23 JUNE 1944
TARGET: LEON-ATHIES AIR FIELD (France)
MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #06215
AIRCRAFT: #42-95027 (NO NICKNAME) "B-Plus" 17th Mission
AIRCREW: WHITTEMORE (CA:
GRAPER) * SQUADRON:
577th
CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:
P (C) CAPT Graper, Melvin H. KIA
P 1/LT Whittemore, Warren T. POW
CP 2/LT Ackerman, James M. POW
N 2/LT Rich, Clarence B. EVD
B 2/LT lssenberg, Milton POW
NG/N 2/LT Birnbaum, Standford I. KIA
R/O S/S Ammon, Robert H. KIA
EnG T/S Peterson, Carl L. KIA
WG S/S Altemus, Charles V. POW
WG S/S Lempe, Maurice POW
TG S/S Tremlett, Robert S. KIA
MISSION
LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: An eye-witness (Lt. Johnson, crew Pilot, 577th)
reported that this aircraft took a direct hit by flak in #3 engine and
bomb bay at the target, went down immediately into a dive, then pulled
up slightly, rolled over and went out of control, (5) chutes seen. A
German Report #KU2367, Air Base Hqs E (v) 229/Xl at Couvron, cited the
downing of this crew and plane at 1950 hours, 23 June, (9) kilometers
north of Leon, France; damage to ship 85-90%, one member found dead,
burned completely, and (7)men taken prisoner on the spot. Prisoners
identified from this aircrew were: Graper, Whittemore, Issenberg,
Ackerman, Altemus, and Lampe. The 7th person captured was not from this
aircrew, a S/Sgt. John Morris, but was a 392nd crew member from the
McCarthy ship which was also shot down this mission in the very same
area (See MACA #6985). Some members of the Whittemore crew were badly
burned during their bail outs, and required hospitalization at the
German War Hospital in Reims: lssenberg, Ackerman, and Graper (Capt.
Graper died sixteen days later of his wounds on 8 July at 2200 hours due
to multiple shell fragment wounds; severe muscle lacerations of both
upper legs which required amputation; and extreme weakness due to lack
of blood circulation, all according to a German supplementary report,
#1231 from the Reims Army Hospital 1/528-A). As determined later from a
crewmember’s report (see below), four of this aircrew were found
perished in the plane’s crash site: Lt. Birnbaum, Sgts. Ammon,
Peterson and Tremlett thus bringing the total KIA to (5) members. One
crew man, Lt. Rich, did manage to evade capture and was taken in by
French underground elements.
INDIVIDUAL
ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: Lt. Rich, the one escape and evadee, gave
this written account after his return to the States: "Since my
return to the United States, I have received a letter from Madame L.
Culot whose address is Barenton-Bugny, France, which said in part
‘four of your friends at the airplane died because it (fell) down in
flames". He continued his statement by writing: "Possibly one
may know more details of this incident, even to where the bodies are
buried and this information might be of (help) to a search team"
(and signed, Clarence B. Rich, Dean, Montana). Other general details of
the Lt. Rich report noted that: Capt. Graper Lts. Whittemore, Ackerman,
Issenberg and he bailed out of the burning bomb bays between
12,000-20,000 feet; Lt. Birnbaum also had jumped at about 15,000 feet
but was burned about his neck and face; he (Rich) had no knowledge
concerning the bail outs of Sgt. Lampe and Altemus, and that Sgt.
Tremplett was found in his tail gun position in the crash, according to
the French partisans (along with three other members who also perished,
as later determined). In another member’s statement (most probably
Sgt. Lampe, one of the waist gunner survivors), a notation was made
regarding the tail gunner’s loss: "Charles Altemus and I got him
out of his turret and he said he would follow (us)...he was in the waist
just behind the escape hatch. He was not injured..but might have
suffered from lack of oxygen."
BURIAL
RECORDS: The only record of a crew member burial by the Germans was that
for Capt. Graper (Rheims Hospital report above) which took place at 1200
hours, Thursday 13 July 1944 at the Western Cemetery in Reims, Grave
plot 56-2-16. There are no U.S. National overseas Cemeteries which
indicate reburial of any deceased crew member.
NEXT OF
KIN DATA IN WWII: Graper (Wife, Marguerite E., 514 Hayward Avenue, Ames,
Iowa); Whittemore (Father, Van C., 46 E. Main Street, Canton, New York);
Peterson (Father, Henry A., 3810 50th Street, San Diego,
California);Ackerman (Wife, Madeleine, Lake Avenue, Hillburn, New York);
Rich (Wife, Helen C., Box 532, Columbus, Montana); Issenberg (Father,
Samuel, 1136 Essex Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts); Birnbaum (Father,
Joseph, 28 Broad Street, Flemington, New Jersey); Ammon (Wife, Mary A.,
% McCaney, 3254 Rutledge Walk, Crescent Gardens, Fairview, New Jersy);
Altemus (Mother, Ida M., 615 East 20th Street, Sioux Falls, South
Dakota); Lampe (Mother, Josephine K., (1102 Avenue C, Fort Madison,
Iowa); and Tremplett (Mother, Mable, 28 South Gordon, Gouverneur, New
York).
