WORLD WAR II
Gunner S/Sgt. James B. Howard KIA
Hometown: Pennsylvania
Squadron: 576th BS 392th Bomb Group
Service #
Awards: Purple Heart
Pilot 1st/Lt. Clifford O. Markuson KIA
Target: Hitzacker Germany
CASUALTIES NOT LISTED IN MACR
Date Lost: 25-Mar-45
Serial Number: #42-51340
Aircraft Model B-24J
Aircraft Letter: "M"
Aircraft Name: no nickname, 66TH MISSION
Location: crashed at Skeyton, England
Cause:"100% Weather, Accident Crew of 10 8KIA 2RTD
The underground oil storage depot was assigned for a target with (20) bombers being committed and crews receiving their general briefings at 0300 hours. At 0545, all started their take-off rolls with (16) finally going over the target. Another unfortunate accident happened during assembly which saw the weather conditions poor. From the 578th, Lieutenant Kaiser's ship #42-50804 had a mid-air collision with Lieutenant Markuson's of the 579th Squadron flying in #42-51340, both bombers crashing and killing all but (2) crewmembers on each. Staff Sergeants B. D. Haskins and W. W. Smith survived from Lieutenant Kaiser's crew and Technical Sergeant P. L. Cain with Lieutenant H. W. Hutchcroft managed to safely escape from Lieutenant Markuson's ship.
The accident happened at 0715 hours when there was poor visibility at assembly altitude. In fact, the Report of Aircraft Accident said responsibility for the accident was "100% Weather." The Markuson crew was flying in the high right element lead ship position of the Lead Squadron with Lt. Kaiser's plane on the right wing in the formation join-up plan during Group assembly operations. After the collision, the Markuson plane crashed at Skeyton, England, with two (2) crew members managing to bail out safely: 2/Lt. Harold W. Hutchcroft, the Co-Pilot, and T/Sgt. Paul L. Cain, the Flight Engineer. One member of the Markuson crew is buried at CAMBRIDGE, England cemetery site: Lt. Edward Maceyra in Grave F-5-135. He is shown to have been awarded the Air Medal with (4) Oak Leaf Clusters, but no Purple Heart citation is noted. The home State for Lt. Maceyra was Texas. No information is available from this research on the subsequent interments of the other deceased crewmen.
A statement by 2/Lt Hutchcroft said, "We just finished the Group assembly and started out to the Wing assembly. I was on the controls when we entered the clouds. We were leading the high element in the lead squadron. We were in position and the 578th Sqdn plane took our wing position which had not been filled. Upon entering the cloud, Markuson took over the controls, but lost sight of the sqdn. I looked out and could see our wing man still in position. I then looked at the instruments and noticed we were starting to descend so switched to interphone and told the pilot I would help keep the altitude and heading while he looked for the main formation. We were both on the controls at the time. I then looked out to see if our wing man was still with us, but couldn't see him in the clouds anymore. I looked back at the instruments and then heard a bump on our plane. I looked out and saw the wing man pulling away in a bank and noticed the No. 4 engine gone. I turned to the pilot and reached for the C1 [autopilot] which was on and set up. Markuson was fighting the controls and our plane seemed to stay straight and level for several seconds. I yelled at Markuson twice to see if he wanted me to turn the C1 on, but evidently he didn't hear me. We started into a spin to the right I think, and Markuson yelled, "Bail out" so I rang the bell and waited a few seconds. Markuson yelled three more times to bail out so I rang the bell again and started to get out. Just then the plane went into a more violent spin and either pinned me to the seat or ceiling. I think it was the seat. I managed to pull myself out of the seat and could see Markuson trying to pull himself out. I crawled over the radio operator's legs and also the radar man's legs and went out the bomb bays. Sgt Cain, the engineer, was transferring gas at the time and as soon as we were hit, he opened the bomb bays and put his chute on and went out with part of the bombs.
When I hit the slip-stream, I flipped over six or eight times and pulled the rip cord. The chute opened immediately. I saw a string of bombs coming out of the plane just as my chute opened, but my back was turned after my chute opened. Our altitude, at time of being hit, was 12,500 feet and I expect we were 5,000 to 6,000 feet when I jumped. I came down right over the crashed plane and flames seemed to be a good 500 feet high. I landed with the wind to my back about a quarter mile from the crash in an open field. I could see the flames from the crash and hear the bombs going off. The pins in the bombs had been pulled."
