S/Sgt. Wilson P. Besse KIA
Hometown: Louisiana
Squadron 68th 44th Bomb Group
Service # 38194491
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
Pilot Parke H. Jones Jr.
Target: Bremen, Germany
Missing Air Crew Report Details
USAAF MACR#:
Date Lost: 16-Dec-43
Serial Number: 41-23788
Aircraft Model B-24D
Aircraft Letter:
Aircraft Name: AVENGER
Location: Near Bremen Germany/England
Cause: 6 KIA, 4POW
B24 AVENGER with a different crew was a veteran of "Operation Tidal Wave" the low level mission to destroy Romanian oil fields August 1 1943.
Parke H. Jones was the pilot of AVENGER, and his co-pilot, Lt. Griffin said, "This plane was severely damaged by a direct burst of flak which knocked out our #4 engine, and damaged parts of the bomb bay while we were en route to the target. After the pilot and I both tried to regain control without success, Jones gave the order to bail out. Four of us left the ship, but the pilot and five other crew members did not follow. Why the pilot tried to take the plane home after ordering us out is unknown. Perhaps he regained some control is just a guess. The bomb bay was badly hit and it was impossible to contact the boys in the rear of the ship either by radio or to get back to see if they were injured when we were hit. According to hearsay, the plane crashed on he English coast and burned. Two bodies remained unidentified after the plane crashed. The four men who bailed out were taken prisoner within a few hours – these four being the navigator, engineer, radioman, and myself."
Capt. Charles Kuch, a 68th Squadron lead pilot, stated that observers in other planes said that this aircraft had #4 engine blown completely off and the #3 propeller was gone, so Lt. Jones had power on only the left side. The aircraft disappeared into a cloudbank with the front half of the catwalk hanging down out of the bomb bay! All were amazed that he was able to coax this plane all the way back to England. He then chose to "belly-in" on the first open area he saw – the beach near Hull. Unfortunately, he set her down in a minefield and the resulting explosions and fire burned and killed all six men remaining aboard. The site of the crash-landing was near Skeffling, on an estuary southeast of Hull.
AVENGER Crew
Parke H. Jones Jr. Pilot KIA
John W. Griffin Co Pilot POW
Anthony J. Piccolo Navigator POW
John J. Buckholts Bombardier KIA
T/Sgt. Chester A. Martin Radio Op. POW
T/Sgt. Patrick J. Fries Engineer POW
Michael P. Zdonick Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Alphonse J. Terwey Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Wilson P. Besse Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Rhodes C. Gordon Gunner KIA
Hometown: Louisiana
Squadron 68th 44th Bomb Group
Service # 38194491
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
Pilot Parke H. Jones Jr.
Target: Bremen, Germany
Missing Air Crew Report Details
USAAF MACR#:
Date Lost: 16-Dec-43
Serial Number: 41-23788
Aircraft Model B-24D
Aircraft Letter:
Aircraft Name: AVENGER
Location: Near Bremen Germany/England
Cause: 6 KIA, 4POW
B24 AVENGER with a different crew was a veteran of "Operation Tidal Wave" the low level mission to destroy Romanian oil fields August 1 1943.
Parke H. Jones was the pilot of AVENGER, and his co-pilot, Lt. Griffin said, "This plane was severely damaged by a direct burst of flak which knocked out our #4 engine, and damaged parts of the bomb bay while we were en route to the target. After the pilot and I both tried to regain control without success, Jones gave the order to bail out. Four of us left the ship, but the pilot and five other crew members did not follow. Why the pilot tried to take the plane home after ordering us out is unknown. Perhaps he regained some control is just a guess. The bomb bay was badly hit and it was impossible to contact the boys in the rear of the ship either by radio or to get back to see if they were injured when we were hit. According to hearsay, the plane crashed on he English coast and burned. Two bodies remained unidentified after the plane crashed. The four men who bailed out were taken prisoner within a few hours – these four being the navigator, engineer, radioman, and myself."
Capt. Charles Kuch, a 68th Squadron lead pilot, stated that observers in other planes said that this aircraft had #4 engine blown completely off and the #3 propeller was gone, so Lt. Jones had power on only the left side. The aircraft disappeared into a cloudbank with the front half of the catwalk hanging down out of the bomb bay! All were amazed that he was able to coax this plane all the way back to England. He then chose to "belly-in" on the first open area he saw – the beach near Hull. Unfortunately, he set her down in a minefield and the resulting explosions and fire burned and killed all six men remaining aboard. The site of the crash-landing was near Skeffling, on an estuary southeast of Hull.
AVENGER Crew
Parke H. Jones Jr. Pilot KIA
John W. Griffin Co Pilot POW
Anthony J. Piccolo Navigator POW
John J. Buckholts Bombardier KIA
T/Sgt. Chester A. Martin Radio Op. POW
T/Sgt. Patrick J. Fries Engineer POW
Michael P. Zdonick Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Alphonse J. Terwey Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Wilson P. Besse Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Rhodes C. Gordon Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Wilson P. Besse KIA
Hometown: Louisiana
Squadron 68th 44th Bomb Group
Service # 38194491
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
Pilot Parke H. Jones Jr.
