On 12/22/13, I submitted my initial post on the New Members site. In that post I said, in part, the following: "My name is Charles Bass. My reason for joining the forum stems from my father's service in the U.S. Army Air Corps in WWII. He was a glider pilot. On D-Day evening he flew a Horsa glider into Normandy as part of the third serial of Mission Elmira. His was one of 50 gliders in that serial. Once over land, enemy machine gun fire disabled the glider wing flaps. As a result, according to my father, he was able to get on the ground ok, but was going very fast, the landing field was quite short and the glider ended up crashing into a tree which was part of a hedgerow. The glider was destroyed and he was seriously injured, but survived. One of the 7 troops on board was killed. For the past year, as time permits, I have been researching and gathering information on this particular flight, and would like to continue to do so. At this point, I guess my main objective is to try to locate as closely as possible the place where my father landed. I realize that it is highly unlikely that the precise spot can be determined, but I would like to get as close as I can. The more information I can gather, the better my chances for narrowing down a landing area. I would seriously considering a trip to Normandy if I can feel reasonably confident that I can get near to where that flight ended. As part of my effort to learn what happened, last year I was able to join the National WW2 Glider Pilots Association as an affiliate member. I attended the annual reunion in Sept. and thoroughly enjoyed meeting and talking with a number of the remaining glider pilots who were able to make the trip to Kansas City, Mo. Even got to take a flight on a C-47 that was brought in just for the reunion." I would now like to add additional information and facts which were not included in my original post: As noted earlier, my father, (Charles C. Bass, Jr.) flew a Horsa Glider into Normandy on D-day. His was the third serial of Mission Elmira (referred to as the 32nd Serial on glider landing charts). He was a 1st Lt. at the time, as was the other pilot on the glider. My father said the following regarding this flight on Nov. 13, 1945, before an Army Retiring Board For Officers when asked to state the nature and cause of injuries received: "Well, on June 6, 1944, I flew a glider to Normandy and we were under enemy machine gun fire and got shot down. My control flaps wouldn't work so as a result I got on the ground all right, but overran a small landing field and crashed on a large tree. I suppose we were still going fifty to sixty miles an hour, and I broke my left arm and forearm pretty badly and broke my left leg." Later on in the interview he added the following in answer to another question - "I flew a glider landing troops and supplies in Normandy. It was on a landing that we crashed, approximately 5 miles behind the beachhead." Further on in the interview it is noted that the crash occurred around 2300 hrs. According to the "Unit History for June", 1944, with respect to the 436th TCG, 82nd Troop Carrier Squadron, (obtained from the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, USA), "On the night of the 6th, D-Day, this squadron flew in twelve Horsa gliders and furnished twelve tug planes. The take-off was at 2037 with Lt. Col. Adriel N. Williams leading the 82nd and the Group." It was further noted in the History that "All gliders landed near the LZ; many were about 1/2 mile short and several approximately 1 mile north of the LZ." Since this serial was comprised of 48 Horsas and 2 CG4a gliders, I assume that the balance of gliders were provided by other components within the 436 TCG. This Unit History report also contains comments by glider pilots for the twelve Horsas which the 82nd TCS supplied. My father had been evacuated by the time these reports were given; the other pilot on that particular glider gave the following information: "Load - 1/4 ton truck, trailer, 7 men. Flak very heavy and accurate hitting two men. Landed NE of St. Mere Eglise in a small field of 300 feet. Came in at 100 mph and went through hedge. Bad crash. Took three hours to get truck out. German patrol passed. Stayed nearby all night. Received three German prisoners from paratroopers. Next day went to Division C.P. W of St. Mere Eglise. Given prisoners to march back. Bombed in LST. Saw one German paratrooper. Thought highly of machine pistol. Saw obstacles in field." (This was glider #11 in the listing below.) Of the twelve reports given, two do not