Compiled 12-20-2023 by Wayne Blanchard for: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–11 Aviation Safety Network. USAAF B-17 turbulence crash, Braintree England, 5-10-1945.

–11 Baugher, Joseph. 1944 USAAF Serial Numbers (44-001 to 44-30910). 8-24-2023 revision.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945, p. 81:

“Date: Thursday 10 May 1945

“Type: Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress

“Owner/operator: 526^th BSqn / 379 BGp USAAF

“Registration: 44-8198

“MSN: 599

“Fatalities: Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 11

….

“Location: Woolpack Lane, Braintree, Essex – United Kingdom

“Phase: En route

“Nature: Military

“Departure airport: RAF Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire

….

“Narrative:

“On the 10th May 1945, a group of B-17G Flying Fortresses from 379th Bomb Group USAAF, took off from their base at Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire. It is believed that this was an observation flight to give ground crews the opportunity to view the damage inflicted upon Germany.

“On route the B17’s were flying in close formation at 1,200ft approaching Braintree & Bocking and without warning 44-8198 encountered severe turbulence caused by leading aircraft and a collision occurred with B-17G 44-8813. This aircraft, although damaged, was able to return to its base with no injuries to crew.

“The tail of 44-8198 was severed from the main fuselage and was witnessed to ‘flutter to the ground’ with a crew member still inside. It landed in a field at the end of Woolpack Lane, Braintree. The fuselage fell in a spiral dive, and disintegrated on impact. It landed on a market garden near to a Franciscan convent, off Bradford Street, Bocking, half-a-mile from the tail wreckage.

“A memorial to the 11 men who died in the crash was unveiled at Rivermead, Bocking, Braintree on 10 May 2015. Some of the wreckage from the crash is now owned by the museum at Ridgewell. Crew of 44-8198 of the 526th Bombardment Squadron were…

1st Lt. Tom G (Pop) Piers (Pilot)
2nd Lt. William F Powell ( Co-Pilot)
2nd Lt. Paul A Massina (Navigator)
Cpl. George H Miller (Passenger)
1st Lt. Irving Nussbaum (Passenger)
M/Sgt. Wagner F Crane (Passenger)
T/Sgt. Jerrome A Grears (Passenger)
S/Sgt. Merrill J Blanck (Passenger)
S/Sgt. Leslie G Lusk (Passenger)
S/Sgt. Robert J Brookman (Passenger)
Tech. Cpl. Walker W Wallace.

“All 11 men were killed just 2 days after VE Day 1945. B-17G 44-8813 limped back to Kimbolton.”

Baugher: “….8198 (MSN 17-7598 Accepted by USAAF at Lockheed Field, Burbank, CA Jul44 …. On the 10th of May 1945 a number of B-17s aircraft set out for Germany from RAF Kimbolton, UK, on a mission to show personnel the damage to German towns that had been inflicted by allied aircraft during bombing raids during the war. [VE day was 8th May 1945]. A group of aircraft set out in formation ahead of two B-17s who held station 1500ft below them to join in. The downdraft and turbulence was so severe from the higher aircraft that it caused the pilot of B-17 44-8198 to lose control of his plane so much so that he fell onto the top of his partners B-17 44-8813. His props chopped the rear of the fuselage which fell away discharging the tail gunner on the way down. The rest of the plane which was fully loaded with fuel exploded in a gigantic fireball which fell to the ground near to Braintree in Essex; 11 American aircrew perished. B-17 44-8198 limped back to Kimbolton….” (Baugher, Joseph. 1944 USAAF Serial Numbers (44-001 to 44-30910). 8-24-2023 revision.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945, p. 81. USAAF B-17 turbulence from lead formation B-17, collision and crash, Braintree England, 5-10-1945. Accessed 12-20-2023 at: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/98307

Baugher, Joseph F. 1944 USAAF Serial Numbers (44-001 to 44-30910). 8-24-2023 revision. Accessed 12-20-2023 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_1.html

1945 – May 10, USAAF B-17 hits lead B-17 turbulence, collision, crash, Braintree, Eng.–11