This mission was supposed to be 2/Lt Maceyra's final mission. 2/Lt Anthony Marcelli, navigator on the Cerrato crew, shared a hut with 2/Lt Maceyra. Marcelli recalled, "Eddie Maceyra flew 34 missions successfully and invited me to have breakfast with him on his 35th and last mission. During breakfast, Eddie turned to me and said, 'This is my last mission, one way or another.' Marcelli later visited copilot Hutchcroft in the infirmary. There, Hutchcroft recounted that he had told Maceyra to bail out as controlling the plane impossible. Maceyra refused to bail out until he had freed the nose gunner from his turret. According to Hutchcroft, there was only a minute or so to get out before the plane went into a spinning dive, making escape impossible.
Crew of #42-51340
1st/Lt. Clifford O. Markuson Pilot KIA
2nd/Lt. Harold W. Hutchcroft Co Pilot RTD
2nd/Lt. Edward B. Maceyra Navigator
T/Sgt. Paul L. Cain Engineer RTD
T/Sgt. James E. Burke Radio Op. KIA
S/Sgt. Tomyns D. Monaghan Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. James B. Howard Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. John E. Horn Jr. Gunner
S/Sgt. Theodore J. Hill Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Elmer R. Hunter Gunner KIA
Gunner S/Sgt. James B. Howard KIA
Hometown: Pennsylvania
Squadron: 576th BS 392th Bomb Group
Service #
Awards: Purple Heart
Pilot 1st/Lt. Clifford O. Markuson KIA
Target: Hitzacker Germany
CASUALTIES NOT LISTED IN MACR
Date Lost: 25-Mar-45
Serial Number: #42-51340
Aircraft Model B-24J
Aircraft Letter: "M"
Aircraft Name: no nickname, 66TH MISSION
Location: crashed at Skeyton, England
Cause:"100% Weather, Accident Crew of 10 8KIA 2RTD
The underground oil storage depot was assigned for a target with (20) bombers being committed and crews receiving their general briefings at 0300 hours. At 0545, all started their take-off rolls with (16) finally going over the target. Another unfortunate accident happened during assembly which saw the weather conditions poor. From the 578th, Lieutenant Kaiser's ship #42-50804 had a mid-air collision with Lieutenant Markuson's of the 579th Squadron flying in #42-51340, both bombers crashing and killing all but (2) crewmembers on each. Staff Sergeants B. D. Haskins and W. W. Smith survived from Lieutenant Kaiser's crew and Technical Sergeant P. L. Cain with Lieutenant H. W. Hutchcroft managed to safely escape from Lieutenant Markuson's ship.
The accident happened at 0715 hours when there was poor visibility at assembly altitude. In fact, the Report of Aircraft Accident said responsibility for the accident was "100% Weather." The Markuson crew was flying in the high right element lead ship position of the Lead Squadron with Lt. Kaiser's plane on the right wing in the formation join-up plan during Group assembly operations. After the collision, the Markuson plane crashed at Skeyton, England, with two (2) crew members managing to bail out safely: 2/Lt. Harold W. Hutchcroft, the Co-Pilot, and T/Sgt. Paul L. Cain, the Flight Engineer. One member of the Markuson crew is buried at CAMBRIDGE, England cemetery site: Lt. Edward Maceyra in Grave F-5-135. He is shown to have been awarded the Air Medal with (4) Oak Leaf Clusters, but no Purple Heart citation is noted. The home State for Lt. Maceyra was Texas. No information is available from this research on the subsequent interments of the other deceased crewmen.
A statement by 2/Lt Hutchcroft said, "We just finished the Group assembly and started out to the Wing assembly. I was on the controls when we entered the clouds. We were leading the high element in the lead squadron. We were in position and the 578th Sqdn plane took our wing position which had not been filled. Upon entering the cloud, Markuson took over the controls, but lost sight of the sqdn. I looked out and could see our wing man still in position. I then looked at the instruments and noticed we were starting to descend so switched to interphone and told the pilot I would help keep the altitude and heading while he looked for the main formation. We were both on the controls at the time. I then looked out to see if our wing man was still with us, but couldn't see him in the clouds anymore. I looked back at the instruments and then heard a bump on our plane. I looked out and saw the wing man pulling away in a bank and noticed the No. 4 engine gone. I turned to the pilot and reached for the C1 [autopilot] which was on and set up. Markuson was fighting the controls and our plane seemed to stay straight and level for several seconds. I yelled at Markuson twice to see if he wanted me to turn the C1 on, but evidently he didn't hear me. We started into a spin to the right I think, and Markuson yelled, "Bail out" so I rang the bell and waited a few seconds. Markuson yelled three more times to bail out so I rang the bell again and started to get out. Just then the plane went into a more violent spin and either pinned me to the seat or ceiling. I think it was the seat. I managed to pull myself out of the seat and could see Markuson trying to pull himself out. I crawled over the radio operator's legs and also the radar man's legs and went out the bomb bays. Sgt Cain, the engineer, was transferring gas at the time and as soon as we were hit, he opened the bomb bays and put his chute on and went out with part of the bombs.
