43-37571
Crashes > of the USAAF
About a quarter of an hour after the bombs were dropped over the chemical plants at Hannover-Misburg, other pilots noticed that 2nd Lt. Boettcher's B-17G was slowing down due to engine failure and falling behind the formation. He reported by radio that the anti-aircraft gun had been able to score a few hits and that another engine had failed in the meantime. He urgently requested support from his own fighter planes and would try to cross the border into France and land there.
This slow aircraft was of course an ideal target for the flak and so the B-17 received further flak hits and caught fire. The pilot gave the order to bail out, which seven crew members followed. They reached safe ground, some of them wounded, and were taken prisoner of war by the Germans.
Why the pilot and co-pilot did not leave the aircraft by parachute can only be guessed at. Perhaps they attempted a crash landing, but failed. The B-17G crashed in an open field near Ameln near Gut Meerhof and burned out completely. The completely charred remains of the two pilots were recovered from the wreckage and buried on the spot in a field grave.
Above:
The B-17 G, 43-37571 “Dottis Taxi” during an earlier bombing raid
Source: American Air Museum
Left:
The planned approach and return route for the attack on the facilities in Hanover-Misburg
Source: 351st.org
Below:
The crash site between Ameln and Gut Meerhof
left:
the so-called "break documents", a record of enemy aircraft shot down
bottom left:
Diary entry of the Fak about the shooting down of the B-17G near Ameln
Source:
Federal Archives RL5/1452