Crash B17F YAHOOLI
Crash of B-17F 41-24608 BN-S "Yahoodi "
303rd Bomb Group - 359th Squadron
shot down by FLAK and German fighters on January 3, 1943.
In these places died for our freedom, 7 young allied aviators.
The B 17 Yahoodi
On the morning of January 3, 1943 at 9:00 am, seventeen B17 took off from Molesworth airbase in England. One of these aircraft from the 359th Squadron was called Yahoodi It was piloted by Lieutenant Frank A. SAUNDERS, whose 5th mission it was.
Three planes turned back while the others, belonging to the 303rd Bomb Group, went aloft to join 10 B24s from the 44th Bomb Squadron and 52 B17s from the 91st, 305th and 306th Bomb Group for a mission to bomb the submarine base at Saint-Nazaire.
The 76 aircraft were crossing France and the target was in sight. The B17 Yahoodi was in the first wave at 11:30 a.m. Lieutenant Norman KOSSIS, Bombardier, dropped the five 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs from an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) on La base sous-marine.
At once Frank SAUNDERS headed out to sea to escape a very intense FLAK, but a direct hit from a FLAK gun destroyed the right number 3 engine while German fighters concentrated their fire on the left 2 engine. As the B17 rapidly lost altitude, Frank SAUNDERS ordered the crew to jump to parachute but remained at the controls with his co-pilot Lieutenant Leonard KIRK.
11 managed to ditch 7 miles south of the Pointe du Croisic It was 11:45.
Five airmen swept out to sea would drown or freeze to death. Another fell near the road from La Baule to Guérande and would die of his wounds. Lieutenant Oscar Franklin FORESTER and Sergeant Leif Hoklin had ditched in the icy water near the coast; after being rescued by a German minesweeper, they were taken prisoner. The wreck of the B17 where SAUNDERS and KIRK had taken refuge quickly sank, and the two men, freezing, began to struggle with strong waves.
About a mile away were Joachim COSSEC aged 37, skipper of the fishing boat Coccinelle based in the port of Le Croisic, and his 3 crew members Auguste CARIOU (father) 44, Auguste CARIOU (son) 15 and Sylvain LE PAPE, 30.
They had immediately set course for the drop-off point, but the wreckage had disappeared, so it took half an hour of searching to spot the two aviators and hoist it aboard. After more than an hour's struggle in the icy water, and despite the help of his companion, Leonard KIRK was dead.
Auguste CARIOU took Frank SAUNDERS into the hold next to the engine to warm him up, and he was given dry clothes.
The boat arrived at the port of Le Croisic at around 2:00 pm, where the Germans seized the pilot. On the way to La Kommandantur, he had the audacity to make the V of Victory in front of the fishermen.
Sent to several prison camps, Frank SAUNDERS was transferred in April 1943 to Stalag Luft Ill near SAGAN (famous thanks to the film The Great Escape).
On this January 3, 1943, the 8th Air Force paid a heavy price for this mission, since in the crashes of the 7 B17s there were 57 killed to which had to be added 2 killed and around 12 wounded in the other planes that landed in England.
To this hecatomb had to be added the 4 dead and around 17 wounded in the 3 B24s of the 44th Bomb Squadron crash-landed in England for lack of fuel.
After the war, 6 airmen would be reported missing and their names are inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery in England
★2Lt Leonard KIRK,
★2Lt Norman KOSSIS,
★T/Sgt Walter CLEVENGER,
★S/Sgt Llyod WAGNER,
★S/Sgt Russell CHETWOOD,
★Sgt Renard RICH.
Sgt Sgt Rufus LETTON is buried at Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium.
Contribution and photo credit Jacques Grasset
