Boleslav Povolny recalls his eyewitnessing the event, aged eleven.
There was a beautiful sunny day on August 24, 1944, sky over the town of Strmilov without a single cloud. At 11.00 a.m. the noise of American bombers flying at the altitude of 20 thousand feet on the 020 course in groups of 7 ships came to my ears. There was a black bomber mid each “seven” and other six ones were in silver. I counted 22 “sevens” but I might have been wrong cause there was a no fix point in the sky to launch counting from. At about 11.30 hours the last seven was coming out of sight heading Northwest. NOTE – Objectives: Refineries in Pardubice and Kolin.
At 12.25 the bombers were returning on the course of 200 at the same altitude. There was no ship missing in single seven. I saw 2 silver fighter planes taking the left curve above the fifth “seven” of the bombers. Later I saw none of the silver fighter planes.
Approximately the mid “seven” of the bundle came under attack of the Luftwaffe fighter planes approaching as a pack from the West in the course of 90. The black ship of this seven got it first making its tail dive first. This plane descended like a falling leaf swinging 5 or 6 times like this – my attention was being paid to the German fighters going down at this moment, so I wasn´t able to give the correct number of the swings.
At the altitude of 1200 – 1500 ft the engines of the black ship roared. The nose up, the plane nearly stopped. At this moment one white chute appeared. Several German fighter planes were going down doing somersaults and black chutes of their pilots came in my sight.
Before this black ship`s hitting the ground, the left front airship of the same ‘seven’ accelerated and about 8 white parachutes turned up. At the same moment the left rear bomber of this ‘seven’ was being abandoned by its complete crew. This ship started to fall several seconds later and the detonation was heard in a while. About 12 German fighter planes were downed. This ‘seven’ kept flying Southwest box-shaped though reduced to four kites only.
Because the crashsite of the black bomber was about two kilometres far, I rushed there riding my bike. Passing the dam of the Hejtman pond I noticed one German pilot climbing down the tree. His chute was in the tree and the pilot was complaining to one civilian from the Rozkose village by Strizkovice. His plane had been hit by the American fire before opening the fire of his own.
But I did not care and rode on towards the wreck being in flames in the field about 200 metres
North of the village Vlcice at the distance of 25 m from the field track to the German village of Olesna -Nova Olesna now and 150 metres from our pond / rented by my father/ NOTE : German village means the village settled only by the Germans.
The rear turret of this black ship was in the brook flowing into this pond, at the distance of about 60 metres from the bomber`s wreckage. An American airman – gunner- was lying on the outer ploughshare next to the field track, approximately 30 metres far from the crashsite.
He was dead with lots of shots.
The only member of this crew leaving the bomber at the last possible moment landed with his chute about 80 m from the crashsite near birch trees, on the opposite side to the rear turret.
Because he broke his leg – his ankle was dislocated at the angle of 90 – he was immobile. He introduced himself as James saying one word more I did not understand. Apart from English he spoke also French. We carried him into the house opposite to the village chapel. He was laid onto the owner`s bed. The saved airman wore battledress. Then one young man pedalling from the town of Kunzak arrived at the scene. He spoke to the airman in French and translated their conversation into Czech. Later Gestapo ie.German Secret Police came and took away as the airman as this young Czech man. This civilian never came back from a Nazi Concentration Camp.
The airship was on fire for two days. It must have been full of amo.
There were lots of 12.7.cartridges in the turret mentioned above. The cartridges were of brass color, bullets blunt with red tips. Compared with the German ammunition, the American one was longer. The German 20mm cartridges were shorter, black coloured and bullets round shaped.
The other American airmen from the above mentioned two silver bombers of the same seven
landed on the territory of so-called Sudety frontier Region and the Czechs were barred from entering it. NOTE : annexed by Hitler after the Munich Agreement signed by Prime Ministers Daladier – France and Chamberlain – Britain, as well as by Hitler – Germany and Mussolini – Italy on September 30, 1930. The Czechoslovak Republic was betrayed by its two Allies.
About 6 airmens` chutes landed in the trees by the pond of Ratmirov. There was lots of rumors among the Czechs that an American airman landing on his chute in the field had been pierced by the pitchfork handed by one Sudety-Austrian working there. The airman was said neither to provoke or defend himself.
The remains of Lts. John J. James, Edward Maloney, Erwin G. Durham, Walter W. Weaver, as well as of Sgts. Eugene Jeleniewicz, Ralph Robinson, Edward C. Ivan, Thad J. Jackson and Felix B. Gleason were buried into six graves by the Western wall of St. Andrew`s small church in the graveyard nr Strmilov on August 26, 1944. This place was at the distance of about 150 m from our house, passing the churchyard on my way to school, me and Miluska Stranska laid bunches of meadow flowers on these graves.