state a geographic landing location. The other 10 all indicate a general landing location. Of those 10, one reports landing 1 mile north of SME and the other 9 report landing NE or ENE of SME, and the distances that were reported are from 1 mile to 1 - 2 miles, with most indicating less than 2 miles. Of the two that did not give a more precise location, one indicated that there were "few gliders in the vicinity" and the other said it landed "on a road with high trees". The landing locations were described as follows: 1) Few gliders in vicinity, field 150 yds. with high trees 2) 1 mile ENE of SME 3) 1 mile ENE of SME (pilot, Adam Bone killed) 4) 1 1/4 mile NE of SME 5) Dug in NE of SME 6) 1 1/2 mile NE of SME 7) 1 mile NE of SME (pilot, Ben W. Winks killed) 8) Cut in 1 to 2 miles NE of SME 9) 1 mile N of SME (co-pilot, Tom F. Atkinson killed) 10) NE of SME 11) NE of SME in small field of 300 ft. 12) On road with high trees on either side(co-pilot Vernon Jensen killed) A very rough plot of these landings seems to suggest sort of a cluster between SME and Beuzeville-au-Plain. I have not had any success in determining a chalk number or any other number for my father's glider, nor for any of the gliders in the 436th TCG in that mission. Last year, at the annual reunion of the National WW2 Glider Pilots Association, I was able to meet Philippe Esvelin, who authored two books with which I think most of you are probably familiar. In the most recent one, Forgotten Wings, he includes charts at the back of the book in which he lists the names of pilots and glider numbers in many cases, with respect to a number of glider missions. For Mission Elmira, however, when we get to the 436th TCG, the only notation is "Unknown listing". I asked him about this and he could only say that he had tried very hard to locate the missing information, but just hadn't been able to do so. Nevertheless, it was great meeting Philippe and he even autographed both of his books for me! The information from the June 1944 unit history referred to above at least provides some information for twelve of the gliders. In that report they are numbered 1 through 12, but I have no idea whether those numbers mean anything. As for the landing zone for which this serial was headed, I keep wondering if it was in fact DZ/LZ O rather LZ W. My understanding, and someone please correct me if this is wrong, is that because of heavy enemy fire received by Mission Keokuk earlier, the LZ for Elmira had been moved to DZ/LZ O, just a very short distance NE of SME. I thought that while the first two serials of the Mission were nevertheless released for LZ W, the second two serials (32 and 33) headed for the Eureka beacon on LZ O, since the Pathfinder aids on LZ W had been removed. It is also my understanding that serial 32 released early. This would be consistent with the information in the June History for the 82nd AB which noted that the 12 gliders listed in the report landed short of the landing zone AND a mile or so NE of Ste. Mere Eglise. I guess that in regard to my particular purpose, trying to locate where my father's glider landed, it doesn't matter what landing zone serial 32 was trying to reach. Nevertheless, if anyone can provide some more clarity on that question I am very open to learning more. That is about all I have at this time. Would like to hear any suggestions as to how to proceed further. I am afraid that without a chalk number or tail number, about all I can do is look through aerial photographs for gliders that landed in the general area I have identified and try to spot those which appear to have crashed into a hedgerow.
Hi Charles, I had reviewed many of the aerials available through the RCAHMS website of the area NE of Sainte mere Eglise and I come up with one real good possibility, although not all locations are covered in the aerials. It is sorte US30/4108 frame 1002 taken on June 8th. A link to the website is below Beuzeville-au-Plain; Lower Normandy; France | NCAP - National Collection of Aerial Photography The area is on the road from SME to Beuzeville-au-Plain, at an area called La Londe. What interests me about the frame is the large group of Horsas in the area and in the lower left part of the aerial, on the route de Beuzeville-au-Plain are some Horsas that had wrecked at the hedgerow. This is also an area that I consider to be a possible match for the "Hoatson Horsa wreck" Even though we had not completed that discussion you can see that forum thread discussion here: http://normandy.whitebeamimages.ie/forum/showthread.php?tid=32&pid=155#pid155 I may have the area wrong for the Hoatson wreck, but the thread will give you some photos to consider as far as what it may have looked like on the ground. I hope Pat can help with some photos of the aerial. Respectfully, John Szweda
