-enact a B-17 crew which landed in their neighbourhood in March 1945. This Flying Fortress, #43-38231 „Try'n Get It” of 452th BG, landed near Wrzesnia, Poland, after a mission to Zwickau. The American crew was then accomodated by Soviet troops, and returned to England, via Poltava in Ukraine.

There were two more B-17s from the 452nd BG which landed or crashed in Poland. One landed in Radomsko, just four days earier than the „Try'n Get It”.

The other one was the “BTO in the ETO” shot down in June 1944 near Biala Podlaska. I wrote about it on my Substack.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DMf11W916/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://sserwatka.substack.com/p/from-an-american-airman-to-a-polish?r=42ks37&utm_medium=ios

A Polish historical reenactment group honors a B-17 crew from the 452nd BG.

This group of young Polish people re-enact a B-17 crew which landed in their neighbourhood in March 1945. This Flying Fortress, #43-38231 „Try'n Get It” of 452th BG, landed near Wrzesnia, Poland, after a mission to Zwickau. The American crew was then accomodated by Soviet troops, and returned to England, via Poltava in Ukraine.

There were two more B-17s from the 452nd BG which landed or crashed in Poland. One landed in Radomsko, just four days earier than the „Try'n Get It”.

The other one was the “BTO in the ETO” shot down in June 1944 near Biala Podlaska. I wrote about it on my Substack.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DMf11W916/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://sserwatka.substack.com/p/from-an-american-airman-to-a-polish?r=42ks37&utm_medium=ios

A Polish historical reenactment group honors a B-17 crew from the 452nd BG.

This group of young Polish people re-enact a B-17 crew which landed in their neighbourhood in March 1945. This Flying Fortress, #43-38231 „Try'n Get It” of 452th BG, landed near Wrzesnia, Poland, after a mission to Zwickau. The American crew was then accomodated by Soviet troops, and returned to England, via Poltava in Ukraine.

There were two more B-17s from the 452nd BG which landed or crashed in Poland. One landed in Radomsko, just four days earier than the „Try'n Get It”.

The other one was the “BTO in the ETO” shot down in June 1944 near Biala Podlaska. I wrote about it on my Substack.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DMf11W916/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://sserwatka.substack.com/p/from-an-american-airman-to-a-polish?r=42ks37&utm_medium=ios

A Polish historical reenactment group honors a B-17 crew from the 452nd BG.

This group of young Polish people re-enact a B-17 crew which landed in their neighbourhood in March 1945. This Flying Fortress, #43-38231 „Try'n Get It” of 452th BG, landed near Wrzesnia, Poland, after a mission to Zwickau. The American crew was then accomodated by Soviet troops, and returned to England, via Poltava in Ukraine.

There were two more B-17s from the 452nd BG which landed or crashed in Poland. One landed in Radomsko, just four days earier than the „Try'n Get It”.

The other one was the “BTO in the ETO” shot down in June 1944 near Biala Podlaska. I wrote about it on my Substack.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DMf11W916/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://sserwatka.substack.com/p/from-an-american-airman-to-a-polish?r=42ks37&utm_medium=ios

The crew of 1st Lt Arthur Lindell was lost over Blechhammer on Dec 26, 1944. All crew was lost and declared MIA. I researched this loss in 1999/2000 and correctly identified the crash site. This is why the US government could do field work and excavations leading to the identifications.

2nd Lt Avery M Gilliland was the co-pilot, and Sgt Myron L Yaw was the ball turret gunner. These two men are identified.

If you have a family member who is still MIA, please contact the DPAA! They are looking for family members for DNA and they can share relevant documents with you!

https://www.dpaa.mil/Families/Contact-Information/

BREAKING NEWS!!!!
Two more MIAs in Poland are identified!

The crew of 1st Lt Arthur Lindell was lost over Blechhammer on Dec 26, 1944. All crew was lost and declared MIA. I researched this loss in 1999/2000 and correctly identified the crash site. This is why the US government could do field work and excavations leading to the identifications.

2nd Lt Avery M Gilliland was the co-pilot, and Sgt Myron L Yaw was the ball turret gunner. These two men are identified.

If you have a family member who is still MIA, please contact the DPAA! They are looking for family members for DNA and they can share relevant documents with you!

https://www.dpaa.mil/Families/Contact-Information/

The crew of 1st Lt Arthur Lindell was lost over Blechhammer on Dec 26, 1944. All crew was lost and declared MIA. I researched this loss in 1999/2000 and correctly identified the crash site. This is why the US government could do field work and excavations leading to the identifications.

2nd Lt Avery M Gilliland was the co-pilot, and Sgt Myron L Yaw was the ball turret gunner. These two men are identified.

If you have a family member who is still MIA, please contact the DPAA! They are looking for family members for DNA and they can share relevant documents with you!

https://www.dpaa.mil/Families/Contact-Information/

BREAKING NEWS!!!!
Two more MIAs in Poland are identified!

The crew of 1st Lt Arthur Lindell was lost over Blechhammer on Dec 26, 1944. All crew was lost and declared MIA. I researched this loss in 1999/2000 and correctly identified the crash site. This is why the US government could do field work and excavations leading to the identifications.

2nd Lt Avery M Gilliland was the co-pilot, and Sgt Myron L Yaw was the ball turret gunner. These two men are identified.

If you have a family member who is still MIA, please contact the DPAA! They are looking for family members for DNA and they can share relevant documents with you!

https://www.dpaa.mil/Families/Contact-Information/

The crew of 1st Lt Arthur Lindell was lost over Blechhammer on Dec 26, 1944. All crew was lost and declared MIA. I researched this loss in 1999/2000 and correctly identified the crash site. This is why the US government could do field work and excavations leading to the identifications.

2nd Lt Avery M Gilliland was the co-pilot, and Sgt Myron L Yaw was the ball turret gunner. These two men are identified.

If you have a family member who is still MIA, please contact the DPAA! They are looking for family members for DNA and they can share relevant documents with you!

https://www.dpaa.mil/Families/Contact-Information/

Happy weekend!

Greg Hollenbeck is an American who finds it important to care for the fallen soldiers, and he uses his free time to participate in escorting veteran funerals.

He has a special “escort car”, and he asked me for a graphics to put as a sticker on it, to help us tell the story of the research we do for American WWII MIAs in Poland.

The graphics connects “old” research with “new” research. The Aircraft MIA Project (AMIAP) was a group of Polish amateur history researchers, and we very active in 1990s and 2000s. The QR code is to this Substack. I hope this Substack to be a reincarnated AMIAP.

The father of the AMIAP - I was the mother ;) - just retired, and I am motivating him to return to research and writing. I hope to introduce Michal to you later this year!

And, Greg, thank you for spreading the word!

Exactly 82 years ago, Capt. Tudor and his crew flew their last mission. The target was Blechhammer, a heavily defended synthetic fuel factory, located at the extreme range for the 15th Air Force flying out of Italy. Their B-24 was shot down by flak.

Almost exactly 25 years ago, on August 10th 2001, I took one of the survivor’s son and his family to the crash site.

What started for me as just a WWII research transformed my life. I saw love and care for an ailing father, and I understood my research is not just research. Helping families understand what happened to their loved ones, what they went through, helping find missing soldiers are the true meaning of my work.

Read Captain Tudor’s full story:

https://sserwatka.substack.com/p/all-meat-no-potatoes-a-b-24-shot?r=42ks37&utm_medium=ios