Captain Weymouth Crowell, Jr. was born in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co. California on 18 Nov 1918, the son of Weymouth Crowell and Ethel M. Ryder Crowell. He entered the U.S. Military on 12 March 1942, at Portland, Oregon.
Capt. Crowell was a Pilot with the U.S. Army Air Force, 12th Air Force, 57th Bombardment Wing, 321st Bombardment Group, 448th Bombardment Squadron, aboard B-25 Mitchell Medium Bomber Aircraft, stationed in the MTO during WW2.
Capt. Crowell, Enlistment Service # : 19077133
Officer's Service # : O-740756
was KILLED IN ACTION on 17 April 1944. Capt Crowell was the Flight Leader on a Bombing Mission on the RR bridge 2 miles S of Attigliano, Italy.
321st BG~448th BS War Diary:
Excerpt from Casualty Questionnaire:
Hough, William S., 2Lt, navigator, 448th BS
Capt. Crowell had leveled the airplane off on the bomb run and Lt. Kreutz was adjusting his sight on the target. The plane was hit by two direct A.A. on the tail assembly, and lost the complete unit. Then the plane climbed out of control and fell off on its back. Capt. Crowell succeeded in getting the ship off its back and out of a spin with the use of ailerons and engines alone. At his command I bailed out through the front hatch, and as I left hew was still attempting to hold the aircraft under control in order to give the rest of the crew a chance to jump. The bombardier, Lt. Kreutz had the presence of mind to close the bombay doors before trying to climb up the narrow, slippery crawlway that leads from the nose to the pilot's cockpit. As I passed underneath the ship I had a clear view of the damage; the entire rear from the bombay aft was riddled and the entire tail assembly was gone. It is my belief that the gunners were either killed or too badly injured to try to jump. After my chute opened, I watched one other chute open up and then the ship crashed by the outskirts of a small Italian town. I landed in an orchard about two miles from the crash, and it was around five minutes after I had landed that the ship blew up. I succeeded in getting rid of my chute and making my way to a hiding place in a drainage ditch some distance from where I had hit the ground. Somehow, although I heard several patrols and actually saw four Fascist soldiers, I was not discovered. I was unable to contact the other member of my crew and I thought it best to start out of the vicinity by the escape route upon which we had been briefed. The rest was my personal troubles and did not include the rest of the crew.
W. S. Hough, Service #: O-701371;
1st Lt. A.C. (Res. Inactive)
A/C No. 42-64655 (MACR-4193 - shot down)
P: Crowell, Weymouth (NMI), Jr., Capt - KIA
CP: Elliott, Floyd A., 2Lt-POW,liberated and RTD
N: Hough, William S., 2Lt-MIA, evaded enemy and RTD 10 Jun 44
B: Kreutz, Alfred W., 2Lt - KIA
E: Johnson, Joseph M., S/Sgt - KIA
R: Doss, Charles W., Jr., S/Sgt - KIA
G: Graham, Herbert J., S/Sgt - KIA
F: None
NEVER FORGET Captain Crowell's Bravery, Service, & Sacrifice.
This info can be verified at:
http://57thbombwing.com/321stBombGroupHistory.php
Capt. Crowell was a Pilot with the U.S. Army Air Force, 12th Air Force, 57th Bombardment Wing, 321st Bombardment Group, 448th Bombardment Squadron, aboard B-25 Mitchell Medium Bomber Aircraft, stationed in the MTO during WW2.
Capt. Crowell, Enlistment Service # : 19077133
Officer's Service # : O-740756
was KILLED IN ACTION on 17 April 1944. Capt Crowell was the Flight Leader on a Bombing Mission on the RR bridge 2 miles S of Attigliano, Italy.
