43-38604
Crashes > of the USAAF
The B-17G, 43-38604, was hit between engines #1 and #2 by a Falk missile as it approached its target area. The aircraft caught fire and the flames quickly engulfed the entire wing. The aircraft tilted to the right and made a complete rotation around its longitudinal axis, crashing down at a steep angle and breaking up at an altitude of about 10,000 feet. One engine detached from the wing and crashed into the houses on Freiheitsring, while the tail with the tail gunner's cockpit spun into a nearby field. The larger parts of the aircraft crashed in flames on the outskirts of Frechen into the gardens of a residential area in the Üsdorfer Straße, An der Waidmaar and An der Fischmar areas. The fire department arrived quickly and first attempted to extinguish the fire, but soon realized that there were two bombs in the wreckage that could explode. They ordered the onlookers, who had gathered in the meantime, to leave the crash site immediately and seek shelter in the bunkers. It soon became clear that this order was justified, as the bombs exploded with a huge bang, leaving a field of debris behind: the roofs of almost all the surrounding buildings were blown off, the windows and doors were torn apart, and the walls were caved in.
Four crew members were thrown from the wreckage of the aircraft by the explosion and were later found completely torn apart in the vicinity of the explosion crater. They were buried in the cemetery in Bachem. Sgt. Heffran and Sgt. Tisdale, who both left the aircraft over the left bank of the Rhine in Cologne, were later found seriously wounded in Cologne Bickendorf on Vogelsanger Straße and taken to the reserve military hospital in Cologne Nippes, where they both died. They were buried in Cologne's Westfriedhof cemetery.
Raymond Tartaglia was thrown out of the nose of the aircraft by the explosion. Miraculously, his parachute opened and he landed safely on the ground. However, he could not remember pulling the ripcord.
S/Sgt Lawson and Sgt. Shrader also managed to save themselves with their parachutes and were taken prisoner by the Germans on the ground.
Additional information from:
Frechen City Archives
Hürther Heimat No. 49/50 from 1983 “Contributions from the Nazi era in Hürth.”
Wilhelm Weiss, ‘The Air Raid on Cologne on October 15, 1944’ ISBN 978-3-86933-076-1 / 2012
Top left:
The flight path of the B-17G, 43-38604, to the crash site in Frechen after it was hit by anti-aircraft fire on the right bank of the Rhine.
Source: “Find a Grave”
Top right:
The crash site in Frechen in the area of Üsdorfer Str, An der Fischmaar, and An der Waidmaar.
Middle row, left:
The broken tail section of the B-17G
Middle row, right:
The German report on the shooting down of the B-17G
Right:
The crew of the B-17G 43-38604
Back row, from left:
Heffran, Gaines, Bergeron, Beder, Tartaglia
Front row, from left:
Tisdale, Fragasso, Shrader, Lawson, unknown