Though there was a man keeping an eye on these graves to prevent us – and not only us – from doing so, we did laying them at the time of his temporary absence. Mrs Cermakova –
the tailor Cermak`s wife – was seen by me to put big bunches of flowers onto these six graves
And these ones were all the time covered in flower till the winter 1944/45.
Pieces of plastics as well as aluminium had been found by me and the other boys in the forest near the pond of Hejtman and the surrounding ones. After the field at Vlcice ploughed and harrowed was, me and my 12 year old cousin Milan Povolny went to see the crashsite of the No 42-52479 black B-24 bomber. The soil was black within the 11 step-wingspan and the one of 12 steps within the ship`s length. An amount of little bones – metacarpals, phalanges and metacarsals was scattered there. These bones had not been picked by the Germans and that is why me and Milan collected them and put into a bag. The bag was laid by us into one of these six graves.
Shortly after the end of WW II in Europe about 82 American soldiers in polished limousines and motorcycles arrived in Strmilov. Two soldiers were in each car and one on each motocycle, so the Square of Strmilov village was filled to the brim. The soldiers had clean and neat uniforms, armed with rifles. Strmilov residents and above all girls were in frenzy of enthusiasm. The mourning ceremony was performed by them at the gravesite of these American airmen being watched by the Red Army soldiers. In several minutes after this festive ceremony, the Soviets brought one plain clothed German and shot him dead beyond the churchyard`s wall.
This man was buried at the wall, but within the churchyard.
The way the Soviets did not hesitate to spoil the sentiment of the American ceremony was shock for all the residents of Strmilov. In August 1945 were the remains of the American airmen transported somewhere to France to find their final resting place there.
I must have my say on one issu e more.
Some articles published in this country inform about 4 ships downed on Aug 24, 1944.
They are wrong. I could see only three bombers going down - the black one differed from the two ships in silver. I`m not sure whether the black bomber downed on Aug 24, 1944 really an B-24 type was. I could see the ship shortly before her falling on the ground – the nose up – and there was not a two-fin rudder construction seen by me at all, possibly cut off by the fire of German fighters, as well as the above mentioned tail turret.
The fourth American bomber seen by me at 1 pm to fly on two engines only and going down in the surroundings of Strmilov on January 7, 1945. The bunch of airships eyewitnessed by me on that day was not flying in such a nice formation as the one of Aug 24, 1944.
Bombers were missing in several groups of 7 ships heading southwards and lots of them flew only by three engines in action. The bunch on the course of 200 was at the lower altitude as the one on Aug 24, 1944. that is why I was able to recognize feathered props of the damaged engines.
The incident was seen by me from the firm Satrapa`s premises – now Strojobal Strizkovice.
One of the bombers kept on decreasing guarded by two Mustangs. Flying at the altitude of
1800 ft the ship came out of my sight beyond the forest towards the Krvavy pond and my deduction is, she must have crashlanded somewhere in the territory of Lomy, Clunek, Hospriz
There were no black airships in any “seven “ of this bundle of US bombers on Jan 7, 1945
All were silver and of B-24 type.
Recalled by Boleslav Povolny
NOTE : Mr Povolne has been a long standing Member of Czech Republic`s Airmen Association. He had served for more than 20 years as a pilot in the Czech Republic Air Force, even picked by a head constructor of the Albatros jet plane Mr Vlcek to join the staff of the test pilots. After a suspicious death of the Mr Vlcek the staff of test pilots was disbanded. Declining to train Lybian pilots in their homeland, Mr Povolny was sacked from the Forces and had to do his living as a teacher.
Me accompanied by Mr Povolny, we arrived at the churchyard of Strmilov on Aug 24, 2004
to take part in the ceremony there. One woman wearing the Czech Army festive uniform from the Jindrichuv Hradec garrison came to the scene in addition to Mr Burian, the Czech Military History hobbist. No one from the US Embassy at all !
I was shown the crashsites of the No 42-52479, as well as of a tail turret and tail gunner.
Names of the No. 42-52479`s crewmen, who lost their lives on Aug 24, 1944
Lt. John J. James, Lt. Edward J. Maloney, Lt. Erwin G. Dunham, Lt. Walter W. Weawer,Sgt. Eugene Jeleniewicz, Sgt. Ralph Robinson, Sgt. Sgt. Edward C. Ivan, Sgt. Thad J. Watson,
Sgt. Felix B. Gleason
The only member of the crew who succeeded in saving his life was Sgt. John Amer.
He is said to pass away in November 1995.