Hi all, I'm new to the forum and look forward to being a part of what you have going here. My uncle, S/Sgt. Thomas J. McCaslin was tail gunner with the 386th BG, 555th bomb squadron flying B26 Marauders based out of RAF Great Dunmow. The best information we have is that he flew 62 missions before his plane was hot down over Normandy on 06/22/1944. His body has not yet been recovered and he is still MIA. After researching this crash for the better part of 4 years this is what I know: On 06/22/1944 the 386th sent 36 bombers to strike a large chateau near the town of Baron sur Odon. The estate was being used as a HQ for the I SS Panzer Division and several high ranking German officers were there. Unbeknownst to the men of the 386th, The Germans had placed several 88mm anti-aircraft batteries in the area to protect this important target. One battery was only 1km from the chateau hidden near the banks of the Odon river. Taking advantage of the long summer twilight, the formation approached the target around 2130hrs. The first box of 18 B26 Marauders came in at 11,500 feet flying at 185 MPH. The German gunners hit them hard and only 6 of the first 18 planes were able to drop their bombs. The bombs fell harmlessly about 600 yards from the target. Several planes in the first box were heavily damaged by flak and several crewmen were wounded. One plane fell out of control because the pilot was wounded. The co-pilot managed to wrestle control of the plane and crash landed at an emergency PSP strip set up on one of the British beaches. The second box of 18 planes was led by the 555th commander, Lt. Col. Don Weiss. My uncle was his tail gunner. Flying a bit behind and 1000 feet lower at 10,500 feet, they saw what happened to the first box but carried on anyway. The mission reports state that Weiss' plane had just started to drop (several bombs had started to fall) when it was struck in the open bomb bay with a direct hit. A turret gunner in a following plane saw an 18" hole blow through the top of the plane, which then burst into flame and fell off to the right (South) out of the formation. The remaining first and second six groups of planes bombed together and scored some hits on the chateau, but did not destroy it. The last group of six was pretty torn up and dropped early to get out of the fracas. Weiss' plane was observed falling in a ball of flame towards the ground. 17 of the 36 planes witnessed something of the crash. Crew members in three of these planes reported seeing 2-3 parachutes. Others reported seeing the plane fall all the way down in pieces and reported no parachutes. The men onboard were: Pilot-Lt. Col Don Weiss Co-Pilot-Lt. Axel "Pete" Slustrop Navigator-Lt. George Hazlett Bombardier-Lt. David Meserow Radio/Gunner-T/Sgt. Robert Perkins Top Turret Gunner-S/Sgt. John Canty Tail Gunner-S/Sgt. Thomas McCaslin Passenger-Capt. Orville "Don" Thatcher-Flight surgeon for the 555th All were initially listed as MIA, but little hope was held out that they had survived. On 6/26/1944, the British army started Operation Epsom which was intended to sweep around the West side of Caen and take the high ground over the city. They met stiff resistance from several German units including the 12th SS Panzer Hitlerjugend but the British (2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 15th Scottish)finally pushed into the crash zone near Gavrus, France on 06/28/44. They held it for a few days before falling back on the 30th. Ground fighting probably took place right next to the wreckage. The area traded hands several times until the end of July I believe, at great cost to both sides. In August 1944, the body of Capt. Thatcher was found by the British a field of tall grass where it had fallen. The remnants of the plane were about 300m away but no trace of the other men was seen. The U.S. Army searched the location in 1947 and again in 1950 but no remains were found. In 1986 a French farmer tilling his field found the remains of 4 men buried together in a common shallow grave. Bits of instrument panel, plexiglass, and .50 cal ammo were found near the bodies. A U.S. Army search team looked further but found no more bodies. These remains sat on a shelf for 8 years until JPAC finally identified them in 1994. They were identified as the bodies of Weiss, Meserow, Hazlett, and Slustrop. These men were buried together in a co-mingled casket at Arlington in January 1995. Canty, Perkins and my uncle were not found. In 2014 a British researcher living in France was digging in a wooded area about 250 yards from the 1986 location. He found a finger bone in close proximity to a dog tag for S/Sgt. John Canty. The DPAA returned to the site in April 2017 and quickly found a nearly complete skeleton and remnants of a leather flying coat. The body had been carefully buried by unknown parties. Numerous small pieces of aircraft wreckage were found about 20m in every direction, but no further bodies were recovered. The DPAA returned to the area in September 2017 and located two elderly French women who were young children during the war. It was determined that they were about a mile from each other at the time of the crash. They each claimed to have seen a man in a parachute float by very close to where they were standing but did not know what happened to them after that. I have my doubts about this...more on that later. In 2015 after learning about the discovery of remains at the site, I began an in depth investigation into the crash. I obtained the MACR, the IDPF's for each crew member, and the