Target: Bremen, Germany
Missing Air Crew Report Details
USAAF MACR#:
Date Lost: 16-Dec-43
Serial Number: 41-23788
Aircraft Model B-24D
Aircraft Letter:
Aircraft Name: AVENGER
Location: Near Bremen Germany/England
Cause: 6 KIA, 4POW
B24 AVENGER with a different crew was a veteran of "Operation Tidal Wave" the low level mission to destroy Romanian oil fields August 1 1943.
Parke H. Jones was the pilot of AVENGER, and his co-pilot, Lt. Griffin said, "This plane was severely damaged by a direct burst of flak which knocked out our #4 engine, and damaged parts of the bomb bay while we were en route to the target. After the pilot and I both tried to regain control without success, Jones gave the order to bail out. Four of us left the ship, but the pilot and five other crew members did not follow. Why the pilot tried to take the plane home after ordering us out is unknown. Perhaps he regained some control is just a guess. The bomb bay was badly hit and it was impossible to contact the boys in the rear of the ship either by radio or to get back to see if they were injured when we were hit. According to hearsay, the plane crashed on he English coast and burned. Two bodies remained unidentified after the plane crashed. The four men who bailed out were taken prisoner within a few hours – these four being the navigator, engineer, radioman, and myself."
Capt. Charles Kuch, a 68th Squadron lead pilot, stated that observers in other planes said that this aircraft had #4 engine blown completely off and the #3 propeller was gone, so Lt. Jones had power on only the left side. The aircraft disappeared into a cloudbank with the front half of the catwalk hanging down out of the bomb bay! All were amazed that he was able to coax this plane all the way back to England. He then chose to "belly-in" on the first open area he saw – the beach near Hull. Unfortunately, he set her down in a minefield and the resulting explosions and fire burned and killed all six men remaining aboard. The site of the crash-landing was near Skeffling, on an estuary southeast of Hull.
AVENGER Crew
Parke H. Jones Jr. Pilot KIA
John W. Griffin Co Pilot POW
Anthony J. Piccolo Navigator POW
John J. Buckholts Bombardier KIA
T/Sgt. Chester A. Martin Radio Op. POW
T/Sgt. Patrick J. Fries Engineer POW
Michael P. Zdonick Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Alphonse J. Terwey Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Wilson P. Besse Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Rhodes C. Gordon Gunner KIA
Hometown: Louisiana
Squadron 68th 44th Bomb Group
Service # 38194491
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
Pilot Parke H. Jones Jr.
Target: Bremen, Germany
Missing Air Crew Report Details
USAAF MACR#:
Date Lost: 16-Dec-43
Serial Number: 41-23788
Aircraft Model B-24D
Aircraft Letter:
Aircraft Name: AVENGER
Location: Near Bremen Germany/England
Cause: 6 KIA, 4POW
B24 AVENGER with a different crew was a veteran of "Operation Tidal Wave" the low level mission to destroy Romanian oil fields August 1 1943.
Parke H. Jones was the pilot of AVENGER, and his co-pilot, Lt. Griffin said, "This plane was severely damaged by a direct burst of flak which knocked out our #4 engine, and damaged parts of the bomb bay while we were en route to the target. After the pilot and I both tried to regain control without success, Jones gave the order to bail out. Four of us left the ship, but the pilot and five other crew members did not follow. Why the pilot tried to take the plane home after ordering us out is unknown. Perhaps he regained some control is just a guess. The bomb bay was badly hit and it was impossible to contact the boys in the rear of the ship either by radio or to get back to see if they were injured when we were hit. According to hearsay, the plane crashed on he English coast and burned. Two bodies remained unidentified after the plane crashed. The four men who bailed out were taken prisoner within a few hours – these four being the navigator, engineer, radioman, and myself."
Capt. Charles Kuch, a 68th Squadron lead pilot, stated that observers in other planes said that this aircraft had #4 engine blown completely off and the #3 propeller was gone, so Lt. Jones had power on only the left side. The aircraft disappeared into a cloudbank with the front half of the catwalk hanging down out of the bomb bay! All were amazed that he was able to coax this plane all the way back to England. He then chose to "belly-in" on the first open area he saw – the beach near Hull. Unfortunately, he set her down in a minefield and the resulting explosions and fire burned and killed all six men remaining aboard. The site of the crash-landing was near Skeffling, on an estuary southeast of Hull.
AVENGER Crew
Parke H. Jones Jr. Pilot KIA
John W. Griffin Co Pilot POW
Anthony J. Piccolo Navigator POW
John J. Buckholts Bombardier KIA
T/Sgt. Chester A. Martin Radio Op. POW
T/Sgt. Patrick J. Fries Engineer POW
Michael P. Zdonick Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Alphonse J. Terwey Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Wilson P. Besse Gunner KIA
S/Sgt. Rhodes C. Gordon Gunner KIA
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Louisiana.
Family Members
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