Missing Air Crew Report : 2275

1.    Organization : AAF Sta 128.                  

               

       Command : 8th Air Force.
       Group : 401st.
       Squadron : 615th.

2.    Place of depature : AAF Station 128.
       Course : SSW.
       Target : Frankfurt , Germany.
       Type of mission: Operational Bombing.

3.    Weather conditions when last sighted : 10/10 undercast.

4.    Last know date : 29 Jan 1944
       time : 11:30
       location : 50° 10'N - 08° 35'E.

5.    Aircraft believed to have been lost as a result of : Enemy aircrafts.

6.    Aircraft type : B-17G
       serial no. : 42-38012

7.    Engines : R-1820-97.

9.   Persons listed below listed as : Battle Casualties.

10.  Persons on board : Crew : 10.

11.  List crew position , name , rank , serial no. and current status :

Pilot	Leon Glenn van Syckle	2nd Lt	0-804431	POW
Copilot	Mitchell Kenneth Woods	2nd Lt	0-687791	POW
Navigator	Richard Lee Monfort	2nd Lt	0-687890	KIA
Bombardier	Stanley T. Groski	2nd Lt	0-688967	POW
Radio Operator	Joseph Glonek	S/Sgt	32079529	KIA
Engr / Top Turret	Raymond Anderson Rask	S/Sgt	32554969	POW
Ball Turret Gunner	Donald Lamb	Sgt	38444211	POW
Tail Gunner	Charles H. Duke	Sgt	38272742	KIA
Left Waist Gunner	Ralph Calvin Roberts	Sgt	11085254	POW
Right Waist Gunner	Albert Paganelli	Sgt	15200866	POW

13.  Person believed to have last knowledge of missing aircraft :

Merrit, William E.        S/Sgt.        31203844

- This A/C was one of three lost at the same place, same time.
  We definite indentification of the planes could be made at the time.
  The following is a consolidation of observations made on all three planes, A/C 42-31193 was one of them.

These A/C, comprising an element of the Low Box of the Wing, were attacked by 7 or 8 T/E enemy aircrafts
at about 1130 and just past the target.
One was observed to blow up at once; the other two were damaged and went down simultaneously, one being observed to explode before raching the undercast, top of which was approximately 10.000 Ft the other has been reported as exploding and also as disappearing into the clouds; no chutes were observed on any of the A/C.

- Your name : LEON GLENN VAN SYCKLE.
- Rank : 2nd Lt.
- Serial number : 0-804431.

- Target : Frankfurt on Main.
- Altitude : 23.000 Ft.

- Where were you when you left formation : Near Worms, Germany.

- Did you bail out : Yes.
- Did other members bail out : All but one.

- Tell all you know ? : All bailed out and were captured later.
                                        Seen by me in Dulag Luft and St.Valerie, France.

- Where did aircraft strike the ground ? : No knowledge.

- Your name : MITCHELL KENNETH WOODS.
- Rank : 2nd Lt.
- Serial number : 0-687791.

- Target : Frankfurt on Main.
- Altitude : Approx. 22.000 Ft.

- Where were you when you left formation : Between Frankfurt and Worms after turning away from target.

- Did you bail out : Yes.
- Did other members bail out : Yes.

- Tell all you know ? : Only person I saw going out was Engineer, Sgt Rask, thru forward escape hatch.

- Where did aircraft strike the ground ? : No knowledge.

                                                                 WOODS, MITCHELL KENNETH
                                                                  July 17, 1917 - December 29 , 2002

     Mitchell Kenneth (Bud) Woods , born 17 Jul 1917 in Chicago , was a POW at Stalag Luft I , South Compound.

           

  

Leon van Syckle	New Jersey	1922 -	POW		Stalag Luft 1 South
Mitchell Woods	Illinois	1917 -	POW		Stalag Luft 1 South
Stanley Groski	New York	1923 -	POW		Stalag Luft 1 south
Raymond Rask	New Jersey	1921 -	POW		Stalag Luft 4
Donald Lamb	Arkansas		POW		Stalag Luft 4
Ralph Roberts	Vermont	1918 -	POW		Stalag Luft 4
Albert Paganelli	Ohio	1916 -	POW		Stalag Luft 4
Richard Lee Monfort	Colorado	1923 - 1944	KIA
Joseph Glonek	New Jersey	1921 - 1944	KIA
Charles H. Duke	Michigan	1910 - 1944	KIA	RC

RC = Rosedale Cemetery , Oklahoma, USA