actual mission reports including the Intel Officer reports obtained right after the mission. Also in these records I found 5 pictures taken by other crew members during the mission. The photos are very high resolution and show trees, buildings, farm animals, German vehicles, AA guns, and the actual bombs falling from the planes. Weiss' plane can be seen trailing smoke and flames as it fell in at least three large pieces. The plane parts can be seen impacting the ground in three places in a line about 300 yards long. A piece can be seen impacting at the location of 1986 discovery of the flight officers remains, as well as a large explosion where S/Sgt. Canty was recovered in the woods in 2017. In a third area, in-between those two spots, another large piece can be seen hitting the ground in a fireball. I believe that this piece is the tail section where my uncle and T/Sgt Perkins would have been sitting.This area HAS NOT YET BEEN SEARCHED. What is evident in the photos is that the plane was on fire, in pieces, and went down very fast. Probably less than thirty seconds.The rest of the 2nd box was not even past the crash zone when the plane can be seen hitting the ground. NO PARACHUTES CAN BE SEEN even though one supposed landing area can clearly be seen, and the other can almost be seen. Smoke drifting on the ground shows that the wind would have blown the chutes into the frame of the photo, not out of it. My family and I have had close contact with DPAA investigators and have provided them with these photos as well as maps and other documents we have found. I have NCAP photos of the area from 6/24/44, two days after the crash. Wreckage can be seen in these photos in the open field and wooded area. The DPAA is going back to survey this last site in September 2019. Our hopes are that they will find enough evidence to warrant a full excavation of the site and hopefully find the remains of my uncle and T/Sgt. Perkins. Where I have hit a snag and hope to find something is in any German and British records of the incident. The area was held by the 12th SS at the time and anyone who may have escaped the plane very likely would have been executed and buried away from the wreckage. But the plane was shot down by elements of the III Flak Korps so my hope is someone has some records. I know most Luftwaffe records did not survive the war so I know that is a moon shot. I thought if records could be found it might indicate if chutes were seen or men captured, or how many dead men were buried. The British records of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were destroyed in action during Operation Epsom but I've heard a version written by their commander may have survived. I have written the society where their records are kept but have not received any responses after several attempts. My thought was perhaps the British buried these men and there would be a record of how many they buried. I would appreciate any help any of you can provide. I believe that these missing men are buried near the third, as of yet un-searched spot, but I'm also open tot he possibility that they were able to escape the plane, only to die on the ground. Four of my uncle's twelve siblings are still alive, including my dad. We'd like to find Tom while they are still alive. I have included a crew photo. The men are as follows: Top from Left: Weiss, Meserow, Slustrop Bottom from left: Canty, McCaslin, and T/Sgt. Clement Monaco who was wounded on 04/30/44 and was sent home. Records indicate that my uncle applied a tourniquet to Monaco's wounded arm which likely saved his life. He died in 1996. Thanks for reading.. -Tom McCaslin
Tom, Thanks for your thorough summary and including the photo of the crew. Your uncle looks like a nice young man. My first impression of him was “resourceful” and “a survivor”, for what it’s worth. By the latter, I mean that if he had a chance to get out, he would have. The fire ball is very concerning, and the rapid free fall. With so many men packed in together, there’s a good chance he wasn’t wearing his parachute pack. That said, they did see what happened to Box I. So, he may have donned it. The professionalism of the crews and their dedication to duty is particularly noteworthy. Do you have current satellite images of the third site? Are you planning to be there in September? Please let me know if and when you’d like me to send this to Jean-Luc and Jean-Phillipe. Thanks to your research, the September search should be very productive, providing some andwers. Best of luck, Tom. If I can help, please let me know. Jan
Thanks Jan. My dad described him as a guy who liked to have fun, and very kind. My hope is actually that he didn’t get out and died quickly if not immediately when the shell struck. If so he’d likely be close to where the plane impacted. If he got out he could be anywhere. The Germans never listed him as a POW so if he escaped he may have died at the hands of his captors. The 12th SS were responsible for several atrocities in Normandy including some against pPOW’s. I’d love to be there in September but the DPAA is protective of their sites and I’m sure have their methods. They have a tight schedule to keep and don’t want to have to accommodate amateurs like me. I was told once that they treat the sites like crime scenes so they protect and preserve the evidence. I understand and agree with that mindset completely. They might only get one shot to do it right. I’ll know more after September for sure. I do plan on getting there someday. It is hallowed ground.