Great job, Charles. Hard to top that kind of detail (even with the new mysteries it presents). The downside to the Horsa manifest is that most of the landing locations don't include a direction, nor do they describe whether the reference point is LZ 'W' or LZ 'O'. Combined with the new info from your report, it really doesn't matter in this case. Accepting all this info as accurate, a point NE of SME that is also 2-1/2 miles from 'W' or 'O' puts you around Beuzeville-au-Plain (perhaps just NE). Would it make sense that a damaged Horsa would land quite a bit east of its serial partners? Makes sense to me. I don't think it's much of a stretch to think that altitude is not the friend of a damaged aircraft and getting on the ground immediately is the only course. The fact that your father's glider landed in a very small field also supports the idea of an emergency. Anybody know the location of enemy units nearby? Is it possible the Bass glider was hit by the same unit that shot down the C-47 carrying LT Meehan (E/506) ten hours earlier? The mention of German patrols puts the Bass glider near a road, but with all the roads, paths, and trails in this neighborhood, that may not help much. Another comment in your report may help indirectly. Did you notice the mention of the death of 82TCS glider pilot Tom Atkinson? His death is also noted in the 82AB artillery report (p. 112 and 113). The location of Atkinson's landing is given as 350984. (8010 shows a light blob consistent with the size of a Horsa near the NE end of a NE-SW hedgerow at that very spot). Your report gives the distance from SME as one mile. 350984 is between one and one-and a quarter miles due north of SME. Maybe this helps assess the accuracy of your report. One other detail in the Atkinson account is of interest. It mentions Germans moving along the secondary road approx 600 yards north of Atkinson's glider. Does this mean Germans tried to use minor roads to better avoid observation as they retreated from the coast and/or concentrated north of SME? If my B-au-P theory turns out to be correct, don't ignore the paths and lanes as a border for your father's Horsa. Not to hijack the thread, but Sean may have something to tell us about the German armor mentioned in the orchards immediately west of Atkinson's position at 1500 June 7 and the US armor attacking them, presumably from the east. [hr] Oops! One more point: we all know that the vast majority of WWII US Army service records were destroyed in the St. Louis archives fire 40 years ago. However, didn't the medical records survive as they were at a different location? I have never done any research into the medical records, but is it possible that info on where your father was treated for his injuries - and by what unit - could provide a clue? Presumably Bass was taken to SME (or to the 307 Med Co west of there). Anyone know when the B-au-P to SME road or Baudieville to SME road was secured? With combat occurring at the Atkinson location through the afternoon of June 7, the latter route seems pretty risky.
Thanks, John for the photo and the link to the Hoatson Horsa Wreck thread. I will be digging into all of this as soon as I can. [hr] firstflabn, Thanks very much for the information and thoughts about this glider crash. I am going to consider all leads you provided. With respect to the information that may be gleaned from medical records, I actually do have quite a detailed description of the medical treatment my father received from the military in various locations. Fortunately, he had held on to a good bit of the records he collected during his time in the Service. I looked at this again today and while this record does not say a great deal about where treatment was given, it does say something. What it says with respect to treatment received immediately and shortly after the crash is the following: "He received treatment at a first aid station and was removed to a Field Hospital on the beachhead, the exact number of which he does not recall. Debridement of the wounds and application of plaster casts were performed and he was transferred to the 83d General Hospital, Wales." He was apparently there until 7/7/44, when he was transferred to a hospital in Jackson, MS. Any idea where a "first aid station" would be? SME, or some other more remote place?