321st BG~448th BS War Diary:
Excerpt from Casualty Questionnaire:
Hough, William S., 2Lt, navigator, 448th BS
Capt. Crowell had leveled the airplane off on the bomb run and Lt. Kreutz was adjusting his sight on the target. The plane was hit by two direct A.A. on the tail assembly, and lost the complete unit. Then the plane climbed out of control and fell off on its back. Capt. Crowell succeeded in getting the ship off its back and out of a spin with the use of ailerons and engines alone. At his command I bailed out through the front hatch, and as I left hew was still attempting to hold the aircraft under control in order to give the rest of the crew a chance to jump. The bombardier, Lt. Kreutz had the presence of mind to close the bombay doors before trying to climb up the narrow, slippery crawlway that leads from the nose to the pilot's cockpit. As I passed underneath the ship I had a clear view of the damage; the entire rear from the bombay aft was riddled and the entire tail assembly was gone. It is my belief that the gunners were either killed or too badly injured to try to jump. After my chute opened, I watched one other chute open up and then the ship crashed by the outskirts of a small Italian town. I landed in an orchard about two miles from the crash, and it was around five minutes after I had landed that the ship blew up. I succeeded in getting rid of my chute and making my way to a hiding place in a drainage ditch some distance from where I had hit the ground. Somehow, although I heard several patrols and actually saw four Fascist soldiers, I was not discovered. I was unable to contact the other member of my crew and I thought it best to start out of the vicinity by the escape route upon which we had been briefed. The rest was my personal troubles and did not include the rest of the crew.
W. S. Hough, Service #: O-701371;
1st Lt. A.C. (Res. Inactive)
A/C No. 42-64655 (MACR-4193 - shot down)
P: Crowell, Weymouth (NMI), Jr., Capt - KIA
CP: Elliott, Floyd A., 2Lt-POW,liberated and RTD
N: Hough, William S., 2Lt-MIA, evaded enemy and RTD 10 Jun 44
B: Kreutz, Alfred W., 2Lt - KIA
E: Johnson, Joseph M., S/Sgt - KIA
R: Doss, Charles W., Jr., S/Sgt - KIA
G: Graham, Herbert J., S/Sgt - KIA
F: None
NEVER FORGET Captain Crowell's Bravery, Service, & Sacrifice.
This info can be verified at:
http://57thbombwing.com/321stBombGroupHistory.php
Captain Weymouth Crowell, Jr. was born in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co. California on 18 Nov 1918, the son of Weymouth Crowell and Ethel M. Ryder Crowell. He entered the U.S. Military on 12 March 1942, at Portland, Oregon.
Capt. Crowell was a Pilot with the U.S. Army Air Force, 12th Air Force, 57th Bombardment Wing, 321st Bombardment Group, 448th Bombardment Squadron, aboard B-25 Mitchell Medium Bomber Aircraft, stationed in the MTO during WW2.
Capt. Crowell, Enlistment Service # : 19077133
Officer's Service # : O-740756
was KILLED IN ACTION on 17 April 1944. Capt Crowell was the Flight Leader on a Bombing Mission on the RR bridge 2 miles S of Attigliano, Italy.
321st BG~448th BS War Diary:
Excerpt from Casualty Questionnaire:
Hough, William S., 2Lt, navigator, 448th BS
Capt. Crowell had leveled the airplane off on the bomb run and Lt. Kreutz was adjusting his sight on the target. The plane was hit by two direct A.A. on the tail assembly, and lost the complete unit. Then the plane climbed out of control and fell off on its back. Capt. Crowell succeeded in getting the ship off its back and out of a spin with the use of ailerons and engines alone. At his command I bailed out through the front hatch, and as I left hew was still attempting to hold the aircraft under control in order to give the rest of the crew a chance to jump. The bombardier, Lt. Kreutz had the presence of mind to close the bombay doors before trying to climb up the narrow, slippery crawlway that leads from the nose to the pilot's cockpit. As I passed underneath the ship I had a clear view of the damage; the entire rear from the bombay aft was riddled and the entire tail assembly was gone. It is my belief that the gunners were either killed or too badly injured to try to jump. After my chute opened, I watched one other chute open up and then the ship crashed by the outskirts of a small Italian town. I landed in an orchard about two miles from the crash, and it was around five minutes after I had landed that the ship blew up. I succeeded in getting rid of my chute and making my way to a hiding place in a drainage ditch some distance from where I had hit the ground. Somehow, although I heard several patrols and actually saw four Fascist soldiers, I was not discovered. I was unable to contact the other member of my crew and I thought it best to start out of the vicinity by the escape route upon which we had been briefed. The rest was my personal troubles and did not include the rest of the crew.
