Crew Roster · Personal File

Gerald R. Brown

Engineer / Top Turret · 330th Squadron

HometownIndianapolis, IN, IN

T/Sgt. Gerald R. Brown served as engineer and top turret gunner. His next of kin was his mother, Mrs. Lois F. Brown, of Advance, Indiana. His home was Indianapolis, Indiana.

Brown was killed by shell fire during the flight before the aircraft crashed. A dead crewmember was found approximately 10 meters from the crash site. The body's identification could not be fixed exactly due to a missing identification tag, but photos on the body were presented to the hospitalized Lt. Gay, who identified the deceased as T/Sgt. Gerald R. Brown of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Brown was buried at the cemetery of Niederschlettenbach, where another crewmember (McCartie) was also later interred. The MACR lists his first name variously as "Harold R." (a clerical error) and "Jerold W." or "Gerald R." in different sections of the document; the German police report and the crew listing page confirm the name as Gerald R. Brown.

Killed in ActionPASSED 25 FEB 1944

Sortie Log

3 CATALOGUED SORTIES
24 FEB 1944 — 25 FEB 1944

The sorties below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.

8AF Mission

Date

Target

Aircraft

B-24J Liberator serial number 42-100323 assigned to the 93rd Bomb Group, 330th Bomb Squadron, departed AAF #104 on 25 February 1944 on an operational mission to Furth, Germany. The aircraft was last known at coordinates 48:50N 08:00E at 1459 hours. It appeared to have been hit by flak and then attacked by two enemy fighters. Six parachutes were observed by witnesses on the ground. The aircraft crashed in the forest section "Kleiner Humberg" in the state forest Niederschlettenbach, near Dahn, Pirmasens district, Palatinate, western Germany. The wreckage was burning on arrival of local police and ammunition continued to explode. A dead crewmember was found approximately 10 meters from the crash site. German police and country-guard patrols captured 8 survivors within a radius of 3-4 km by 1906 hours on 25 February 1944. A ninth capture was made by 2100 hours. The ten crewmembers were all accounted for by 12 March 1944.