Hi Charles, The Horsa cluster to which John refers above was caught on footage shot by a spotter plane orbiting the A6 La Londe ALG. Below is a still from this footage looking north west showing the cluster in question: The footage can be viewed in full on the British Pathe site but I have mislaid the link for the moment. The Horsa resting on its starboard wing tip at right is the same glider in the NE corner of the field. Below is an extract from aerial reconnaissance cover (sortie unknown) which is shown on page 60 of Philippe's book 'Forgotten Wings' and reproduced here with his permission: The large field at center right holds the Horsa cluster in question and the location of the extract is shown on the GE screenshot below: I'll keep digging... Regards, Pat
Hi Charles and All, I finally found the British Pathe link; it's Film ID No. 1981.12 and is located here. Cannot see any Horsa gliders in the hedges but as we know from other searches, they are easy to overlook when not out in the open. John has directed my attention to the bottom left of the aerial extract from page 60 of 'Forgotten Wings' which shows at least one Horsa having impacted the La Londe Farm avenue hedgerow. This could well be the site we seek and there is quite a bit of footage shot showing these gliders on the future A6 ALG. Most of them have been moved however to make way for the construction of the airstrip. As an example, take a look at this screenshot from the same footage; this time with the camera plane flying south of the A6 strip and the large cluster field again visible at top right: Note that the La Londe farmhouse and avenue are just out of shot at left and the right most Horsa in the bottom left cluster of the page 60 extract now appears to have been moved into the eastern hedgerow of the field in which it landed. There are other shots of gliders having being 'tidied up' with bulldozers, cockpits decapitated for use as control towers and even shower and barber stations Come to think of it, the 'shower unit' Horsa is embedded very deeply in a hedgerow but was intact(ish) from the rear at least IIRC. I'll see if I can find it. If you bend the mileage and compass bearing a small bit, another location worth looking at was caught on reconnaissance photograph NCAP_ACIU_US30_4108_1009 flown on the 8th June: Image Credit: RCAHMS/www.aerial.rcahms.gov.ukThere are two obvious locations worth considering here. The first is this one below zoomed from the yellow rectangle. I especially like the eastern most Horsa of this pair. Image Credit: RCAHMS/www.aerial.rcahms.gov.ukThe single Horsa in the red rectangle was the subject of a very successful bit of research we done a number of years back on the old Battlebus Forum and I am currently going through my files to see if it can be brought back to life. Below is the zoomed version: Image Credit: RCAHMS/www.aerial.rcahms.gov.uk Regards, Pat
Hi All, At Charles's request, I have moved this thread from the closed 'Green Room' area out to the public Forum. Regards, Pat
Pat, I can't thank you enough for the photos and comments you have been providing. I am looking at all of it very carefully and with great interest. I do appreciate the help that you and others have given. Charles
Hi Charles, You are welcome; its always a pleasure to help out on these quests. I am putting together some more screenshots from ground footage shot at the A6 ALG and will have it up over the next day or two. Regards, Pat
The 82AB AAR includes a few more tidbits. LTC William H. Bertsch commanded the 319th GFAB. The Div Arty report (which Bertsch undoubtedly contributed directly to), states the LTC's Waco landed at approximately 365976. There were two Wacos in Serial 32 - his was in the front row (third if I read it right) - to go along with the 48 Horsas. 365976 is in the La Londe front yard, to the SW of the entry road (a driveway to those on my side of the Atlantic). The two Wacos shown in the extreme lower left corner of the Esvelin photo are a bit under 200 yards west and north of 365976 (which ain't bad). Are those the two Ser. 32 Wacos - or is LTC Bertsch's and the other one just out of the frame to the south or west? Unfortunately, the A6 airstrip bulldozers took care of the evidence in their landscaping work. The AAR mentions that "many other gliders of the same serial landed about." With the distances given in the Bass report plus the distances listed in the manifest, looks like the 8 or so Horsas in the Big Field are likely 319th. The report goes on to say that Bertsch gathered about 200 men. With 319th Horsas averaging about 8 passengers, that would require about 25 gliders. Somebody did a great job of gathering up the children. So, did Bertsch ignore orders prior to takeoff and select this area - or did he instruct his gliders to follow him down when he released and he made the decision on the spot? Did he decide to get on the ground after receiving the same ground fire that crippled the Bass glider? The report describes Bertsch learning that he couldn't get to SME, so he had his force move towards Beuzeville au Plain (the report mistakenly calls it Neuville - twice), then turn right at the intersection 369983 (which I would have called 370983 - was there a roundoff rule we need to understand? Kevin?). Unfortunately, the report fails to identify the rally point where Bertsch collected his force and started this move (though the La Londe front yard is a good guess), but in describing the move on the road toward the intersection, it says the road "was blocked by wrecked gliders at several points." These wrecks would obviously have been removed early on - particularly considering the early arrival of AB aviation engineers with their heavy equipment. (As an aside, did these engineers dispose of the mass of vegetation formerly known as the La Londe hedges in a giant bonfire? If not, where is the huge volume of dark green material - with, presumably, glider wreckage imbedded?) The manifest for Bertsch's Waco shows his landing at 4300 yards from the LZ. What we believe to be the Bass Horsa is shown at 2-1/2 miles from the LZ (that's 4400 yards for our metric friends). If they used the same reference point to measure from, that would place the Bass glider 100 yards from Bertsch. Even allowing for approximations, that could at least place the Bass glider in this neighborhood. Could it be one of those reported as blocking the road? Hiding in the trees nearby? By the way, the second Waco in Ser. 32 carried 307th Med Co personnel. Is that who treated LT Bass's injuries? Charles, there might be additional details in your father's medical file in StL beyond what you showed us from his disability exam in late '45. As a really longshot (even for me!), could any of the Brown photos documenting his trip to Utah Beach to evac wounded, show this area? Have we determined Brown's route?
