Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, 42-97747, Mid Atlantic, May 1944
The 16th of May 1944 seen one of the stranger incidents included in list of foreign aircraft crashes in or around Ireland. In reality it didnt happen 'near' Ireland and the crew members never set foot on Irish soil but they were plucked from the wide Atlantic by an Irish ship!
The pilot of Boeing B-17G serial number 42-97747, the wonderfully named Clarence W Fightmaster, was in command of the aircraft on a transatlantic ferry mission, delivering the new bomber to the Eighth Air Force in England for the ongoing bomber offensive against Germany. The crash report in the US Air Force archives notes the aircraft was cleared to fly from Goose Bay in Newfoundland to Meeks field in Iceland. His report filed in the aftermath of the incident tells the story in simple terms:
Last radio contact with any station was made with Goose Bay at the time flight altitude of 11,000 ft. was reached. We proceeded on course as briefed to the navigator.
No other radio contact was made, Our liason transmitter was not working properly, apparently due to a broken trailing wire antenna. Many attempts were made ??? and other radio aids.
We flew out out ETA plus firty min. and at no time could we pick up the Meeks radio, or any other radio. The navigator made several shots, but they showed to be roughly several hundred miles of DR course, so we followed Navigators briefing and remained on DR.
Due to the overcast and following flight plan the Navigator assumed a DR position and altered course for Stornaway. No indication was ever found destination so at the end of a new ETA plus thirty mins. course was altered to the east in approximate direction of land. A London civilian radio station was also ??????? up on he compass that roughly indicated that direction.
With about thirty min. of fuel remaining and no indication of land a ditching was made beside a tramp steamer approximately 160 miles south west of the Irish coast. Dingy procedure was followed and all of the crew were rescued. The ship remained afloat for thirty min.
The crash report has a hand written set of co-ordinates noted, 49'' 46' N- 13 1 W
The ship they landed beside was the Irish registered SS Lanahrone. This was on a voyage from New York destined to England.
The crew of 2/Lt Fightmaster's aircraft consisted of seven aircrew and two radar technicians.
 2/Lt Neil T Gehret O-821257, Co-Pilot |
 S/Sgt Harry A Phillips 35684917, Engineer |
 2/Lt George Silverstein O-757050, Bombardier |
From Neil Gehret:After completing radar bombing training for the bombedier at Langly Field, Virginia, we left England by B-17 by the northern route. Our first stop outside the U.S. was at Goose Bay, Labrador. Our departure from Goose Bay was delayed because it had snowed during the night. Our next stop was to be Iceland. As we flew towards Iceland we found all the radio equipment onboard was not operating. Without radio contact, it was not possible to land in Iceland. At our briefing before leaving Goose Bay, we were told if it was not possible to land in Iceland, our alternative landing field was Stournway, Scotland. Also, we learned that our navigator's sextant was missing, making celestial navigation impossible. Following a compass course without knowledge of wind speed or direction would cause drift from the compass course. After many hours in the air and fuel running low, we spotted a ship. As we circled the ship, the radio operator flashed in morse code to the ship requesting directions to land. The ship responded with the code letter of the day identifying them as a neutral. It became necessary to ditch the plane while we still had fuel to make a power-on landing in the water. We ditched near the ship, inflated the life rafts, and eventually we were picked up. We were told by the crew of the Irish ship that they got the coal to run the ship from England, and had to report to an English port for inspection of their cargo before they could dock in Ireland. Upon arrival in the English port we were sent for more combat flight training before our arrival at our bomb group to engage in bombing missions for which we were trained.
As a side note, Neil was curious to know if you have information regarding the exact position where they were rescued in the Atlantic. He also wanted to know the name of the Irish vessel involved. I tried my best to coax more specific details of the mood of the crew as they flew sightless towards western Europe, the elation of finding a ship to pluck them from the sea, or the reception they received from the crew of the ship once they were rescued. He did state that the captain of the ship was quite generous with "medicinal" Irish whiskey, though Neil insisted he abstained. This being purely conjecture; I respectfully submit that the faded memories and woeful lack of detail regarding the events of this fateful day could be directly linked to Irish whiskey.
Compiled by Dennis Burke, 2012, Dublin and Sligo. If you have information on any of the people listed above, please do contact me at dp_burke@yahoo.com