Hello Tom, thank you for your very thorough post. We have already briefly discussed this on AHF, but I noticed I never followed up on that. Any way, here's part of the German situation map of 22 June. A little explanation might help: - all these flags show HQ locations. Those with an 'e' indicate 'English' units, so I'll ignore those for now. - The triangle flags are divisions. Visiable here are the Pz.Lehr-Div., 12.SS-Pz.Div. and 21.Pz.Div.(All of these flags have a (panzer)rhomboid to indicate Panzer formations) - The large square flag with triangles is a corps-flag. Here we have the I.SS-Pz.Korps. which controlled the ground forces in this area and further south is that of the III.Flak-Korps. - The flag of the III.Flak-Korps includes the symbol for Flak units: an arrow with an open circle at the base. You can also see this symbol used with the smaller square flags, which indicates a regiment. So here were have (left to right) Flak-Sturm-Rgt.3, 4 and 2. - Note how close the HQ of Flak-Sturm-Rgt.2 is to the HQ of the 12.SS. That regiment would therefore be my first focus, but its units could nonetheless be divided over a wide area. It can also not be ruled out the that the division's own Flak unit was involved: SS-Flak-Abt.12. (Three batteries with 4 x 8,8 cm guns and one with 9 x 3,7 cm guns. - Flak-Sturm-Rgt.2 (previously known as Flak-Rgt.36) consisted of I./Flak-Rgt.20, I./Flak-Rgt.52 and le.Flak-Abt.80. These units are also referred to as I.-III./Flak-Sturm-Rgt.2 respectively. - On 20 June the regiment also had elements of gem.Flak-Abt.266 and 2. and 4./le.Flak-Ab.996 attached to it. These were probably included in the total strength of 9 heavy, 1,5 medium and 8 light batteries.__________ On 18 June I./20 was in the area NW of Gournay. 1./52 was ENE of Carpiquet and 80 was around Maizet. I've not yet found the locations of the rest of 52. (FWIW: on that date Flak-Sturm-Rgt.3 does not have appear to have been anywhere near Baron.) On 22 June troops east of the Orne requested that a Flak-Rgt. be deployed in that sector. This appears to have been planned to be carried out by Flak-Sturm-Rgt.2 during the night of 23-24 June. So far the only kills claim I've found for III.Flak-Korps on 22 June was a Marauder shot down at 19:29 but that report only covers the period up to 20:00, so I'll keep looking. When it comes to finding records SS-Flak-Abt.12 might be your best hope, either through their own records or divisional records. The I.SS-Pz.Korps might also hold valuable information. If you have to go Luftwaffe I'm afraid it will be highly unlikely you'll be able to find something related.
Hi Niels, Thanks for your reply. The map you provided is a great resource. I'm interested in the claim you have for III Flak Korps. Is there more information on it? I'd be interested on the location of the claim. I know the time doesn't match up but it is worth looking at. On France Crashes 39-45 (Recherche crash avion 39-45 - France-Crashes 39-45) I found these recorded crashes for that date in the Calvados department in Normandy: It only shows 2 B26's, both of which were part of the same mission. I had also seen this map from Norbert Szamveber's book about the 12th SS ( Waffen-SS Armour in Normandy: The Combat History of SS Panzer Regiment 12 and SS Panzerjäger Abteilung 12, Normandy 1944 shows the crash area and German AA units assigned: (the arrows are my addition) I see Flak reg. 53 and 141 in the immediate area which I think are part of III Flak Korps. The guns are clearly seen the crash photos I have. I can even see smoke from the shooting drifting away from the guns. Maybe that one mentioned on 6/22/44 is this claim? EDIT: I see now that Flak reg. 53 and 141 are part of Flak-Sturm-reg. 4
I checked further on the France crashes site and those are the only two B26’s I see shot down in France on 6/22/44. There are a few other bombers but are all 4 engine heavies. Lots of fighters.
Hi Tom, Has the exact crash location been identified, or is the general location only known? The reason I ask is there are aerial photos taken around Gavrus on June 24, 1944, of the area that could be worth studying further to where we might be able to find it. I can see signs of several batteries in the area in these photos and we are able to zoom in on areas as well. Here is an example... John
Hi John. The exact location is known. I have several NCAP photos of the area. The battery shown on the upper left is the same one I posted the picture of earlier. Bomb craters from the mission can be seen on the upper right. Aircraft wreckage can be seen in the open field in the center right below the trees. Thank you.
