Supply drop for "Varsity" 1945

Leaning towards it being the one on DZ B the more info comes out.

 

Some views from the ground.

A good shot showing B-24s over the British 12th Corps sector - probably west of the Rhine, with the Liberators eastbound (?).


A photo taken in the sector of US 30th Infantry Division, most likely west of the Rhine:


A shot probably taken in the British bridgehead east of the Rhine.


Finally, a rather well known shot from the IWM:

 

From archive.org, Varsity part starts from 06:25

Dozens of parachutes drop supplies down to Allied troops (06:25). Supplies being deployed directly from bombers (06:41). More shots of groups of bombers flying very low over German countryside (06:48). Title card reads: “Two Liberators are shot down” (07:15). First plane seen hit by enemy fire amid a group of bombers, angles towards the ground, and then exploding after impact (07:20). Second plane is hit and comes to ground in “a near vertical dive” then explodes (07:30). [Note: a 1979 article by Col. U.P. Harvell indicates two men survived one of these crashes -- tail gunner Louis DeBlasio and waist gunner Robert Vance.

“LIBERATORS OVER EUROPE” B-24 44th BOMBARDMENT GROUP / 8TH AIR FORCE WWII COMBAT FILM XD12064 : PeriscopeFilm : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

 

This photo still puzzles me. I cannot relate the roads and other features to the location of the double crash. What I am missing, for example, is the power line visible in the footage and a prominent feature in the area.




The structures that I marked with red arrows might be revetments. The Germans built those along the roads they used to get cover when strafed by the superior Allied tactical air forces - an example shown below.

 

Powerlines

Here two parts of maps 4205 and 4305, the powerlines stopped at the (todays) B473. (But could be not correct, these maps are based on older maps)


Here you see the powerlines these days.

Hope it will help in the search. More people see more then one

Now when i see the Defence overprint and the Revetments Alberk mentioned, maybe these are on the Defence Overprint (look along the B473) I have seen quite a lot of overprints, but cant remember these markings.

 

Have you ever received assistance from a local police department or other government office about old crash sites?

 

Hi EKB,
we are discussing this purely out of historical (or "academic") interest. Local authorities would only come into play if there were dangers emerging from unexploded ammo or if there was a find of human remains. Both is not the case. Also, no US casualties are MIA in our area. I am discussing these issues with Ortwin N. who is in charge of these safety issues for the municipality of Hamminkeln - however, he also has an academic interest and would only act in his official role if the above mentioned issues were involved. This is sometimes the case, but the question where "The Old Veteran" crashed is something we "investigate" out of private interest. This one remaining "missing" aircraft (only missing on our private list of "solved" cases) may still be a "mystery" to us... but no one else cares...
Best
Alex

 

Straight lines look like an asparagus/ Spargel field. Nowadays You find them north of the Wesel suburb Obrighoven..

 

Another USAAF photo:

 

Official link:
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/204901601

 

A Bert Hardy pic:



Regards ...

 

where do we think this is?

 

OK. Good to know.

 

There is an instructional movie showing the step-by-step method for making those 3D maps and sand tables. I don't remember if it was RAF or USAAF. Could not find it on YouTube.

 

Queen of Angels was hard to find, but finally we have got them. Most books say there were 14 Liberators lost on this mission. I think there were 15 crashes and one crew member (sgt Diaz) dragged out of an aircraft (very near to crsh of 2 B-24's- Kay Bar and Southern Comfort). Queen of Angels is reported to have crashed in "North Zone B" which might suggest northern Germany, but in reality was Wesel. The MACR 14181 report has attachements and mentiones Alan Keenen as the sole survivor.



Probably family (daughter?) wrote a book about this crew.



446th Bomb Group was heading for SDP B so the British zone. I do not know the exact crashsite but I think near Hamminkeln because
was seen in Target Area=SDP B:

Alan Keenen jumped out of the plane with Stalder who did not survive the jump. This was witnessed by American Paratrooper. Probably a member of 513 who misdropped in the British sector. So the crashsite could be in LZ-P.

 

I gave the details and the location of this crash in a post (#107) further above.

 

We covered many Ortmannsfeld locations starting here:

SGT R.D. Martin’s Film Footage - Operation Varsity

Regards ...

 

This is NCAP March 25th picture of the Waymannshof area. Cannot spot a B24 crash location. Do You have more information about MR grids from US report? ( Feldmark Wesel; Düsseldorf; Germany | NCAP - National Collection of Aerial Photography). Would be nice to find the crashsite..

 

I am attaching the IDPF for Melvin Gaudet - it is a thorough investigation to establish the identity of one of the crew members. Which leads me to believe that great attention to detail was given, including the location of the crash. Page 76 gives the MR. On page 55 "one mile north of Wesel" is given a location. DZ B is about 6 miles northwest of Wesel.