Some very interesting additional facts and incites, Don. A while back I had written to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis and requested available records on my father's service in the Army. I received a very brief pro-forma report which just gave very general information and a sort of time-line which dealt mostly with his glider training. Nothing medical in nature. I will give them a call this coming Monday and see if there is any medical info. available. Good idea, but I'm not too hopeful. Worth a try, though. Charles
A further reply: You noted that the Waco glider not flown by Bertsch carried 307th Med. Co personnel and landed 2 miles from a LZ. I see that the Serial 32 chart additionally shows that the last listed Horsa glider also contained 307 A/B MED personnel, 7 in number. And it also landed 2 miles from the LZ. So, I guess there could have been a good many medical personnel around for the injured in this area. A closer look at the "history" report I referred to earlier indicates that of the 12 gliders the 82nd supplied, there were four pilots/co-pilots who were seriously injured in addition to the four killed. One was my father. The others, for the record were James G. Janes, Efton E. Stetler and Vinton S. Harz. I recontacted the Records Center in St. Louis and requested any and all medical records available. It takes a while for the response, so I'll see what happens. A question: You referred to the "Brown photos" which documented a trip to Utah Beach. Are these available for viewing?
Disregard my inquiry about the "Brown Photos". I realize that this was a reference to the Brown Album of the Kenny Knotts photo collection. I am reviewing that now.
Glad you found it, Charles. I was having a brain outage when I wrote that. 'Brown' was part of the collection description, but as you discerned, not the photographer's name. We can't discount the possibility that your father was treated by 319GFAB medics initially - or at least picked up and evaluated by them. I haven't found a T/O&E for a GFAB yet to see how many medics they had and how they were distributed within the BN. Perhaps a vague idea can be had from a regular FA BN. A 155mm FA BN had a dozen medics, (but this type of arty unit was larger than a GFAB). Assuming that your father was treated by 82AB medics - and not by some quirk by, say, those from the advancing 4ID, my hope is that it might provide a tiny clue to his landing location. Long shots are my specialty.