This message on the kill claim was directed to the Ia of the III.Flak-Korps and may well originate from Flak-Sturm-Rgt.4 which is the only unit mentioned. More specifically it identifies the losses of 2./35 to ey artillery and total strength of the regiment. (8 heavy, 1 1/2 medium and 6 3/4 light batteries) In regards to the claimthe information simply states: I'm afraid the report with the 'exact details' is not known. __________ BTW, what are the batterie numbers on the map? I can only read 3./53. __________ As for the history of Flak-Sturm-Rgt.4, the only full report I have on its locations gives the situation on 10 June: - HQ at Esquay(-Notre-Dame) - I./35 with 1.-5.Bttr. south of Vendes - I./53 with 1.-5.Bttr. south of Grainville(-sur-Odon) - I./141 with 1.-5.Bttr. area Cheux - Bretteville - le.Flak-Abt.98 with 1.-3.Bttr. area of Fontenay(-le-Plesnel?) This basically means the regiments formed a cluster along the highway between Caen and Noyers-Bocage. The next report is from 24 June: - I./35 (-3.) area Tournay - Noyers (= cluster W of Évrecy) - I./53 with 1.-5.Bttr. area Missy - Grainville (= cluster NW of Évrecy) - I./141 with 1.-5.Bttr. area Neuilly - Bougy (= cluster W-SW of Évrecy) - le.Flak-Abt.98 road patrol 3 km S of Grimbosq. [PS: To be clear, stating "Flak reg. 53 and 141 are part of Flak-Sturm-reg. 4" is not quite correct. In both cases it only involved their first battalion: I./53 and I./141. Flak regiments were seldom close knit formations since Flak are defensive weapons that typically are spread out. As a result battalions often no longer had any operational link with their original parent formations.] Regards, Niels
Hello Niels, Thank you very much for the information about the kill claim. What a shame there are no further details! That looked promising. Can you tell me where I can find that source document? I'd like to have that for my records. Would there be any records from 23/6/1944? Perhaps the plane was misidentified as a Marauder, but I don't find other planes shot down on 22/6/44 near this crash site. Here are all the known B26 losses in Calvados: I just don't see any other close to the crash site close to that date. The one listed on 24/6 is over 50KM away from Gavrus. From what my aging eyes can read the flak units in the map are: 3/Flak 53, and 3/Flak 141. Here is the full map from the book. The area I previously highlighted is in the lower right corner: I believe the batterie responsible for the shoot down was likely I./53 with 1.-5.Bttr. south of Grainville(-sur-Odon). The formation flew almost right over the top of it on the the final bomb run. The location of that batterie was only about 1.5 km from the center of Grainville sur Odon. Thank you also for the clarification about the German units. I am not terribly fluent in German military terminology or organization. Warm regards, Tom
I./53 would indeed appear to be the most likely battalion because of the location of its five batteries. The map in the book, while interesting, merely seems to show where batteries operated against ground forces. Some of these are specifically identified in stopping tank attacks (3./141 and 2./53). The map therefore does not really illustrate how many batteries were there and/or attached to the 12.SS. All my information is gathered from a few thousand pages of Ultra records, so it's not really a single source. I'll try to send you a collection of the relevant pages in a few days. I'll do a bit more digging into the days between 10-24 June to see if there are any more leads. Just let me know if you have any questions regarding German troops, their organization or terminology. The Calvados is not my focus, but I should be able to help or ar least point you in the right direction..
Niels, Thank you so much for looking. No hurry at all for sending those Ultra decrypts. I’m just happy to have anything about it. I really appreciate the help. Warm regards, Tom
You're very welcome Tom. Glad to be able to help a bit in your quest to find out what happened to your uncle. I find cases like yours deeply moving and very motivating and I can't really think of a better way to share my research. I know many of our forum members feel the same. War is ultimately about people and their stories and sacrifices, and your uncle's story is yet another reminder of that.