When I hit the slip-stream, I flipped over six or eight times and pulled the rip cord. The chute opened immediately. I saw a string of bombs coming out of the plane just as my chute opened, but my back was turned after my chute opened. Our altitude, at time of being hit, was 12,500 feet and I expect we were 5,000 to 6,000 feet when I jumped. I came down right over the crashed plane and flames seemed to be a good 500 feet high. I landed with the wind to my back about a quarter mile from the crash in an open field. I could see the flames from the crash and hear the bombs going off. The pins in the bombs had been pulled."
This mission was supposed to be 2/Lt Maceyra's final mission. 2/Lt Anthony Marcelli, navigator on the Cerrato crew, shared a hut with 2/Lt Maceyra. Marcelli recalled, "Eddie Maceyra flew 34 missions successfully and invited me to have breakfast with him on his 35th and last mission. During breakfast, Eddie turned to me and said, 'This is my last mission, one way or another.' Marcelli later visited copilot Hutchcroft in the infirmary. There, Hutchcroft recounted that he had told Maceyra to bail out as controlling the plane impossible. Maceyra refused to bail out until he had freed the nose gunner from his turret. According to Hutchcroft, there was only a minute or so to get out before the plane went into a spinning dive, making escape impossible.
Crew of #42-51340
1st/Lt. Clifford O. Markuson Pilot KIA
2nd/Lt. Harold W. Hutchcroft Co Pilot RTD
2nd/Lt. Edward B. Maceyra Navigator
T/Sgt. Paul L. Cain Engineer RTD
T/Sgt. James E. Burke Radio Op. KIA
S/Sgt. Tomyns D. Monaghan Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. James B. Howard Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. John E. Horn Jr. Gunner
S/Sgt. Theodore J. Hill Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Elmer R. Hunter Gunner KIA
WORLD WAR II
Gunner S/Sgt. James B. Howard KIA
Hometown: Pennsylvania
Squadron: 576th BS 392th Bomb Group
Service #
Awards: Purple Heart
Pilot 1st/Lt. Clifford O. Markuson KIA
Target: Hitzacker Germany
CASUALTIES NOT LISTED IN MACR
Date Lost: 25-Mar-45
Serial Number: #42-51340
Aircraft Model B-24J
Aircraft Letter: "M"
Aircraft Name: no nickname, 66TH MISSION
Location: crashed at Skeyton, England
Cause:"100% Weather, Accident Crew of 10 8KIA 2RTD
The underground oil storage depot was assigned for a target with (20) bombers being committed and crews receiving their general briefings at 0300 hours. At 0545, all started their take-off rolls with (16) finally going over the target. Another unfortunate accident happened during assembly which saw the weather conditions poor. From the 578th, Lieutenant Kaiser's ship #42-50804 had a mid-air collision with Lieutenant Markuson's of the 579th Squadron flying in #42-51340, both bombers crashing and killing all but (2) crewmembers on each. Staff Sergeants B. D. Haskins and W. W. Smith survived from Lieutenant Kaiser's crew and Technical Sergeant P. L. Cain with Lieutenant H. W. Hutchcroft managed to safely escape from Lieutenant Markuson's ship.
The accident happened at 0715 hours when there was poor visibility at assembly altitude. In fact, the Report of Aircraft Accident said responsibility for the accident was "100% Weather." The Markuson crew was flying in the high right element lead ship position of the Lead Squadron with Lt. Kaiser's plane on the right wing in the formation join-up plan during Group assembly operations. After the collision, the Markuson plane crashed at Skeyton, England, with two (2) crew members managing to bail out safely: 2/Lt. Harold W. Hutchcroft, the Co-Pilot, and T/Sgt. Paul L. Cain, the Flight Engineer. One member of the Markuson crew is buried at CAMBRIDGE, England cemetery site: Lt. Edward Maceyra in Grave F-5-135. He is shown to have been awarded the Air Medal with (4) Oak Leaf Clusters, but no Purple Heart citation is noted. The home State for Lt. Maceyra was Texas. No information is available from this research on the subsequent interments of the other deceased crewmen.
