“Enemy fighters, six o’clock low.”
These were the last words of Cpl. Franklin Atwood at 12:10 p.m., August 23, 1944.
He lit up his guns trying to take the German fighters down. They returned fire, peppering the plane with two blasts of 20mm bullets.
“The first one caught the tail-gunner (Atwood) squarely in the chest,” reported Cpl. Daniel Suzyn. “I am certain he was killed instantly.”
Atwood was three months shy of his 26th birthday.
They were aboard plane 523, part of the 724 Bomb Squadron, 451st Bomb Group, 15th Air Force. The crew, which included bombardier 2nd Lt. Sydney Samet of Mount Airy, had nearly reached its target, an airfield in Markersdorf, Austria.
Smaller and less well-known than the ‘Mighty Eighth” bombers that flew out of England, the 15th was vital to the coming victory over the Axis Powers. Officially classified as the Mediterranean Theatre, their crews flew out of the Foggia region of Southern Italy, raining destruction onto the vital Messerschmidt production facilities in Germany, and the petroleum tanks in Ploesti, Romania. The relentless strategic bombing campaign destroyed airfields, infrastructure, and important supply hubs from France to Hungary.
This particular crew had completed six successful missions in the 11 days prior to this one, all in B-24 Liberators but this was the first time in this particular ship. She had nose art, as many bombers did, of a pretty girl. She sat cross-legged over the title, “Hard To Get.” The crew was in the #5 position in the formation, the lowest tier of bombers, center rear.
It was often called “Tail-end Charlie” or “Coffin Position” for good reason.
“It was the third (round) … that set the waist of the plane on fire,” Suzyn, the left waist gunner of the crew, continued in his report. “The last thing I remember in the plane is groping in the flames for my parachute…Then I passed out.”
Navigator of 523, the ‘Hard To Get,’ was 2nd Lt. Ray Chisholm of Missouri. He was wounded in the initial attack. Upper turret gunner, Cpl. David Beck of Winston-Salem helped him get to the bomb bay where those who were able were grabbing their chutes from the flames to bail out.
Staff Sgt. Frank Peterson, nose gunner in an adjacent bomber reported, “The left wing was badly hit and the plane tipped over on its right wing immediately.”
“The wing was enveloped in flames as it started to lose altitude,” added Staff Sgt. Robert Welker, tail gunner in Peterson’s plane. “I did not observe any parachutes.”
Of the 11 men on the ‘Hard To Get’ that day, five were able to get their gear and bail. Bombardier 2nd Lt. Syndey Samet, just 20 years old, was not among them.
Beck and Suzyn reported they last saw him at his “regular position” in the nose of the plane. When the plane rolled and began to spin, the centrifugal force combined with the smoke and flames would have made it nearly impossible to traverse the interior. The plane crashed near the Austrian town of St. Polten.
The five who made it out were all captured and held as POWs for several months but survived the war to make their reports.
Those still in the bomber were listed as Missing In Action for months and awarded the Air Medal for “meritorious achievement … while participating in sustained operational activities against the enemy.” When the first of the survivors was liberated and details of the flight’s fate were established, the six were declared Killed In Action.
They are buried as they died, together, under one headstone in the Keokuk National Cemetery in Iowa.
The staff of the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History is sharply aware of the sacrifices made by so many to protect not only their country but the lives and freedoms of our allies. We are deeply grateful for their service and grieve for their loss.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com