W. S. Hough, Service #: O-701371;
1st Lt. A.C. (Res. Inactive)
A/C No. 42-64655 (MACR-4193 - shot down)
P: Crowell, Weymouth (NMI), Jr., Capt - KIA
CP: Elliott, Floyd A., 2Lt-POW,liberated and RTD
N: Hough, William S., 2Lt-MIA, evaded enemy and RTD 10 Jun 44
B: Kreutz, Alfred W., 2Lt - KIA
E: Johnson, Joseph M., S/Sgt - KIA
R: Doss, Charles W., Jr., S/Sgt - KIA
G: Graham, Herbert J., S/Sgt - KIA
F: None
NEVER FORGET Captain Crowell's Bravery, Service, & Sacrifice.
This info can be verified at:
http://57thbombwing.com/321stBombGroupHistory.php
Capt. Crowell was a Pilot with the U.S. Army Air Force, 12th Air Force, 57th Bombardment Wing, 321st Bombardment Group, 448th Bombardment Squadron, aboard B-25 Mitchell Medium Bomber Aircraft, stationed in the MTO during WW2.
Capt. Crowell, Enlistment Service # : 19077133
Officer's Service # : O-740756
was KILLED IN ACTION on 17 April 1944. Capt Crowell was the Flight Leader on a Bombing Mission on the RR bridge 2 miles S of Attigliano, Italy.
321st BG~448th BS War Diary:
Excerpt from Casualty Questionnaire:
Hough, William S., 2Lt, navigator, 448th BS
Capt. Crowell had leveled the airplane off on the bomb run and Lt. Kreutz was adjusting his sight on the target. The plane was hit by two direct A.A. on the tail assembly, and lost the complete unit. Then the plane climbed out of control and fell off on its back. Capt. Crowell succeeded in getting the ship off its back and out of a spin with the use of ailerons and engines alone. At his command I bailed out through the front hatch, and as I left hew was still attempting to hold the aircraft under control in order to give the rest of the crew a chance to jump. The bombardier, Lt. Kreutz had the presence of mind to close the bombay doors before trying to climb up the narrow, slippery crawlway that leads from the nose to the pilot's cockpit. As I passed underneath the ship I had a clear view of the damage; the entire rear from the bombay aft was riddled and the entire tail assembly was gone. It is my belief that the gunners were either killed or too badly injured to try to jump. After my chute opened, I watched one other chute open up and then the ship crashed by the outskirts of a small Italian town. I landed in an orchard about two miles from the crash, and it was around five minutes after I had landed that the ship blew up. I succeeded in getting rid of my chute and making my way to a hiding place in a drainage ditch some distance from where I had hit the ground. Somehow, although I heard several patrols and actually saw four Fascist soldiers, I was not discovered. I was unable to contact the other member of my crew and I thought it best to start out of the vicinity by the escape route upon which we had been briefed. The rest was my personal troubles and did not include the rest of the crew.
W. S. Hough, Service #: O-701371;
1st Lt. A.C. (Res. Inactive)
A/C No. 42-64655 (MACR-4193 - shot down)
P: Crowell, Weymouth (NMI), Jr., Capt - KIA
CP: Elliott, Floyd A., 2Lt-POW,liberated and RTD
N: Hough, William S., 2Lt-MIA, evaded enemy and RTD 10 Jun 44
B: Kreutz, Alfred W., 2Lt - KIA
E: Johnson, Joseph M., S/Sgt - KIA
R: Doss, Charles W., Jr., S/Sgt - KIA
G: Graham, Herbert J., S/Sgt - KIA
F: None
NEVER FORGET Captain Crowell's Bravery, Service, & Sacrifice.
This info can be verified at:
http://57thbombwing.com/321stBombGroupHistory.php