Getting back to this matter, I have now received the "Histories" of the remaining three Squadrons in Serial 32 for the subject mission; they are the histories of the 79th, 80th, and 81st TCS. Taken together, along with the 82nd TCS, we account for the 50 gliders of the serial. I had hoped that these reports would have contained the statements of pilots and or co-pilots of the glider flights, especially as to the locations of landings. Alas, it was not meant to be; none of the reports contain such testimony, although they all do give a general characterization of where the gliders landed. 79th TCS: According to the report, 12 horsa gliders and 12 C-47s were supplied by the squadron. "Our pilots landed at the exact spots they were briefed for but found the fields to be much smaller and the trees far taller than they had anticipated." While the mission was seen as an overall success, it was noted that "We cannot say that the mission was a complete success as far as our returning personnel goes for we lost our glider operations officer and his assistant (Lt. Walls and Lt. Hoag)..." Later on, in the Company Morning Reports, listed chronologically, on June 18th it is stated that "1st Lt. Walls, O537246, and 2nd Lt. Hoag, O439434, from Detached Service 319th Field Detachment, 82nd Airborne Division for Glider Mission to Ste. Mere Eglise, France, two killed in action." Although this report does not contain statements by the pilots/co-pilots regarding the locations or nature of their landings, it does indicate that they were accurate in landing in their "target area". 80th TCS: The 80th TCS reported that it also supplied a "12 plane glider tow" into France on 6/6/44. Two glider pilots were injured: 2nd Lt. Wade C. Beckwith hospitalized in England" and "Flight Officer Lowell D. Bowers hospitalized 1 week." No loss of lives for glider pilots. It was noted that the Serial, #32, took off at 20:51 and released over the LZ at 22:57 near SME, landing into intense anti-aircraft fire. LZ not identified. This particular report includes photographs of 9 of the C-47 flight crews, with each of the personnel identified. 81st TCS: The report states that the mission took off at 21:00 "...with 13 planes and 15 gliders from this squadron participating. We furnished 11 glider crews." No loss of C-47s or their crews. Regarding the gliders, it is said that "...there was heavy concentration of 50 cal. and 20mm fire over the LZ but all gliders were seen to land in the target area." While the report states that all glider pilots were interrogated and that a narrative report of their experiences was sent to "Gp S-2", the report itself does not contain those pilot interviews. I have no idea what Gp S-2 means. I don't know that these additional reports move the ball forward in any meaningful way, but they do at least give me a picture of how the 32nd Serial was organized. I'll keep on digging. Charles
Good job, Charles. There may be a few helpful hints in that info - and, of course, you never know how future finds will connect with those tidbits. 1. If correct, the statement in the 79TCS report that their gliders landed on the LZ has to mean LZ 'W' (or at the extreme: LZ 'O'). That kinda moves them out of consideration for your areas of particular interest. It's more fun to have an 'Aha!' moment, but process of elimination can produce results too. 2. The AAA comment in the 80TCS report is interesting. Wish we could figure out the full picture of where all enemy AAA units were operating. 3. S-2 is the unit intelligence officer. Makes sense that he would perform debriefings as he was trained in asking the right questions. You might ask Pat Elie what he knows about S-2 reports. Lacking that, perhaps NARA or Maxwell can find them. Didn't we have a mention in a Keokuk reminiscence where a tug pilot said he had to get debriefed after the mission before he could get a pass to town? I have always suspected that glider landing location maps relied on data of this sort. It is well established that some parachute battalions were interviewed post-D-Day to create plane-by-plane maps of their landing spots. Interestingly, 2/506 was included in the paratrooper landing maps, but Dick Winters' stick was not included - despite the fact that he and several others landed in the outskirts of SME and should have easily figured out their spot (one of the recon photos making the rounds on the 'net before Pat became the guru showed a good candidate for Winters' chute). I guess none of this stuff is certain. 4. At some point before you joined us, Pat presented a color coded map showing individual 82 AB glider landing locations as colored dots. Each serial had a different color. The down side is that the scale was tiny - and a couple of the colors were very similar. I hate to sic you on Pat, but he might can fill you in. Maybe that map showed SME and major roads?? With the tiny scale - and a lack of any map registration marks - it might take some real detective work to align, but it might help you eliminate a far flung location for your father's glider (assuming the map locations are correct). Keep up the good work.
Hi Charles, Here is a zoomed extract from the sketch map to which Don refers: ...and the legend: As with all these maps, it should be treated with caution Regards, Pat
Thanks, guys, I appreciate the responses, information and encouragement. I will persevere. As for the dots on the landing map, I enlarged it to see if that would help distinguish the colors from one another. I think I can identify the green, blue and black without too much trouble. As for the red and brown, if there is a difference I sure can't find it. They both look the same to me, sort of a rust color. At least I guess I can eliminate the green, blue and black landing dots, and with that several of the serials. I'll try to pursue the narrative report prepared by the 81st TCS a bit further. Charles
Hi Charles, I dont think I have very much faith in the "histories" of the 79th 80th and 81st TCS in being accurate with such a brief paragraph describing each one. They make it seem like every glider landed in their designated LZ. When you compare it with the map Pat had posted and the personal accounts you have that say "NE of Sainte mere Eglise" and other accounts that give grid co-ordinances. I just have to believe that La Londe is your correct area in my opinion. John