Unidentified ship.Over Melun Airfield, France.
Mission 439 · 24 June 1944
The crew.
In their own words.
Captain Roggenkamp was the pilot of the B-24 on the June 24, 1944 mission. According to S/Sgt Wright, he believed Roggenkamp was killed when the aircraft went down near Treon, France. Wright stated the ship blew up a few seconds after he bailed out. This information was reported by Wright based on what French civilians told him after they investigated the crash scene. Wright did not personally witness the pilot's fate but believed he did not survive.
1st Lt. Ashton was the navigator on the June 24, 1944 mission. After bailing out he made his way to a house 200 to 300 yards from the wood where Bies and Huitt were sheltering — an old chateau where the group was brought together. He had already changed into civilian clothes but was suffering from a painful broken ankle. Due to his injury, Ashton could not walk with the group the following afternoon. He was transported separately with Straczewski by car. Both were later taken to Paris for medical treatment while the four ambulatory crew members continued to the forest camps near Cloyes. Note: The document lists both Ashton and Boyle as navigators. Ashton may have been a different crew position (possibly a second navigator or observer), or one of the names may refer to a different role. The document specifically names Boyle as the navigator in the context of his capture, while Ashton is referred to as 'their navigator' by Wright.
Capt. Shilling was the bombardier on the June 24, 1944 mission. After bailing out, he was sheltered by French civilians at a neighboring home near St. Sauveur. The day after the crew came together at the chateau, the local resistance group's leader arrived and Shilling joined the group of four evaders — along with Wright, Bies, and Huitt — who were able to walk. Shilling traveled with the group by horse-drawn wagon and eventually reached the forest camps near Cloyes and Freteval, where they sheltered with other Allied airmen for several weeks. At the time of Wright's debrief, Shilling was reported to be hospitalized at Le Mans, France.
T/Sgt Adam Straczewski was the radio operator on the June 24, 1944 mission. He arrived at the chateau near St. Sauveur on the evening of June 24 with burns and a badly injured ankle. He and 1st Lt. Ashton, who had a broken ankle, were unable to travel with the walking group the following afternoon. Straczewski and Ashton were transported separately from the other four evaders, reuniting with them briefly near Chartres before both injured men were taken to Paris for medical treatment. Their subsequent journey and return to England are not detailed in this report.
Lt. Berl Huitt was the formation observer on the June 24, 1944 mission. After bailing out he reached the wood near St. Sauveur where Wright found him around 3:30 in the afternoon. Like Bies, he had been badly burned on the face. He was among the four crew members able to walk when the group moved out the following afternoon. Huitt traveled with the group through German-occupied France and spent time in the forest camps near Cloyes and Freteval. At the time of Wright's debrief in late August 1944, Wright believed Huitt had already been separately interrogated by the Eighth Air Force, suggesting he had returned to England.
S/Sgt Norman Wright was the waist gunner on the lead B-24 in the Division on the June 24, 1944 mission to Melun Airfield. He was on his 25th mission. When the aircraft was hit by flak near Treon, he was knocked unconscious and came to on the ground at St. Sauveur, a small village south of Treon. He had a small flak hole in his leg. French civilians had already removed his parachute and Mae West when he regained consciousness, and they instructed him to move quickly to the woods. After hiding in the woods while a suspected German patrol with dogs passed within five or six feet of him, French civilians returned four or five hours later with food, wine, and a blue jacket. A Frenchman then guided him approximately ten miles — crawling two miles through wheat fields and walking the remaining eight miles — to meet Sgt. Bies and Lt. Huitt in a wood. They were later joined at a nearby chateau by Capt. Shilling, 1st Lt. Ashton (who had a broken ankle), and T/Sgt. Straczewski (who arrived that evening with burns and a banged-up ankle). The group was moved by horse-drawn wagon through German-occupied territory to a stable, then driven to a forest south and west of Cloyes, where approximately 35 Allied airmen were sheltering under the command of a British Wing Commander named Lucien. After three weeks they moved to another camp in Freteval Forest, about 14 km away, with 30 Americans and Canadians. They remained there until around August 12, 1944, when Belgian agent 'Jean' and Lucien arranged their movement to a nearby village, Bayleux, which they helped liberate 60 strong. Wright and an RCAF Pilot Officer named Bester reconnoitered ahead and encountered American armored reconnaissance vehicles near Cloyes, who arranged transport to Le Mans. While riding in a truck near Vitre, the vehicle tipped over and Wright sustained abrasions to his elbow, nose, and knee, landing him in the 97th General Hospital. He was officially listed as MIA on June 24, 1944, and returned to the UK by August 14, 1944.
The flight.
The target.
Notes.
Read the records.
Original documents behind what this page says about this sortie — reports, records, and histories the archive holds and is free to reproduce. Check the sources for yourself.