43-22027 - Luftkriegsarchiv Köln

On the morning of 2 February 1945, twenty A-20 aircraft took off from the American airfield at Bretigny in France to attack bridges and railway installations in Euskirchen, 20 km east of the Rhine. Among them was the A-20-J, 43-22027 of the 409th Bomber Group/642nd Bombing Squadron. The four-man crew consisted of the pilot, Capt. Charles Anderson Hunton; the two gunners, S/Sgt. Warren Harvey and S/Sgt. James Edwin ‘Buddy’ Odom; and the bombardier, 1st Lt. Lyle Norman Procknow.

Shortly after dropping its bombs over the target in Euskirchen, the aircraft, which was flying at an altitude of approximately 10,000 feet, came under heavy German anti-aircraft fire. A direct anti-aircraft hit in the immediate vicinity of the cockpit set the aircraft alight and tore off most of the right wing. The aircraft then rolled onto its side; whilst descending, it struck another aircraft flying at the same altitude and spiralled downwards. It crashed in an open field near Liblar and burnt out completely.

Prior to this, 1st Lt. Procknow managed to eject from the aircraft at an altitude of 7,000 feet. He landed in a thicket of trees and hedges, sustaining injuries to his leg and foot. He was captured by German soldiers and, due to his injuries, admitted to the reserve military hospital in Cologne-Hohenlind and later transferred to the Hoffnungsthal military hospital near Rösrath. On 14 February 1945, he was admitted to Stalag Luft XI B in Fallingbostel. This prisoner-of-war camp, which had by then become completely overcrowded, was liberated by British troops on 16 April 1945.

At the crash site in Liblar, two completely charred bodies were recovered and initially buried as ‘unknown soldiers’ in the Catholic cemetery in Liblar. After the war, the two bodies were exhumed and identified as S/Sgt Harvey and S/Sgt Odom; they were laid to rest together at Arlington National Cemetery.

The remains of the pilot, Captain Hunton, were later recovered by American troops and buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. There is some evidence to suggest that he was thrown from the aircraft when it was hit by anti-aircraft fire near the cockpit and was therefore not found in the immediate vicinity of the crash site.

A DOUGLAS A-20-J Havoc

Second from the right:  1st Lt. Lyle Norman Procknow, the sole survivor of the crash.