Crew 42-37833

Crew of B-17 Fortress - type G-15-DL - s/n 42-37833 IYF "Omar The Dent Maker"*
Captain	William Madison Jr "Bill" RUMSEY		Pilot	Dead	Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer (14) -- B.9.32 - O-728740 - AM+2/PH - 22 Yo
1^st Lieutenant	Robert Danial KAERCHER		CoPilot	Dead	Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer (14) - B.9.30- O-681433 - AM+2 - 22 Yo
1^st Lieutenant	Michael R WALSH		Navigator	Dead	Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer (14) - B.10.13- O-676185 - AM+2 - 24 Yo
1^st Lieutenant	James D	HAFFNER	Bomber	Prisoner	O-739024 - Seattle, Washington USA - Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia
S/Sergeant	Irving Ira "Lucky"	LIEBERMAN	Mechanic Gunner	Dead	United Hebrew Cem. Halethorpe, Maryland USA - A.8.1- 13103453 - 20 Yo
T/Sergeant	William Warren CARTER		Radio Gunner	Dead	Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer (14) - B.9.29 - 39829464 - AM+2/PH - 23 Yo
T/Sergeant	Donald Behrn	ROBERTS	Gunner	Dead	Glenwood Cem. Oneida, Madison Co, New York USA- 32377788 - 23 Yo
S/Sergeant	Frank Augustine ROTHWELL		Gunner	Dead	Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer (14) - B.9.31 33330990 - DFC/AM+4/PH - 29 Yo
S/Sergeant	Ivan Riley "Ray"	LEE	Gunner	Dead	12073240 - AM/PH - 22 Yo
Sergeant	John W	CARSON	Gunner	Prisoner	14043222 - Chattanooga, Tennessee USA - Stalag Luft 1 Barth-Vogelsang
L - R, back row: Michael R. WALSH - William M. RUMSEY - Donald B. ROBERTS - Lt. Colonel WHITE L - R Front row: Harold S. ARNOLD - William W. CARTER - Irving I. LIEBERMAN - Ivan R. LEE The target was Pas de Calais, france and the V-1 installlations from which the Germans launched their rocket attacks on Britain. It was considered a mild run as serious opposition was seldom encountered recently. The crew crossed the channel and headed towards the Initial Point. No fighters were in sight, and no flak had been seen. It was just as the crew were starting on the bomb run that it happened. A shell exploded suddenly inside the plane behind the pilot, Capt William M Rumsey. A single burst of flak had hit them squarly. The plane immediately went out of control and according to eyewitnesses from other planes, the plane flew upside down and backwards through the formation. The plane began to disintregate, wings, engines, etc, breaking off. Two crew members bailed out just before the plane exploded. A French men, J. Yaequemelle, found the bodies of the eight men, no chutes were open. William obviously died before coming to earth. He was requisitioned to take a wagon and two horses and to take the dead soldiers to the cemetery of their village, Bouquemaison, Somme, Picardie, France William and his mates were buried side by side in their uniforms. On June 10, 1945 the bodies of the eight airmen were exhumed by American forces to be buried in a military cemetry.
					Mission to Watten, France, operation " Crossbow " (Nazi rocket sites), just before bomb run, plane was hit by flak. Chrashed near Bouquemaison, France.

Première rangée de gauche à droite : 1er lieutenant Michael R. Walsh Navigator, 1er lieutenant Robert D. Kaercher copilote, capitaine William M. Rumsey, Jr. Pilot, 1er lieutenant James Daniel Haffner Bombardier Rangée arrière L-R : 1ère personne inconnue... puis T/Sgt. William W. Carter opérateur radio, mitrailleur de queue Herb McElligot, T/Sgt. Donald B. Roberts Ingénieur, S/Sgt. Ivan R. Lee mitrailleur à la taille, S / Sgt Irving I. Lieberman "Lucky Lieberman" mitrailleur à tourelle à billes. Source : Max La Menace (Ellen MArchese)