A statement by 2/Lt Hutchcroft said, "We just finished the Group assembly and started out to the Wing assembly. I was on the controls when we entered the clouds. We were leading the high element in the lead squadron. We were in position and the 578th Sqdn plane took our wing position which had not been filled. Upon entering the cloud, Markuson took over the controls, but lost sight of the sqdn. I looked out and could see our wing man still in position. I then looked at the instruments and noticed we were starting to descend so switched to interphone and told the pilot I would help keep the altitude and heading while he looked for the main formation. We were both on the controls at the time. I then looked out to see if our wing man was still with us, but couldn't see him in the clouds anymore. I looked back at the instruments and then heard a bump on our plane. I looked out and saw the wing man pulling away in a bank and noticed the No. 4 engine gone. I turned to the pilot and reached for the C1 [autopilot] which was on and set up. Markuson was fighting the controls and our plane seemed to stay straight and level for several seconds. I yelled at Markuson twice to see if he wanted me to turn the C1 on, but evidently he didn't hear me. We started into a spin to the right I think, and Markuson yelled, "Bail out" so I rang the bell and waited a few seconds. Markuson yelled three more times to bail out so I rang the bell again and started to get out. Just then the plane went into a more violent spin and either pinned me to the seat or ceiling. I think it was the seat. I managed to pull myself out of the seat and could see Markuson trying to pull himself out. I crawled over the radio operator's legs and also the radar man's legs and went out the bomb bays. Sgt Cain, the engineer, was transferring gas at the time and as soon as we were hit, he opened the bomb bays and put his chute on and went out with part of the bombs.
When I hit the slip-stream, I flipped over six or eight times and pulled the rip cord. The chute opened immediately. I saw a string of bombs coming out of the plane just as my chute opened, but my back was turned after my chute opened. Our altitude, at time of being hit, was 12,500 feet and I expect we were 5,000 to 6,000 feet when I jumped. I came down right over the crashed plane and flames seemed to be a good 500 feet high. I landed with the wind to my back about a quarter mile from the crash in an open field. I could see the flames from the crash and hear the bombs going off. The pins in the bombs had been pulled."
This mission was supposed to be 2/Lt Maceyra's final mission. 2/Lt Anthony Marcelli, navigator on the Cerrato crew, shared a hut with 2/Lt Maceyra. Marcelli recalled, "Eddie Maceyra flew 34 missions successfully and invited me to have breakfast with him on his 35th and last mission. During breakfast, Eddie turned to me and said, 'This is my last mission, one way or another.' Marcelli later visited copilot Hutchcroft in the infirmary. There, Hutchcroft recounted that he had told Maceyra to bail out as controlling the plane impossible. Maceyra refused to bail out until he had freed the nose gunner from his turret. According to Hutchcroft, there was only a minute or so to get out before the plane went into a spinning dive, making escape impossible.
Crew of #42-51340
1st/Lt. Clifford O. Markuson Pilot KIA
2nd/Lt. Harold W. Hutchcroft Co Pilot RTD
2nd/Lt. Edward B. Maceyra Navigator
T/Sgt. Paul L. Cain Engineer RTD
T/Sgt. James E. Burke Radio Op. KIA
S/Sgt. Tomyns D. Monaghan Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. James B. Howard Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. John E. Horn Jr. Gunner
S/Sgt. Theodore J. Hill Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Elmer R. Hunter Gunner KIA
Gunner S/Sgt. James B. Howard KIA
Hometown: Pennsylvania
Squadron: 576th BS 392th Bomb Group
Service #
Awards: Purple Heart
Pilot 1st/Lt. Clifford O. Markuson KIA
Target: Hitzacker Germany
CASUALTIES NOT LISTED IN MACR
Date Lost: 25-Mar-45
Serial Number: #42-51340
Aircraft Model B-24J
Aircraft Letter: "M"
Aircraft Name: no nickname, 66TH MISSION
Location: crashed at Skeyton, England
Cause:"100% Weather, Accident Crew of 10 8KIA 2RTD
The underground oil storage depot was assigned for a target with (20) bombers being committed and crews receiving their general briefings at 0300 hours. At 0545, all started their take-off rolls with (16) finally going over the target. Another unfortunate accident happened during assembly which saw the weather conditions poor. From the 578th, Lieutenant Kaiser's ship #42-50804 had a mid-air collision with Lieutenant Markuson's of the 579th Squadron flying in #42-51340, both bombers crashing and killing all but (2) crewmembers on each. Staff Sergeants B. D. Haskins and W. W. Smith survived from Lieutenant Kaiser's crew and Technical Sergeant P. L. Cain with Lieutenant H. W. Hutchcroft managed to safely escape from Lieutenant Markuson's ship.
