Dutch vs.
The Crash of an American B17 Bomber
on Nov 2, 1944.
On April 15, 2022, 77 years after the liberation of Brummen, the Brummen mayor A. van Hedel unveiled this Memorial Pole with QR code, together with A.J. van der Velde and F. Toevank.
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This memorial stone, which over the years became part of a private garden, was no longer well known by authorities, but it has not been forgotten. At the initiative of Mr A.J. van der Velde (eyewitness) in collaboration with the May 4 Committee and the municipality of Brummen, the Memorial Stone was brought to the attention in October 2021 and was given a new place. And it's not far from where Sgt. Alvin Bader died in a fatal accident. The Memorial Stone is now on display for all to see, along with the Memorial Pole and the QR code on the Rhienderensestraat on the Spee family property. The oak pole was sawn by “Bos en Hout” from Eerbeek from a tree that grew here in the region. The plaque was made by “De Plakkerij” in Eerbeek.
Photos April 15, 2022
On November 2, 1944, T/sgt Alvin G. Bader crashed close to this spot. Two days before his 23rd birthday. Sgt. Bader was added to the nine-man crew of "The 8th Ball" as a Y operator, with the aim of disrupting communication between German aircraft. When their B17-G was damaged beyond repair by enemy anti-aircraft fire, the crew jumped from the aircraft with their parachutes. The parachute of Sgt. Bader did not open and he crashed close to the farm “De Platluûs” at Den Broekweg 1 in Oeken (Municipality of Brummen).
His body was transported in his parachute to the Roman Catholic cemetery in Brummen and buried there. After the war he was reburied at the American war cemetery in Margraten (L).
Flight history
After taking off from their English base Molesworth around 08:00 and bombing their targets (IG-Farben's oil installations in Leuna), 48 of the 49 bombers returned to base by 15:30.
One device was missing. It was the B-I7G 42-97781 "The 8th Ball", a so-called "Flying Fortress". It was part of 303 Bomber Group/359 Bomber Squad and it was the ninth flight of the aircraft.
The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire at engine number three and the landing gear. It lost height and vibrated so hard that the rivets almost jumped out of the fuselage where the wings were attached. The B-17 lost contact with the other aircraft. Two P-51 Mustang fighters took off to escort “The 8Th Ball” over Dutch territory to liberated Southern Netherlands for an emergency landing. The crew did everything they could to lose as much weight as possible to stay in the air. For example, surplus equipment, boxes of ammunition and machine guns were thrown overboard. It didn't help. The ten crew members jumped out of the aircraft with their parachutes at an altitude of 3000 feet (Source Ivo M. de Jong speaks of 1000 – 500 feet). The aircraft crashed in a meadow of the Wensink family near the “Eerbeekse Brug” (Now Building Materials Nobel).
Staff map from 1944 with flightroute over Brummen.
The red line indicates the route from the last flight miles of the B17G-The8Ball to the crash on the Voorstondensestraat near the Apeldoorns Canal. The circle marks the spot where Sgt. A. Bader was killed by this falldown.
Immediately after landing in the municipality of Brummen, eight crew members were arrested by the Germans, arrested and made prisoner of war. The pilot, Jack T. Davis is known to have reached the ground unharmed. He was taken in by the local resistance. Via a temporary stay at "Coldenhove" he went back over the Rhine to the Southern Netherlands with the "Operation Pegasus". Nevertheless, he was still arrested by Germans on the way and made prisoner of war.
The crew
|
Piloot |
1/Lt Jack T. Davis |
|
Co- Piloot |
2/Lt Donald I. Kohlstedt |
|
Navigator |
1/Lt Vernon M. Hellesvig |
|
Bommenrichter |
F/0 Nino 1. Guiciardi |
|
Boordschutter |
S/Sgt Dave BIoom (Engineer) |
|
Boordschutter |
T/Sgt Rex E. Lewnfield (Radio) |
|
Boordschutter |
Sgt Richard A. Martin |
|
Boordschutter |
Sgt Everette G. Harris |
|
Boordschutter |
Sgt MarvinW. Brown |
|
Y-operator |
T/Sgt Alvin G.Bader |
The Y-operator.
The Y-operator Sgt. Bader, was added to the crew here at the last minute. These secretly working crew members were on board to disrupt radio and message traffic between German aircraft and also their air traffic control.
The end of The 8th Ball.
The bomber B-17G was a large aircraft with a length of almost 23 meters and a wingspan of 32 meters.
The crashed aircraft in the meadow near the "Eerbeekse Brug" still consisted of a lot of usable sheet material and metals. Local residents and youth stripped the device until only the carcass was left.
In oblivion, but not forgotten.In 1995 a memorial stone was placed on the spot where Sgr. Bader died. This was on the site of Den Broekweg 1 in Oeken.F/O Nino I.Guiciardi was present. Guiciardi was one of the crew members who survived the crash and returned to America after his captivity.
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In September 2000, a brother of Alvin G.Bader, Ted Bader, came to Brummen with his wife. They visited the Memorial Stone and a lot of (also written) information was exchanged back and forth. See also the links under “Other Sources”.
The B-17 Bomber
On Wikipedia you can find a lot of information about the aircraft with type B-17. They flew from the mid 1930s into the 1950s.
See for this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-17_Flying_Fortress
Other sources:
The information on this page is composed with texts from:
Piet Willemsens: War in a village on the IJssel. (No translation)
Archive Mr. A.J. van der Velde: Newspaper clippings, photo material and photos from family archives.
Ivo M./ de Jong: “Bail out” over Brummen (The end of a “Flying Fortress” The end of a flying fortress)
Pages 46, 47 and 48 can be read, what eyewittnesses said. See for this: In and around Brummen, 2 November 1942.
Marianne van Zadelhoff/René Vos: “The Flying Fortress (the 8th Ball) Back Home”, an article from “De Marke” by the Archaeological Society De Marke, from the Archives of the Municipality of Brummen:
DeMarke-The8Ball (No translation)
In 1995 an article by Mr J. de Lange was published in Het Klaverblad. See link below
19950705-The Klaverblad. (No translation)
Mr. J. Bleeker described his meeting with JT Davis on November 2, 1944 and their contacts with the Davis family in later years.
In 2000 we became acquainted with Alvin Bader and his family through texts and photos. See link below:
In October 2000, several newspapers and regional magazines covered the commemoration, which was also attended by relatives of the crew.
2000-Newspaper Clippings (No translation)
The websites:
https://www.abmc.gov/Netherlands
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-17_Flying_Fortress
The website of Nino Guiciardi, with “Bail out over Brummen”: http://the8ball.com/index1.htm
This webpage has been updated as of October 13, 2021.
Freek Toevank
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