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B-17
and crew recovered by American Authorities |
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The crew of an 8th Air Force B-17 has been recovered from
a crash site in the Harwich Estuary.
The wreckage of B17G Flying Fortress 43-37516 'Tondalayo'
was recovered from the River Stour by the US Army CHLLI team,
led by Major Todd Heussner, and assisted by Royal Navy clearance
divers. The sole objective was to recover the remains of the
aircraft's missing pilot and co- pilot, Lt Col Earle J. Aber
& Lt Maurice J. Harper.
Both men perished on the night of March 4th 1945, when their
aircraft was shot down by British anti- aircraft defences
.The tragedy unfolded around 9.15pm, when the Tondalayo ,returning
from a leaflet drop on Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht, was
crossing inland over the east coast. At the same time two
enemy aircraft, homeward bound after a sneak raid, were heading
easterly at a lower altitude, which no doubt confused the
defenders. At 12,000 feet, over Clacton-on-Sea, exploding
shells set the aircraft alight in the area of the waist gun
positions, severing control cables and injuring the Bombardier,
Lt Connie Morton., who sustained injuries to his eyes and
right leg. The aircraft rapidly descended to 8,000 feet, and
was heading for an emergency landing at Woodbridge when the
aircraft was hit again, crippling her further and this time
injuring the tail gunner. It was at this point the 'bail out'
order was given, all the crew abandoned the aircraft apart
from Aber and Harper. Captain Stonerock (naviagator) was the
last crewman through the hatch at 5,000ft , and later reported
that both Aber and Harper had their harnesses on, but not
their chutes, so it can only be assumed that they had insufficient
time or altitude to do so.
This all matt black special operations aircraft was attached
to the 406th Night Leaflet Squadron based at Cheddington,
and was the personal aircraft of the unit's commander, Lt
Col Aber, being retained by him when the squadron converted
to Liberators. Aber was on his 51st mission when he was shot
down. Lt Harper had flown Spitfires with the RCAF, before
volunteering for a tour on 'Heavies.'
Recovery work began on June 9th 2000, when a salvage barge
was positioned on the crash site located on the low tide mark
off Wrabness. First attempts at clearing the mud from the
site using giant vacuum hoses were soon abandoned due to technical
difficulties, primarily with pumps and filters becoming clogged
by heavy clay in which the wreckage lay. The recovery continued
with a large tracked excavator. The operator worked blindly
as the site was only visible for short periods of time. A
vast quantity of wreckage was eventually recovered using this
method. Parts included one of the aircraft's Cyclone engines
together with several super chargers, propellor blades and
an undercarriage leg. It was established that the entire tail
section and rear fuselage was compressed into little more
than eight feet, all of which was painstakingly worked through
and sorted until the remains of Lt Col Aber and Lt Harper
were found in the area of the bomb bay. Work finally ceased
on June 28th when it was thought that sufficient remains of
both men had been found. DNA tests later carried out at the
US Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii proved
their identity. Both men now share a joint grave in Arlington
National Cemetery, with Colonel Aber having an additional
grave at Cambridge in the American Cemetery.
Pilot Lt. Col E.J Aber
Co-Pilot 2nd Lt M.J Harper
Navigator Capt P.S Stonerock
Bombardier 1st Lt C.R Morton
Radio T/Sgt C.P Valley
Top Turret T/Sgt M.Silber
Ball Turret S/Sgt S.Dombrowski
Tail gunner S/Sgt R.W Ramsey
Waist Gun S/Sgt F.W Thomas
Waist Gun S/Sgt J.A Trexler
Waist Gun 2nd Lt R.W Billings
Details kindly provided by Vince Megicks.
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