The accident happened at 0715 hours when there was poor visibility at assembly altitude. In fact, the Report of Aircraft Accident said responsibility for the accident was "100% Weather." The Markuson crew was flying in the high right element lead ship position of the Lead Squadron with Lt. Kaiser's plane on the right wing in the formation join-up plan during Group assembly operations. After the collision, the Markuson plane crashed at Skeyton, England, with two (2) crew members managing to bail out safely: 2/Lt. Harold W. Hutchcroft, the Co-Pilot, and T/Sgt. Paul L. Cain, the Flight Engineer. One member of the Markuson crew is buried at CAMBRIDGE, England cemetery site: Lt. Edward Maceyra in Grave F-5-135. He is shown to have been awarded the Air Medal with (4) Oak Leaf Clusters, but no Purple Heart citation is noted. The home State for Lt. Maceyra was Texas. No information is available from this research on the subsequent interments of the other deceased crewmen.
A statement by 2/Lt Hutchcroft said, "We just finished the Group assembly and started out to the Wing assembly. I was on the controls when we entered the clouds. We were leading the high element in the lead squadron. We were in position and the 578th Sqdn plane took our wing position which had not been filled. Upon entering the cloud, Markuson took over the controls, but lost sight of the sqdn. I looked out and could see our wing man still in position. I then looked at the instruments and noticed we were starting to descend so switched to interphone and told the pilot I would help keep the altitude and heading while he looked for the main formation. We were both on the controls at the time. I then looked out to see if our wing man was still with us, but couldn't see him in the clouds anymore. I looked back at the instruments and then heard a bump on our plane. I looked out and saw the wing man pulling away in a bank and noticed the No. 4 engine gone. I turned to the pilot and reached for the C1 [autopilot] which was on and set up. Markuson was fighting the controls and our plane seemed to stay straight and level for several seconds. I yelled at Markuson twice to see if he wanted me to turn the C1 on, but evidently he didn't hear me. We started into a spin to the right I think, and Markuson yelled, "Bail out" so I rang the bell and waited a few seconds. Markuson yelled three more times to bail out so I rang the bell again and started to get out. Just then the plane went into a more violent spin and either pinned me to the seat or ceiling. I think it was the seat. I managed to pull myself out of the seat and could see Markuson trying to pull himself out. I crawled over the radio operator's legs and also the radar man's legs and went out the bomb bays. Sgt Cain, the engineer, was transferring gas at the time and as soon as we were hit, he opened the bomb bays and put his chute on and went out with part of the bombs.
When I hit the slip-stream, I flipped over six or eight times and pulled the rip cord. The chute opened immediately. I saw a string of bombs coming out of the plane just as my chute opened, but my back was turned after my chute opened. Our altitude, at time of being hit, was 12,500 feet and I expect we were 5,000 to 6,000 feet when I jumped. I came down right over the crashed plane and flames seemed to be a good 500 feet high. I landed with the wind to my back about a quarter mile from the crash in an open field. I could see the flames from the crash and hear the bombs going off. The pins in the bombs had been pulled."
This mission was supposed to be 2/Lt Maceyra's final mission. 2/Lt Anthony Marcelli, navigator on the Cerrato crew, shared a hut with 2/Lt Maceyra. Marcelli recalled, "Eddie Maceyra flew 34 missions successfully and invited me to have breakfast with him on his 35th and last mission. During breakfast, Eddie turned to me and said, 'This is my last mission, one way or another.' Marcelli later visited copilot Hutchcroft in the infirmary. There, Hutchcroft recounted that he had told Maceyra to bail out as controlling the plane impossible. Maceyra refused to bail out until he had freed the nose gunner from his turret. According to Hutchcroft, there was only a minute or so to get out before the plane went into a spinning dive, making escape impossible.
Crew of #42-51340
1st/Lt. Clifford O. Markuson Pilot KIA
2nd/Lt. Harold W. Hutchcroft Co Pilot RTD
2nd/Lt. Edward B. Maceyra Navigator
T/Sgt. Paul L. Cain Engineer RTD
T/Sgt. James E. Burke Radio Op. KIA
S/Sgt. Tomyns D. Monaghan Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. James B. Howard Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. John E. Horn Jr. Gunner
S/Sgt. Theodore J. Hill Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Elmer R. Hunter Gunner KIA
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