Tom, It's evident from the photograph that your uncle was a very kind person. Somehow, he knows that you're looking for him, and he'll help you find him if you'll trust your instincts, pay attention to those nagging hunches that aren't backed up with logic, and keep doing what you're doing. Everything tells me that your uncle's dog tags are with the tail section. Try not to not think about what his death might have been like, too much. Because he was flying with the squadron commander, it's safe to assume that he he flew a lot of missions before he was shot down. After a while, the combat crews became battle hardened and were no longer jumpy or scared. Then, after a while, they became battle fatigued, which was the point at which they no longer cared whether they lived or died because they'd exhausted their capacity to care. Late in my father's life, he and I were by ourselves, talking about the war. He said, almost as a non-sequitur, "At first I was really scared, but after awhile, I didn't care anymore." That's what the war did to them. The formation likely made two turns after they made landfall over the French coast. The first would've been a pivot toward the Initial Point. The second would've been at the Initial Point, which is when the bomb run began. The combat crews described the bomb run as the moment of truth. All evasive action stopped and the bombardier took over the ship, trying to get it to fly straight and level it as he struggled to adjust his Norden bomb site for drift, air speed, altitude, etc. Depending on how" hot" the target was, the bombardier got no more than 45 seconds to lock on the target, although it was approximately two minutes from the Initial Point to the target. For two minutes, they gave themselves to the moment, completely defenseless often as flak exploded around them. It was vulnerability that the ground troops never had to experience. My father once said "war is chaos". He was thinking, no doubt, of a mission like your uncle's last. Box II saw what happened to Box I, yet they stayed in formation. There were a few direct hits that resulted in fires and a spinning down out of control that affected the 323rd. No one survived them. There weren't any chutes. Although I haven't seen photos of the aircraft your uncle was in, in most of these cases that I've seen, the flames engulfed the rear section of the ship because of drafting. The tail gunner was crouched under a Plexiglas hood in the tail section. Your uncles was as exposed as the bombardier in the Plexiglas cone in the nose. The bombardiers and the tail gunners were the ones that were killed or maimed most often by shrapnel and hot Plexi-flak. After you find Tom's physical remains, you might consider making the trip to Great Dunnow to have a look around the area where the base housing was located. It was your uncle's last home. I suspect that you'll find a part of him and the young airmen with whom he served still there. Jan
Hi, everyone, Here's the link to British Pathe footage of the 323rd at Earls Colne Airfield sometime between July and November 1944. Air Force - Air Field England (I provided the summary, but the date of the mission shown in the footage is wrong, as the target appears to be near the coast. Need to revise it.) Not far into the footage, you'll be able to see the tail gunner's position, with the Plexiglas hood. That's where's Tom was crouched when they were hit. Jan
Tom, It sounds like you have the navigation route with the turn points and ETA's plotted on a "map" for this mission. Is that the case? If so, you might post it here. You mentioned you have the Intelligence Officer's Report. Do you have the Box I lead navigator's chart where he noted estimated versus actuals as well as other information such as altitude on bomb run, etc.? Have you looked at the strike photos for Box II, particularly those from Flights 2 and 3. Did you get your records from the Air Force or National Archives? I found that the 323rd's Air Force mission records were different than those at National Archives. Jan
This is an image of the bomb bay. The portal appears to be to the cockpit based on the two ladders, which I'm guessing go up to the turret gunner's position. The bombs were suspended on racks on both sides of the catwalk, which is the strip down the middle. Once the bombs were hoisted into place, the armament crews would insert the arming pins, which would stay with the aircraft as the bombs fell away. Once the arming pin came out, the bomb was armed. This is where the 88 mm shell came in, apparently exiting through the roof. As you can see, it's not far from the bomb bay to the cockpit, and the tail section was just as close. Will tryin to post an image of the bomb bay looking toward the tail section. Jan
Tom - Below you'll find the link to the Boxted Airfield Museum, which has the rear section of Black Magic IV / Mr. Shorty on load from the Marks Hall Estate. It's a few miles outside of Colchester. Richard Turner and John Camp, who are affiliated with the museum, are wonderful hosts for visiting family members of B-26 crews. Great Dunnow Airfield was about twelve miles west of Braintree. There's a train line that runs from Liverpool Station in London up to the station at the airport that was adjacent to Great Dunnow. It very well might be the same line that Tom took to and from London when he was on leave. If it's the same line, it's likely pretty much like it was when Tom was there. B-26 Marauder Collection - Boxted Airfield Jan
Hi Jan. Thanks for the video. I don't have some of the reports you speak of. I got them from AFHRA. The planned IP was near Saint Martin de Blagny and on to the target at Baron sur Odon on a 110 degree heading. It looks to me like they actually came in on about a 90 degree heading after a few turns. Here is an after action map and the planned mission details: I have strike camera pics from one aircraft in the first box with no strikes shown, and one in the second with a few strikes shown. Nothing in the crash is visible in those pictures. I have three pictures from the second box showing the crash which appear to have been taken from a portable camera out a side or waist window. Here is a snippet of one (the overall pics are too big to load) You can see the three sections of the plane hit the ground and part of the smoke trail. The cockpit is at the top. I believe the large fireball is the middle section (wings, bomb bay-based on wreckage found), the middle section is what I believe is the tail section. We actually have a video taken from 8mm film belonging to Weiss that was given to me by one of his family members. There was footage shot on one mission showing the crew at their stations. Here is a screen shot of my uncle at his tail gunner station: This footage is priceless to us.